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Tag: antiTrump

Anti-Trump protests erupt across the country for ‘Not My Presidents Day’

Progressive groups across the country once again protested President Donald Trump on Monday. The “Not My Presidents Day” or “No Kings Day” protests were organized by the 50501 Movement, a coalition of activists united against Trump’s “executive overreach.”

From Austin, Texas, to Orlando, Florida, and Boston to Phoenix, demonstrators gathered in cities across the United States holding handmade signs, singing songs of resistance and chanting in protest. More than a thousand gathered at the Capitol Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., this Presidents Day.

“On Monday, we call on organizations and activists across the nation to once again stand united,” Sarah, a 50501 Movement and Voices of Florida organizer, said in a statement ahead of Presidents Day. “We will not cede ground to fascism quietly. We will fight back against Project 2025, and we will fight for the future of all of our beautiful communities.”

Protesters at the nation’s capitol on Monday carried signs calling to “impeach” Elon Musk, resist the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and save our republic. Fox News Digital spoke with several protesters in Washington, D.C., about why they felt compelled to protest. Protesters said they gathered to reject Elon Musk and DOGE.

TOP TRUMP AGENCY RECOVERS EYE-POPPING SUM AFTER LAUNCHING DOGE TASK FORCE

A protester holds a flag with a sign saying “We The People Serve No King,” during the “No Kings Day” protest on Presidents Day against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025 near the Capitol in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

“I’m here to protest the president, protest Elon Musk, and protest all the executive orders. He is not our president. Everything he’s done is a destruction of this country. He only cares about himself and his pockets and the pockets of his cronies. He’s not here to help any of the working Americans. Everything he’s doing is mass destruction. He is a weapon of mass destruction,” Jennifer, a protester in Washington, D.C., said.

PROTESTS ERUPT AROUND THE COUNTRY AGAINST THE NEW TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S POLICIES

Jennifer said Trump might be president, but he is not a president for the people. Mary Hart, an educator at the protest, said her immigrant and trans students have been targeted by the administration, and she wanted to be a part of the resistance.

“I’m an educator, and I’m scared for my immigrant students,” Hart said. “I’m scared for my trans students. I’m scared for my country. I just had to show up and be part of the resistance. They’re being targeted and dehumanized by multiple people in this government. They’re coming to school scared, interrupting their learning. They’re being targeted and bullied by people who are emboldened by this administration, and it’s not right.”

Jerome Bobowski, a girl dad from Detroit, led a “Where is Congress?” chant at the Washington, D.C., rally. He said he protested to protect his daughters’ rights.

Thousands gathered at the Capitol Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., for the “No Kings on Presidents Day” protest on Feb. 17, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)

“My kids are power women, and they have to have as many rights as my wife, who is a power woman too. We want justice. We don’t want a country without laws. That’s why they all come here. Because we have rules. We are not kings,” Bobowski said.

Protesters said they were afraid of losing personal liberties, but the White House told Fox News Digital that Trump is a “leader for all Americans.” Responding to the “Not My Presidents Day” protests, the Trump administration emphasized his “resounding mandate” from the American people on Election Day and his commitment to delivering on his campaign promises.

“This Presidents Day, we honor the leadership of President Trump. He received a resounding mandate from the American people and swiftly took action to deliver on his promises of restoring common sense policies, strengthening the economy and re-establishing America’s dominance on the world stage. President Trump is a leader for all Americans, and he will continue to prioritize America’s interests in every decision,” principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said.

A protester holds up a “NO MUSK” sign at the “No Kings on Presidents Day” protest in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 17, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)

The 50501 Movement, which means 50 protests in 50 states on one day, began with a Reddit post, Sarah, who is a national core member of 50501, explained. From there, #buildtheresistance and #50501 gained traction on social media. On Feb. 5, they mobilized over 20,000 people across the country to protest Trump’s policies and Project 2025.

“All of this happened very organically and very fast,” Sarah told Fox News Digital. “I think that people didn’t know where to put their feelings. They didn’t know how to move. I think that they were just shell shocked, and when that Reddit post happened, it gave people the power to go make their voices heard.”

The 50501 Movement is taking a decentralized approach, allowing individual groups and cities across the country to articulate their own mission. Sarah is also the executive director of Voices of Florida, which emphasizes reproductive rights, immigrant rights and queer rights.

Demonstrators join more than a thousand people protesting the policies of the Trump administration marched from the Boston Common past City Hall to the North End on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025 in Boston. (AP/Michael Casey)

“It goes down to what the states and the smaller groups want. We don’t tell people what their demands should be. To sum it up in a broad way, it’s to push back against Project 2025 and give the power back to the people,” Sarah added.

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The 50501 is not affiliated with a political party, and there is no clear leader of the organization. At the protest in Washington, D.C., the organizers preached peace and emphasized civil disobedience was not welcome.

Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.

February 18, 2025
Who is Norm Eisen? Meet the anti-Trump attorney repping FBI agents suing the DOJ

One of the attorneys representing anonymous FBI agents suing the Department of Justice to block the public identification of agents who investigated Jan. 6 is a longtime anti-Trump lawyer who worked with House Democrats on President Donald Trump’s first impeachment.

Norm Eisen is an attorney, CNN legal analyst and expert at the Brookings Institution public policy think tank who previously served as the U.S.’ ambassador to the Czech Republic and special counsel for ethics and government reform under the Obama administration, when he earned the nicknames “Dr. No” and “The Fun Sponge” for reportedly ensuring the administration abide by ethics rules.

Eisen appeared in court on Thursday for a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb involving a pair of lawsuits filed by two groups of FBI agents who investigated the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol Building as well as former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations and cases against Trump.

Eisen serves as executive chair of State Democracy Defenders Fund, which filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of the FBI agents who investigated Trump-related cases. State Democracy Defenders Fund is a nonprofit that bills itself as focused on defeating “election sabotage” and “autocracy in 2025 — and beyond.”

FBI AGENTS SUE TRUMP DOJ TO BLOCK ANY PUBLIC IDENTIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES WHO WORKED ON JAN. 6 INVESTIGATIONS

Norm Eisen is an attorney, CNN legal analyst and expert at the Brookings Institution public policy think tank who previously served as the U.S.’ ambassador to the Czech Republic. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“Credible reports indicate the FBI has been directed to systematically terminate all Bureau employees who had any involvement in investigations related to President Trump, and that Trump’s allies in the DOJ are planning to publicly disseminate the names of those employees they plan to terminate,” State Democracy Defenders Fund wrote in its press release of the emergency order to block the public release of FBI personnel names involved in the Jan. 6 investigation.

Fox News Digital took a look back on Eisen’s rhetoric and actions across the past few years and found that he has repeatedly been at the forefront of the legal cases against Trump, notably serving as co-counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during the first impeachment of Trump beginning in 2019.

FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION

House Democrats tapped Eisen — who early in his career specialized in financial fraud litigation and investigations — to help lead the first impeachment against the 45th president, which accused Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to allegedly seeking foreign interference from Ukraine to boost his re-election efforts in 2020. The House adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump, but the Senate ultimately voted to acquit him.

Norm Eisen served as special counsel for ethics and government reform under the administration of former President Barack Obama. (Melina Mara/Getty Images)

Eisen revealed following the impeachment effort that he initially drafted 10 articles of impeachment against Trump, not just two, which would have included issues such as “hush money” payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels. Although the payments were not included in the impeachment articles, they were a focal point of the Manhattan v. Trump trial that found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in May 2024.

FBI AGENTS DETAIL J6 ROLE IN EXHAUSTIVE QUESTIONNAIRE EMPLOYEES ‘WERE INSTRUCTED TO FILL OUT’

“This was only the third impeachment trial of a president in American history, so it’s remarkable that we even got those two,” Eisen said in an NPR interview in 2020. “I will tell you that those two articles are a microcosm of all 10 of the impeachment articles that we drafted. They have features of all 10.”

Eisen told Fox News Digital, when asked about his history of anti-Trump cases, that he was initially open to working with the first Trump administration, but that the president, “turned against the Constitution.”

“I was initially open to Trump and even advised his first presidential transition,” Eisen told Fox Digital in an emailed comment on Friday. “But he turned against the Constitution and laws.”

“In his first administration and now, he was and is using the presidency to break the law and to help himself and his cronies like Elon Musk — not the American people,” he continued. “To ensure the integrity of our democracy, I am pushing back through the bipartisan institutions I work with such as State Democracy Defenders Fund, which has strong conservative representation on our board.”

Fox News Digital took a look back on Norm Eisen’s rhetoric and actions across the past few years and found that he has repeatedly been at the forefront of the legal cases against President Donald Trump, pictured here. (Getty Images)

Eisen is the co-founder of the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which made waves in 2023 and 2024 when it helped to initiate a Colorado court case to remove Trump from the primary ballot in the state, The New York Times reported.

The lawsuit, which ultimately landed in the Supreme Court, argued that Trump should be deemed ineligible from holding political office under a Civil War-era insurrection clause and that his name should thus be barred from appearing on the 2024 ballot. The group said that Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, violated a clause in the 14th Amendment that prevents officers of the United States, members of Congress or state legislatures who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution from holding political office.

Other states made similar legal claims to remove Trump, but each of the nine Supreme Court justices ruled in Trump’s favor in a decision released last March, ending the Colorado case and all others that were similar.

DOJ DIRECTS FBI TO FIRE 8 TOP OFFICIALS, IDENTIFY EMPLOYEES INVOLVED IN JAN. 6, HAMAS CASES FOR REVIEW

The State Democracy Defenders Action, co-founded by Norm Eisen, center, has been involved with other Trump-involved court cases, including in the Manhattan v. Trump case. (Getty Images)

The State Democracy Defenders Action, which Eisen co-founded, has also been involved with other Trump-involved court cases, including in the Manhattan v. Trump case. The group helped file an amicus brief in February, advocating that presiding Judge Juan Merchan sentence Trump just days ahead of his inauguration. Trump was ultimately sentenced to unconditional discharge, meaning he faces no fines or jail time.

Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May 2024. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office worked to prove that Trump had falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star, Stormy Daniels, ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

Eisen also founded another group, the States United Democracy Center, which filed an amicus brief in 2024 in Fulton County, Georgia, court, advocating that District Attorney Fani Willis’ racketeering case against Trump not be dismissed.

ANTI-TRUMP FBI AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR OPENING JACK SMITH ELECTOR CASE AGAINST PRESIDENT: WHISTLEBLOWER

The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled in December 2024 that Willis and her office are barred from prosecuting the case. The case worked to prove that Trump had led a “criminal racketeering enterprise” to change the outcome of the 2020 election in Georgia. Trump has maintained his innocence in that case, as well as the other federal and state charges brought against him between the 2020 and 2024 election, slamming them as Democrat lawfare.

Eisen, in his capacity as executive chair and founder of State Democracy Defenders Fund, also sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking Committee Member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. on Monday to speak out against Kash Patel’s nomination as director of the FBI under the second Trump administration. Eisen said he had ethics concerns surrounding Patel’s previous work in Qatar.

President Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May 2024. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

MAJOR FBI CHANGES KASH PATEL COULD MAKE ON DAY 1 IF CONFIRMED AS DIRECTOR

The FBI lawsuits followed acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sending a memo to acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll in late January, directing him to fire eight FBI employees who worked on the Jan. 6 investigation, as well as a terror case related to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel. The memo also informed the acting director to identify all current and former FBI personnel who took part in the case.

Democratic counsel Norm Eisen speaks with Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. (Getty Images)

The memo’s directive to identify those involved in the case sparked the two FBI lawsuits filed Tuesday, which seek to stop the collection of names and their public release.

“The individuals being targeted have served in law enforcement for decades, often putting their lives on the line for the citizens of this country,” Eisen said in a statement provided in State Democracy Defenders Fund’s press release announcing it filed an emergency order on behalf of the FBI agents. “Their rights and privacy must be preserved.”

The judge temporarily barred the Trump DOJ on Thursday from disclosing information on the agents until she hears arguments and determines whether to issue a temporary restraining order.

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Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

February 8, 2025
Largest LAPD union slams anti-Trump protest directives, says arrests ‘should be a no-brainer’ in altercations

FIRST ON FOX: After several Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers were injured by rioters during anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles on Sunday and Monday, the department’s largest union representing most rank-and-file officers hopes the “communication break-down” will be investigated.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Los Angeles Police Protective League said “the arrest of individuals that are attacking police officers should be a no-brainer for any competent incident commander.”

“Apparently, that did not happen yesterday,” they said.

“When those committing violence against anyone, let alone police officers, are allowed to masquerade as peaceful protesters, it sends the wrong message and crushes officer morale,” the board said. “We hope this incident is investigated with the same vigor as past crowd control incidents were investigated and those that allowed officers to be attacked are held accountable.”

BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN SENDS MESSAGE TO FAR-LEFT OFFICIALS PUSHING BACK AGAINST MASS DEPORTATIONS: ‘GAME ON’

Anti-ICE protesters blocked traffic on both sides of the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. (FOX 11 Los Angeles)

Thousands of demonstrators protesting Trump’s mass deportation program descended upon the streets of L.A. on Sunday and Monday, including clogging the 101 Freeway – one of the city’s busiest roadways – as hundreds were detained amid scuffles, but later released.

Several altercations between officers and protesters took place, as some hurled objects at police who were equipped with non-lethal weapons and riot gear.

While no arrests were made on Monday, LAPD Chief of Police Jim McDonnell said no stand-down order was given.

“The LAPD closely monitored the situation and the Incident Commander made decisions that prioritized public and officer safety,” McDonnell said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.

Meanwhile, the incident commander on sight on Monday, Lillian Carranza, told Fox News Digital that “the minute officers were attacked it became an unlawful assembly.” Carranza did not clarify whether she gave an order for officers to not make arrests.

LA FREEWAY BLOCKED BY ANTI-DEPORTATION PROTESTERS IN RESPONSE TO TRUMP’S CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

A massive protest formed in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday in response to President Trump’s crackdown on immigration and emphasis on deportations. (Fox 11 Los Angeles)

“We are all for supporting the peaceful exercise of freedom of speech and assembly not when it turns violent,” she said.

Part of the LAPD’s “control objectives,” as shared by Carranza, includes establishing “a visible, crowd-friendly law enforcement posture” and a “safe and secure arrival, and departure of participants when able.” Protecting life, property and facilities, as well as taking action “regarding law violators,” were also on the list.

“We don’t dispute that the Chief didn’t give a stand down order, it was the misguided incident commander that did, and we believe it put officers in danger,” the LAPPL board’s statement read in part. “The investigation of this incident should focus on where the communication break-down occurred and what needs to happen going forward to keep peaceful protesters and officers safe while also holding violent individuals accountable.”

A source familiar with the incident also told Fox News Digital that multiple LAPD officers were “very frustrated” by Monday’s directive and detailed confusion in the field.

‘DEPORTATION FLIGHTS HAVE BEGUN’ AS TRUMP SENDS ‘STRONG AND CLEAR MESSAGE,’ WHITE HOUSE SAYS

ICE arrests 32 illegal aliens in Palm Beach County enforcement action. (ICE)

Many of the protesters over the last two days could be seen carrying signs, waving Mexican and Central American flags and speaking out against Trump’s immigration policies.

“No human is illegal on stolen land,” one sign read.

Another one read, “Fight ignorance, not immigrants.”

Videos shared on social media show what appeared to be demonstrators spraying graffiti on the freeway walls and vandalizing at least one car that was stopped in the middle of the crowd.

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested more than 7,400 illegal immigrants nationwide in nine days amid its aggressive crackdown propelled by the new Trump administration. The agency also said it has placed nearly 6,000 ICE detainers.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Mayor Karen Bass’s office for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price contributed to this report.

Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.

February 4, 2025
Trump administration to pause federal government websites in effort to eliminate DEI, anti-Trump content

The Trump administration will put a pause on most federal government websites Friday evening in an effort to eliminate DEI content and any language opposed to President Trump’s agenda, Fox News Digital has learned.

A Trump administration official told Fox News Digital that federal government websites are expected to go dark at around 5:00 p.m. Friday evening.

The official told Fox News Digital that the length of the pause on federal websites is unclear at this time, but will seek to remove content that is “anti-Trump administration.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

January 31, 2025
Anti-Trump FBI agent responsible for opening Jack Smith elector case against president: Whistleblower

EXCLUSIVE: WASHINGTON—A previously identified anti-Trump FBI agent allegedly broke protocol and played a critical role in opening and advancing the bureau’s original investigation related to the 2020 election, tying President Donald Trump to the probe without sufficient predication, whistleblower disclosures obtained by Sen. Chuck Grassley revealed.

That investigation into Trump was formally opened at the FBI on April 13, 2022, and was known inside the bureau as “Arctic Frost,” Fox News Digital has learned.

EX-FBI OFFICIAL WHO SHUT DOWN HUNTER BIDEN LINES OF INVESTIGATION VIOLATED HATCH ACT WITH ANTI-TRUMP POSTS

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson shared internal FBI emails and predicating documents — legally protected whistleblower disclosures — exclusively with Fox News Digital.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is seen in the U.S. Capitol after the senate luncheons on Tuesday, September 24, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The senators say the documents prove the genesis of the federal election interference case brought against Trump began at the hands of FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Timothy Thibault.

Fox News Digital exclusively reported in 2024 that Thibault had been fired from the FBI after he violated the Hatch Act in his political posts on social media. Previous whistleblowers claimed that Thibault had shown a “pattern of active public partisanship,” which likely affected investigations involving Trump and Hunter Biden.

Grassley first publicly revealed the existence of the whistleblower disclosures during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing for Trump’s nominee to serve as FBI director, Kash Patel, on Thursday.

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) questions Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the attempted assassination of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill, on July 30, 2024. (Umit Bektas)

One email, obtained and reviewed by Fox News Digital, revealed Thibault communicating with a subordinate agent on Feb. 14, 2022.

Thibault said: “Here is draft opening language we discussed,” and attached material that would later become part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s elector case.

Another email, sent by Thibault on Feb. 24, 2022, to a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, John Crabb, states: “I had a discussion with the case team and we believe there to be predication to include former President of the United States Donald J. Trump as a predicated subject.”

Sources told Fox News Digital, though, that Thibault took the action to open the investigation and involve Trump, despite being unauthorized to open criminal investigations in his role — only special agents have the authority to open criminal investigations.

Another email, sent on the same day, notes that he would seek approval from Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray to open the case.

Next, an email on Feb. 25, 2022, sent by a subordinate agent, Michelle Ball, to Thibault states that they added Trump and others as a criminal subject to the case.

Thibault responded: “Perfect.”

The fifth email, reviewed by Fox News Digital, reveals Thibault emailing a version of an investigative opening for approval. However, this email did not include Trump as a criminal subject.

The sixth email, from April 11, 2022, shows Thibault approving the opening of Arctic Frost, and the next email, on April 13, 2022, was from an FBI agent to Thibault stating that the FBI deputy director approved its opening.

Another email reviewed by Fox News Digital shows Thibault emailing DOJ official John Crabb notifying him that the elector case was approved.

Crabb responded, “Thanks a lot. Let’s talk next week.”

“Between March 22 and April 13, other versions of the document opening the investigation existed, because a ninth email shows that the FBI General Counsel’s office made edits on March 25,” Grassley said during Patel’s confirmation hearing Thursday. “Was Trump still removed as an investigative subject? If so, which Justice Department and FBI officials – other than Jack Smith – later added him for prosecution?”

The email records appear to show that an official in the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, Richard Pilger, reviewed and approved the FBI’s Arctic Frost investigation, authorizing DOJ to move forward with a full field criminal and grand jury investigation that ultimately transformed into Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Trump-elector case.

Grassley, in 2021, published a report which raised concerns regarding Pilger’s record at DOJ.

Fox News Digital first reported in July 2022 that Grassley warned Attorney General Merrick Garland that Thibault and Pilger were “deeply involved in the decisions to open and pursue election-related investigations against President Trump.”

GRASSLEY PRESSES DOJ, FBI FOR TRANSPARENCY ON ‘PARTISAN’ POLITICIZATION OF AGENCIES, HUNTER BIDEN PROBE

At the time, whistleblowers told Grassley that the Thibault-Pilger investigation’s predicating document was based on information from “liberal nonprofit American Oversight.”

In the investigation’s opening memo sent to the upper levels of the DOJ for approval, however, whistleblowers claimed Thibault and Pilger “removed or watered-down material connected to the aforementioned left-wing entities that existed in previous versions and recommended that a full investigation — not a preliminary investigation — be approved.”

Based on Smith’s scope memo, Grassley and Johnson, in 2022, wrote that the Thibault-Pilger investigation was included in the special counsel’s jurisdiction.

They also pointed out that Smith had a prior relationship with Pilger. Smith was in charge of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Unit while Pilger was in charge of the Election Crimes Branch.

Grassley and Johnson, in 2022, began sounding the alarm that Special Counsel Jack Smith was “overseeing an investigation that was allegedly defective in its initial steps and an investigation which his former subordinate [Pilger] was involved in opening.”

Former Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith, a former Justice Department official, as special counsel in November 2022.

Smith, a former assistant U.S. attorney and chief to the DOJ’s public integrity section, led the investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents after leaving the White House and whether the former president obstructed the federal government’s investigation into the matter.

Donald Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith appear in a side-by-side photograph. (Fox News Digital)

HOUSE WEAPONIZATION PANEL RELEASES 17,000-PAGE REPORT EXPOSING ‘TWO-TIERED SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT’

Smith also was tasked with overseeing the investigation into whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021.

Smith charged Trump in both cases, but Trump pleaded not guilty.

The classified records case was dismissed in July 2024 by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel.

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Smith charged Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request.

Grassley, during the confirmation hearing on Thursday, said he is requesting “the production of all records on this matter to better understand the full fact pattern and whether other records exist.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

January 30, 2025
Riley Gaines tears into WNBA star who gave Caitlin Clark black eye for wearing anti-Trump shirt

WNBA player DiJonai Carrington invited a flurry of backlash for wearing a shirt that said “The F— Donald Trump Tour,” and conservative influencer Riley Gaines was quick to jump in.

Carrington showed off the shirt Friday, while walking into Wayfair Arena in Miami, Florida. Carrington is most known for her interactions with women’s basketball phenom Caitlin Clark during Clark’s rookie WNBA season in 2024.

Carrington infamously gave Clark a black eye by poking her with her fingernails during a game between Clark’s Indiana Fever and Carrington’s Connecticut Sun in the first round of the playoffs in September. Carrington laughed with Fever teammate Marina Mabrey after the incident.

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Gaines made light of this in her first critique of Carrington Saturday.

“So, you’re telling me the same girl who deliberately gouged Caitlin Clark in the eye then laughed about it also wore a hoodie that said, “The F— Donald Trump Tour”?! I’m shocked,” Gaines wrote in a post on X.

Carrington has said she didn’t intentionally poke Clark in the eye and that she wasn’t laughing about the incident. But Gaines felt no reservations about implying Carrington’s poke at Clark was intentional and that she laughed about it afterward.

Gaines followed up with another critique of the Sun player and even brought LeBron James into the conversation.

“What has Donald Trump done to make your life worse? Keep LeBron off the court,” Gaines wrote on X in response to a photo of Carrington wearing the shirt.

Carrington provoked Clark fans prior to the eye-poking incident with multiple statements berating Clark and her fan base.

During a game in June, Carrington fouled Clark after Clark received an inbound pass from teammate Kristy Wallace. Clark caught the pass and started toward the basket. Carrington was late getting to Clark due to a screen by Aliyah Boston, and she bumped into Clark.

Caitlin Clark, right, of the Indiana Fever, fouls DiJonai Carrington (21) of the Connecticut Sun during the first half at the Mohegan Sun Arena June 10, 2024, in Uncasville, Conn. (Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)

Later that month, Carrington posted on X, saying Clark should do more to speak out about people using her name for “racism” and other forms of prejudice. She also called the Fever fans the “nastiest” in the league.

Carrington even made light of the controversy over Clark’s black eye in an Instagram Live video in October. In the video, Carrington and her girlfriend, NaLyssa Smith, who plays on the Indiana Fever with Clark, were in their kitchen when Smith poked Carrington in the eye.

“Ow, you poked me in the eye,” Carrington said. Smith apologized, and the two laughed.

“Did you do it on purpose?” Carrington asked.

Carrington isn’t the first target of Gaines’ wrath when it comes to conversations about Clark’s presence in the WNBA either.

After Clark made a comment about benefiting from White privilege in the WNBA during her interview for Time magazine Athlete of The Year, Gaines got into a heated back-and-forth with journalist Jemele Hill.

After Gaines posted on X criticizing Clark for making the comments, Hill started the debate and even ended up making it personal.

“You holler all the time about supporting and ‘protecting’ women, and yet the moment that Caitlin Clark expresses appreciation and respect for the Black women in the WNBA (many of whom she grew up watching and idolizing), suddenly you’re acting like a disappointed parent,” Hill wrote.

RILEY GAINES REPEATEDLY TEARS INTO AOC FOR TAKING PRONOUNS OUT OF X BIO AFTER ADVOCATING FOR TRANS ATHLETES

Riley Gaines is sworn in during a House Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services hearing on Capitol Hill Dec. 5, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Gaines quickly clapped back, responding to Hill’s post by mocking the idea of “White privilege” in the WNBA.

“‘White privilege’ in the WNBA is literally hilarious. Maybe you’re like Sunny Hostin & think CC also has tall privilege, pretty privilege, and straight privilege,” Gaines wrote. “Theres lots of Black players in the WNBA I love [and] respect too, but I don’t admire them because they’re Black. I admire them for their game. That’s the difference.”

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Gaines then doubled down by sharing Hill’s initial post with a screenshot of comments the journalist made in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in May. In that article, Hill insisted it was “naive” to say Clark’s race and sexuality as a straight woman did not play into her popularity in the WNBA, where the majority of players are Black and many are lesbian.

“Being a long-standing professional race baiter must be SO exhausting,” Gaines told Hill in response.

After Gaines’ comment about Hill being a professional race baiter, Hill responded with a message mocking the former swimmer for an incident when she tied with trans athlete Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA women’s swimming championships.

“Girl, you need to thank Lia Thomas every day of your life for helping you get famous, otherwise you would have been just a decent college swimmer that no one knew. You wrote the book on grifting — not me,” Hill wrote.

Former President Donald Trump is joined onstage by Riley Gaines at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas, Aug. 6, 2022. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

Gaines responded by saying, “How deeply regressive [and] utterly misogynistic for Jemele Hill to tell me to thank a man for the platform I have. Thank him for what? Violating us in the locker room? Stealing a national title from a deserving woman? Indirectly stripping us of our 1A rights? Just say you hate women,” Gaines wrote in her response.

That was the last message in the exchange.

Gaines has also picked online fights with other liberal figures, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban.

Each of Gaines’ spats with the liberal figures has been met with roaring engagement from her followers.

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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.

January 25, 2025