EXCLUSIVE – Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., tore into Special Counsel Jack Smith, accusing him of “spying on political opponents” during the Jan. 6 probe and calling the alleged surveillance “an abuse of power beyond Watergate.”The FBI, working under Smith’s direction, obtained call logs and metadata tied to nearly a dozen GOP senators, including Hawley, as part of its investigation into the Capitol riot, Fox News reported.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents have arrested a slew of Chicago’s “worst-of-the-worst” offenders, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Monday.The statement came as violence and unrest engulfed parts of the city which is suffering from mounting street violence and protests against federal operations.

A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s efforts to deploy National Guard troops into Portland in a late-night decision on Sunday.U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut ruled the action was unlawful and unconstitutional, issuing an emergency temporary restraining order to halt the deployment of California’s National Guard. The order also bars the use of troops from any other state or Washington, D.C. in Oregon.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced on Sunday that President Donald Trump will deploy 400 members of the Texas National Guard to Illinois, Oregon and other locations.The deployment came as protests against federal law enforcement ramp up across the country, particularly in Portland and Chicago.In the Windy City, multiple people were arrested in recent days for reportedly ramming their vehicles into DHS and ICE agents’ cars.

At a ceremony marking the U.S. Navy’s 250th anniversary, President Donald Trump sought to reassure service members affected by the ongoing government shutdown, pledging they would receive “every last penny” of their pay and promising an “across-the-board” raise once the impasse ends.”I want you to know that despite the current Democrat-induced shutdown, we will get our servicemembers every last penny,” Trump said.

President Donald Trump made a social media post about Hamas on Sunday evening, minutes before the deadline for a peace proposal passed.The deadline was 6 p.m. ET Sunday. In a message on Truth Social, Trump wrote that there had been “very positive discussions with Hamas, and Countries from all over the World (Arab, Muslim, and everyone else) this weekend, to release the Hostages, end the War in Gaza but, more importantly, finally have long sought PEACE in the Middle East.

Virginia GOP gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears unveiled a new campaign ad Sunday linking her Democratic opponent, Abigail Spanberger, to attorney general hopeful Jay Jones, whose recently resurfaced text messages have drawn widespread backlash.The minute-long ad features clips from news reports detailing disturbing messages Jones sent in 2022 to a colleague.