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Tag: Justice

Shiv Jayanti 2025: Meet Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Greatest Maratha King and Warrior Known for His Courage, Justice and Valour (Watch Video)

Shivaji Jayanti, also called Shiv Jayanti or Chhatrapati Shivaji Jayanti, is celebrated in India, especially Maharashtra, every year with a lot of joy and fervour. Shivaji Jayanti 2025 falls on Wednesday, February 19. It marks the birth anniversary of Shivaji Maharaj, the greatest Maratha warrior and king. He was a wise and renowned king and a strategic warrior who won several battles. He was known for his justice, courage, and valour, and his bravery and dedication to his people are remembered till date. To know more about Shivaji Maharaj, watch the Rakkt, Indian History video below. When Is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti 2025? Know Shiv Jayanti Date, History, Significance and Rituals To Mark the Birth Anniversary of Shivaji Maharaj.

Learn More About Shivaji Maharaj Here:

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February 18, 2025
Trump congratulates US military after airstrike that killed official of Al-Qaeda affiliate: ‘Dealt Justice’

President Donald Trump congratulated U.S. forces following an airstrike over the weekend that targeted an official of Hurras al-Din, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, in Syria.

“US forces conducted a precision airstrike against a member of al-Qaeda in Syria this weekend,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The terrorist leader was working with al-Qaeda across the region.”

“Congratulations to CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Kurilla, and the US warfighters who dealt Justice to another Jihadi threatening America and our allies and partners,” he continued.

AUSTRIA STABBING SUSPECT IS SYRIAN MIGRANT WHO PLEDGED ALLEGIANCE TO ISLAMIC STATE, OFFICIALS SAY

U.S. President Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House on February 10, 2025, in Washington, D.C. ((Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images))

On Saturday, U.S. forces “conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria targeting and killing a senior finance and logistics official in the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate,” U.S. Central Command said in a press release.

CENTCOM said the airstrike was part of its “ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the U.S., our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond.”

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on February 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

“We will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists in order to defend our homeland, and U.S., allied, and partner personnel in the region,” Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement.

Hurras al-Din was formed in 2018 after the Nusrah Front terror group broke off from Al-Qaeda. The group operates primarily in Syria’s Idlib Province and could have as many as 2,500 members, according to the National Counterterrorism Center.

TOP RUSSIAN, US OFFICIALS MEET IN SAUDI ARABIA TO BEGIN TALKS ON UKRAINE WAR WITHOUT OFFICIALS FROM KYIV

Gen. Michael Kurilla, commanding general of U.S. Central Command, addresses the attendees during Army Day at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, May 19, 2023. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Latasha Price)

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The center said Hurras al-Din “advocates attacks against the West and Israel to expel foreign influence from Muslim lands, and it seeks to set the conditions necessary to form a new caliphate across the Levant and the broader Middle East.”

“Hurras al-Din maintains access to several longtime al-Qa‘ida members who could enable the group to pose a threat to US and other Western interests outside of Syria, despite its weakened state following successive personnel losses since 2019 that have removed many of the group’s veteran leaders,” the center said.

February 18, 2025
Justice Department moves to case against Eric Adams

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Federal prosecutors on Friday asked a judge to drop the Justice Department’s case against New York Mayor Eric Adams, following the departure of several prosecutors who opted to resign rather than follow through with bringing the charges against Adams.

The news comes after a federal prosecutor, Hagan Scotten, resigned Friday in a scathing letter, accusing top DOJ officials of looking for a “fool.”

“Any assistant U.S. attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials, in this way,” Scotten told acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove.

Adams reacted to the news of his indictment being dropped Friday, clarifying that he had not made a deal to drop his case.

“I want to be crystal clear with New Yorkers: I never offered — nor did anyone offer on my behalf — any trade of my authority as your mayor for an end to my case. Never,” Adam’s said in a statement released.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle called the decision to dismiss Adam’s’ indictment as “yet another indication that this DOJ will return to its core function of prosecuting dangerous criminals, not pursuing politically motivated witch hunts.”

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“The fact that those who indicted and prosecuted the case refused to follow a direct command is further proof of the disordered and ulterior motives of the prosecutors, Such individuals have no place at DOJ,” Mizelle said in a statement released Friday.

This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.

February 15, 2025
Trump’s Justice Department order to drop charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams sparks mass resignations

Several senior Justice Department officials resigned in protest Thursday rather than comply with an order to drop a bribery case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

The acts of resistance came amid President Donald Trump’s effort to overhaul the agency, which he said has been weaponized against political opponents, Reuters reported.

The six resignations include Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, Trump’s pick to temporarily lead the office prosecuting Adams, who resigned her post on Thursday, according to the memorandum by Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, a Trump appointee.

SENATE CONFIRMS PAM BONDI AS US ATTORNEY GENERAL

U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, via Southern District of New York

“I remain baffled by the rushed and superficial process by which this decision was reached,” Sassoon wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Adams, a Democrat who said he was targeted by the Biden administration, has been willing to work with the Trump administration crackdown to curb illegal immigration. Adams pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted bribes from Turkish officials.

“Rather than be rewarded, Adams’s advocacy should be called out for what it is: an improper offer of immigration enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal of his case,” Sassoon wrote to Bondi.

Adams’ lawyer Alex Spiro said in an email to Reuters that the charges against his client are a “sham.”

“If SDNY had any proof whatsoever that the mayor destroyed evidence, they would have brought those charges—as they continually threatened to do, but didn’t, over months and months,” Spiro wrote. “This newest false claim is just the parting shot of a misguided prosecution exposed as a sham.”

In his Thursday memo, Bove wrote that Sassoon had refused to comply with what he called his office’s finding that the case against Adams amounted to weaponization of the justice system.

“Your resignation is accepted…you lost sight of the oath that you took when you started at the DOJ,” he wrote.

“Your office has no authority to contest the weaponization finding,” wrote Bove, Trump’s former personal criminal defense lawyer. “The Justice Department will not tolerate the insubordination.”

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

The seal for the Justice Department is photographed in Washington, Nov. 18, 2022. The Justice Department has announced three arrests in a complex stolen identity scheme that officials say generates enormous proceeds for the North Korean government, including for its weapons program. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

After Sassoon refused to dismiss the case, the Trump administration directed John Keller, the acting head of the Justice Department’s public corruption unit, to do so, according to people familiar with the matter.

Keller also resigned on Thursday, two people familiar with the matter said, as well as Kevin Driscoll, a senior official in the department’s criminal division.

Three other deputies in the Justice Department’s public corruption unit – Rob Heberle, Jenn Clarke, and Marco Palmieri – also resigned on Thursday over the Adams case, a person familiar with the matter said.

A Justice Department official confirmed Keller’s and Driscoll’s resignations, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the other three.

On Monday, president-elect Trump said he would consider a pardon for New York City Mayor Eric Adams. (Getty Images)

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House. Since taking office in January, Trump has fired more than a dozen federal prosecutors who pursued cases against him.

In a statement to Fox News, Bove said he concluded that the prosecution against Adams had to be dismissed in order to “prioritize national security and public safety over continuing with a case that has been tainted from the start by troubling tactics.”

“There is no room at the Justice Department for attorneys who refuse to execute on the priorities of the Executive Branch – priorities determined by the American people,” he said. “I look forward to working with new leadership at SDNY on the important priorities President Trump has laid out for us to make America safe again.”

Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.

February 14, 2025
Bondi’s DOJ Day 1 directives: Fight weaponization of justice, eliminate cartels, lift death penalty ban

EXCLUSIVE: Attorney General Pam Bondi will issue several major directives on her first day leading the Justice Department, including orders to combat the weaponization of the legal system; make prosecutors seek the death penalty when appropriate; and work with the Department of Homeland Security to “completely eliminate” cartels and transnational criminal organizations, Fox News Digital has learned.

Bondi was confirmed by the Senate Monday night as attorney general of the United States and was sworn in on Tuesday.

SENATE CONFIRMS PAM BONDI AS US ATTORNEY GENERAL

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained memos outlining Bondi’s first-day directives, which will lay the groundwork for the Justice Department under her leadership.

Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Justice Department as attorney general, is sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee for her confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Ben Curtis/The Associated Press)

Bondi issued a directive regarding “zealous advocacy.” Bondi said DOJ attorneys’ responsibilities include “aggressively enforcing criminal laws passed by Congress, but also vigorously defending presidential policies and actions on behalf of the United States against legal challenges.”

“The discretion afforded Justice Department attorneys with respect to those responsibilities does not include latitude to substitute their personal political views or judgments for those that prevailed in the election,” the memo states.

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

“When Justice Department attorneys refuse to faithfully carry out their role by, for example, refusing to advance good-faith arguments or declining to sign briefs, it undermines the constitutional order and deprives the President of the benefit of his lawyers,” the memo continues.

Bondi, in the memo, states that “any Justice Department attorney who declines to sign a brief, refuses to advance good-faith arguments on behalf of the Trump administration, or otherwise delays or impedes the Justice Department’s mission will be subject to discipline and potentially termination.”

Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former U.S. President Donald Trump at the Justice Department on August 1, 2023 in Washington, DC. Trump was indicted on four felony counts for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Bondi is set to establish the “Weaponization Working Group,” which will review the activities of all law enforcement agencies over the past four years to identify instances of “politicized justice.”

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FIRES MORE THAN A DOZEN KEY OFFICIALS ON FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S TEAM

The working group’s first reviews will include prosecutions against Trump led by former Special Counsel Jack Smith; Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg; and the civil fraud case brought against Trump and his family by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stands with members of his staff at a news conference following the conviction of former U.S. President Donald Trump in his hush money trial on May 30, 2024 in New York City (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks outside New York Supreme Court ahead of former President Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023 in New York. (Brittainy Newman/The Associated Press )

The working group will also review any potential prosecutorial abuse regarding Jan. 6, 2021; the FBI’s targeting of Catholic Americans; the Justice Department’s targeting of parents at school board meetings; and FACE Act abuses.

FLASHBACK: FBI INTERVIEWED PRIEST, CHURCH CHOIR DIRECTOR AHEAD OF ANTI-CATHOLIC MEMO, HOUSE GOP FINDS

Meanwhile, Bondi also will end the moratorium on federal executions and order that federal prosecutors at the Department of Justice, including U.S. attorney’s offices, seek the death penalty when appropriate —specifically with a focus on violent drug trafficking crimes.

Bondi also ordered that the Justice Department “re-evaluate instances of the prior administration electing not to seek the death penalty.”

Bondi also is expected to rescind any DOJ policies that are “not sufficiently in line with President Trump’s death penalty executive order.”

The move represents a major reversal from the Justice Department’s view of the death penalty under the Biden administration. In 2021, Biden allowed the DOJ to issue a moratorium on federal executions.

In December 2024, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 criminals on federal death row, which President Donald Trump, in his executive order on the death penalty, described as the “most vile and sadistic rapists, child molesters, and murderers on Federal death.”

Bondi said she is now also directing the Justice Department to achieve justice for the families of the victims of the 37 murderers that had their death sentences commuted.

TRUMP TAKES MORE THAN 200 EXECUTIVE ACTIONS ON DAY ONE

As for cartels, Bondi is directing the Justice Department to work closely with the Department of Homeland Security and other federal partners to “completely eliminate” the threats of cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

Bondi plans to re-imagine charging priorities relating to those cases in order to ensure that law enforcement resources are focused on dismantling the foundational operational capacity of cartels, as opposed to just picking off low-level offenders.

Here, the Justice Department is expected to temporarily suspend some “bureaucratic approvals and reviews” in order to prioritize speedy prosecutions and captures of those accused of severe offenses like capital crimes, terrorism, or aiding the operations of cartels.

Members of the Sinaloa Cartel raided a BSNF train on January 17, according to Homeland Security Investigations. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images )

Bondi said Joint Task Force Vulcan, which was created to destroy MS-13, and Joint Task Force Alpha, which was created to fight human trafficking, would be “further empowered and elevated” to the Office of the Attorney General. Their missions are expected to expand—specifically Vulcan’s—with a new focus on destroying Tren de Aragua.

Also on the cartel front, Bondi is directing the DOJ Office of Legal Policy to find legislative reforms to target equipment designed to make fentanyl pills and add Xylazine, a new deadly drug, to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act.

Map of Tren de Aragua presence in the United States as of December 2024. (Fox News Digital)

And as for illegal migrants, Bondi has directed the DOJ to pause all federal funding for sanctuary cities.

Bondi has also directed the DOJ to identify and evaluate all funding agreements with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide support to illegal aliens.

She is also directing litigating components of the Justice Department to investigate instances of jurisdictions that are impeding law enforcement, and directing they be prosecuted, when necessary.

‘THIS IS ABOUT FENTANYL’: TARIFFS ARE CRUCIAL TO COMBATING ‘DRUG WAR,’ TRUMP AND CABINET OFFICIALS SAY

Meanwhile, Bondi will also create a new Joint Task Force on October 7 focused on holding Hamas accountable for its crimes against Jews during its terror attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The task force will also “achieve justice for victims and fight terrorist-led anti-Semitism.”

The task force on Oct. 7 will pursue criminal charges where applicable against Hamas; seek the arrest and extradition of Hamas leadership; and investigate anti-Semitism in the United States.

Bondi is also directing the FBI to staff the joint task force with personnel “significantly experienced in investigating terrorism.”

Beyond those directives, Bondi is directing the DOJ to confirm the termination of all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs at the department by March 15. She also is demanding the removal of all references to DEI in training programs—specifically ending the emphasis on race and sex-based criteria and refocusing hiring and promotion guidelines “solely on merit.”

Bondi will also work with the Department of Education to ensure that educational institutions receiving federal grants are adhering to “fair admission practices.”

Bondi, a longtime prosecutor and former Florida attorney general, has vowed not to use her position to advance any political agenda, testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee that “politics has to be taken out of this system.”

Bondi told lawmakers in January that the “partisanship, the weaponization” at the Justice Department “will be gone.”

“America will have one tier of justice for all,” she said.

Before Bondi was confirmed, Fox News Digital exclusively reported that the Trump Justice Department fired more than a dozen key officials who worked on former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team prosecuting Trump, after Acting Attorney General James McHenry said they could not be trusted in “faithfully implementing the president’s agenda.”

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And Friday, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove issued a memo to the acting FBI director directing him to terminate eight FBI employees and identify all current and former bureau personnel assigned to Jan. 6 and Hamas cases for an internal review.

After the directive, on Tuesday, a group of nine FBI agents filed a lawsuit seeking to block the public identification of any FBI employees who worked on the Jan. 6 investigations into the U.S. Capitol riots in an attempt to head off what they described as potentially retaliatory efforts against personnel involved in the probe.

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

February 5, 2025
Bondi sworn in as attorney general with mission to end ‘weaponization’ of Justice Department

U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi was sworn in at the Justice Department on Wednesday, where the nation’s newly minted top prosecutor is expected to spend her first days dealing with a firestorm of reassignments, lawsuits and resignations from senior law enforcement officials, despite early efforts to urge calm and head off any fears of politicization.

Bondi was sworn in at the Oval Office Wednesday by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in front of an audience packed with friends and family.

Trump congratulated Bondi after the ceremony as “unbelievably fair and unbelievably good.”

“I know I’m supposed to say ‘she’s going to be totally impartial with respect to Democrats,'” Trump told reporters, “and I think she will be as impartial as a person can be.”

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

The Justice Department logo and Pam Bondi. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images, left, and MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images, right.)

Bondi’s nomination had earned praise both from Republicans and some Democrats in the chamber for her composure and her ability to deftly navigate thorny and politically tricky topics and lines of questioning from some would-be detractors – putting her on a glide path to confirmation in the Republican-majority chamber.

Her nomination had also earned the praise of more than 110 former senior Justice Department officials, including former attorneys general and dozens of Democratic and Republican state attorneys general, who praised her experience and work across party and state lines.

Still, her swearing-in comes at a politically charged time for law enforcement agency. Just hours earlier, two groups of FBI agents filed separate lawsuits Tuesday seeking to block any public identification of employees who worked on Jan. 6 investigations, after the bureau complied with a request from Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to obtain information from thousands of agents, or their supervisors, detailing their role in the sprawling investigation.

Questions ranged from agents’ participation in any grand jury subpoenas, whether the agents worked or responded to leads from another FBI field office, or if they worked as a case agent for investigations.

The plaintiffs said that any effort to review or discriminate against FBI employees involved in the Jan. 6 investigations would be “unlawful and retaliatory,” and a violation of civil service protections under federal law.

Bondi, a former Florida prosecutor and state attorney general, vowed repeatedly in her confirmation hearing last month to head up a Justice Department free from political influence or weaponization.

If confirmed, she told lawmakers last month, the “partisanship, the weaponization” at the Justice Department “will be gone.”

“America will have one tier of justice for all,” she said.

TRUMP’S ULTIMATUM TO FEDERAL WORKERS: RETURN TO OFFICE ‘OR BE TERMINATED’

Trump is pictured in front of the US Capitol Building, surrounded by fencing in Washington, D.C., on Friday, January 17, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Trump-Vance Transition Team)

Still, her work will be cut out for her.

Earlier Wednesday, a senior FBI official also emailed employees at the bureau seeking to head off concerns that they could be terminated or discriminated against in response to their role in the investigation.

“Let me be clear: No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties,” this person said in an email shared across the FBI, and confirmed to Fox News.

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

President Donald Trump declined to answer questions earlier this week over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is “corrupt” and that his nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, will “straighten it out.”

And former Justice Department officials have cited concerns that the actions could have an incredibly chilling effect on the work of the FBI, including its more than 52 separate field offices, whose agents have decades of experience in detecting and responding to counterterrorism threats, organized and violent crime, drug trafficking, and more.

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But one retired FBI agent urged calm, noting to Fox News that the acting director and deputy director of the FBI still remain in place. This person also stressed that the Jan. 6 investigation and the FBI personnel involved in investigating each case “fully followed Bureau and DOJ guidelines,” and that violations of federal statutes were “proven beyond a reasonable doubt in federal courts of law.”

Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the 2024 election and other national news.

February 5, 2025
Jailed ex-Pakistani PM Imran Khan draws parallels to President Trump in fight for justice

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FIRST ON FOX: Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was jailed last month on charges of corruption, is being compared by supporters to President Donald Trump given the way they say authorities in Pakistan have persecuted him.

Many have linked his situation to Trump’s and blamed the government for jailing the popular former prime minister. Khan’s plight has also been highlighted by longtime Trump ally and adviser Richard Grenell, who took to social media late last year when he tweeted, “Free Imran Khan!”

A Pakistani court sentenced Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to 14 and seven years in jail after finding them guilty of corruption. They were convicted for allegedly accepting land as a bribe through the Al-Qadir Trust, which they had set up while Khan was in office. Khan, however, maintains his innocence, describing the events as a “witch hunt” in exclusive comments to Fox News Digital. It is just one of the more than 100 cases he is facing.

PAKISTANI COURT SENTENCES EX-PM IMRAN KHAN AND HIS WIFE TO 14 AND 7 YEARS IN PRISON IN GRAFT CASE

President Donald Trump greets Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House, July 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

In response to Fox News Digital questions about Khan’s conviction, Pakistan’s federal minister for information and broadcasting, Ata Ullah TararIn, defended Khan’s conviction. “The 190 million pound case is one of the biggest corruption cases in the history of Pakistan, and it is a mega scam in which former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and his wife, Bushra Bibi, have been found to be guilty. There is irrefutable evidence that they not only used the official position to grant illegal favor to a property tycoon, but they also received gratification and formed a sham trust in order to grant this favor to a property tycoon.”

He continued, “This is corruption of the highest order, and the former prime minister has been convicted on the basis of irrefutable evidence of corruption and this, this scam, which is the biggest scam in the history of Pakistan, has reached its legal conclusion.”

Khan has denied the charges and says his 2023 arrest and consequent sentencing was a plot to stop him from returning to office.

Supporters of Imran Khan chant slogans during a protest against the Pakistan Election Commission, in Lahore, Pakistan, March 10, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Khan’s responses to Fox News Digital questions came via his spokespeople, who communicated them with the former prime minister. Khan noted the parallels between himself and Trump, saying the two shared similar experiences. “The world today needs steadfast leadership that champions peace, democracy, and human rights, and I hope that his leadership can contribute to that vision”.

Trump’s and Khan’s experiences with the authorities share are a key similarity, but their stories mirror each other in ways that go beyond just that.

While Trump transformed the U.S. political scene with his “Make America Great Again” movement, Khan energized Pakistanis with his “Naya Pakistan” (New Pakistan) vision. And in a manner similar to Trump, Khan did away with the elitism of politics, focusing on the average person instead.

Khan told Fox News Digital that his political party “is an inclusive party that represents the diverse fabric of Pakistan.” He noted that while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was initially perceived as a party of the educated elite, that notion was “quickly dispelled.”

FORMER PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER IMRAN KHAN ARRESTED ON CORRUPTION CHARGES BY POLICE

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, his wife, speak to the media at an office of Lahore High Court in Lahore, Pakistan, on July 17, 2023. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)

Khan continued, the “PTI resonates with people from all walks of life – rural and urban, middle class and marginalized – and it’s because our policies prioritize inclusion, merit and justice.” He added, “We represent all provinces, castes and religions, ensuring that every voice has a place in shaping Pakistan’s future. This inclusivity is what makes us the largest national party, uniting Pakistan under the principles of equity and fairness.”

Zuhair Ahmed, a waiter from Lahore, told Fox News Digital, “Imran Khan resonates with a diverse crowd from all ethnic groups and religious sects. We have never seen a leader who has this much grassroots support-base. That’s the beauty of it, and we are confident that he will return to power and make the country better.”

Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the political party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, hold a rally on Jan. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

PAKISTAN PREPARES FOR PIVOTAL ELECTION AS ONE OF THE LEADING CANDIDATES SERVES JAIL TIME

In Pakistan’s turbulent politics, it has been observed by some analysts that “Allah, the army and America” are the key to rule. Since Trump’s return to office, the South Asian nation has been buzzing with speculation and hope over whether he will force Khan’s release. The two have a friendly relationship, with Trump calling Khan “a very good friend of mine” at a 2020 forum in Davos. The two first met in Washington in July 2019, which at the time was considered a reset for U.S.-Pakistan relations.

Shortly after Trump’s win in November, Grenell wrote on X “Watch Pakistan… Their Trump-like leader is in prison on phony charges, and the people have been inspired by the U.S. Red Wave. Stop the political prosecutions around the world!”

Richard Grenell has stated on social media his support for freeing Imran Khan. (Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Zulfikar Bukhari, special assistant to Khan, told Fox News Digital “They say Grenell seems to be the second most popular man in Pakistan due to his tweet supporting Khan.” He added that Trump prevailed in a similar situation, and “it’s only a matter of time before Khan also returns.”

Khan tweeted his congratulations to Trump on winning November’s presidential election, noting, “The will of the American people held against all odds.”

When it comes to national priorities, Trump and Khan have put the economy at the forefront. Khan has also asserted that Pakistan will thrive when he makes his comeback. The country’s economy has teetered on the verge of collapse over the past few years.

“Economic diplomacy will be central to my approach. Pakistan is rich in natural resources, yet we have barely scratched the surface of our potential in agriculture, industrialization, and IT,” Khan stated. “These sectors hold immense promise, both domestically and globally.”

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Explaining his aspirations, Khan concluded, “Rather than relying on handouts, we must focus on self-sufficiency and leveraging our strengths to build sustainable economic relationships. With a population of 250 million, what succeeds internally can and should be positioned globally, creating opportunities for trade and investment that benefit the nation and our international partners alike.”

Khan’s message to his supporters and foes alike, “The people of Pakistan have never been more awake or more determined. They see with clarity what is happening to their nation, and they understand the forces at play. I firmly believe that truth and justice will ultimately prevail. And as long as I have breath, I will continue to fight for this cause and for a Pakistan that reflects the will and aspirations of its people.”

February 2, 2025
Justice Department moves to prosecution of Trump co-defendants, ending classified documents case

The Justice Department filed a motion Wednesday to drop all criminal proceedings against two former Trump co-defendants charged in the special counsel’s classified documents case, putting a final end to the probe more than two years after it began.

The request for the charges to be dropped was filed Wednesday by the acting U.S. attorney in Miami, Hayden O’Byrne, without explanation.

The co-defendants, Carlos De Oliveira, a Mar-a-Lago property manager, and Walt Nauta, a valet at the property, were charged alongside President Donald Trump in the classified documents case led by former Special Counsel Jack Smith.

WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY DEFENDS TRUMP’S FIRING OF INSPECTORS GENERAL

Special Counsel Jack Smith arrives to offer remarks on an indictment including four felony counts against former President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Smith was tapped by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 to investigate both the alleged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as his keeping of allegedly classified documents at his Florida residence after leaving the White House.

Both investigations were halted shortly after Trump won election for the second time in 2024, in keeping with long-standing Justice Department policy against investigating a sitting president.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT LOOKING TO WIND DOWN TRUMP CRIMINAL CASES AHEAD OF INAUGURATION

Photos from Mar-a-Lago that were included in the special counsel indictment of former President Donald Trump. (U.S. Department of Justice)

But the charges against Nauta and De Oliveira still stood.

Attorneys for two of Trump’s former co-defendants in the classified documents case filed an emergency motion to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to block the report’s publication earlier this year, alleging that their civilian clients would “irreparably suffer harm” as a result of its release.

A U.S. Coast Guard boat patrols outside the Mar-a-Lago Club on Nov. 8, 2024, across from West Palm Beach, Florida. ( Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

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Both had been charged with conspiring with Trump to obstruct an investigation, and making false statements to the FBI.

Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the 2024 election and other national news.

January 29, 2025
Justice Department fires more than a dozen key officials on former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team

EXCLUSIVE: The Justice Department is firing more than a dozen key officials who worked on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team prosecuting President Donald Trump, after Acting Attorney General James McHenry said they could not be trusted in “faithfully implementing the president’s agenda,” Fox News Digital has learned.

McHenry has transmitted a letter to each official notifying them of their termination, a Justice Department official exclusively told Fox News Digital.

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It is unclear how many officials received that letter. The names of the individuals were not immediately released.

Donald Trump and Jack Smith (Getty Images)

“Today, Acting Attorney General James McHenry terminated the employment of a number of DOJ officials who played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump,” a DOJ official told Fox News Digital. “In light of their actions, the Acting Attorney General does not trust these officials to assist in faithfully implementing the President’s agenda.”

This action “is consistent with the mission of ending the weaponization of government,” the official told Fox News Digital.

The move comes after the Justice Department reassigned more than a dozen officials in the first week of the Trump administration to a Sanctuary City task force and other measures.

DOJ RELEASES FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S REPORT ON INVESTIGATION INTO TRUMP ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE

It also comes after Trump vowed to end the weaponization of the federal government.

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.

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

Smith was also 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.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan created the subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government during the previous Congress. (Andrew Harnik/The Associated Press )

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.

Both cases were dismissed.

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

January 27, 2025
Department of Justice freezes all civil rights division cases: report

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a memo to its civil rights division, ordering a freeze to all ongoing litigation originating from the Biden administration and halting the pursuit of any new cases or settlements, according to reports.

The Washington Post first reported that a memo sent to Kathleen Wolfe, the temporary head of the division appointed by the Trump administration, instructed her to make sure attorneys do not file “any new complaints, motions to intervene, agree-upon remands, amicus briefs, or statements of interest.”

As to how long the freeze will last, the memo does not say, though it practically ceases the division until President Donald Trump’s nomination to lead the department, Harmeet Dhillon, is confirmed by the Senate.

The publication also reported the freeze was “consistent with the Department’s goal of ensuring that the Federal Government speaks with one voice in its view of the law and to ensure that the President’s appointees or designees have the opportunity to decide whether to initiate any new cases.”

DOJ RACING THE CLOCK TO ENSHRINE ‘WOKE’ POLICING RULES, LAWYER SAYS, AS JUDGE HEARS BREONNA TAYLOR REFORM CASE

The Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A source familiar with the memo confirmed its contents to Fox News.

The DOJ had no comment on the matter.

Wolfe was also told in another memo that the division must tell the chief of staff of the DOJ about any consent decrees finalized by the division over the past 90 days.

WATCHDOG SEEKS HALT TO 11TH HOUR BIDEN DOJ EFFORT TO ‘HANDCUFF’ KY POLICE OVER BREONNA TAYLOR INCIDENT

President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump (Getty Images)

Earlier this month, a Kentucky judge declined to immediately sign a police reform consent decree forged by the DOJ and the city of Louisville during a hearing one courtroom participant described as a hasty attempt by the Biden administration to hamstring incoming President Trump.

But federal Judge Benjamin Beaton refused to be a “rubber stamp” for a 240-page reform plan prompted by the 2020 police-involved shooting of Breonna Taylor, according to Oversight Project counsel Kyle Brosnan.

Taylor was killed in a hail of police gunfire after Louisville officers sought to serve a drug warrant at her boyfriend Kenneth Walker’s house. Walker fired a “warning shot” through the door and struck Officer Jonathan Mattingly in the leg.

PROPOSED CHICAGO POLICE RESOURCE CUTS COULD LAND CITY IN COURT UNDER CONSENT DECREE, OFFICIALS WARN

A photo of Breonna Taylor shared at the 2022 Defend Black Women March in Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C. (Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Frontline Action Hub)

A consent decree, Brosnan noted, is different from other legal agreements in that it cannot simply be reversed by presidential order or a change of heart by one of the parties involved.

The consent decree alleged a pattern or practice of racial bias in Louisville policing, including in traffic stops, sexual assault probes or use of force.

There are at least two other police reform consent decrees going through the legal process, one in Maryland and one in Minnesota.

On Jan. 6, the DOJ reached an agreement with Minneapolis, which still requires court approval, to reform the department’s “unconstitutional and unlawful practices” allegedly counter to the Americans With Disabilities Act and 14th Amendment.

In October 2024, the feds sued the Maryland Department of State Police alleging Civil Rights Act violations.

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“The United States claims MDSP violated Title VII when it used a certain physical fitness test and a certain written test to hire entry-level Troopers because the tests disqualified more female and African-American applicants than others and were not job related,” a court document states.

Maryland police dispute the allegations.

Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @GregWehner.

January 23, 2025