The Illinois family of a stabbing victim is speaking out against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after she used the killing to highlight the impact of illegal immigration.
At a press conference near the site of the murder, Noem railed against "sanctuary" policies in Democratic jurisdictions like Illinois, which limits cooperation between police and federal immigration agents. Noem was joined by several "Angel families" whose loved ones were killed by immigrants or fentanyl that flowed across the Mexican border.
But the family of Emma Shafer was not there. They showed up, instead, to a protest close by.
A statement from the family accused Noem of peddling a "cruel and heartless political agenda" that their daughter would have opposed.
The statement was shared by far-left Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker (D), whose office said Shafer's family wanted him to promote the statement.
Shafer, a 24-year-old community organizer, was stabbed to death at her Springfield apartment in July 2023. Her suspected killer, an illegal immigrant named Gabriel Calixto, has never been caught.
"Noem's words are in direct conflict with who Emma was as a person. Emma built up community and stood with all members, including immigrants," Cathy Schwartz and John Shafer said in a statement.
"No parent should have to experience the loss of a child. But every time her name is brought into these conversations — conversations she would have wanted nothing to do with — we have to relive the pain of her death."
Since President Trump returned to the White House, border crossings have fallen sharply, and the administration has expeditiously deported alleged gang members, sparking furious backlash from Democrats, the media, and some judges over alleged violations of due process.
Pritzker has doubled down on his state's sanctuary policy as he auditions for the presidency with a series of broadsides against Trump. In a statement, Pritzker called for "sensible, humane immigration reform" and urged Noem to "spend less time performing for Fox News and more time protecting the Homeland."
But Trump's tough approach to immigration remains popular. A series of high-profile murders of American women and girls by illegal aliens turned public opinion sharply against the liberal agenda of the Democratic party during the administration of Joe Biden, who oversaw a historic, uncontrolled influx of people coming across the southern border illegally.
Some "Angel moms," including the mothers of Rachel Morin and Jocelyn Nungaray, have built close relationships with Trump, who is famously known for his personal touch.
"Secretary Noem went to Illinois to join Angel families to call for an end to dangerous sanctuary city policies under JB Pritzker and bring attention to an at-large illegal alien murderer who has been evading justice for two years," assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Axios in a statement.
Top Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal (CT), who infamously lied about serving in the Vietnam War, has said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should be impeached for his "dangerous" policies at the Pentagon.
In a brief CNN interview at the Capitol, Blumenthal was asked to respond to Hegseth's new directive to cut the number of four-star generals and admirals. Hegseth has said the reform will make a bloated, top-heavy military leaner and more efficient.
Blumenthal amusingly implied that the armed forces had been non-partisan before Trump took office in January and began shifting the military's focus away from bogus priorities like diversity.
"Hegseth is a danger to our national security. Our military is supposed to be nonpolitical, and what Hegseth is doing is not only defiling the principle but diminishing our national defense. And I think at some point, this kind of conduct is impeachable," Blumenthal said.
While railing against Hegseth's nomination in January, Blumenthal said he would vote again for Biden's Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who infamously vanished during a hospital stay without informing the White House.
Hegseth's Pentagon tenure has been controversial from the start, and he was narrowly confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, with Vice President J.D. Vance breaking a tie.
Democrats have voiced a mix of grievances with Hegseth, targeting everything from his arm tattoos to his past comments on women in combat. His anti-"woke" reforms have incensed liberals, who say the changes will make the armed forces less inclusive.
In recent weeks, Hegseth's critics have pounced on his use of the app Signal to send military plans. Democrats have continued to press for Hegseth's resignation after national security adviser Mike Waltz stepped aside to serve as Trump's U.N. ambassador, with Blumenthal calling Waltz "the fall guy" for Hegseth's mistakes.
Hegseth has also face dissension from his own staff, and some of his top aides have been fired for allegedly leaking to the media.
President Trump has stood beside Hegseth, with the White House dismissing criticism of the Defense Secretary as the "Swamp" lashing out at change.
Democrats have long weaponized impeachment to target political opponents, infamously using the mechanism to go after Trump not once, but twice.
What Blumenthal is suggesting clearly sounds like another abuse of the impeachment power to target a member of Trump's Cabinet over policy differences. In order to impeach and remove Hegseth, Democrats would need to take back the majority in the Senate and then convince some Republicans to vote for his conviction, but the party has largely stood by him through months of backlash.
When running for the Senate in 2010, Blumenthal apologized for claiming to have served in Vietnam, something he never did.
President Trump notched a big legal victory in his effort to streamline Voice of America (VOA), the state-funded international broadcaster that has long been coopted by leftists.
A federal appeals court in Washington D.C. found that a district court judge overstepped when he ordered Trump to reinstate 1,000 Voice of America employees.
Kari Lake, who runs VOA's parent agency US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), praised the appeals court's ruling as a check against an activist judiciary that has blocked Trump from exercising his constitutional powers.
"BIG WIN in our legal cases at USAGM & Voice of America. Huge victory for President Trump and Article II. Turns out the District Court judge will not be able to manage the agency as he seemed to want to," she wrote on X.
Trump's effort to reform VOA is part of a broader push to rein in publicly funded news organizations, like NPR and PBS, that are nominally neutral put often put a left-wing spin on the news of the day.
"Voice of America has been out of step with America for years. It serves as the Voice for Radical America and has pushed divisive propaganda for years now," a senior White House official told Fox News Digital in March.
On April 22, Judge Royce Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee, blocked Trump's March executive order directing USAGM to downsize to the furthest extent possible under law.
The judge ordered Trump to reinstate 1,000 VOA employees who were put on leave and restore grant funding to two private non-profits that USAGM oversees, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
In a sharp reversal, a divided panel of the D.C. Circuit Court overruled Lamberth on Saturday, finding he lacked jurisdiction to dictate how Trump manages international broadcasting.
Two Trump appointees, Neomi Rao and Gregory Katsas, rebuked the lower court for its troubling "intrusion" into foreign affairs, noting the president's special prerogative in that realm.
"This intrusion is particularly harmful because it implicates the Executive Branch’s foreign-affairs authority," the court wrote.
"By depriving the Executive Branch of control over the individuals involved in its international broadcasting, the injunction threatens its prerogative to 'speak with one voice' on behalf of the United States in foreign affairs."
Cornelia Pillard, an Obama appointee, dissented, warning that the court's ruling "all but guarantees that the networks will no longer exist in any meaningful form by the time this case is fully adjudicated."
President Trump said four years is "plenty of time" to fulfill his promise to America, as he gave his clearest indication yet that he will not run for a third term.
Trump has repeatedly suggested he may seek re-election in 2028, but he now says he plans to pass the torch when his term is up.
"We have a lot of good people in this party," Trump told NBC's Meet The Press.
Trump acknowledged that there could be legal obstacles to running again, as he dismissed 2028 chatter from some of his allies as a "compliment." The 22nd Amendment limits presidents to two terms.
“I will say this. So many people want me to do it. I have never had requests so strong as that. But it’s something that, to the best of my knowledge, you’re not allowed to do,” Trump told Kristen Welker.
Trump had previously told Welker he was "not joking" about seeking another term, and speculation increased after the Trump Organization began selling "Trump 2028" MAGA hats.
"But this is not something I'm looking to do," Trump told Welker.
"I’m looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody, ideally, a great Republican, a great Republican to carry it forward, but I think we’ll have four years, and I think four years is plenty of time to do something really spectacular.”
While making it clear that he is thinking about his legacy in generational terms, Trump was reluctant to single out an heir apparent, although he lavished praise on Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio - both former critics of Trump's who are now among his closest allies.
"It’s far too early to say that, but I do have a vice president and typically and, JD is doing a fantastic job," Trump said.
"I don’t want to get involved in that, I think he’s a fantastic, brilliant guy. Marco is great. There are a lot of them that are great.”
While many find it hard to imagine MAGA without the Donald, Trump said he is confident that his historic movement will live on without his leadership.
"I think it’s so strong. And I think we have tremendous people. I think we have a tremendous group of people. We talked about a number of them. You look at Marco, you look at JD Vance, who’s fantastic. You look at — I could name 10, 15, 20 people right now just sitting here. No, I think we have a tremendous party."
Harvard leaders, students and faculty are going bonkers over President Donald Trump's repeated threats to defund the university and now, revoke its tax-exempt status.
According to Newsweek, Harvard President Alan Garber lashed out after Trump said he would revoke the university's tax status, calling the move "illegal" as the two camps continue to be at odds over the institution's inaction on tamping down on student activism.
Harvard is particularly upset with Trump and his administration for freezing a large pot of $2 billion in federal grants and funding, causing the university to file a federal lawsuit against the administration to unfreeze it.
Garber held nothing back as he told the media how he believes Trump's actions against the university are illegal and unconstitutional.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Garber said the president's revoking of Harvard's tax-exempt status is "highly illegal, unless there is some reasoning that we have not been exposed to that would justify this dramatic move."
"Tax-exempt status is granted to educational institutions to enable them to successfully carry out their mission of education, and for research universities, of research."
Garber added, "Obviously, that would be severely impaired if we were to lose our tax-exempt status. And I should add, it would be destructive to Harvard, but the message that it sends to the educational community would be a very dire one, which suggests that political disagreements could be used as a basis to pose what might be called an existential threat to so many educational institutions."
The "political disagreements" are not that at all. Trump and his administration simply want the university to tamp down on student activism related to the Hamas-Israel war, and the extreme anti-semitism witness across the campus.
Newsweek noted:
Harvard is one of several Ivy League institutions the Trump administration has threatened over campus activism and what the White House characterizes as antisemitism on the part of student protesters.
Columbia University was another institution that Trump threatened, and ultimately, the Ivy League school made several concessions to the Trump administration as it obviously knew what the right move was.
Many of Trump's supporters applauded the president for going after the school's tax-exempt status.
"Harvard Law evidently wants more (of a certain type of) bad behavior. So, they reward bad behavior. We should not tolerate those who reward bad behavior," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "Eradicate the privileged, elitist universities. Fund trade schools."
It'll be absolutely fascinating to see who ultimately wins in court on this one.
Democrats are having an incredibly tough time within the party in the wake of the 2024 election, in which Kamala Harris was destroyed by President Donald Trump, along with most other major down-ticket candidates.
That's why it's not surprising to see the Democratic Party splintering into various groups, and the latest high-profile Dem operative to slam the party's de facto leader, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), held nothing back.
A former top aide to ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Ashley Etienne, slammed Jeffries for not doing more to counter Trump and his policies.
She had also worked for Kamala Harris and for President Barack Obama during his 2008 campaign.
Etienne's main criticism of the current Democratic House Leader was that he's not doing and saying enough to fight back against Trump's relentless policy rollout.
"Trump is just giving us all this incredible red meat. I mean, I've never seen anything like this before. It's like the biggest gift any party has been given by the opposition, and we're just squandering it, to a degree," she said during a recent podcast.
Etienne pulled some of her punches, as she was careful to praise Jeffries for "doing well" in many other areas of his leadership duties.
Fox News noted:
She said Jeffries was "doing well" in many areas and said she had "a tremendous amount of respect" for the New York Democrat but signaled that he was missing opportunities on anti-Trump messaging.
"He gave a speech this morning. I don't have any talking points in my phone about what he said. And I'm going to be doing TV and this interview all day. That's a failure," Etienne said.
She added, "How do you get to discipline if you're not telling people what the hell you want them to say? At least emphatically, at least tonally."
Jeffries deployed his spokespeople to counter Etienne's criticism. Jeffries spokesperson Christiana Stephenson responded to Fox News.
"Donald Trump’s approval ratings are plummeting, and he’s bringing House Republicans down with him. Extreme MAGA Republicans have been forced to delay their plans to advance Trump’s centerpiece legislative priority due to intense backlash against their scheme to enact the largest cuts in history to Medicaid and food assistance.
She added, "Let’s keep the main thing, the main thing."
Only time will tell how many more Dems admit they feel the same way as Etienne.
Hunter Biden has dropped a lawsuit against a pair of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers who alleged he received favorable treatment from the Justice Department.
Without explaining why, Hunter apparently decided he had no choice but to voluntarily dismiss the case "with prejudice," meaning it cannot be filed again. The son of former President Joe Biden filed the lawsuit in 2023 against former IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler.
The former first son claimed that the duo had "targeted and sought to embarrass Mr. Biden via public statements to the media in which they and their representatives disclosed confidential information about a private citizen’s tax matters.”
In a statement, Shapley and Ziegler said Biden's reversal speaks volumes, with the pair noting, "It’s always been clear that the lawsuit was an attempt to intimidate us,” the two men said. “Intimidation and retaliation were never going to work. We truly wanted our day in court to provide the complete story, but it appears Mr. Biden was afraid to actually fight this case in a court of law after all.”
“His voluntary dismissal of the case tells you everything you need to know about who was right and who was wrong," they added.
The IRS whistleblowers went public in 2023 with claims of obstruction in the investigation into Hunter Biden's taxes. The men also claimed they faced retaliation for sharing their concerns.
The allegations fed Republican criticism of Biden's family and the "weaponization" of government in favor of Democrats. Hunter Biden would later accuse the DOJ of giving in to political pressure to file criminal charges against him, but Biden's claims of selective prosecution were rejected in court.
Biden almost received an infamously generous plea deal that later fell apart in front of a skeptical judge. He later pled guilty to felony tax evasion on over $1 million in foreign income from his business deals, only to receive a blanket pardon from his father, President Joe Biden.
In addition to battling criminal charges, Hunter has been involved in a number of civil legal vendettas against individuals and entities who have exposed him and his business dealings to scrutiny.
Hunter Biden recently won his bid to drop a lawsuit that he started against former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler (no relation to Joe Ziegler), successfully pleading financial hardship.
Lawyers for Joe Ziegler and Gary Shapley declared vindication over Hunter Biden's dismissal of his case against them.
"Hunter Biden brought this lawsuit against two honorable federal agents in retaliation for blowing the whistle on the preferential treatment he was given,” the lawyers said in a statement.
“Shapley and Ziegler did nothing wrong, never had to seek a pardon, and their actions have now been entirely vindicated once again," they added.
President Donald Trump appointed Gary Shapley to serve as acting IRS commissioner in April, but he was replaced just three days later.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia bragged that he could kill his wife and never go to jail, according to a newly unearthed protective order.
The bombshell evidence supports President Trump's dark portrayal of the illegal alien from El Salvador, who has been widely described as a "Maryland man" in the press.
This is the second known protective order that was filed against Abrego Garcia over spousal abuse by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura. A previously reported protective order from 2021 said Abrego Garcia punched, scratched, and grabbed her.
The 2020 protective order details numerous additional incidents of explosive violence, which included grabbing his wife by the hair in the car, smashing his kids' devices, pushing his wife against a wall, and threatening to kill her.
"I also have a [recording] that [he] told my ex-mother-in-law that even if he kills me no one can do anything to him,” Vasquez Sura wrote at the time.
The past reports of domestic abuse have come back to haunt Abrego Garcia, his wife - who is now advocating for his return to the U.S. - and Democrats who have rushed to defend the "Maryland father."
Trump and his White House team have described Abrego Garcia as a domestic abuser and criminal gang member. Police records from 2019 note that he was detained with suspected MS-13 members outside of a Home Depot, and officers interpreted his clothing as gang-affiliated. A police informant also identified him as a member of the gang.
Two immigration judges found the evidence of Abrego Garcia's gang ties persuasive, but he obtained limited relief from deportation back to El Salvador, where he claimed he was facing persecution by a rival gang of MS-13.
The Trump administration's decision to send him back to El Salvador - and Trump's refusal to bring him back - is at the heart of the current controversy.
The Trump administration has also pointed to a traffic stop in 2022 that led police to suspect Abrego Garcia was involved in human trafficking. Abrego Garcia was speeding in a truck owned by a convicted smuggler, and eight men were found in the vehicle with no luggage. But he was never charged over the incident.
The Supreme Court has said Trump must "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return, but the justices also reeled in a lower court that ordered Trump in no uncertain language to "effectuate" Abrego Garcia's return.
Trump's critics say Abrego Garcia, and other alleged gang members removed under the Alien Enemies Act, have been deported without due process. But Trump has said he is doing what he was elected to do by swiftly cracking down on illegal immigration and crime.
"The media continues to call him [Abrego Garcia] a victim while ignoring the real victims: the women he battered, the children he terrorized, and the communities he endangered," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.
"Let us be crystal clear: Kilmar Abrego Garcia will never be on American streets again."
Melania Trump is touting a political victory after the House passed a bill to ban non-consensual "deepfakes" and other forms of "revenge porn."
The House voted overwhelmingly, 409-2, to pass the Take It Down Act. The bill, which Melania supports, makes it a crime to share intimate depictions of another person without their consent, including artificially generated images. The legislation requires social media platforms to move quickly to take down revenge porn when they receive notice of it.
It's a rare example of direct public lobbying by the First Lady and former model, who is known for keeping a low profile in Washington D.C.
The bill now heads to President Trump's desk for his signature. It previously passed unanimously in the Senate, where it was introduced by Ted Cruz (R-Tx.).
The legislation targets a growing problem in the era of AI and social media, which have provided new and powerful tools for public humiliation and blackmail.
"It's heartbreaking to witness young teens, especially girls, grappling with the overwhelming challenges posed by malicious online content like deep fakes," Melaina said at a March roundtable discussion. "This toxic environment can be severely damaging."
The Take It Down Act was inspired by the experience of a 15-year-old Texas girl, Elliston Berry, who was victimized by deepfake porn created by one of her classmates.
Her family ended up contacting Senator Cruz after Snapchat was slow to act on their requests to take the images down.
"If you're a victim of revenge porn or AI-generated explicit imagery, your life changes forever," Cruz said in March.
Melania hailed the bill's passage as a necessary step to protect children from abuse.
"Today's bipartisan passage of the Take It Down Act is a powerful statement that we stand united in protecting the dignity, privacy, and safety of our children," Melania said in a statement.
"I am thankful to the Members of Congress — both in the House and Senate — who voted to protect the well-being of our youth," she said.
The Take It Down Act is part of Melania's campaign against online bullying and intimidation, #BeBest, which she started during her husband's first term.
Despite the bill's good intentions, it has faced criticism from some civil libertarians like Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), one of the only two lawmakers who voted no, who called the ban "a slippery slope, ripe for abuse, with unintended consequences."
Longtime Trump foe Adam Schiff (D-Ca.) reacted furiously to President Trump suggesting the Democrat should go to prison - as Trump orders a fraud investigation into notorious Democratic fundraiser ActBlue.
A signed memorandum from Trump directs attorney general Pam Bondi to probe possible fraudulent contributions to ActBlue, which has faced scrutiny for its lax standards.
ActBlue weakened its donation standards twice in 2024, encouraging its staff to "look for reasons to accept contributions.”
A White House fact sheet noted that ActBlue only recently started to require donors to provide credit card security codes, known as CVVs. The administration also pointed to a House Republican investigation that uncovered a concerning pattern of fraudulent activity involving foreign and domestic donors.
"Over a 30-day window during the 2024 election cycle, ActBlue detected 237 donations from foreign IP addresses using prepaid cards," the White House said.
Trump's memorandum directs Bondi "to investigate and take appropriate action concerning allegations regarding the use of online fundraising platforms to make 'straw' or 'dummy' contributions and to make foreign contributions to U.S. political candidates and committees, all of which break the law."
In a Truth Social post targeting ActBlue's "illegal SCAM", Trump singled out Schiff and suggested he should go to jail.
"The USA is wise to these scoundrels and crooks. Also, why did the Auto Pen give Schiff a Pardon?" Trump wrote. "Biden knew nothing about it. Who operated the Auto Pen? That is the biggest question being asked in D.C. They almost destroyed our Country. They should all be in jail!!!"
Schiff, along with other January 6th committee members, received a pre-emptive pardon from Joe Biden that was signed with an autopen.
“Donald Trump is back to attacking me today because the economy has been in a tailspin under his economic mismanagement," Schiff wrote on X.
"And so have his poll numbers. And the last thing he wants — is people holding him accountable. Attack me as you much as you like, Mr. President, I’m not backing down.”
Schiff gained notoriety as a Trump antagonist during Trump's first term, when Schiff led the first impeachment effort against Trump and pumped the baseless "Russian collusion" narrative linking Trump to the Kremlin.
Last year, Schiff leveraged his ties to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) and his reputation as a Trump critic to win a seat in the U.S. Senate.
While Trump says the investigation into ActBlue is about election integrity, Democrats have decried the probe as an authoritarian act of retribution against Trump's enemies and "our democracy."