Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, clearing a major hurdle in his bid to become the nation&#8217;s permanent attorney general after senators voted along party lines, 12-10, to send his nomination to the full Senate.
The committee vote came after weeks of scrutiny over Blanche&#8217;s tenure as acting attorney general and his previous role as President Donald Trump&#8217;s personal defense attorney. Senate Republicans are now expected to move toward a confirmation vote before lawmakers leave Washington for the August recess. 
A Senate Republican source told The Daily Wire that leadership&#8217;s goal is to hold a confirmation vote before senators depart Washington later this week.
The nomination drew heightened attention in recent weeks as several Republican senators sought additional assurances from Blanche on issues ranging from the Justice Department&#8217;s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation to the administration&#8217;s abandoned &#8220;Anti-Weaponization Fund.&#8221;
Republican Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Cornyn (R-TX), who had previously withheld their support while negotiating with the Justice Department over the fund, ultimately voted to advance Blanche after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/key-gop-holdouts-agree-to-back-todd-blanche-for-attorney-general">receiving written commitments</a> that the department would formally rescind the Anti-Weaponization Fund. Tillis had also pressed Blanche to meet personally with victims connected to Jeffrey Epstein and work with lawmakers to ensure the controversial fund could not be revived.
Cornyn said the agreement provided the assurances he had been seeking. 
&#8220;They&#8217;ve been consistent about their assertion on behalf of the United States of America that the weaponization fund is dead, and of course I expect them to live up to that in any future litigation,&#8221; Cornyn said. &#8220;Given this agreement with Mr. Blanche, I expect the department to live up to this in future litigation, and I will vote to advance him out of the committee today.&#8221; Cornyn also argued that confirming a permanent attorney general would provide stability for the Justice Department.
Democrats remained unanimously opposed to Blanche&#8217;s nomination, arguing he would be unwilling to act independently from President Donald Trump. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said Blanche had failed to demonstrate he would be willing to stand up to the president when necessary. 
&#8220;Throughout the decades since the Watergate crisis, both parties have consistently recognized the importance of an attorney general who can and will stand up to the president and say no, and serve as an attorney general in defense of the Constitution, not just the agenda of any one president,&#8221; Coons said. &#8220;Will acting Attorney General Blanche meet that standard? We have clear evidence he will not.&#8221;
Coons also argued that Blanche&#8217;s agreement to eliminate the Anti-Weaponization Fund was insufficient, saying nothing would prevent him from reinstating it after confirmation.
The committee&#8217;s top Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), focused much of his criticism on the Justice Department&#8217;s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Durbin accused Blanche of overseeing efforts to review the files for references to Trump and criticized the department&#8217;s release of documents containing identifying information about Epstein survivors while, he argued, shielding powerful associates. 
&#8220;Mr. Blanche refused to tell me who gave this order, but former Attorney General Bondi made it clear, saying Blanche was in charge of the Epstein files,&#8221; Durbin said. Durbin also criticized Blanche&#8217;s recent meeting with Epstein survivors, calling it a &#8220;box-checking exercise&#8221; and accusing him of refusing to pursue investigative leads suggested by the victims.
Blanche has consistently defended the department&#8217;s handling of the Epstein investigation, arguing the Justice Department has been transparent and remains committed to prosecuting anyone found to have committed crimes connected to Epstein.
Earlier in the confirmation process, Blanche told lawmakers: &#8220;We have been extraordinarily transparent. There are no closed investigations. If we learn today, if we learn next week, if we learn next month that there&#8217;s an individual who we can investigate, indict, and prosecute out of the Epstein files, you better believe that we will.&#8221;
Republicans also questioned Blanche during his confirmation process on issues including mail-order abortion litigation and the Justice Department&#8217;s review of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-republican-senators-make-big-demand-of-todd-blanche-ahead-of-confirmation-vote">D.C. Five case</a> involving five aborted babies recovered from a Washington abortion clinic in 2022.
Earlier this month, more than 50 Republican lawmakers urged Blanche to investigate whether the babies were victims of illegal partial-birth abortions or infanticide. The Justice Department has since said it is reviewing the matter and will investigate any credible allegations of criminal conduct.
President Trump strongly backed Blanche&#8217;s nomination throughout the confirmation process, praising his performance as acting attorney general. &#8220;Todd has done a PHENOMENAL job,&#8221; Trump wrote on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116919780125305335">Truth Social.</a> &#8220;He is tough, brilliant, and 100% LOYAL to our Constitution, and the American People.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Todd Blanche Advances To Full Senate Confirmation Vote After Heated Hearing

Abortion

Attorney General

Department of Justice

Donald Trump

Epstein Files

Jeffrey Epstein

John Cornyn

Politics

Senate

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Thom Tillis

Todd Blanche

Trump Administration

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche officially rescinded a proposed $1.8 billion fund intended to compensate the targets of government weaponization opposed by some Republican senators. 
Blanche <a href="https://x.com/DAGToddBlanche/status/2084114427813437897/photo/2">issued</a> a document on Sunday stipulating that the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund created in May 2026 is “rescinded and shall have no force or effect.” The decision could pave the way for his confirmation as permanent head of the Justice Department after multiple Republican senators said they would not support his nomination until the fund was discontinued.
“My team and I have met with committee members and Senators over the past several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions,” Blanche said. “We have enjoyed good faith discussions, and as a result issue the following order and update with regard to the May IRS settlement. The Department always welcomes and appreciates productive engagement with all members of Congress.”
Outgoing Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) have stood in the way of Blanche’s confirmation, saying they will not vote to advance him until the fund is “dead.” Blanche previously told the senators there was no plan to move forward with the fund. 
Both Cornyn and Tillis increasingly feuded with President Donald Trump after the president signaled that he did want them back in the Senate for another term. Tillis decided not to run for re-election after Trump declined to endorse him, and the president endorsed Ken Paxton in the Texas GOP primary. The pair sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is set to vote on Blanche’s nomination on Tuesday.
&#8220;Todd Blanche is a very, very good man, and he shouldn&#8217;t be in the middle of this. He should get approved because you will never get anybody like him,&#8221; Trump said last week. &#8220;And to make him a pawn in this whole thing &#8230; this is being done by a senator [Cornyn], and I don&#8217;t really blame him to be honest with you. &#8230; The man that lost, the man that I didn&#8217;t endorse has become very angry, and that&#8217;s okay.&#8221;
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-threatens-to-pull-blanche-nomination-until-problematic-gop-senators-depart?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Threatens+To+Pull+Blanche+Nomination+Until+Problematic+GOP+Senators+Depart">floated</a> the idea last week of yanking Blanche’s nomination until Cornyn and Tillis are out of office. 
“Remember, both Cornyn and Tillis voted for Merrick Garland, and others, too numerous to mention,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd’s name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office.” 
Over the weekend, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117020029291674756">said</a> that if Blanche was not confirmed, he would continue to “push hard to get the Anti-Weaponization Bill, which takes care of those who have been so badly treated by the Crooked Joe Biden (and Obuma!) Administration.”
Responding to Trump’s post, Tillis <a href="https://x.com/SenThomTillis/status/2083528424199537032">said</a> that the president “clearly intends to resurrect the payout pot for punks either by inappropriately establishing another bogus fund or pushing Congress to vote for a bill that the majority of Republicans in the Senate would be against.”
Tillis said he considered Blanche “qualified for the job” but would not vote to move him forward over the weaponization fund.

Attorney General Nominee Todd Blanche Meets With Senators On Capitol Hill

Todd Blanche Makes Move To Secure Votes From Two GOP Holdouts

Republicans

Weaponization

For five years, Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress something that wasn&#8217;t true. In May 2021, under oath, he declared that the “NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.&#8221; When Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) pressed him again and warned him plainly about the legal stakes of lying to Congress, Fauci doubled down, insisting he had &#8220;never lied before the Congress&#8221; and would not retract the statement.
This was a lie. A 2023 Government Accountability Office review found that the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Wuhan University did, in fact, receive National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for research that spliced bat coronaviruses with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) strains to create hybrid viruses. In 2024, NIH&#8217;s own principal deputy director admitted to Congress that the U.S. government funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan. And a 2020 email written by Fauci himself, months before his sworn denial, shows he privately understood that &#8220;scientists in Wuhan University are known to have been working on gain-of-function experiments.&#8221;
He knew. He said otherwise under oath anyway. That is the textbook definition of federal perjury.
So why didn&#8217;t the Trump Justice Department bring charges against him?
The statute of limitations for charging Fauci for his perjurious 2021 testimony expired on May 11, 2026, and nothing happened.
This is especially inexcusable now, with Fauci&#8217;s newly released emails and &#8220;diary&#8221; entries laying bare a pattern of deception that shaped public health policy and wrought consequences the country is still living with.
That Fauci received a sweeping preemptive pardon from President Joe Biden in 2025 is no excuse. In fact, Fauci’s pardon is precisely why the Trump DOJ should have pursued this case.
Though preemptive presidential pardons for crimes not yet charged or investigated have long been upheld, the sweeping nature of Biden’s pardon for Fauci (and the many other allies and family members who received such immunity as Biden was walking out the door) is truly unprecedented. It declared Fauci immune from prosecution for any federal offenses committed between January 1, 2014 and January 19, 2025 — an 11-year window that covers virtually anything related to his government role during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, the start of this pardon period just so happens to coincide with Fauci’s decision to keep funding gain-of-function-adjacent research in China, even though a federal pause on such research had already been in place.
Biden&#8217;s pardon for Fauci did not identify a crime. It didn&#8217;t name an offense, a case, or even a specific act. It covered, in essence, whatever Fauci &#8220;may have committed&#8221; across 11 years of government service — a category so open-ended that neither Fauci, nor Biden, nor anyone else could say what it actually forgives.
Every prior preemptive pardon at least gestured toward a known controversy. President Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon, for example, was understood to be about Watergate. Likewise, President Jimmy Carter’s preemptive pardon of Vietnam War draft evaders was tied to one specific, named offense category: violations of the Military Selective Service Act.
Biden&#8217;s pardon of Fauci names no scandal, no incident, no allegation at all. It simply immunizes him from whatever he &#8220;may have committed&#8221; over 11 years and across four separate government roles.
Therein lies the problem. As vast as the presidential pardon power may be, one universally accepted boundary is that a president cannot pardon a future crime, because until an act occurs, there is no &#8220;offense against the United States&#8221; to forgive — only a speculation.
But that logic doesn&#8217;t stop at future crimes. If a pardon cannot cover an act because it is merely speculative and unidentified, the same must be true of an unidentified past act. Biden did not pardon Fauci for a specific, named offense arising from a known set of facts. He pardoned him for whatever might turn out to have happened — a category of conduct nobody had investigated, charged, or even fully described, spanning a decade. That is not meaningfully different from pardoning a future crime.
By charging Fauci with perjury, the Trump DOJ would have done two things at once: forced the judiciary to finally reckon with just how far the pardon power really extends, and made clear that accountability still exists for the public official most responsible for the harm the pandemic inflicted.
Perhaps the DOJ did not want to go down that road because President Trump himself sees value in preserving the option of sweeping preemptive immunity for his own family and allies before he leaves office. Given the lawfare campaign Democrats have already waged against him, that instinct is understandable.
But if that&#8217;s the case, the Trump DOJ owes the country a second-best option: full cooperation with everyone else still trying to hold Fauci accountable, including <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/29/florida-attorney-general-fauci-probe-covid-claims-01015441">state prosecutors</a>, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5997184-paul-plans-contempt-vote-fauci/">congressional Republicans</a>, and the families <a href="https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/health/big-slap-face-moms-liberty-activist-suggests-lawsuit-families-against-fauci?utm_source=mux&amp;utm_medium=social-media&amp;utm_campaign=social-media-autopost">pursuing civil suits</a> of their own.
Fauci belongs behind bars. How he gets there matters far less than whether he finally does.
***
Kaylee McGhee White is a Fox News contributor and the editor-in-chief of Independent Women Features, the grassroots storytelling arm of Independent Women.

President Joe Biden Omicron variant

Can American Justice Beat Biden’s Fauci Pardon?

Anthony Fauci

COVID

DW Opinion

fauci diaries

Perjury

President Trump

Presidential Pardon

The Trump administration will pay seven-figures to a Christian father whose home was raided nearly four years ago by heavily armed FBI agents as part of former President Joe Biden’s crackdown on peaceful pro-life protesters. 
The settlement between pro-life advocate Paul Vaughn and the Justice Department is a remarkable reversal after the father of 11 once faced over a decade in prison due to the charges brought by Biden&#8217;s DOJ. The settlement was announced Tuesday by the Thomas More Society, a religious liberty law firm that represented Vaughn throughout his battle with the federal government. 
Vaughn’s Centerville, Tennessee, home was raided by gun-toting FBI agents in October 2022 over his involvement in a March 2021 protest that included praying and hymn singing at a local abortion facility. As several FBI agents corralled his children getting ready for school, other agents took Vaughn into custody in a dramatic show of force. 
“From the very moment that I was handcuffed and put in the back of the car, they showed me on their screen that it was a FACE Act violation, I knew from that moment on that it was political. But I knew something more than that,” Vaughn told The Daily Wire in an interview. “I knew that it was God telling a story, and that it wasn&#8217;t my story, and therefore, the responsibility wasn&#8217;t me. And so I trusted in Him.”
The FACE Act is a Clinton-era law used overwhelmingly against pro-life protesters if they are seen as impeding access to an abortion facility. Under Biden, prosecutors paired it with the hefty conspiracy against civil rights charge that could bring a prison term of more than 10 years. 
Pardoned alongside nearly two dozen other pro-life advocates by President Donald Trump in January 2025, Vaughn sued the government for its heavy-handed prosecution of him. The settlement includes the DOJ admitting it abused its power and concludes the suit. 
Documents <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-lifer-imprisoned-by-biden-responds-to-doj-shakeup-i-want-to-come-to-some-firing-parties?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Pro-Lifer+Imprisoned+By+Biden+Responds+To+DOJ+Shakeup%3A+%E2%80%98I+Want+To+Come+To+Some+Firing+Parties%E2%80%99">recently released</a> by the DOJ showed officials discussing the optics of arresting the defendants rather than allowing self-surrender. In one email, Biden official Sanjay Patel wrote that the “unspoken reason” the FBI was going to stage dramatic arrests rather than allow self-surrender was because “the FBI really likes to make arrests.”
Vaughn, who ended up being sentenced to six months of house arrest, said the ordeal strengthened his faith and Christian convictions. 
“The important thing that we have is we have a duty to walk humbly, to love justice, and to seek mercy,” he told The Daily Wire. “Regardless of whether there&#8217;s people trying to write injustices or whether people that are trying to persecute and cause more injustice are Christian responsibilities the same.”
Steve Crampton, a lawyer with the Thomas More Society who defended Vaughn, praised the Trump administration&#8217;s handling of Biden’s pro-life prosecutions. He noted that it would not surprise him if other settlements between pro-lifers and the Justice Department were announced in the coming months. 
He told The Daily Wire that the DOJ under Trump was “genuinely interested in trying to right the wrongs of previous administrations” and “trying to do what they can to restore some respect for the rule of law.”
The DOJ <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-biden-partnered-with-abortion-activists-to-track-and-imprison-pro-lifers?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=BREAKING%3A+How+Biden+Partnered+With+Abortion+Activists+To+Track+And+Imprison+Pro-Lifers">released emails</a> earlier this year showing how closely Biden officials worked with abortion activists to snoop on and prosecute pro-life advocates. Pro-abortion organizations provided dossiers to the Biden DOJ with personal information and pictures of pro-life activists who were not yet charged with any crimes, but were later arrested by the FBI.
&#8220;I think there&#8217;s no question that this was a politicized prosecution of Paul and the others,” Crampton added. “This was a vindictive set of prosecutions meant purely to punish and deter pro-lifers from ever going back out again.”
Crampton said that Congress needed to act to repeal the FACE Act. The House Judiciary Committee approved a repeal of the FACE Act last year, but the legislation has stalled out. 
“That is an abhorrent law, it is without constitutional support for its passage in the first place,” he said. “And it is a horrific weapon that can and probably will be used again to cudgel pro-lifers in the future if we don&#8217;t take care of it now.”
While noting that the settlement was a big win, Crampton said the Biden prosecutions reminded Americans of their need to stay vigilant about government overreach. 
“We can never go to sleep,” he said. “If we don&#8217;t watch the ones that are watching us effectively, our federal overseers, then we have no one to blame but ourselves.”

MixCollage-30-Jul-2026-06-19-AM-4498

Christian Father Who Faced Armed FBI Raid Gets Big Payout From Trump Admin

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Pro-Life Movement

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The Trump administration announced Monday that it is taking enforcement action against two public school districts accused of concealing students&#8217; gender identity information from parents, warning the districts could face lawsuits and the loss of federal funding for violating federal privacy law.
The Department of Education said it has partnered with the Justice Department to pursue enforcement against Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Maryland. It also gave Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan until August 10 to explain why similar action should not move forward. 
The investigations center on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which guarantees parents access to their children&#8217;s education records. The Trump administration argues that school policies directing staff to withhold information about a student&#8217;s gender identity or social transition from parents violate those protections.
&#8220;As a mother and a grandmother, it is unconscionable that any school district would hide the most sensitive information about children in their care from their own parents,&#8221; Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/trump-administration-cracks-down-school-districts-secretly-transitioning-students-and-hiding-it-parents">statement</a>. &#8220;This is not only an affront to basic moral principles, but also to parents&#8217; rights under federal law.&#8221;
&#8220;Today, ED and DOJ are putting districts on notice that we will use every tool available to hold them to account for this egregious behavior,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Under the Trump Administration, ED and DOJ are working together to vigorously uphold parents&#8217; federal protections, and we will work to ensure that no parent is ever kept in the dark about important matters relating to their children.&#8221;
According to the Education Department, its Student Privacy Policy Office received complaints from parents in Anne Arundel County who discovered their daughter was being referred to by male pronouns at school. The parents said they learned about the situation only after receiving an email from school staff.
When the parents sought information about what the school described as their child&#8217;s &#8220;gender transition,&#8221; the principal allegedly refused to provide details while an assistant principal declined to turn over relevant records, prompting the federal investigation. The Education Department said Anne Arundel County improperly classified information about a student&#8217;s so-called &#8220;gender identity&#8221; as confidential medical information that could not be shared with parents. The agency said those practices unlawfully prevented parents from exercising their rights under FERPA.
The action comes weeks after the same parents <a href="https://www.thebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/arundel-schools-transgender-children-policies-lawsuit-6BKCHH25O5HP7FLPPGNF7RQFWU/">filed a federal lawsuit</a> against the district with representation from America First Legal, the conservative organization founded by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. The lawsuit claims school officials socially transitioned their daughter by using a masculine name and pronouns without notifying or obtaining consent from her parents. The Education Department said it is working with the Justice Department&#8217;s Civil Rights Division to pursue enforcement against the Maryland district, including potential judicial proceedings and termination of federal funding.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the administration intends to aggressively enforce the law. &#8220;School districts that hide information from parents are violating federal law,&#8221; Dhillon said. &#8220;FERPA is not optional, and any districts that attempt to bypass or distort its requirements should expect immediate federal action.&#8221;
Additionally, the administration found Ann Arbor Public Schools&#8217; policy requiring employees to conceal a student&#8217;s &#8220;transgender status&#8221; from parents likely violates FERPA. Federal officials also questioned the district&#8217;s practice of maintaining records related to a student&#8217;s &#8220;gender identity&#8221; in a separate filing system. 
The Education Department said the cases build on a broader effort by the Trump administration to strengthen parental rights. Earlier this year, the department launched statewide investigations into policies that allegedly concealed students&#8217; &#8220;gender identity&#8221; from parents and issued a finding against the California Department of Education over the use of secret &#8220;gender support plans&#8221; and hidden student records.
In March 2025, the department sent a nationwide <a href="https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/sites/default/files/resource_document/file/Secretary_Comb_SPPO_DCL_Annual%20Notice_0.pdf">letter</a> reminding state education officials that concealing a child&#8217;s &#8220;gender identity&#8221; from parents was a priority enforcement issue under FERPA.
FERPA violations can ultimately result in the loss of federal education funding, though that penalty has historically been used sparingly.

Transgender Symbol and Pencils With The Color of Lgbt Flag

Trump Admin Takes Action Against School Districts Hiding ‘Transgender Status’ From Parents

Civil Rights

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After New Jersey officials registered roughly 6,600 non-citizens to vote, the state&#8217;s Democratic governor is refusing to hand over the records to the feds.
On Tuesday, Democratic New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said she would not cooperate with the Trump administration, which she accused of &#8220;weaponizing&#8221; such records. Sherrill revealed last week that the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission registered thousands of non-citizens to vote in an apparent error.
&#8220;As I have said, I&#8217;m not in the habit of turning over private identifying information of the citizens of New Jersey,&#8221; Sherrill said. &#8220;This federal government is weaponizing the government against individuals that disagree with them.&#8221;
&#8220;They weaponized my private data against me and my election and so I am working to protect people and their private data here in New Jersey,&#8221; she added.
The Trump administration <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-five-additional-states-failure-produce-voter-rolls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> New Jersey in February for its “failure to produce their full voter registration lists upon request.”
In light of the latest revelation, the Justice Department sent a letter to Sherrill requesting the names, dates of birth, nationalities, addresses, and registration dates and locations for the 6,600 non-citizens.
Citing a &#8220;preliminary analysis,&#8221; Sherrill said that fewer than 400 of the non-citizens who were placed on the state&#8217;s voter rolls actually cast ballots. The Justice Department asked the governor to share when and where those non-citizens voted.
Sherrill responded that New Jersey would not comply with the request, which she said had &#8220;no legal basis.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Today, I informed <a href="https://x.com/AAGDhillon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AAGDhillon</a> that New Jersey will not provide the personal information of thousands of New Jersey residents.
The request had no legal basis, and I will always protect New Jerseyans&#8217; personally identifiable information. <a href="https://t.co/MP2EPjUyso">https://t.co/MP2EPjUyso</a> <a href="https://t.co/ONdIteHS8E">pic.twitter.com/ONdIteHS8E</a>
— Governor Mikie Sherrill (@GovSherrillNJ) <a href="https://x.com/GovSherrillNJ/status/2082184704590074042?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Between June 2023 and June 2024, the non-citizens indicated their immigration status in their applications for IDs and driver’s licenses.
Ultimately, Sherrill blamed her predecessor for the purported mistake. She has also opened an investigation into the registration debacle and has instructed state officials to remove any non-citizens from the voter rolls.
The state is also working to replace the vendor responsible for implementing the system under which the error occurred.
“I want to underscore how seriously I take this matter. As a military veteran who swore an oath to defend our Constitution, and as a former federal prosecutor, I believe the integrity of our elections is fundamental to our democracy,” Sherrill said in an earlier press conference.
“I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time,” the governor said. “This failure didn’t occur under my watch, but accountability starts now.”

New Jerseyans Vote On Election Day For State’s Next Governor

New Jersey Refuses To Cooperate With Feds After Registering Thousands Of Noncitizens To Vote

Democrat

Immigration

mikie sherrill

New Jersey

Voter Registration

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is holding up and threatening to derail Todd Blanche&#8217;s nomination as U.S. attorney general over a $1.8 billion &#8220;anti-weaponization&#8221; fund, which the Justice Department says it has no plans to pursue.
The Texas Republican, fresh off a bruising primary defeat, says Thursday&#8217;s Senate Judiciary Committee vote to advance Blanche&#8217;s nomination likely won&#8217;t happen without additional guarantees from the White House.
<a href="https://x.com/LauraEWeiss16/status/2082470661281177633?s=20">Punchbowl reported</a> Wednesday that the DOJ sent Cornyn a written proposal in an effort to satisfy his demands. It did not work. 
“They know what they need to do, but they simply refuse to do it,” Cornyn <a href="https://x.com/LauraEWeiss16/status/2082475546596757684?s=20">told</a> Punchbowl, announcing he called off his scheduled meeting with Blanche.
Ahead of that now-canceled meeting, Cornyn took to social media Tuesday to draw his line in the sand: “Fake news alert: there is no &#8216;deal&#8217; on Blanche nom. They know what they have to do,” Cornyn <a href="https://x.com/JohnCornyn/status/2082141659786051682?s=20">posted</a>.
Cornyn is working with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who also serves on the Judiciary Committee, to secure additional commitments that the Justice Department will amend its settlement with President Trump to explicitly rule out a $1.8 billion &#8220;anti-weaponization&#8221; fund.
The controversy started in May, when Trump agreed to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1441086/dl?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=govdelivery">dismiss</a> his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for a formal apology and the creation of a new $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-establishes-1-776b-fund-to-combat-deep-state-weaponization">The Daily Wire</a> reported. The program would&#8217;ve compensated people who say federal authorities unfairly targeted them under the Biden administration. A separate provision of the agreement also barred the IRS from pursuing certain tax claims against Trump, his family, and their businesses. 
Only a few weeks later, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-the-gop-revolted-against-trumps-anti-weaponization-fund">Anti-Weaponization Fund was dead</a>. Clinton-appointed Judge Leonie Brinkema issued a temporary restraining order May 29, blocking the Justice Department from taking further action on the fund. Justice Department officials complied, and after tense meetings with Senate Republicans, acting Attorney General Blanche testified: “We are not moving forward with the fund, period.” 
President Trump blasted Republicans who opposed the agreement. 
“Well, Congress didn’t want it,” President Trump told The Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese from the Oval Office. “You have to talk to Congress. The Republican senators, some of them, got very weak knees. They didn’t have the stomach for the fight.”
The DOJ&#8217;s pledge to scrap the fund hasn&#8217;t satisfied Cornyn, who was supposed to meet with Blanche before Thursday&#8217;s committee vote. With all Democrats opposed, a single Republican vote against Blanche would effectively kill his nomination. 
“We need it in writing. We don’t need well-wishes or, you know, impressions,” he said, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/07/28/congress/todd-blanche-judiciary-committee-delay-01013621?nname=playbook&amp;nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&amp;nrid=5c65d8fa-b7c7-44e5-98d0-43e6086e71cd">Politico</a>. “We need concrete confirmation.”
Tillis has suggested to Politico that he is “pretty much following Cornyn’s cue.&#8221; 
Cornyn’s threat comes one week after he <a href="https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/news/cornyn-secures-commitment-from-trump-admin-to-release-pepfar-funds/">successfully threatened</a> to block two of President Donald Trump’s ambassadorial nominees unless the administration released more than $1 billion in foreign aid funding for Africa. 
A White House official previously told <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/john-cornyn-threatens-to-sink-trump-nominees-over-foreign-aid-cuts?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=22&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=John+Cornyn+Threatens+To+Sink+Trump+Nominees+Over+Foreign+Aid+Cuts">The Daily Wire</a> that the Trump administration has strengthened President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) by providing clearer strategic direction, encouraging greater recipient-country ownership, and sharpening the program’s focus on measurable health outcomes.
The Trump-Cornyn clashes come just weeks after Cornyn suffered a decisive defeat in the GOP primary to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, despite spending months courting Trump&#8217;s endorsement.
“The only way it seems like you can get the administration’s attention on some of these funding issues is by using the leverage to withhold votes on nominees,” Cornyn told <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/07/21/2026/cornyn-threatens-to-sink-trump-nominees-over-pepfar">Semafor</a>. “We are going to use the committee vote tomorrow as a way to … get the money distributed the way Congress appropriated it.”

Sen. John Cornyn

Senator Scorned By Trump Threatens To Hold AG Nominee Hostage Over Weaponization Fund

News

Texas

U.S. Senate

A tribal member living in Canada pleaded guilty Thursday to her role in planning a cross-border smuggling operation that resulted in the deaths of a family with two children who were under the age of three, The Daily Wire has learned.
Stephanie Square, 53, a dual Canadian-American citizen from the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Territory in Canada, ran a smuggling organization that brought illegal immigrants across the northern border via the Indian reservation, according to the Justice Department.
In March 2023, Square was contacted by &#8220;a prolific Canadian smuggler&#8221; who asked her to bring a Romanian family of four across the St. Lawrence River and into New York. Square then recruited several others to help sneak the family across.
One of the individuals Square tried to recruit refused to assist in the scheme, citing high winds on the St. Lawrence River that night. Still, Square looked for other smugglers.
Square disregarded the high winds, freezing temperatures, and limited visibility, insisting that she get paid.
“Aliens attempting to enter the United States illegally across the U.S.-Canada border are exposed to a range of dangers at the hands of human smugglers trying to capitalize on the misfortunes and misplaced hopes of others,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire.
“Here, in the face of known dangers, the defendant directed her co-conspirators to smuggle a family with young children across the St. Lawrence River on a cold, windy night with limited visibility. The dangers materialized into a preventable and tragic loss of life,&#8221; Duva said.
Dakota Montour, one of Square&#8217;s &#8220;regular&#8221; smuggling drivers, agreed to drive the family to Timothy Oakes&#8217; home on Cornwall Island, a well-known staging area used by smugglers.
The family arrived at Oakes&#8217; home around 3:35 a.m. on March 29, 2023, and left that evening. Oakes&#8217; car was seen hauling a light blue boat toward a public boat launch.
The Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service began a search, recovering the bodies of the four family members between March 30 and March 31, 2023. They also recovered the smuggling boat.
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<div id="attachment_1141715" style="width: 646px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1141715" class="wp-image-1141715 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-2026-07-23T092929.434.jpg" alt="" width="636" height="379" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-2026-07-23T092929.434.jpg 636w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-2026-07-23T092929.434-300x179.jpg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" />DOJ</div>
Authorities found the body of the boat captain, Casey Oakes, eight months later, according to the DOJ, though some reports say three months.
Square pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit alien smuggling, four counts of alien smuggling for financial gain, and four counts of alien smuggling resulting in death. She faces a minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum punishment of life behind bars.
&#8220;This defendant and their co-conspirators showed a blatant disregard for human life, our laws, and the safety of our communities. We remain unwavering in our commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to protect and secure our northern border,&#8221; First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York John A. Sarcone III said.
Four of Square&#8217;s co-conspirators entered guilty pleas earlier.
Square and co-conspirator Rahsontanohstha Delormier, also known as &#8220;Storm,&#8221; 31, of the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Territory in Canada, were extradited to the United States from Canada in 2025. Delormier entered a guilty plea on June 26.

Untitled design – 2026-07-23T092622.453

EXCLUSIVE: Member Of Indian Tribe Admits To Orchestrating Deadly Border Smuggling Scheme

Border

Canada

Crime

New York

Smuggling

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

House Judiciary Committee

Jack Smith

Jim Jordan

Spying

Eight alleged members of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua have been charged in connection with heinous murders in the United States after crossing the border under the Biden administration, the Justice Department announced Wednesday during a press conference.
In one of the cases, five alleged TdA members, including a &#8220;high-ranking&#8221; one, kidnapped a man, his 13-year-old daughter, and 12-year-old nephew in the middle of the night on August 24, 2024, outside of Dallas, Ryan Raybould, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said. Prosecutors say the accused gang members zip-tied the victims&#8217; hands and demanded money from the man.
When the kidnappers realized the man couldn&#8217;t pay, they pulled the car over and took him to a nearby bridge, demanding that he jump off it, according to authorities.
The man refused to jump and tried to run before one of the alleged TdA members shot him &#8220;execution-style&#8221; in front of the children, Raybould said. The Farmers Branch Police Department found the man&#8217;s body on the side of the road with a gunshot wound between his eyes.
Three of the suspects are already in custody for other crimes, and one is being held in Colombia.
In a separate case in Chicago, three alleged gang members grabbed a man as he was walking near a park before shoving him into a car and taking him to a nearby apartment, Andrew S. Boutros, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said.
The accused TdA members then tied the victim&#8217;s wrists behind his back, holding him against his will for three hours, Boutros said.
According to prosecutors, they later took the victim to an abandoned building, where they shot him multiple times in the head and body. The alleged killers then abandoned the victim&#8217;s lifeless body, leaving it face down in the bathtub of an abandoned unit.
The victim&#8217;s mother called police the next evening, asking for a wellness check at the abandoned building, Boutros said. She told officers that co-conspirators had informed her of his possible presence in the building.
When Chicago police entered the building, they found the man&#8217;s body with multiple gunshot wounds and his hands still bound behind his back.
One of the accused TdA members was out on bail in Chicago, authorities said.
The eight accused TdA members at the center of Wednesday&#8217;s announcement crossed the border between December 2021 and April 2024, when record numbers of illegal migrants were entering the United States, according to the Justice Department. During that time, TdA members exploited the chaos of the migrant influx and began embedding themselves among the large groups crossing the southern border illegally.
At the time, the Biden administration was instructing Border Patrol agents to process and then release illegal migrants quickly. As a result, the agents were unable to run thorough background checks on suspected TdA members.
The Venezuelan regime also refused to provide information on its citizens who crossed into the United States.
All the while, TdA gained a foothold in the United States, committing killings, including the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, orchestrating apartment takeovers in cities like Aurora, Colorado, and operating sex trafficking rings in New York City.
During Wednesday&#8217;s press conference, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche railed against the Biden administration, saying it was to blame for the killings.
&#8220;These violent crimes and murders happened because, under the Biden administration open border policies left our borders wide open, and hundreds of suspected and now convicted TdA terrorists poured through those borders and into our country,&#8221; Blanche said.
&#8220;Now, President Trump stopped this madness on January 20 of last year. That same day, President Trump designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization. In the 18 months since January 20 &#8230; nearly 350 members and associates of TdA have been charged and/or convicted of horrific violent crime,&#8221; Blanche added.

Justice Department Announces Actions In Tren De Aragua Enforcement

Venezuelan Gang Members Let In By Biden Charged In Chilling Murder Cases

Tren De Aragua

U.S.

A Mexican national pleaded guilty to smuggling thousands of illegal immigrants into the United States, including from heavily Islamic countries with links to terrorism. 
Efrain Zuniga-Garcia admitted Monday in federal court to participating in a “vast” scheme to sneak up to 3,000 foreign nationals into America, including from countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, and Yemen, the Justice Department said. The 38-year-old Zuniga-Garcia was involved in the scheme from November 2020 until September 2023, when he was first charged.  
The smuggling network operated stash houses in Monterrey, Mexico, and Piedras Negras, Mexico, and brought in between 2,500 and 3,000 illegal immigrants. The network also smuggled in foreign nationals from India, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, and Ecuador.
The scheme operated at the same time that Border Patrol agents encountered a shocking spike in individuals on the terror watchlist along the porous border that former President Joe Biden oversaw.
Zuniga-Garcia ran the Monterrey stash house where he coordinated the transportation of the illegals by turning them over to “coyotes” who would bring them across the Rio Grande and into the United States, according to the Justice Department. 
He was charged in September 2023 with conspiracy to bring an alien into the United States and three counts of bringing an alien into the United States for financial benefit. Zuniga-Garcia pled guilty to both counts and faces a mandatory minimum of three years in prison upon sentencing. 
Multiple of Zuniga-Garcia’s co-defendants have already been sentenced to prison, including Enil Edil Mejia-Zuniga and Monica Hernandez-Palma. Mejia-Zuniga, an illegal from Honduras who lived in San Antonio, Texas, was <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/illegal-alien-honduras-sentenced-prison-vast-alien-smuggling-conspiracy">sentenced</a> to 10 years in prison in July 2025 after being convicted of directing the operation. 
“In an effort to satisfy his greed, Mejia-Zuniga facilitated the illegal movement of thousands of Middle Easterners into the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons for the Western District of Texas at the time. “His actions put our national security at risk.”
Lawmakers have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/on-9-11-republicans-warn-about-lingering-danger-from-bidens-open-border-policies?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=On+9%2F11%2C+Republicans+Warn+About+Lingering+Danger+From+Biden’s+‘Open-Border+Policies’">warned</a> that Americans could still be facing security challenges after the flood of illegal immigrants during the Biden presidency. The House Homeland Security Committee found that from the start of fiscal year 2021 to the end of Biden’s presidency, Border Patrol agents encountered around 400 individuals on the terror watchlist at the border. From 2017 to 2020, only 14 individuals on the terror watchlist were apprehended at the border, <a href="https://homeland.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/December-24-SS.pdf">according</a> to the committee. During that same time, at least two million illegals who were known “gotaways” entered the country.

Yuma Arizona Border Crossing

Feds Unravel Mexican’s Scheme To Smuggle Middle Easterners Into U.S.

Illegal Immigation

Mexico

Middle East

Radical Islamic Terror

The FBI arrested two more men accused of plotting to conduct a terror plot at the UFC Freedom 250 event, including one suspect investigators said had experience piloting drones. 
The Justice Department announced Monday that William Lee Spartacus Falkner and Jordan Rincker had been charged with conspiracy to commit murder. The alleged plot was supposed to involve setting off explosive-carrying drones to cause panic before snipers would open fire and target certain political figures. 
Falkner was arrested Friday in Washington and made his first court appearance in Tacoma on Monday while Rincker was arrested on Sunday and made his first court appearance on Monday in Kansas City. 
“Law enforcement continues to do what it does — move to disrupt and hold accountable those allegedly plotting to do harm on the White House Grounds on June 14,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Each and every day, the FBI and their federal, state and local law enforcement partners, along with U.S. Attorneys offices across the country, safeguard American communities and our nation’s security.”  
The plot, which the FBI says was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illegal-immigrant-masterminded-ufc-white-house-drone-attack-plot-dhs-says">masterminded</a> by an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was uncovered after one of the suspects&#8217; moms called local law enforcement about concerns she had about plans her 19-year-old son was making. Eventually, investigators gained access to multiple group chats where the attack was discussed and planned. 
Communications reviewed by investigators revealed that Falkner had experience in making and piloting drones and that he discussed loading them with explosives, according to the Justice Department. After the arrest of several over the plot last week, investigators said Falkner and others canceled a “work trip” they had been discussing. 
Rincker, 28, is accused of accepting $1,200 in cash from Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, the alleged illegal immigrant ringleader, to make payments to others involved in the plot. Some of the money was supposed to go toward paying for gas for another suspect to go pick up the drone operator before traveling to Washington, D.C., for the attack. 
Investigators said that Rincker met with Alvarez in Omaha, Nebraska, and gave him a 12-gauge shotgun in exchange for a ballistic plate, face shield, 3D printer, 3D printing filament, night vision goggles, binoculars, and a minicomputer.
“These arrests are the latest result of the FBI, teaming up with our great partners, to identify and apprehend those who allegedly wanted to attack the UFC Freedom 250 event — a threat this FBI and our partners prevented,” said FBI Director Kash Patel.

President Trump Hosts UFC Freedom 250 Fight Topuria v Gaethje At The White House

New Arrests Reveal The Full Scope Of The White House UFC Terror Plot

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