Contributing Writers

FIRST ON FOX: Newly released messages from the House Ways and Means Committee appear to show Hunter Biden proposing a meeting in New York City between the boss of a Chinese energy company and Joe Biden, the former vice president at the time, along with Joe’s brother, Jim Biden.”Can you meet this evening early,” Hunter Biden asked Yadong Liu, CEO of CEFC Global Strategic Holdings in a poorly punctuated text message the evening of Dec. 12, 2017.

During Wednesday’s White House briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the border crisis, defending President Biden’s approach and giving a shocking reason as to why he has not taken action.Jean-Pierre opened the briefing by saying it was up to Republicans to do something to solve the problem or continue to use it as a political issue.

An Air Force veteran who touts her national security experience has won the Republican primary in one of deep-blue Oregon’s more competitive House races. Attorney and former Air Force Col. Monique DeSpain will now take on incumbent Democrat Rep. Val Hoyle, who represents Oregon’s 4th Congressional District, in the November general election as Republicans hope to increase their narrow majority in the House of Representatives.

Fani Willis, the prosecutor in the sweeping Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump, said no one is above or “beneath” the law in her victory speech, sharing that she plans on celebrating with vodka.The Georgia district attorney has been on the receiving end of scrutiny by many Republicans in the state and nationwide for her affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, which almost got her removed from the case.

Thirteen-term U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, won the Republican primary on Tuesday in his re-election effort for Idaho’s 2nd Congressional District.The Republican has represented the Gem State in Congress for 13 consecutive terms, advancing Tuesday night to face Idaho Falls Democrat David Roth, who is unopposed, in the general election in November.

Oregon State Rep. Janelle Bynum won the Democratic primary in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District on Tuesday, putting her on a collision course with the Republican incumbent, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, this fall.Bynum defeated Jamie McLeod-Skinner to advance to face Chavez-DeRemer in a race widely expected to play a significant role in deciding which party controls the House of Representatives.

Mike Erickson was declared the winner in a crowded GOP primary election in Oregon’s 6th Congressional District Tuesday night and will face off against Democratic Rep. Andrea Salinas in November.The Associated Press called the race for Erickson in a district that includes Polk and Yamhill counties and parts of Marion, Clackamas and Washington counties.

With five and a half months to go until the November election, former President Donald Trump enjoys the edge over President Biden in many national polls and surveys in the key battleground states that will likely decide their 2024 rematch.And in April, for the first time, Trump also enjoyed the lead in monthly fundraising.The president’s campaign announced on Monday evening that they and the Democratic National Committee hauled in over $51 million in fundraising last month.

One perk of covering Congress is that you get to see the Capitol statues after hours.But not always at their best.Such was the case a week ago Friday. I cut through Statuary Hall of the Capitol around 6:30 pm, et, after my TV piece about a House hearing and public broadcasting aired. I was heading home.That’s where I encountered Billy Graham.Not the pastor, mind you.But a seven-foot bronze statue of Graham.

Connecticut’s Supreme Court on Monday ruled that state elections officials violated the constitutional free speech rights of two Republicans running for the state legislature when it fined them thousands of dollars for criticizing the Democratic governor in ads paid for by their publicly funded campaigns in 2014.In a 5-0 decision, the justices overturned the $5,000 civil fine against now-Sen. Rob Sampson and the $2,000 penalty against former Sen.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on Monday had some words for his Republican colleagues who may be on the fence about voting on another border bill later this week.Asked whether he would vote on a second attempt at passing a border bill, Schumer said he would always vote to secure the border “better than what it is today.

President Biden on Monday said he rejects allegations by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israel’s conduct amid its war against Hamas as the ICC seeks to pursue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders and the top echelon of the terrorist group.

The U.S. Senate will once again vote on a bipartisan border security bill this week after previous efforts collapsed when Republicans withdrew their support, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a letter to colleagues Sunday.

Morehouse College is praising its students and faculty after at least seven graduates and one faculty member sat with their backs turned to President Biden as he delivered his commencement address at the Atlanta school earlier Sunday.Morehouse said “peaceful assembly is core” to the school’s “social justice tradition,” and its administration “fully supports and defends the right to peacefully protest and the expression of one’s views openly.

President Biden delivered the commencement address at Morehouse College in Atlanta on Sunday, his first appearance on a college campus amid widespread unrest and anti-Israel protests.Biden’s speech touched on everything from his history serving as vice president under President Obama to the war in Israel and campus protests.Here are some of the most notable moments from Biden’s appearance.

A Texas crime victims coordinator who was employed by the Starr County District Attorney’s Office has pleaded guilty to using a county vehicle to smuggle immigrants into the United States.Bernice Garza pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to transport undocumented people within the United States, according to a report from KRGV.

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi experienced a “hard landing” on Sunday, according to Iranian state media.Iranian media, according to multiple reports, said rescue teams were dispatched to the site in the Dizmar Forest between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, near its border with Azerbaijan.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) condemned the fiery House hearing after Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Marjorie Taylor Greene traded barbs, saying that members needed to show decorum.”It’s not a good look for Congress,” Johnson told reporters on Friday.The Republican speaker chided both parties, saying that while “vigorous debate” was welcomed, “we have to treat one another with dignity and respect.

It’s been more than 50 years since a Republican won Minnesota in a presidential election, but former President Trump says he’s got “a really good shot” of breaking the losing streak this November in his 2024 rematch with President Biden.The former president is in the historically reliable blue state Friday evening to headline the Minnesota GOP’s annual Lincoln Reagan fundraising dinner.

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to deny Hunter Biden’s request to delay his upcoming California tax trial in what is expected to be a busy summer for the president’s son, who also faces a separate criminal trial in Delaware. In his motion, Special Counsel David Weiss said Biden’s attorney, who is representing him in the California and Delaware cases, previously agreed to the trial dates last year.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Friday admitted that the number of migrants who have crossed the southern border under his watch outpaces that under the Trump administration — but blamed a number of hemispheric factors and a “broken” system for the border crisis.Mayorkas was asked at an event at The Economic Club in Washington, D.C., about the border crisis, and the historic numbers of migrants the U.S. has been seeing in recent years.

The estranged wife of ex-special prosecutor Nathan Wade said in a Georgia court filing Friday that Wade claims his resignation from his post at the Fulton County District Attorney’s office “constitutes a substantial change in circumstance, rendering him unable to meet his financial obligation” in their divorce proceedings. Wade was hired in 2021 by DA Fani Willis to help prosecute the sweeping election interference case against former President Trump.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Marjorie Taylor Greene had a heated exchange Thursday evening during what was supposed to be a contempt hearing for Attorney General Merrick Garland. The House Oversight Committee had originally been convened to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to comply with a subpoena to hand over an audio recording of President Biden’s interview with a special counsel.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act expires this summer. The initial bill passed the Senate earlier this year but has yet to be considered in the House. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has been pushing to expand and extend the initiative and has tried to add it as an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) bill.”If we’re not going to get amendment votes, I’m not going to help them speed this along,” Hawley told reporters about the FAA legislation.

Alaska lawmakers ended their four-month session early Thursday with a flurry of last-minute bills addressing priority issues such as energy and correspondence school programs that are a focus of ongoing litigation.Bickering over the budget was muted compared with prior years, and Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and legislative leaders claimed successes in a session that was not without drama, marked by twofailed attempts to override Dunleavy vetoes of additional public school funding.