California’s unemployment insurance (UI) financing system is facing big deficits, requiring a full "redesign," according to a new report from the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO).
The system, meant to be self-sufficient, has fallen short of covering annual benefit costs, resulting in a projected $2 billion annual deficit over the next five years and an outstanding $20 billion federal loan balance.
"This outlook is unprecedented: although the state has, in the past, failed to build robust reserves during periods of economic growth, it has never before run persistent deficits during one of these periods," the LAO report, titled "Fixing Unemployment Insurance" and published Tuesday, stated.
Independent analysts project that annual shortfalls will increase California's federal loan, costing taxpayers around $1 billion in interest each year. The system, which is funded by employer payments to the UI Trust Fund, hasn’t been updated since 1984 and "cannot keep up with inflation or provide the intended wage replacement of half of workers’ wages," according to the report.
The current employer tax structure discourages eligible unemployed workers from claiming benefits, while the state’s low taxable wage base hampers hiring of lower-wage workers, analysts found.
One suggestion researchers wrote to fix the gap is to increase the amount of wages taxed for unemployment benefits, raising it from $7,000 per worker to $46,800. Supporters of this change say it would bring in more money to fund the program. The report also recommends reworking how businesses are taxed for unemployment benefits to make the system simpler and encourage more hiring.
To deal with the massive federal loan, the report suggests splitting the cost between employers and the state government, so that businesses aren’t stuck with all the debt.
"These are significant problems in isolation, let alone in combination," analysts wrote. "The significant changes proposed in this report are an honest reflection of these problems. However, whether or not the Legislature takes action, employers will soon pay more in UI taxes than they do today due to escalating charges under federal law."
Gareth Lacy, a spokesperson for the California Employment Development Department, which administers the state’s unemployment insurance program, called it "a thoughtful report" and noted officials "are reviewing it carefully."
"We agree the issue stretches back for decades and the pandemic compounded it," Lacy told Fox News Digital in a statement.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the state's UI system was hit hard with an overwhelming number of unemployment claims, resulting in the state borrowing roughly $20 billion from the federal government to cover insurance benefits, which the state still owes.
"Not only will the state’s tax system fall short of repaying that loan, the balance is set to grow due to the ongoing gap between contributions and benefits," the report noted. "This will become a near-permanent feature of the state’s UI program and a major ongoing cost for state taxpayers."
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed Tuesday it issued two flight restrictions following questionable drone activity in the area of President-elect Trump's New Jersey golf club.
On Nov. 18, the FAA first received reports of drone activity within Morris County, the border of which lies about two miles north of Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Somerset County.
Upon request from "federal security partners," the agency issued two TFRs, or temporary flight restrictions, and several reports of drone sightings continued into this week in Central Jersey.
One restriction covers an area near Solberg-Hunterdon County Airport that consists of airspace above Trump Bedminster. Flights are also banned over Picatinny Arsenal, a major U.S. Army hub in Dover, N.J., geared toward research and development via its CCDCAC armaments center.
The ban remains in place over Trump Bedminster for the rest of this week and over Picatinny Arsenal until Dec. 26.
"Safely integrating drones into the National Airspace System is a key priority for the FAA," the agency said in a statement Tuesday.
"We look into all reports of unauthorized drone operations and investigate when appropriate," the agency said, adding drone pilots who endanger aircraft or people can have their certification revoked and/or face $75,000 in fines.
Local media reported law enforcement has also been probing continued drone activity in the area.
Sightings have also occurred a few miles north of Bedminster in Mendham and Parsippany, where I-80 meets I-287.
A Parsippany woman told the Morristown Record she saw as many as five drones overhead Sunday night.
Morris County Sheriff James Gannon told New Jersey Patch there is "no advisable immediate danger to the public at this time" and asked the public to send law enforcement clear photographs of the drones.
An FBI spokeswoman told the outlet the bureau’s Newark field office and New Jersey State Police are investigating.
Fox News Digital reached out to Team Trump as well as the U.S. Army’s garrison at Picatinny for comment.
The drone sightings in New Jersey come as unidentified drones have been seen over British-American joint bases in the United Kingdom.
"Swarms of small drones" have been seen over Royal Air Force (RAF) Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall, RAF Fairford and RAF Feltwell in England. Some of those bases house F-15 and F-35 fighter jets.
The British military sent dozens of personnel to protect the bases, and a Pentagon spokesman said Nov. 26 none of the incursions affected the base’s buildings, personnel or assets.
Nineties punk rock band Green Day also paused a September show in Detroit after a drone was spotted overhead. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong rushed backstage as he closed out "Longview."
The show resumed about 10 minutes later, and Detroit Police said a man was detained.
Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin, Liz Friden and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has signaled that funding for services for illegal immigrants is on the chopping block as the agency prepares to hack away at government spending.
The department, which is not an official part of the government, is expected to be empowered by President-elect Trump to audit and implement sweeping changes within government agencies.
DOGE called out U.S. spending on illegal immigration in an X post, saying it cost taxpayers $150.7 billion "in 2023 alone."
DOGE pointed out that, when adjusted for inflation, U.S. spending on illegal immigration in a single year is comparable to government spending during the entirety of World War I ($334 billion) and the Apollo space program ($257 billion), and significantly more than what was spent on the Manhattan Project ($30 billion), the Panama Canal ($15.2 billion), and the Hoover Dam ($1 billion).
Musk also weighed in, posting on X that "the scale of spending on illegal immigration boggles the mind!"
The data referenced by DOGE is from a 2023 study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). FAIR’s latest report, published in March 2023, estimated that the net cost of illegal immigration – including federal, state and local spending – was "at least" $150.7 billion, amounting to $1,156 per taxpayer. This was up by nearly $35 billion since 2017 when it was $116 billion.
FAIR said it landed on this number by "subtracting the tax revenue paid by illegal aliens – just under $32 billion – from the gross negative economic impact of illegal immigration, $182 billion." By its estimates, the federal government spent $66 billion while state and local expenditures amounted to well over $115 billion.
The U.S. government does not appear to have any recent estimates on how much taxpayer dollars are being spent on illegal immigrants.
Jessica Baxter, a representative for the U.S. Government Accountability Office, told Fox News Digital that the office "does not have any recent work addressing the federal government’s overall cost estimate on immigration-related efforts."
"We have a few reports that provide information on costs associated with specific border security or immigration-related efforts, such as estimates of costs for incarceration of noncitizens, but these do not provide overall estimates," she said. "The two reports I’m referring to are from 2018 and 2011, so the data is somewhat dated. Our team is currently working on an update to the 2018 report, but the work is underway, and the report isn’t expected to issue any time soon."
Julie Kirchner, FAIR’s executive director, told Fox News Digital that the $150.7 billion number is actually a "very conservative estimate" and is likely much higher now that the undocumented migrant population has continued to rise.
"The population we cited in the study was 15.5 million, we now estimate that it's over 16.8 million, and we're in the process right now of doing another estimate on the illegal alien population, and I'm sure it will be higher," she explained. "So, we know the costs are going to go up."
She also said the 2023 study did not even include state and local spending on sheltering migrants. Though DOGE’s focus is primarily on the federal government, she said state and local spending – including on education, health care and incarceration – accounts for the largest share of government spending on illegal immigrants.
"There are more and more states using state taxpayer dollars to subsidize illegal immigration," she said. "What we are seeing is state and locals are being forced to absorb all of these costs."
She believes that once Trump retakes office, DOGE and the administration should immediately work to end government health care plans for illegals and close the loophole allowing illegal migrants to get income tax and child tax credits. By doing this, she believes DOGE can save taxpayers around the country "billions and billions of dollars each year."
"There is a lot we can do," she went on. "They are taking our own tax dollars and giving illegal aliens benefits and encouraging more illegal immigration. It is a crazy,crazy scenario where we're seeing people welcome lawlessness, and it's got to stop, and we're hopeful that the DOGE will."
The candidate considered the frontrunner in the race to chair the Democratic National Committee is proposing a "massive narrative and branding project" to boost the party's image in the wake of last month's election losses.
Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party chair Ken Martin, a DNC vice chair who has led the association of state Democratic Party chairs, on Tuesday unveiled a 10-point memo titled "A New DNC Framework."
Martin's memo calls on Democrats to "show up in nontraditional and uncomfortable media spaces on a regular basis, increase outreach to local messengers and trusted validators, and create our own platforms for authentic engagement."
Democrats suffered major setbacks up and down the ballot in the 2024 elections, as former President Trump recaptured the White House, and the GOP flipped the Senate and held onto their fragile majority in the House.
The Trump campaign and Republicans' aggressive strategy of appearances on podcasts and other non-traditional media is credited, in part, for the gains they made in winning the support of working class, minority, younger and low-propensity voters.
Martin, who is courting state Democratic Party officials this week as they huddle in Phoenix, Arizona, is also calling for themes others in the party have pushed, including competing in all 57 states and territories.
"If we’re going to be a national party, we need to compete everywhere," Martin emphasizes.
He also calls for year-round organizing in every county in the country, contesting races all the way down the ballot, and energizing youth mobilization.
Martin lamented that "the majority of Americans now believe the Republican Party best represents the interests of the working class and the poor, and the Democratic Party is the party of the wealthy and the elites. It’s a damning indictment on our party brand."
And he urged that "we must be willing to dig deep and recenter the Democratic agenda to unite families across race, age, background, and class."
Martin unveiled his plan on the same day that DNC chair Jaime Harrison released a memo highlighting that the party's down-ballot victories last month offer a road map to greater electoral success in the future.
Harrison is not seeking a second straight four-year term steering the national party committee. The next chair will be chosen by the roughly 450 voting members of the national party committee when they meet at the beginning of February at National Harbor in Maryland for the DNC's winter meeting.
Martin appears to be the early frontrunner in the race, and his campaign says he has the backing of at least 100 DNC voting members, which is nearly half of what a candidate needs to secure the chair.
Also running and considered competitive is Ben Wikler, who's chaired the state Democratic Party in battleground Wisconsin for five years and is well known by the voting members.
"Today, the country we love needs the Democratic Party to be stronger. To unite. To fight. And to win," Wikler emphasized on Sunday in a video as he launched his bid.
A party insider who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely told Fox News that "the DNC insiders/establishment have significant influence over this membership, so the race will be very close."
Martin O'Malley, the former two-term Maryland governor and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate who served as commissioner of the Social Security Administration the past year, jumped into the race last week, a day before Martin.
Also running are New York state Sen. James Skoufis and former U.S. Senate candidate from Maryland Robert Houton.
The field of five DNC chair candidates is expected to grow.
As Fox News and other news organizations reported last month, Rahm Emanuel, the ambassador to Japan, has been quietly reaching out to DNC committee members as he contemplates a bid. Emanuel is a former two-term Chicago mayor who earlier served as White House chief of staff in President Obama's administration and as a member of Congress.
Also eyeing the chair are former New York State assembly member Michael Blake, Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, and Chuck Rocha, a Democratic strategist who describes himself as "non-college-educated Mexican redneck."
A DNC voting member granted anonymity to speak more freely told Fox News, "I'm open to talking to whomever is interested in this, to listen to their vision and plan, and listen to people's different takes on what we need to do."
"I think the race is wide open," the member added.
In the waning days of the Biden administration, President-elect Trump is bucking his predecessor's "don't" doctrine as a deterrent to foreign adversaries, instead issuing tough warnings before even taking office.
"If the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity," Trump warned Hamas on his Truth Social account Monday.
"Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk, and no action!" Trump added.
War broke out in the Middle East on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. Terrorists killed more than 1,100 people and kidnapped more than 200, with Hamas still holding 101 hostages, including seven Americans, in Gaza more than a year after the war began.
The White House and Israeli government have worked for months to secure a hostage release deal, but have been unsuccessful.
Trump's tough language against Hamas, which included warning those responsible for holding the hostages that they "will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America," stands in stark contrast to President Biden's "don't" doctrine regarding the war in Israel.
"And my message to any state or any other hostile actor thinking about attacking Israel remains the same as it was a week ago: Don’t. Don’t. Don’t," he said.
War continued despite the warning, including from Iranian proxies against Israel.
This year, Biden doubled down on his warning of "don't" aimed at Iran. When asked by reporters about Iran's expectation to attack Israel in April, he said his message to Tehran is: "Don't."
"We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed," he added.
Again in August, Biden warned Iran against attacking Israel with the one-word threat.
Biden's common response to deter foreign adversaries from attacking Israel is viewed as a failed policy, with conservative security experts and others slamming the message as weak.
"The Administration keeps saying 'don't' to Iran – but then does nothing to impose costs. This weakness means the risk from Iran continues to grow," former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted in August.
"Well, he said, ‘Don’t’ multiple times, and ‘Don’t’ isn’t a national security policy," Pompeo added later in a comment to Fox News. "It’s not even a deterrent.
"So much for President Biden telling bad guys ‘Don’t’ actually being an effective deterrent. Every time he says 'Don’t,' they do," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote in a post in April, after Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel.
"Biden's approach with Iran and the Middle East is backwards," Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., wrote on X. "Now as we risk entering WWIII, the US must stand by Israel's commitment to democracy. The president must stand firm, and stop coddling Iran immediately."
"I guess Biden's speechwriters have him down to one word now. At least he can remember it. Worse when referring to the hospital carnage he calls Hamas the other team," Fox News' Greg Gutfeld quipped after the war in Israel broke out last year, mocking Biden's use of the word "don't."
Trump had campaigned on ending the wars in both Ukraine and Israel, both of which began under the Biden administration, and claimed that neither war would have been launched if he had been president.
"The Ukraine situation is so horrible, the Israeli situation is so horrible. We are going to get them solved very fast," Trump said on the campaign trail in January.
Israeli officials celebrated Trump's tough stance against terrorists in the Middle East and his demand for hostages to be released by next month.
"Thank you and bless you Mr. President-elect," President Isaac Herzog of Israel said in a post on social media. "We all pray for the moment we see our sisters and brothers back home!"
The nation's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, added, "How refreshing it is to hear clear and morally sound statements that do not create a false equivalence or call for addressing ‘both sides.’ This is the way to bring back the hostages: by increasing the pressure and the costs for Hamas and its supporters, and defeating them, rather than giving in to their absurd demands."
"President Trump is working towards international peace. In anticipation of the incoming Trump administration, Iran has called off its reprisal attack on Israel and negotiations to end the war in Gaza and Russia's war in Ukraine have accelerated. One former NATO Supreme Allied Commander says America's enemies are 'concerned, they're nervous – [and] they ought to be,'" the Trump War Room said in an email this week titled "Promises Kept – And President Trump Hasn't Even Been Inaugurated Yet."
President Joe Biden’s sweeping pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, touched off a flurry of fresh legal speculation Tuesday over how, or if, the younger Biden can move to assert his Fifth Amendment privileges that protect against self-incrimination — and how the broad immunity granted to Hunter could be twisted against him.
While Hunter Biden is indeed shielded against prosecution for any federal offenses he "committed or may have committed" between Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 1, 2024, those around him are not — which means that Hunter Biden could theoretically be called on to testify in any potential cases brought against family members or others in his inner circle.
In these cases, Hunter Biden’s pardon could actually limit his ability to assert Fifth Amendment privileges, since he is no longer at risk of facing criminal charges.
However, the pardon applies only to federal crimes, not state crimes, and it remains unclear how, or if, Republicans could move to act on this possible loophole in the weeks and months ahead.
Still, the question of Fifth Amendment protections does have outsize importance as Republicans prepare to regain the majority in both chambers of Congress in January, ramping up the possibility of potential GOP-led investigations into the outgoing president.
In an interview Monday night on Newsmax, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said he plans to discuss the issue of Hunter Biden's Fifth Amendment privileges with Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi.
"I look forward to talking to attorney general Bondi about this," the Kentucky Republican said.
"We still have information that we've requested that we never received," Comer said, adding that in his view, the White House "is still to this day obstructing rightful evidence that we should have obtained."
Any investigations into Biden’s family after he leaves office would likely be criticized by Democrats as both futile and a waste of taxpayer money, given the nature of earlier investigations, Hunter’s own pardon and Biden’s own lame-duck status.
Comer’s office did not respond to a question from Fox News Digital on whether the House Oversight Committee is planning to investigate Biden’s action in the next congressional session, or their views on Hunter’s ability to plead the Fifth.
But the questions about this potential loophole come just days after President Joe Biden announced the sweeping clemency grant for his only surviving son.
Earlier Tuesday, the federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s gun case in Delaware announced the termination of further court proceedings, including a planned sentencing date in December. Earlier this year, a Delaware jury found Hunter guilty on all three federal felony firearm charges brought against him.
In terminating the proceedings, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika stopped short of dismissing the case outright, as requested by Hunter Biden's legal team.
In September, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to separate federal charges of tax evasion in California, which the pardon also covers.
The judge in that case, Judge Mark Scarsi, has not yet announced whether he will terminate the proceedings against Hunter or dismiss the case in full.
A Democratic lawmaker is moving to force a vote on releasing the results of the House Ethics Committee's report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., introduced legislation on Tuesday afternoon aimed at mandating a House-wide vote on whether to make the Gaetz report public.
He introduced it as a "privileged resolution," a mechanism that forces House leaders to consider it within two legislative days – putting the deadline on Thursday.
The House Ethics Committee's multi-year investigation into Gaetz, involving allegations of sex with a minor and illicit drug use, came to an abrupt halt last month after he resigned from Congress hours after President-elect Donald Trump tapped him to be his attorney general.
Gaetz dropped out of consideration amid quiet but steady GOP opposition, but the committee nevertheless lost jurisdiction over the probe when Gaetz left the House of Representatives.
His resignation came just before the committee was expected to meet to consider releasing the report.
Gaetz has consistently denied any accusations of wrongdoing.
An earlier federal investigation into the allegations ended without charges against Gaetz.
It's highly unusual for the House Ethics Committee, a panel normally shrouded in secrecy, to release reports on lawmakers who have left office. It's a detail House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., raised when telling reporters last month that he was against releasing the report.
But it's not unheard of, as Casten pointed out on Tuesday.
"The Committee on Ethics has, on many occasions, released its reports on former members," Casten said in a statement. "Resigning from Congress should not allow Members to avoid accountability for allegations as serious as those faced by Matt Gaetz. Withholding this report from the American people would impede the dignity and integrity of the legislative proceedings of the House."
Casten introduced a similar resolution last month, but his office said it was allowed to expire by House GOP leaders over the Thanksgiving break.
The new resolution will likely not be sidelined so easily, with the House expected in session from now until Friday.
The last day to consider the resolution will be Thursday, the same day the Ethics Committee will meet after previously failing to come to an agreement on releasing the Gaetz report.
Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., the top Democrat on the panel, hinted that the vote to do so fell along party lines.
"I'd say that a vote was taken. As many of you know, this committee is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, five Dems, five Republicans, which means that in order to affirmatively move something forward, somebody has to cross party lines and vote with the other side – which happens a lot, by the way, and we often vote unanimously," Wild told reporters after the last meeting. "That did not happen in today's vote."
Critics of "deep state" foe Kash Patel, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, call the veteran official a "danger" to the U.S. who will politicize the bureau – but a review of the agency's recent history shows the upper echelon of the FBI has long had a politicization problem, and Patel says he's just the man to end it.
Trump announced over the weekend that he is nominating Patel as FBI director, after years as a public defender and working up the echelons of the federal government, including as senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council under the Trump administration, and chief of staff to acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller toward the end of Trump's first term.
Patel is an outspoken crusader against the "deep state." In a book published last year, he explicitly called for revamping the FBI in a chapter dubbed "Overhauling the FBI," and moving the FBI’s headquarters out of Washington, D.C.
Since 2013, the FBI has seen three directors take the helm: James Comey, who served under the Obama administration before Trump fired him in May 2017; short-term acting-director Andrew McCabe under the Trump administration; and current director, Christopher Wray, whom Trump also appointed.
Amid the political left’s outrage over the Patel pick, Fox News Digital revisited a handful of the agency’s scandals that were lambasted as politically motivated and spoiling the integrity of the agency.
In 2017, the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller came under fire when it was revealed that two FBI employees tasked with investigating and handling alleged Russian interference into the 2016 election had texted each other anti-Trump rhetoric.
"[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!" FBI attorney Lisa Page texted FBI agent Peter Strzok in August 2016, Fox Digital previously reported.
"No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it," Strzok responded.
Strzok wrote in another August 2016 text, seemingly referring to Trump’s chance of winning the 2016 election: "I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office – that there’s no way he gets elected – but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40."
Strzok and Page were both working on Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election – which ultimately found no evidence that Trump or his campaign coordinated with Russia – before Mueller dismissed Strzok from the investigation amid the text scandal. Page left the team before the text messages were discovered and revealed to the public.
The pair had also worked together on the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server for official government duties.
The FBI ultimately fired Strzok in 2018 over the texts, as conservative lawmakers and critics lambasted the "bias" within the FBI.
"In Louisiana, we call that bias, we don't call that objective," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said on Fox News at the time.
While then-House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy said: "Peter Strzok's manifest bias trending toward animus casts a pall on this investigation… His bias impacted his decision-making and he assigned to himself the role of stopping the Trump campaign or ending a Trump Presidency."
"This is not the FBI I know," the South Carolina Republican added.
Trump slammed the scandal as an instance of "treason."
"A man is tweeting to his lover that if [former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton] loses, we'll essentially do the insurance policy," Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in 2018. "We'll go to phase two and we'll get this guy out of office."
"This is the FBI we're talking about – that is treason," he continued. "That is a treasonous act. What he tweeted to his lover is a treasonous act."
Trump dismissed FBI Director James Comey on May 9, 2017, with Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stepping up to take the helm of the agency for roughly three months before he was fired for allegedly leaking information to the press and initially lying about the leaks, Justice Department's internal watchdog found in a 2018 investigation.
McCabe automatically assumed the responsibilities of FBI director upon Comey’s firing, as the Trump administration searched for another FBI chief. McCabe had reportedly been in the running for the nomination, but was ultimately replaced by Wray in August of that year. Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe just days before he would have been eligible for a lifetime pension after it was determined that he had leaked a self-serving story to the press regarding the bureau’s probe of Clinton’s email server, and then misled investigators on the matter.
Sessions said McCabe "made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor − including under oath − on multiple occasions."
The DOJ IG report found McCabe leaked information of an August 2016 call to the Wall Street Journal for an Oct. 30, 2016, story titled "FBI in Internal Feud Over Hillary Clinton Probe." The story focused on the FBI announcing the reopening of the Clinton investigation after finding thousands of her emails on a laptop belonging to former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, who was married to Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
The Journal reported a senior Justice Department official expressed displeasure to McCabe that FBI agents were still looking into the Clinton Foundation, and that McCabe had defended the FBI’s authority to pursue the issue.
McCabe filed a lawsuit over the firing, and saw his pension restored as part of a settlement deal that also vacated Sessions’ decision, and removed any mention of being fired from McCabe’s FBI record.
Under Director Comey’s tenure as FBI chief, the agency came under fire when media outlets began reporting in 2019 that the DOJ’s watchdog made a criminal referral to U.S. prosecutor John Durham regarding FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, elevating the investigation from an inquiry to a criminal probe. Durham was the U.S. attorney for Connecticut and later tapped by then-Attorney General Bill Barr to lead a criminal investigation into the origins of the FBI investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Clinesmith had worked on the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which investigated alleged claims Russia interfered in the 2016 election, when Trump won the Oval Office in his campaign against Clinton.
The DOJ inspector general accused Clinesmith, though not by name, of altering an email about former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page to say that he was "not a source" for another government agency, downplaying Page’s relationship with the CIA. Page had worked as an "operational contact" for the CIA for about five years until 2013.
The Justice Department relied on Clinesmith’s altered email assertion as it submitted a third and final renewal application in 2017 to eavesdrop on Page under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
The Justice Department’s charging document stated that Clinesmith "did willfully and knowingly make and use a false writing and document, knowing the same to contain a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement and entry in a matter before the jurisdiction of the executive branch and judicial branch of the Government of the United States."
Clinesmith ultimately pleaded guilty to "one count of making a false statement within both the jurisdiction of the executive branch and judicial branch of the U.S. government, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000."
He was sentenced in 2021 to 12 months probation and 400 hours of community service.
Page said the 2020 Clinesmith indictment was the "first step on the road to justice" for the FBI and DOJ, slamming Clinesmith's actions as "false conspiracies and made-up lies paid for by Democrats."
"Friday was just a first step on the road to justice, because it was the first time that I started to see some semblance of justice from the DOJ and FBI with the fact they were acting in accordance with Crime Victims' Rights Act, a law that was totally avoided and not respected throughout last four years," Page told "Mornings with Maria" at the time.
Trump’s first national security adviser Michael Flynn, who also served as Obama administration Defense Intelligence Agency chief, was embroiled in FBI legal woes at the start of Trump’s first administration amid the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which ultimately sparked the Mueller investigation and was followed by the Durham report.
In December 2017, when Comey helmed the FBI, Flynn struck a plea deal with Mueller, pleading guilty to giving false statements to the FBI, which included comment regarding his communications with a Russian ambassador. Flynn also admitted to filing paperwork under the Foreign Agents Registration Act that contained misrepresentations regarding business with Turkey.
The plea deal included Flynn’s cooperation with Mueller’s special counsel investigation into Trump's alleged connections to Russia during the 2016 election.
In 2019, however, Flynn claimed innocence and accused the FBI of misconduct. Internal FBI documents made public in 2020 showed top FBI leadership discussing the motivation behind interviewing Flynn when he served as national security adviser and whether their "goal" was "to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired."
The documents were handwritten notes between the FBI's former head of counterintelligence Bill Priestap following a meeting with Comey and McCabe, Fox News Digital previously reported. The notes suggested that agents also planned to get Flynn "to admit to breaking the Logan Act" when he spoke to then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition period.
Strzok was notably one of the FBI agents who interviewed Flynn.
Trump ultimately pardoned Flynn in 2020 and his case was dismissed. Flynn has since said he faced a "political persecution of the highest order."
"So, you know, we went and made the decision that this was the direction that we wanted to go and good enough for President Donald Trump for coming through, and we’re certainly grateful to him," Flynn said in 2020 on Fox News. "But at the same time, we also know that this was a political persecution of the highest order and not something that any American should ever have to go through."
Trump announced over the weekend that he is nominating Patel as FBI director, touting him as someone who will "end the growing crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant criminal gangs, and stop the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across the Border."
Patel has been a staunch Trump ally, including joining the 45th president during his trial in Manhattan in the spring, and echoing that the United States’ security and law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, need to be overhauled. Patel published a book last year called "Government Gangsters," where he railed against the "deep state," the weaponization of the federal government and the Russia investigation into Trump.
"Things are bad. There’s no denying it," Patel wrote in his book. "The FBI has gravely abused its power, threatening not only the rule of law, but the very foundations of self-government at the root of our democracy. But this isn’t the end of the story. Change is possible at the FBI and desperately needed," he wrote.
"The fact is we need a federal agency that investigates federal crimes, and that agency will always be at risk of having its powers abused," he continued, advocating the firing of "corrupt actors," "aggressive" congressional oversight over the agency, complete overhauls to special counsels, and moving the FBI out of Washington, D.C.
Democrats and liberal members of the media have slammed Trump’s choice of Patel, calling him as a "danger" to the U.S. and "unqualified" for the role.
"It’s a terrible development for the men and women of the FBI and also for the nation that depends on a highly functioning, professional, independent Federal Bureau of Investigation. The fact that Kash Patel is profoundly unqualified for this job is not even, like, a matter for debate," McCabe said on CNN following the announcement. "The installation, or the nomination, I guess we should say at this point, of Kash Patel as FBI director can only possibly be a plan to disrupt, to dismantle, to distract the FBI, and to possibly use it as a tool for the president’s political agenda."
Before Patel could assume the role as FBI chief, Wray would need to step down or be fired, as he is in the midst of a 10-year appointment that does not end until 2027. The Senate would also have to confirm Patel.
"It is the honor of a lifetime to be nominated by President Trump to serve as Director of the FBI," Patel said in a statement following the announcement. "Together, we will restore integrity, accountability, and equal justice to our justice system and return the FBI to its rightful mission: protecting the American people."
Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman, Ronn Blitzer and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
A Democratic U.S. congressman on Monday said it appears that certain people are "above the law" after President Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, despite repeatedly saying he would not give his son a pass.
Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., responded to Biden’s decision to pardon Hunter on social media, blasting the president’s own words from earlier this year that "no one is above the law."
"Let’s just say the quiet part out loud, certain Americans are indeed above the law and influence is always for sale," Phillips wrote on X. "It’s time for the exhausted majority to condemn and confront legalized corruption."
President Biden issued a sweeping pardon for Hunter Biden on Sunday after he had repeatedly said he would not do so. The first son had been convicted in two separate federal cases earlier this year. He pleaded guilty to federal tax charges in September, and was convicted of three felony gun charges in June after lying on a mandatory gun purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
The president argued in a statement that Hunter was "singled out only because he is my son" and that there was an effort to "break Hunter" in order to "break me."
Biden had stated on record multiple times that he would not pardon Hunter should a jury convict his son.
Phillips, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination for president, argued that perhaps both Hunter Biden and Trump may not have been charged in their respective criminal cases under different circumstances.
"Two things can be true at once: Neither Hunter Biden nor Donald Trump would have been charged with certain crimes had they not been political figures," he wrote. "Pardoning powers have been abused by Trump and now Biden, and must be reformed."
Reporters grilled White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday, asking whether Biden and his surrogates lied to the American people. Jean-Pierre responded, "One thing the president believes is to always be truthful with the American people," and repeatedly pointed to Biden’s own statement on the matter.
Biden has yet to take questions from reporters on why he broke his pledge to Americans and decided to pardon the first son.
Fox News Digital's Alexander Hall contributed to this report.
FIRST ON FOX: A conservative think tank is outlining how the incoming Republican Congress can fundamentally overhaul the American immigration system, helping it rise "from the ashes" left by the Biden administration.
In a new paper, the Heritage Foundation provides a roadmap to Congress, suggesting it go beyond border security and overhaul the U.S. immigration system.
In the paper, author Lora Ries – director of the Heritage's Border Security and Immigration Center – argues that there has been a dysfunctional immigration system for decades. It made legal immigration complicated and slow, while illegal immigration was rarely punished.
"In short, it is a slow, frustrating, and expensive hassle to immigrate to the U.S. lawfully. As a result, when it is faster, easier, and cheaper to migrate to America illegally, then that is what some human beings will do – and have done for decades. Others will not come to the U.S. at all to start businesses or incubate new technologies," she says.
She argues that the Biden administration transformed the immigration system further and "erased the line between legal and illegal immigration." She accuses the administration of abusing humanitarian parole, making asylum meaningless and unleashing an open borders agenda.
"America’s immigration system used to be broken both because of a lack of enforcement and because of its overly complicated statutory provisions. Now it is a pile of ashes," she says.
But now, with a hawkish incoming Trump administration and a supportive Republican House and Senate about to be sworn in, Ries and Heritage outline five principles for how to proceed.
"However, from the ashes comes a great opportunity to redesign a new, simpler, fairer, and more manageable immigration system that prioritizes America first and legal immigrants second," she says. "The principles and policies laid out in this report can play a crucial role in shaping just such a new immigration system."
Those principles include upholding the rule of law, acknowledging that the immigration system serves the American people, ensuring the U.S. is secure, creating a system that is simple and sustainable, and eliminating incentives to break immigration laws.
As a result, under each principle comes a series of more specific recommendations for Congress to follow. In the area of legal immigration, the roadmap recommends that those who violate visa terms should have them revoked, including those supporting terrorist groups; that proof of citizenship should be required to vote; that only citizens should be counted in the census for congressional apportionment; and that the visa system must ensure that wages for Americans are not flattened.
The paper supports the abolition of the lottery system for green cards, says employers should be allowed to hire U.S. citizens over foreign nationals, and calls for assimilation as "critical for America to remain a united country." It recommends the implementation of E-Verify, and that due process in immigration be limited.
On border security, the paper recommends that Border Patrol should have expulsion authority during national crises, and that immigration detention is necessary to protect public safety and ensure deportations, while security should be fully resourced. It also argues that the government should not "collude" with non-governmental organizations to further illegal immigration.
More broadly, the paper calls for the simplification of the Immigration and Nationality Act to make the process less complicated and the elimination of a number of waivers and exemptions. It argues that costs and data on immigration should be made available and that in times of immense backlogs, intake of new immigrants should be paused.
Finally, it says Congress should exclude illegal immigrants from benefits such as bank accounts, and that lawmakers "should oppose all forms of amnesty and should not reward illegal behavior or violation of our immigration laws."
President-elect Trump has made it clear he sees immigration and border security as top priorities for his incoming administration. He has appointed former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Tom Homan as the "border czar" and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as his nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
A number of Republican lawmakers won their elections in November by focusing on illegal immigration at the southern border and the Biden administration’s handling of the crisis.
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