House Republicans urged the Justice Department to prosecute former special counsel Jack Smith after new revelations that his team obtained text messages from dozens of members of Congress as part of their investigation into President Donald Trump. 
House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-07-22-jdj-to-doj-blanche-re-smith-referral.pdf">criminal referral</a> Wednesday to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche accusing Smith of lying to lawmakers about the text messages. Documents released last week by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jack-smith-surveilled-dozens-of-members-of-congress-as-part-of-trump-investigation">show</a> that Smith’s investigative team accessed text messages involving 44 members of Congress, including both Republicans and Democrats, during their investigation into the 2020 election. 
“Mr. Smith and the Biden-Harris DOJ barely considered the Constitution as they seized these records of Congressional Republicans — and to the extent that they did, subject matter experts within DOJ warned that their subpoenas might be unconstitutional,” Jordan wrote to Blanche
Reacting to the news of the criminal referral, Trump questioned on Truth Social, “Justice at last???”
The records appear to indicate that Smith’s team bypassed a Justice Department “Filter Team” that had been established to review potentially privileged communications before investigators could access them.
Jordan said that the revelations appear to conflict with what Smith said during a December 2025 deposition when he told lawmakers that he did not request to see the content of lawmakers&#8217; text messages. Smith claimed he only asked for data on information about the timing and where the texts were going. Jordan said that Smith could be prosecuted for making false statements to Congress based on this testimony. 
“In light of the new information detailing that Mr. Smith’s team did have access to content of Members’ text messages and the fact that Mr. Smith made false statements regarding this information during his deposition, suggests that he willingly and knowingly made false representations to the Committee,&#8221; Jordan said. 
Smith has <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5984841-jordan-recommends-jack-smith-charges/?email=f6b514743a4c4be03b373e82e3096223711c5295&amp;emaila=495f8e0f1d79a16dce6ab880852eca0d&amp;emailb=6c5fed0ae73f12e322cea84f2bd830b09416e6d9633edaee8bac92b31c351a88&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=7.22.26%20CT%20Breaking-Jordan-Smith">disputed</a> accusations he lied to lawmakers, with his lawyers saying that he was unimpeachably truthful” and accused Jordan of pushing an “unprecedented theory that Mr. Smith provided false testimony not because of what he said, but because of what he did not say.” 
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, argued that Smith was forthcoming because the texts involving the 44 lawmakers were obtained through requests to the National Archives, not subpoenas. He said that Jordan went after Smith “for not reading the minds of congressional investigators and for not volunteering information they didn&#8217;t ask for.”

Former US Special Counsel Jack Smith Testifies Before House Judiciary Committee

Jack Smith Could Be In Trouble After Latest Revelation On Lawmaker Texts

2020 Election

Department of Justice

Donald Trump

House Judiciary Committee

Jack Smith

Jim Jordan

Republicans

Spying

Todd Blanche

WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump claimed Thursday night that newly declassified intelligence documents show China meddled in the 2020 presidential election, purposefully seeking to prevent his re-election.
From the White House East Room, Trump announced the release of documents that he said detail a years-long Chinese effort to interfere in the 2020 election, as well as an alleged cover-up by intelligence agencies.
&#8220;Newly declassified documents show that over a period of years starting during the 2020 election cycle, the People’s Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history — resulting in China’s illicit acquisition of 220 million U.S. voter files,&#8221; the president said.
&#8220;That information includes names, addresses, phone numbers, political party preferences, and other sensitive data that would be needed to register to vote, and engage in other nefarious activities,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;This data loss presents an unprecedented election security nightmare. The intelligence even shows that China assigned a data exploitation unit specifically to this new project.&#8221;
Trump said U.S. intelligence agencies worked to &#8220;actively suppress and downplay information about the extent of China’s sinister election meddling—covering it up from both the President and the American People.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1137367" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-accuses-china-of-meddling-in-2020-election/president-trump-addresses-the-nation-from-the-east-room-of-the-white-house" rel="attachment wp-att-1137367"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1137367" class="wp-image-1137367 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787606.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the East Room of the White House on July 16, 2026 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Saul Loeb/Pool &#8211; Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;U.S. spy agencies began learning about the compromise of voter registration files in 2020, when they discovered that tens of millions of voters’ data in 18 states had been bought, stolen, or hacked by China,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Yet those responsible for sounding the alarm instead kept the information hidden. They did not disclose it to me as president, and to the best of our knowledge, they did not inform Congress.&#8221;
Trump bashed members of the intelligence community for allegedly keeping the information hidden, pointing out that he was repeatedly told, “This is the most secure election in the history of our country.”
&#8220;The cover-up of this colossal security breach is even more disturbing in light of additional information showing that China engaged in other election-related activities to undermine my first administration and our 2020 campaign,&#8221; he added. &#8220;They did not want Donald Trump to win, and for good reason.&#8221;
According to Trump, the new documents show that the CIA explicitly stated that in mid-2018, the Chinese Communist Party had adopted a policy to leverage any domestic and foreign elements opposed to Trump in an effort to reduce his support, force his resignation, or prevent his re-election.
&#8220;Also in mid-2018,&#8221; Trump said, quoting the newly released documents, &#8220;China was working to influence the results of the U.S. mid-term elections, and later, the results of the 2020 Presidential Elections. Separately, in mid-2019, the Chinese Government’s strategy against the United States was focused on undermining domestic confidence in the U.S. president.”
Strategies included using Chinese contracts with major U.S. companies to influence American business leaders to turn against him, Trump said. He further claimed the Chinese government sought to identify American journalists who were already covering him negatively and pay them &#8220;large sums of money&#8221; to write even more negative stories. It is unclear if such payments occurred.
He quoted the intelligence documents as stating: &#8220;The Chinese government wanted the U.S. president to lose the next election.”
<div id="attachment_1137365" style="width: 884px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-accuses-china-of-meddling-in-2020-election/us-politics-trump-232" rel="attachment wp-att-1137365"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1137365" class="wp-image-1137365 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787371-874x576.jpg" alt="" width="874" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787371-874x576.jpg 874w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787371-300x198.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787371-768x506.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285787371.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 874px) 100vw, 874px" /></a>Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche (R) and US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick attend an address to the nation by the US president in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on July 16, 2026. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;And the reason they wanted me to lose is because they knew I was wise to them, charged them billions of dollars’ worth of tariffs, and built the strongest military anywhere in the world,&#8221; the president added. &#8220;These are exact quotes from CIA reporting—the name of the person doing the quote is under review.&#8221;
&#8220;But it gets even worse,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Raw intelligence obtained by the FBI in 2020, yet buried by rogue bureaucrats, stated that China’s activities even included an attempt to manufacture illegal ballots for Joe Biden. Documents show that during this period, dozens of significant CIA and NSA reports about China’s election targeting were kept out of the Presidential Daily Briefing.&#8221;
Trump described an email between intelligence analysts in which they allegedly admitted they had &#8220;deliberately massaged&#8221; the Presidential Daily Briefing email to withhold information about Chinese activities related to the election. He also cited another official inside the FBI who allegedly wrote that she was running a &#8220;shadow government&#8221; to keep intelligence about China&#8217;s election meddling from the public.
&#8220;Other officials who witnessed such efforts perceived the motivations to be blatantly political,&#8221; the president said. &#8220;Recently, we found significant numbers of burn bags, information given by President Barack Hussein Obama to be burned. These bags were supposed to be incinerated, but it never happened. We believe this was not done purposely, but rather through incompetence.&#8221;
Calling the findings &#8220;stunning,&#8221; Trump called on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department, the FBI, and the CIA to investigate how and why this &#8220;crucial information was hidden&#8221; and to prosecute those involved in the alleged cover-up.

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Trump Accuses China Of Meddling In 2020 Election

China

A Thursday night speech from President Donald Trump on “free and fair elections” may not be broadcast on any of the major channels. 
The network television stations — ABC, NBC, and CBS — have not yet committed to airing the primetime speech. The speech, expected to focus on election integrity, is set for 9:00 p.m. EST and will be streamed by The Daily Wire and across the White House social media channels. 
No adjustments to the channel&#8217;s primetime <a href="https://www.tvinsider.com/network/cbs/schedule/">schedules</a> have been made yet, and representatives from the networks have not commented on their plans when asked by media outlets, including The Daily Wire. 
Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/16/trump-speech-elections-networks?utm_source=chatgpt.com">reported</a> that officials from the networks “declined to comment” when asked if they would broadcast the speech, while Status reporter Natalie Korach reported that officials had yet to “divulge their coverage plans” for the speech. The Daily Wire reached out to representatives from the networks for comment. 
Trump said earlier this week that his speech would focus on “free and fair elections.” 
&#8220;It&#8217;s really, really big news, and our country has to shape up. That&#8217;s what we&#8217;re going to be talking about Thursday,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t get bigger because without free and fair elections, you don&#8217;t have a country.&#8221;
While various reports have suggested that the speech could focus on alleged election fraud in Georgia or Chinese election interference, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt kept the topic of the speech broad when asked by Axios. 
&#8220;President Trump will deliver a major address to the nation on protecting the integrity of our elections. We encourage every American to watch the president&#8217;s speech,” she said. 
The speech comes as Trump has repeatedly pushed Republicans in Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require photo ID to vote in federal elections.
MS Now reported that Trump plans to discuss newly declassified intelligence reports on foreign efforts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election. The White House would not confirm the report, referring The Daily Wire to Trump’s public remarks.
Washington Reporter journalist Matthew Foldi reported, citing “a well-placed source in Georgia,” that Trump could declare that Georgia Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock “are illegitimate because of fraud.”
Trump and the broadcast channels have fought for years, and the president has sued both CBS and ABC News. 
A lawsuit against CBS over its selective editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris resulted in a $16 million settlement for Trump. The president was also paid $16 million to settle a defamation lawsuit against ABC over comments by host George Stephanopoulos.

President Trump Participates In A Rose Garden Club Lunch

Major TV Networks Won’t Say Whether They Will Broadcast Trump’s Primetime Speech

Where Will Trump's Primetime Election Integrity Speech Be Broadcast?

Election

election integrity

Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters is a free woman after being <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/01/us-news/trump-ally-tina-peters-released-from-prison-after-dem-colorado-gov-commutes-sentence-for-trying-to-overturn-2020-election/">released</a> from a Colorado correctional facility on Monday, ending a dark chapter of weaponized, partisan governance in the Centennial State. Her release comes after Colorado’s Democratic Governor Jared Polis succumbed to relentless pressure from the White House, ultimately commuting her absurdly punitive sentence.
Peters, 70, had served less than a quarter of her original nine-year sentence before Polis formally intervened. While left-wing commentators and activist state officials are busy wringing their hands over her release, the truth that the mainstream media wants to ignore is that Peters’ original punishment was never about blind justice. It was a politically motivated hit job designed to make an example out of a grandmother who dared to ask questions about the 2020 election.
Even the Colorado Court of Appeals — hardly a bastion of conservative thought — was forced to admit earlier this year that the trial court went way over the line. In April, a three-judge appellate panel completely threw out Peters’ original nine-year sentence. Why? Because the trial judge, Matthew Barrett, let his partisan TDS show, using his bench to launch a <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2026/04/02/tina-peters-appeal/">blistering, vindictive tirade</a> against Peters. Barrett openly mocked her as a &#8220;charlatan&#8221; and a &#8220;snake-oil saleswoman,&#8221; making it glaringly obvious that he wasn’t punishing her actions, but rather her First Amendment-protected speech and skepticism regarding Dominion Voting Systems.
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The appellate court rightly noted that the trial court’s nasty rhetoric went far beyond relevant considerations, effectively exposing that the lengthy prison term was a direct punishment for her refusal to bow to the establishment&#8217;s narrative.
Governor Polis, facing a masterclass in political pressure from the Trump administration — which included relocating U.S. Space Command out of Colorado and slashing federal grants — finally saw the writing on the wall. When Polis issued the commutation, he openly admitted that the nine-year sentence handed down to a first-time, non-violent offender was an &#8220;obvious outlier&#8221; and &#8220;unusually harsh.&#8221; He even pointed out the blatant double standard in his state, comparing Peters&#8217; draconian treatment to the slap-on-the-wrist probation given to former Democratic State Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis for similar charges of attempting to influence a public servant.
Predictably, the partisan Democrats who weaponized the state&#8217;s legal system against Peters are throwing a tantrum. Far-left Secretary of State Jena Griswold — the same activist who tried to kick Donald Trump off the Colorado ballot — released a <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/01/us-news/trump-ally-tina-peters-released-from-prison-after-dem-colorado-gov-commutes-sentence-for-trying-to-overturn-2020-election/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_source=twitter">statement</a> claiming Peters’ release would &#8220;embolden the election denier movement.&#8221;
But the facts speak for themselves. Tina Peters was a 70-year-old public servant with no prior record, thrown into a maximum-security prison for trying to preserve election data. The establishment wanted her broken. Instead, the system&#8217;s overreach was exposed, proving once and for all that her nine-year sentence was nothing more than a vindictive, tyrannical abuse of power.

Colorado Republican State Assembly 2026

The Election ‘Denier’ Democrats Couldn’t Keep Behind Bars

Colorado

Tina Peters

WASHINGTON— Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard plans to release findings from a number of high-profile investigations before she departs her role as President Donald Trump&#8217;s spy chief, The Daily Wire has learned.
Gabbard announced Friday that she will resign, sharing that her husband is battling “an extremely rare form of bone cancer&#8221; and that she must &#8220;step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle.” She will remain in her position until June 30, an intelligence official confirmed to The Daily Wire.
Before departing, Gabbard intends to release findings tied to investigations into Havana Syndrome, formally known as Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs), the COVID-19 pandemic, the weaponization of the federal government, the 2020 presidential election, and more, according to the official. These findings will likely be released in weekly installments over the next month.
Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Aaron Lukas will serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence following her departure, President Donald Trump announced on Friday.
“Unfortunately, after having done a great job, Tulsi Gabbard will be leaving the Administration on June 30th,&#8221; he shared. &#8220;Her wonderful husband, Abraham, has been recently diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, and she, rightfully, wants to be with him, bringing him back to good health as they currently fight a tough battle together.&#8221;
&#8220;I have no doubt he will soon be better than ever,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;Tulsi has done an incredible job, and we will miss her.&#8221;
Gabbard served 15 months in her role as Director of National Intelligence, working to transform the intelligence community and restore public trust through reforms, many declassifications, aggressive transparency, revoking <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tulsi-yanks-security-clearances-of-37-intel-officials-over-russiagate-abused-the-public-trust">security clearances of intel officials</a> who &#8220;abused public trust,&#8221; ditching DEI programs, and targeting foreign terrorist organizations.
A second intelligence official told The Daily Wire that Gabbard oversaw the declassification of more than 500,000 pages of previously withheld government records as of May 2026. Her &#8220;ODNI 2.0&#8221; restructuring initiative also reduced agency bloat by more than 40%, saving taxpayers an estimated $700 million per year.
Her <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-tulsi-gabbard-rfk-assassination-files">declassifications included</a> records tied to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., along with files related to Amelia Earhart&#8217;s disappearance and Biden administration documents outlining the federal government&#8217;s &#8220;Strategic Implementation Plan for Countering Domestic Terrorism.&#8221;
She has also aggressively worked to highlight the truths behind the &#8220;Russia Hoax&#8221; and how President Barack Obama&#8217;s administration weaponized intelligence to undermine Trump&#8217;s 2016 election victory.
Earlier this year, Gabbard&#8217;s office announced that she had completed the largest intelligence community-wide &#8220;technology and cybersecurity modernization and investment effort&#8221; in American history.
“Over the past year, we have taken meaningful steps to begin fulfilling that responsibility through the largest IC-wide technology investment and modernization effort in history,&#8221; Gabbard said at the time. &#8220;President Trump&#8217;s Intelligence Community is moving faster and more decisively on cybersecurity modernization and investments in IT than ever before, delivering stronger defenses, greater efficiency, and real cost savings for the American people.&#8221;
The Trump administration could face an uphill battle to get another Director of National Intelligence confirmed, given that the current bickering between the president and Senate Republicans has been escalated by Trump&#8217;s endorsements against Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
In the interim, Gabbard says she is focused on ensuring a smooth transition at ODNI.
“I am fully committed to ensuring a smooth and thorough transition over the coming weeks so that you and your team experience no disruption in leadership or momentum,” she wrote in her letter to Trump.
&#8220;It has been a profound honor to serve the American people as DNI.&#8221;
WATCH:
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Gabbard Drops Mention Of Iran Uranium Enrichment In Testimony

Here’s What Tulsi Gabbard Plans To Reveal Before Leaving Office

COVID

Havana Syndrome

Tulsi Gabbard

President Donald Trump commented on the federal charges facing the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) early Friday morning, arguing that the leftist group&#8217;s potential fraud &#8220;is another Democrat Hoax&#8221; that places the 2020 election results into doubt.
Trump made the comment in a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116457972455781406">post</a> on Truth Social, marking the first time he has publicly addressed the allegations against the SPLC, which was charged earlier this week with multiple counts of wire fraud over its scheme to pay the leaders of multiple white supremacist groups in exchange for information.
&#8220;The Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the greatest political scams in American History, has been charged with FRAUD. This is another Democrat Hoax, along with Act Blue, and many others,&#8221; Trump wrote. &#8220;If it is true, the 2020 Presidential Election should be permanently wiped from the books and be of no further force or effect! Thank you for your attention to this matter.&#8221;
The SPLC, which started in the 1970s as an organization to push back against racism and segregation in the South, has been paying leaders of extremist groups for decades, according to an indictment unsealed by the Justice Department on Tuesday. The indictment states that the SPLC secretly used donor cash to pay so-called informants affiliated with racist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, over $3 million between 2014 and 2023.
The SPLC is closely aligned with Democratic Party goals and talking points and has a political action fund that almost exclusively <a href="https://www.splcactionfund.org/endorsements/">endorses</a> Democrats in state and local elections in the South.
Between 2015 and 2023, the SPLC <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lefty-anti-hate-group-paid-white-supremacist-to-plan-infamous-charlottesville-rally-indictment">paid</a> a member of a white supremacist group that planned the &#8220;Unite the Right&#8221; rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, according to the indictment. The rally, which turned deadly when a man drove his car through a crowd of counter protesters, became the main reason behind former President Joe Biden&#8217;s 2020 election campaign. Biden pointed to the rally in his campaign announcement video, pinning blame on Trump and saying, “In that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime.”
The SPLC has also engaged in a campaign to label mainstream conservatives as &#8220;extremists&#8221; and has used its influence to pressure social media companies and the federal government to censor conservative voices. The SPLC was used as a resource by the FBI to identify extremists before FBI Director Kash Patel cut the bureau’s ties with the leftist organization last year.
In his post on Friday morning, Trump also called out Democratic Party fundraising platform ActBlue, which is under scrutiny over accusations that it allowed foreign contributions in American elections. Trump maintains that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 presidential election, which Biden won by over 70 electoral votes amid major controversy over mail-in ballots and ballot harvesting methods.

Trump Hints At Major 2020 Move If SPLC Found Guilty Of Fraud

Democratic Party

Executive

Politics

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)

The FBI seized election data from Maricopa County, Arizona, as the bureau expands its investigation into suspected election tampering, Just The News <a href="https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/monfbi-secretly-seizes-election-records-arizonas-largest-county-voting">reported</a> on Sunday night.
The FBI has kept the Maricopa County record seizure under wraps, but Just The News cited &#8220;multiple people familiar&#8221; with the probe who said that FBI agents are receiving gigabytes worth of data through a grand jury subpoena. The investigation into Maricopa County election records comes just a month after the FBI <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-raids-fulton-county-office-as-part-of-2020-election-interference-probe">raided</a> an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, as part of a 2020 election interference probe.
President Donald Trump celebrated the report of the FBI election data seizure, <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116199384958218035">writing</a> on Truth Social Monday morning, &#8220;Great!!!&#8221;
The Daily Wire reached out to the FBI for comment.
Trump continues to push for stronger election laws, including voter ID requirements and more restrictions on mail-in ballots, across the country as the 2026 midterms near. Maricopa County was scrutinized following Trump&#8217;s 2020 election loss to former President Joe Biden over allegations that hundreds of thousands of ballots were illegally counted.
After the 2020 election, the Republican-controlled Arizona Senate investigated Maricopa County&#8217;s ballot-counting process and found that more than 200,000 ballots were counted without being reviewed, despite containing mismatched signatures. Then, in 2024, election observers filed a report after noticing blank and filled-out absentee ballots in the same warehouse on election night, Just The News reported.
A Republican and a Democrat observer also included photos in their report, which showed heavily guarded absentee ballots. While that report has not been released to the public, Just The News&#8217; sources said it was one of the reasons for the subpoena, which authorized the FBI to obtain Maricopa County election data.
Maricopa County, which surrounds Phoenix, has played a pivotal role in determining the state&#8217;s outcome and its 11 electoral votes in recent elections. Trump won the county in his first presidential race in 2016 and then again in 2024, but Trump lost Maricopa County and Arizona to Biden in the contentious 2020 election.
Trump maintains that the 2020 election was &#8220;stolen&#8221; from him as states counted an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots, and Biden won the election with a record number of votes. A Republican-led <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/arizona-republicans-release-findings-widely-panned-election-audit-2021-09-24/">audit</a> of the 2020 election results from Maricopa County found that the initial results were &#8220;within a few hundred&#8221; votes of the recount and did not change the overall result.
As Trump continues to claim that he was cheated out of the White House in 2020, he is pushing for the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act before the vital 2026 midterm elections. The legislation would require states to check voter IDs to ensure that only U.S. citizens cast ballots.
The SAVE America Act passed the House last month, but it has stalled in the Republican-led Senate. Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/front-of-the-line-trump-says-he-wont-sign-a-thing-until-save-act-hits-his-desk">said</a> on Sunday that he would not sign any other legislation until it is sent to his desk.

Maricopa County Begins Counting Ballots On Election Day In Arizona

FBI Makes New Move In Arizona County At Center Of 2020 Election Controversy

Arizona

President Donald Trump announces a new battleship fleet while clamping down on Venezuelan oil, a tangled web of schemes reveals even more fraud in Minnesota, and ballot-counting errors surface in a state that Joe Biden won by fewer than 12,000 votes. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.
It’s Tuesday, December 23, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below or on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251223-member-exclusive?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Daily Wire</a>:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump’s Show Of Force In Caribbean</h2>
Amid a massive naval buildup in the Caribbean, President Trump announced new efforts to crack down on Venezuela’s socialist regime. The Coast Guard and Navy have seized two “dark fleet” tankers used by Venezuela to ship its oil under other countries’ flags. The additional pressure targets Venezuela’s primary source of funding–the sale of its oil internationally. More broadly, the True administration says the crackdown is intended to send a <a href="https://x.com/RichSementa/status/2003125034982731821?s=20">message</a> to the rest of the world, not just Venezuela, that the illegal activity such as that participated in by Maduro against the United States will not be tolerated.
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">‘Industrial-Scale Fraud’ In Minnesota</h2>
Stunning new details have surfaced in Minnesota’s sprawling fraud scandal, which is largely tied to the state’s Somali community. Federal prosecutor Joseph Thompson revealed in a shocking press conference that at least $9 billion of taxpayer money could have been stolen in an “industrial-scale fraud” operation. There were 14 taxpayer-funded programs in particular that have been rife with fraud since 2018. Those programs cost $18 billion dollars, and Thompson said it’s possible that half of that, or more, could have been fraudulently claimed. Fraud has been particularly bad in Minnesota, despite some politicians in the state trying to downplay the scandal. 
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Fulton County Admits It Broke Election Rules In 2020</h2>
Election officials in Georgia say that Fulton County violated state election rules when it certified some 315,000 ballots in the 2020 election. The issue came over tabulation tapes and &#8220;zero&#8221; tapes. State election rules say these tapes have to be signed by election workers to certify their authenticity, but for most of the polls across Fulton County, the tapes weren’t signed. Those tapes account for essentially every early in-person vote cast in Fulton County in 2020–about 315,000 in total. County officials essentially admitted to the mistake in a December 9 Georgia State Election Board meeting, <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2025/12/17/fulton-county-we-dont-dispute-315000-votes-lacking-poll-workers-signatures-were-counted-in-2020/">the Federalist reported</a>.

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Morning Brief: Trump Squeezes Venezuela, Even More Minnesota Fraud, And Fulton County’s 2020 Problem

Georgia

Minnesota

Morning Wire

Nicolas Maduro

Venezuela

The prosecution dropped the Georgia 2020 election interference case against President Donald Trump on Wednesday, saying it was no longer realistic to continue pursuing it.
In a filing in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia, Prosecuting Attorneys&#8217; Council Director Peter Skandalakis said that he was dropping the case against Trump and his co-defendants “to serve the interests of justice and promote judicial finality.”
The filing brings an end to a lengthy legal saga that included Trump’s iconic mugshot from the Fulton County Jail to the removal of District Attorney Fani Willis from the case over allegations that she improperly appointed her ex-boyfriend as a special prosecutor to investigate it. Skandalakis took over the prosecution after Willis was disqualified, and the state Supreme Court blocked her appeal to have the case returned. 
The presiding judge approved the motion.
&#8220;The case is hereby dismissed in its entirety,&#8221; Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote.
Trump celebrated the decision on Truth Social, saying it was the end of another &#8220;witch hunt&#8221; against him. 
&#8220;LAW and JUSTICE have prevailed in the Great State of Georgia, as the corrupt Fani Willis Witch Hunt against me, and other Great American Patriots, has been DISMISSED in its entirety. This Illegal, Unconstitutional, and unAmerican Hoax was perpetrated against our Nation by Fani and her Low I.Q. Lover, Nathan Wade, at the direction of Crooked Joe Biden and his &#8216;Handlers,'&#8221; he wrote.
In a briefing attached to the motion to dismiss, Skandalakis explained in detail his decision to drop the charges. 
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“As a former elected official who ran as both a Democrat and a Republican and now is the Executive Director of a non-partisan agency, this decision is not guided by a desire to advance an agenda but is based on my beliefs and understanding of the law,” he said. “I begin the process of evaluating this case with a basic truth: It is not illegal to question or challenge election results. Our nation’s foundational principles of free speech and electoral scrutiny are rooted in this very freedom.&#8221;
Skandalakis said he believed the case would be better suited for federal court than for state court. 
“There is no realistic prospect that a sitting President will be compelled to appear in Georgia to stand trial on the allegations in this indictment. Donald J. Trump’s current term as President of the United States of America does not expire until January 20, 2029; by that point, eight years will have elapsed since the phone call at issue,” he wrote. 
He also said that it would be “illogical and unduly burdensome and costly” for Fulton County to try to prosecute Trump’s co-defendants without Trump as well. This includes figures such as Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark.

US-POLITICS-HOLIDAY-THANKSGIVING-TURKEY-TRUMP

CASE DISMISSED: Georgia Prosecutor Who Took Over Fani Willis Case Drops Charges Against Trump

Courts

Fani Willis

Republican senators caught up in Jack Smith’s phone-record seizures may soon get their chance to strike back thanks to a provision quietly tucked into a bill the Senate passed Monday night.
The provision was included in a bill that funded the legislative branch and was part of the package passed by the Senate to end the government shutdown. It would allow senators to sue for damages if the government accessed their records without their knowledge. 
“Any senator whose Senate data, or the Senate data of whose Senate office, has been acquired, subpoenaed, searched, accessed, or disclosed in violation of this section may bring a civil action against the United States if the violation was committed by an officer, employee, or agent of the United States or of any federal department or agency,” the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hr5371/BILLS-119hr5371eas.pdf">bill </a>says. 
The provision applies when their Senate data was “acquired, subpoenaed, searched, accessed, or disclosed pursuant to a search, seizure, or demand for information without notice being provided.”
Senators could be entitled to up to $500,000 per violation, and they would have five years from the date of learning of the infraction to bring a suit. 
“No officer, employee, or agent of the United States or of any Federal department or agency shall be entitled to assert any form of absolute or qualified immunity as a defense to liability,” the provision adds. 
If a senator is under criminal investigation and there’s concern about evidence being destroyed or the senator fleeing, officials can delay notification, but only for 60 days.
The provision comes after Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/beyond-watergate-bidens-fbi-snooped-on-phone-records-from-gop-lawmakers-in-trump-investigation">revealed</a> that he had uncovered evidence that the FBI analyzed the metadata of phone calls from several Republicans in Congress, including Sens. Marsha Blackburn (TN), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Ron Johnson (WI), Tommy Tuberville (AL), Dan Sullivan (AK), Josh Hawley (MO) Bill Hagerty (TN), Lindsey Graham (SC), and Rep. Mike Kelly (PA).
The FBI took those actions as part of Smith’s “Arctic Frost” investigation, which led to President Donald Trump being charged in Washington, D.C., over accusations that he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The Biden administration also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-justice-department-took-unprecedented-action-against-trump-bondi-reveals">turned over</a> Trump&#8217;s government-issued phone to Smith as part of the investigation and subpoenaed his personal phone records. 
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) told POLITICO that Senator Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) included the provision in the bill. 
“Leader Thune inserted that in the bill to provide real teeth to the prohibition on the Department of Justice targeting senators,” Cruz <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/10/john-thune-government-funding-phone-records-seizure-00646094">said</a>.
In a series of 60-40 votes on Monday night, the Senate passed a package of spending bills to end the government shutdown that now heads to the House. The package is expected to end the longest government shutdown in history and pass after enough Democrats crossed the aisle to give the GOP-led Senate the 60 votes needed for approval.

US Special Counsel Jack Smith Statement

Shutdown Deal Packs A Surprise As Republicans Strike Back After Phone Snooping

Arctic Frost

Congress

Government Shutdown

John Thune

Senate

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday that the Biden administration turned over President Donald Trump’s government phone to Jack Smith as he snooped through the president’s phone records as part of his wide-reaching investigation into the 2020 presidential election.
Bondi made the announcement on X, confirming previous revelations from Senate Republicans that the FBI seized Trump&#8217;s government-issued phone as part of Smith’s Arctic Frost investigation. That investigation, supposedly into Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, targeted hundreds of Republicans in Congress and Trump allies outside of Capitol Hill.
“During the Arctic Frost Investigation, we found that Special Counsel seized President Trump’s government-issued phone. This means the Biden Administration turned over President Trump’s phone to Special Counsel—an UNPRECEDENTED action,” Bondi <a href="https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/1985754381216624949">said</a>. “In addition, Special Counsel subpoenaed all of President Trump’s PERSONAL phone records.”
“We can never again allow this kind of government weaponization in America,” Bondi added. “I submitted these new documents to our partners on Capitol Hill. I commend our team at the FBI for working diligently to expose this.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt commented more on the revelation during Tuesday’s press briefing.
&#8220;I think this is just further evidence of the egregious overreach and weaponization of government that took place under the previous White House against then former president and now President Donald J. Trump. It was a clear effort by the Biden White House and the Biden DOJ to go after the president and this is just further evidence of that.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> on the Biden White House turning over President Trump’s phone records to Jack Smith as part of Arctic Frost:
&#8220;I think this is just further evidence of the egregious overreach and weaponization of government that took place under the previous White House against… <a href="https://t.co/OEZmOCXtJj">https://t.co/OEZmOCXtJj</a> <a href="https://t.co/ozajWcNjEn">pic.twitter.com/ozajWcNjEn</a>
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1985783717340590170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
According to a March 2025 <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_johnson_to_doj_fbi_-_arctic_frost_updates.pdf">letter</a> from Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), the FBI first began the process of seizing Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence’s phones in April 2022 before they gained access to them and entered them as evidence in May 2022.
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), one of the GOP senators who was targeted in the probe, said the news should enrage every American.
“This information should outrage every American,” she <a href="https://x.com/MarshaBlackburn/status/1985804405871153172">said</a>. “This is one of the worst examples of government weaponization in American history.”
Blackburn, alongside Sens. Cynthia Lummis (WY), Ron Johnson (WI), Tommy Tuberville (AL), Dan Sullivan (AK), Josh Hawley (MO), Bill Hagerty (TN), Lindsey Graham (SC), and Rep. Mike Kelly (PA), all had their phone metadata analyzed by the FBI as part of Arctic Frost.

Former President Donald Trump Indicted In January 6 Investigation

Biden’s Justice Department Took ‘Unprecedented Action’ Against Trump, Bondi Reveals

General

Pam Bondi

U.S.

The FBI has been caught rifling through the phone records of nearly a dozen Republican members of Congress — all swept up in special counsel Jack Smith’s relentless pursuit of President Donald Trump.
Records released by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Monday show that the FBI analyzed the metadata of phone calls from Sens. Marsha Blackburn (TN), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Ron Johnson (WI), Tommy Tuberville (AL), Dan Sullivan (AK), Josh Hawley (MO) Bill Hagerty (TN), Lindsey Graham (SC), and Rep. Mike Kelly (PA.). The records were part of Smith’s “Arctic Frost” investigation, which led to Trump being charged in Washington, D.C., over accusations that he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election. 
“This document shows the Biden FBI spied on 8 of my Republican Senate colleagues during its Arctic Frost investigation into ‘election conspiracy.’ Arctic Frost later became Jack Smith&#8217;s elector case against Trump,” Grassley posed on X. “BIDEN FBI WEAPONIZATION = WORSE THAN WATERGATE.”
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This document shows the Biden FBI spied on 8 of my Republican Senate colleagues during its Arctic Frost investigation into &#8220;election conspiracy&#8221; Arctic Frost later became Jack Smith&#8217;s elector case against Trump
BIDEN FBI WEAPONIZATION = WORSE THAN WATERGATE <a href="https://t.co/V2JyiVlX48">pic.twitter.com/V2JyiVlX48</a>
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChuckGrassley/status/1975297712712262100?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The document Grassley shared showed that the FBI obtained the toll data of the GOP lawmakers&#8217; calls, meaning they gathered basic information, such as the date and time of certain phone calls. The agency did not monitor the content of the communications, the senators said. 
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FBI Director Kash Patel stated on Tuesday that agents had been fired as a result of the revelations and noted that the CR-15 squad, a public corruption unit within the FBI that assisted Smith’s investigation, had been disbanded. 
“Transparency is important and accountability is critical. We promised both, and this is what promises kept looks like. This FBI is delivering,” Patel <a href="https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1975506285656207664">said</a>. “As a result of our latest disclosure about the baseless monitoring of members of Congress by the prior leadership team of the FBI, we have already taken the following actions: We terminated employees, we abolished the weaponized CR-15 squad, and we initiated an ongoing investigation with more accountability measures ahead.”
President Donald Trump slammed Smith in a Tuesday morning post on Truth Social.
&#8220;Deranged Jack Smith got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. A real sleazebag!!!&#8221; he <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115332808536869094">wrote</a>.
Sen. Johnson <a href="https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1975506285656207664">said</a> the revelation did not &#8220;surprise&#8221; him, but added that it should “shock every American.” He said he was briefed by FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino on the FBI’s actions. 
“We were surveilled simply for being Republicans,” he said. “What the Biden Administration has done is an outrageous abuse of power — it is blatant political persecution. Those responsible must be held fully accountable.”
Sen. Hawley <a href="https://x.com/HawleyMO/status/1975305232071487986">called</a> for a full investigation into the FBI&#8217;s handling of the tracking.
“This is an abuse of power beyond Watergate, beyond J. Edgar Hoover, one that directly strikes at the Constitution, the separation of powers, and the First Amendment,” he said. “We need a full investigation of all involved: who knew about it, who ordered it, and who approved it.”

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith addresses reporters after his grand jury has issued more indictments of former President Donald Trump on August 01 in Washington, DC.

‘Beyond Watergate’: Biden’s FBI Snooped On Phone Records From GOP Lawmakers In Trump Investigation

Chuck Grassley

kash patel

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