Former President Donald Trump’s request to delay his hush money criminal trial was denied Wednesday, marking the third time this week his lawyers’ attempts to delay the trial have failed. 

Trump’s arguments for the delay hinged on three reasons: that Judge Juan M. Merchan should be recused; the requirements to file pre-motion letters were too restrictive; and the defense should be permitted to argue presidential immunity as a defense.  

Lawyers from the district attorney’s office and the court administration argued against a delay, calling Trump’s arguments meritless. The court’s attorney said Merchan does not stand to benefit from the outcome of the trial. 

The former president’s lawyers filed paperwork on Wednesday asking the state’s mid-level appeals court to intervene and to issue an order preventing jury selection from starting as scheduled. Paperwork related to Trump’s latest appeal was sealed and no documents were publicly available.

A docket listing shows that Wednesday’s action was framed as a fresh attempt to sue Merchan under a state law known as Article 78 that allows judges to be sued over some judicial decisions.

An appeals court judge was expected to hear arguments at an emergency hearing Wednesday afternoon.

One appeals court judge on Monday rejected Trump’s bid to delay the trial while he seeks to move it out of Manhattan. A different judge on Tuesday denied a request, framed as part of a lawsuit against Merchan, that the trial be delayed while Trump fights a gag order imposed on him in recent weeks.

Trump has separately demanded that Merchan step aside from the case, accusing him of bias and a conflict of interest, citing his daughter’s work as the head of a firm whose clients have included President Biden, Vice President Harris and other Democrats.

Merchan rejected a similar request in August and has not ruled on Trump’s pending request. The judge has also yet to rule on another defense delay request, which claims that Trump won’t get a fair trial because of ‘prejudicial media coverage.’

Last week, Merchan rejected the presumptive Republican nominee’s request to delay the trial until the Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity claims he raised in his Washington, D.C., election interference case. The Supreme Court is slated to hear arguments in that matter on April 25.

Trump’s hush-money trial, which is scheduled to start on Monday, is the first of his four criminal indictments slated to go to trial and would be the first criminal trial ever of a former president.

He is accused of falsifying his company’s records to hide the nature of payments to his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who helped Trump bury negative stories during his 2016 campaign. 

Cohen’s activities included paying porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to suppress her claims of an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.

Fox News’ Maria Paronich and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan wants the intelligence community to obtain a warrant before it searches Americans’ data through the government surveillance tool known as Section 702 of FISA, telling Fox News Digital that unless there is an ’emergency,’ it is critical to protect Americans’ constitutional liberties. 

The House of Representatives this week is considering renewal of FISA’s controversial Section 702. Some lawmakers – both Republicans and Democrats – have said it is used as a tool of privacy infringement. Others say the tool is critical to preventing terror attacks. 

Section 702 of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows the government to conduct targeted surveillance of non-U.S. persons located abroad to acquire foreign intelligence information. When U.S. citizens are flagged as part of these investigations, the FBI takes over the process of querying them for possible security reasons.

‘The warrant requirement is necessary,’ Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

Jordan said that when the intelligence community, like the FBI, collects ‘this giant haystack of information,’ Americans’ data often gets swept up in the mix. 

‘When trying to collect on foreigners, we should do that – they don’t have any constitutional liberties,’ Jordan said. ‘But when you do that, you inevitably catch up a bunch of Americans in this database.’ 

‘So, all we’re saying, is if you are going to search this database for Americans’ name, phone number or email address… you’ve gotta get a warrant,’ Jordan told Fox News Digital. ‘It is a tried-and-true method.’ 

The FBI improperly used warrantless search powers against U.S. citizens more than 278,000 times in the year ending November 2021. 

An unsealed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) filing revealed the improper use of the tool last year, and showed that the FBI improperly surveilled people involved in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021; George Floyd protesters during the summer of 2020; and donors to a failed congressional candidate. 

The FBI at the time said the errors are ‘completely unacceptable’ and the bureau changed its querying procedures to make sure the errors do not happen again. 

Fox News Digital also reported last year that a U.S. senator and a state judge were improperly queried in June 2022 and October 2022. The FISC, at the time, said those examples demonstrated a ‘failure’ to follow FBI policy. 

‘This is why the requirement has to be included,’ Jordan told Fox News Digital. ‘You have to go to a separate, but equal, branch of government to get a warrant if you are going to search that database of information.’ 

Jordan said he has added exceptions to the rule. For example, Jordan said that in an ’emergency situation,’ officials can search without a warrant. The warrant, when obtained, would be through the secret FISC. 

‘If it is not an emergency situation, you have to get the warrant,’ Jordan said. ‘You want to go search something on an American citizen not during an emergency situation? You have to go to a separate and equal branch of government and get a warrant.’ 

Jordan told Fox News Digital that intelligence officials told lawmakers that there were 200,000 times last year when searches and queries were of ‘U.S. persons.’ 

‘How many of those 200,000 are covered by the emergency exception? No one will answer that,’ Jordan said. ‘My hunch is that the number is extremely big.’ 

Jordan told Fox News Digital that the addition of a warrant requirement for searches of Americans has broad bipartisan support, including some from ‘the progressive left,’ such as the House Judiciary Committee ranking member, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.

‘Nadler and Jayapal are in support of it, and the progressive left are for it because they know that when the abuses took place, it was people at BLM protests and Jan. 6, and donors to a congressional campaign,’ Jordan said. 

‘We have solid bipartisan support for this amendment,’ Jordan said. 

As Jordan answered Fox News Digital’s questions, more than a dozen House Republican privacy hawks blocked the House from advancing the bill to renew FISA 702. 

Nineteen Republicans voted against their party leadership to tank a procedural vote that would have allowed for the House to debate and then vote on the bill itself. The final vote was 193 to 228. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., does not support the warrant requirement. He told lawmakers Wednesday that the language was too narrow.

‘I appreciate the warrant amendment would allow some U.S. person queries without a warrant, I fear that its exception language is still too narrow and would be difficult to apply,’ Johnson said. ‘The warrant amendment would allow U.S. person queries without a warrant if there is an ‘imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm.’ Without the warrant amendment, the 56 essential reforms that are included in the FISA Act will strike the perfect balance and achieve both our critical objectives: It will help us to both safeguard the precious LIBERTY of our people – as well as their physical safety,’ he added.

The Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, a compromise bill between the House Judiciary Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, is aimed at curbing instances of abuse reported against former President Trump and others by instituting safeguards on who can access Section 702-collected data, particularly if it involves a U.S. citizen. It also would make it a crime to use backdoor loopholes to improperly access Americans’ data.

FISA Section 702 will expire on April 19 if Congress does not act.

Lawmakers are now set to meet in conference Wednesday afternoon. 

Fox News’ Liz Elkind contributed to this report. 

More than a dozen House GOP privacy hawks have blocked the House of Representatives from advancing a Speaker Mike Johnson-backed bill to renew a controversial federal government surveillance tool known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

It comes hours after former President Trump posted on Truth Social, ‘KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME AND MANY OTHERS.’

Nineteen Republicans voted against their party leadership to tank a procedural vote that would have allowed for the House to debate and then vote on the bill itself. The final vote was 193 to 228. 

The Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, a compromise bill between the House Judiciary Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, is aimed at curbing instances of abuse reported against Trump and others by instituting safeguards on who can access Section 702-collected data, particularly if it involves a U.S. citizen. It also would make it a crime to use backdoor loopholes to improperly access Americans’ data.

But conservative critics of Section 702 have argued the bill does not go far enough to safeguard Americans’ data. 

Among the GOP lawmakers who blocked the bill were: House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, R-Va.; Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.; Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.; Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La.; Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas; and Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., among others.

The fight has put Johnson in a difficult spot between the House Judiciary Committee and its allies, and the U.S. intelligence community and national security hawks in Congress. The former have cast Section 702 as a tool of exploitation and privacy infringement, while the latter have maintained it’s a narrowly-focused tool critical to preventing terror attacks.

Section 702 is a provision that allows the federal government to conduct warrantless surveillance of a foreign national outside the U.S. if they’re suspected of ties to terrorism — even if the person on the other end of the communications is an American citizen.

The House Judiciary Committee backed an amendment that would force U.S. officials to seek a warrant before querying communications made by an American, which national security-minded Republicans have largely opposed.

One GOP lawmaker compared the amendment’s effects to forcing a police officer to seek a warrant before querying a license plate in their database. 

They explained that if a suspected terrorist overseas is communicating with a U.S. citizen at home, a Section 702 search would already pick up their specific communications with that U.S. citizen. The amendment would force authorities to seek a warrant before seeing the contents of that communication, which critics have warned could waste valuable time in the event of a serious threat.

Multiple sources told Fox News Digital that Johnson spoke out against the amendment during a closed-door meeting with fellow House Republicans on Wednesday, spurring anger from GOP hardliners.

‘Unfortunately, I think the speaker is coming forward, reversing his personal position 180 degrees and weighing in on the Intel side. He’s, unfortunately, I think, surrendered on that notion of neutrality,’ Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., told reporters.

As it stands, FISA Section 702 will expire on April 19 if Congress does not act.

– A cohort of state attorneys general are warning the Justice Department against plans they claim Attorney General Merrick Garland signaled ‘intrude’ on their states’ authority to carry out elections.

Led by Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita of Indiana, the group of 16 GOP prosecutors wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday criticizing his comments from March 3 at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Selma, Alabama, in which he claimed that ‘democracy’ is under attack by ‘discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary restrictions on access to the ballot.’

‘The DOJ has no authority to dictate to the states in matters that concern their sovereign right to ensure safe, secure, and free elections,’ the letter says.

Garland launched the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force in March, saying he doubled the number of lawyers in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division.  

‘The right to vote is still under attack,’ Garland said last month. ‘That is why we are challenging efforts by states and jurisdictions to implement discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary restrictions on access to the ballot, including those related to mail-in voting, the use of drop boxes, and voter ID requirements.’

‘That is why we are working to block the adoption of discriminatory redistricting plans that dilute the vote of Black voters and other voters of color. We are holding accountable jurisdictions that fail to provide accessible vote centers for voters with disabilities,’ he said.

The AGs wrote in their letter that Garland’s actions amount to a ‘weaponization’ against the states, and his ‘views about elections are not only a serious threat to the principles of federalism and separation of powers, but also to democracy and the rule of law.’

‘Although we do not know exactly the strategy the DOJ intends to take with its numerous election attorneys, we intend to vigorously defend our election laws. We will not allow intimidation and fearmongering to supersede the will of the people,’ they wrote.

‘The Biden administration is weaponizing the U.S. Department of Justice against the states,’ Rokita told Fox News Digital. ‘These actions pose a direct threat to democracy, election integrity and the rule of law. We will stand up and defend our rightful authority within the framework of American federalism.’ 

‘With voter confidence at an all-time low,’ he said. ‘The U.S. Department of Justice should champion voter security measures instead of attacking states that implement them. And the DOJ should respect, as well, the constitutional provisions giving states the role of regulating elections.’

The AGs said that Garland’s claim that voter ID is an ‘unnecessary restriction on access to the ballot’ is incorrect.  

‘On the contrary, voter ID laws prevent voter fraud by stopping those who attempt to impersonate others at the polls,’ they wrote. 

The AGs note that the U.S. Supreme Court has held that voter ID laws are constitutional and do not impose a burden on the electorate. 

They also wrote that ‘voter fraud and voter impersonation is very real and occurs frequently.’

The AGs also took issue with Garland’s claim that some states have imposed ‘unnecessary restrictions’ related to absentee voting, including ‘mail-in voting’ and ‘the use of drop boxes.’

‘Numerous security risks exist with mail-in voting and drop boxes, and these methods of voting have led to the proliferation of election fraud,’ they noted.

Garland also asserted that the Voting Rights Act has been ‘drastically weakened’ with an ‘increase in legislative measures that make it harder for millions of eligible voters to vote and to elect the representatives of their choice.’ 

‘This statement is factually incorrect,’ the AGs wrote. ‘The Voting Rights Act is not under attack. Election security measures passed by state governments do not ‘make voting more difficult,’ nor are they dismantling the right to vote. 

‘Instead, common sense election laws strengthen our electoral process to ensure free and fair elections are conducted among the states, especially since voter fraud does exist.’

‘Across the country, the 2020 general election generated mass confusion and distrust in the system,’ they said. 

‘Public confidence in our election system is at record low with more than 30% of the electorate believing that the 2020 election was stolen due to voter fraud. By using the DOJ against the states, you continue to sow the seeds of distrust among the American electorate,’ they wrote.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., bucked the will of conservative privacy hawks during a closed-door House GOP Conference meeting on Wednesday, cautioning lawmakers against an amendment on warrant requirements as the House of Representatives readies to renew a key federal government surveillance tool.

Two sources in the room during Johnson’s remarks told Fox News Digital that he broached the warrant amendment during House Republicans’ weekly conference meeting, which multiple lawmakers said centered on renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Section 702 allows the government to surveil communications of non-Americans overseas who are suspected of having links to terrorism without a warrant. If Americans are caught at the other end of the line, their data could get swept up as well.

Johnson told GOP lawmakers that while he understood the House Judiciary Committee’s arguments on the amendment, its language on exceptions to the warrant requirement may be ‘too narrow and would be difficult to apply,’ one of the sources said.

The amendment, led by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., would ban intelligence officials from querying information about U.S. citizens collected through Section 702 without first getting a warrant, save for emergency situations with an imminent threat of death or bodily harm. 

‘702 is narrowly tailored to foreigners abroad. The proposed amendment would require a warrant to search the head of ISIS and Al-Qaeda’s data. That is wrong. It would endanger Americans. I appreciate the speaker’s opposition to the amendment,’ House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital. ‘He understands the importance of protecting Americans civil liberties, and our national security.’

Johnson reasoned that the current bill set to get a vote on Thursday, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America (RISA) Act, itself already carries the necessary reforms to prevent abuse of Section 702.

The federal government has been accused of abusing backdoor loopholes to the existing FISA Section 702 system to collect data on American citizens during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, as well as rioters present at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The new bill, a compromise between the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees, is aimed at limiting who can access that data and improving accountability standards on its abuse.

However, privacy hawks on the right have complained it does not go far enough and threatened the bill’s passage. The second source in the room for Johnson’s comments said that Judiciary Republicans and their allies pushed back on his opposition but did not elaborate on what they said.

Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, told reporters of Johnson’s decision, ‘Unfortunately, I think the speaker is coming forward, reversing his personal position 180 degrees and weighing in on the Intel side. He’s, unfortunately, I think, surrendered on that notion of neutrality.’

On the other side, Intelligence panel member Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., said the warrant amendment would ‘essentially end’ Section 702 ‘as we know it.’

‘The underlying bill before us is the largest reform of the FBI in a generation and goes beyond Section 702 to implement Title I FISA reforms to end the abuses committed against President Trump,’ LaHood said.

Johnson told Fox News Digital during his weekly press conference that House GOP leadership would not whip against the amendment but lauded the RISA bill in its current form.

Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson are demanding the FBI make Alexander Smirnov’s handling agent and his superiors available for interviews as they investigate what steps the bureau and the Justice Department took to investigate the now-infamous FD-1023 form alleging a criminal bribery scheme involving Joe Biden and Ukraine. 

Fox News Digital obtained a letter Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Special Counsel David Weiss late Tuesday. 

‘Since October 13, 2022, Congress has requested from the Justice Department and FBI information and records relating to the FD-1023 to better understand what steps, if any, the Justice Department took to investigate the document,’ Grassley and Johnson wrote.

Grassley was approached by a whistleblower in 2022 who alleged the FBI was in possession of a document — the FD-1023 — which dated back to 2020 and detailed a bribery scheme between Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and the top executive of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings.

An FD-1023 form is used by FBI agents to record unverified reporting from confidential human sources. The form is used to document information as told to an FBI agent, but recording that information does not validate or weigh it against other information known by the FBI. 

The FD-1023 details claims from FBI confidential human source Alexander Smirnov who told the FBI in June 2020 about meetings he had with Burisma executives years prior, where they supposedly admitted that they hired Hunter Biden to sit on the board of the company to ‘protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems.’ 

Hunter Biden sat on the board of Burisma while his father was vice president. 

The FD-1023 document includes Smirnov’s claims that Burisma executives paid $5 million to Joe Biden and $5 million to Hunter Biden, while Joe Biden was still in office as vice president. Smirnov also claims that the Bidens were paid so that Joe Biden could help to quash criminal investigation into Burisma being conducted by then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. 

Shokin was eventually fired, which Joe Biden had publicly boasted about. Biden and allies have said that the firing of Shokin was in an effort to root out corruption in Ukraine. Joe Biden, at the time, ran U.S.-Ukraine policy. 

Smirnov has since been indicted on charges of making false statements and creating a false and fictitious record relating to the Biden’s business ties in Ukraine. The charges stem from Special Counsel David Weiss’ investigation. Smirnov has pleaded not guilty and is expected to stand trial later this month. 

‘The federal indictment of Smirnov leaves many questions unanswered, including how the Justice Department and FBI could use this Confidential Human Source for approximately 14 years, pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars, use his information in investigations and prosecutions, and then ultimately determine he’s a liar,’ Grassley and Johnson wrote. 

Grassley and Johnson also pointed out that the FBI ‘refused to confirm even the existence of the FD-1023’ until May 2023, when Grassley and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer notified Wray during a phone call that they had reviewed it. 

During that call, Wray informed Grassley and Comer of ‘the importance of the Confidential Human Source (Smirnov) to the FBI’s investigative work.’ 

‘Indeed, in regard to that alleged credibility, the FBI informed the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability that the Confidential Human Source was ‘highly credible,’ trusted, and had worked for the FBI for years and had been paid ‘six figures,’’ the letter states, adding that the ‘FBI further represented to Congress that information from the Confidential Human Source was used in criminal investigations and prosecutions.’ 

Grassley and Johnson also pointed out testimony from top Justice Department officials, like then-U.S. Attorney Scott Brady, who said the FD-1023 and the confidential human source ‘was vetted against sources of Russian disinformation’ and that DOJ officials ‘found that it was not sourced from Russian disinformation.’ 

They also noted Wray’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in December, in which he said he ‘learned of the 1023 much, much, much more recently than anything around 2020 that’s for sure.’ 

‘That answer underscores the problem that the FBI Director was not apprised of the FD-1023 until apparently years after it was created,’they wrote.’Why was the FBI Director kept in the dark for so long when the FBI told Congress their Confidential Human Source was ‘highly credible’ and the matter involved an alleged criminal scheme with the sitting president?’

Wray risked being held in contempt of Congress last year over the form, after it was subpoenaed and the FBI failed to produce it in order to protect the CHS. Wray eventually brought the form to Capitol Hill for lawmakers to review in a SCIF. 

Grassley ultimately released a redacted version of the FD-1023 to the public in July 2023.

They further asked why investigative steps weren’t taken, such as interviewing Smirnov to ‘determine the veracity, or lack thereof, with respect to the FD-1023 for over three years?’

Grassley and Johnson pointed out that the FBI did finally interview Smirnov, but did so on Sept. 27, 2023 and ‘failed to apprise Congress of that fact.’ 

Grassley and Johnson said that the Smirnov indictment, which was filed in February, shows that the FBI and Weiss ‘failed to even interview’ Smirnov until September 2023, after Grassley and Comer ‘forced their hands and made the FD-1023 public on July 20, 2023.’ 

Grassley and Johnson noted that a month later, in late August, FBI investigators spoke with the FBI handling agent responsible for Smirnov. 

‘The FBI’s questionable handling of this Confidential Human Source underscores, as Senator Johnson has pointed out, a greater scandal relating to the overall corruption within federal law enforcement, the Justice Department, and the intelligence community,’ they wrote. 

Grassley and Johnson are requesting the Justice Department and FBI make Smirnov’s handling agent and his superiors available for a ‘full-day transcribed interview no later than May 7, 2024.’ 

The names of those individuals are included in the letter but are fully redacted. 

Grassley, on Wednesday, reacted to his request, telling Fox News Digital that the ‘FBI swore up and down to me and my congressional colleagues that their Confidential Human Source was credible, but when they finally took a look at his information like I asked, they now tell the public he turned up red flags.’

‘If it weren’t for my oversight, Smirnov would still be spinning tales for the FBI on the taxpayer’s dime,’ Grassley said. ‘It is the FBI and DOJ’s job to carry out sensitive investigations in an unbiased, prudent and timely manner. But almost four years after the FD-1023 was created, the Justice Department and FBI have yet to come clean to the American people, confirm they’ve investigated every aspect of it and conclusively say they’ve run the entire matter to the ground once and for all.’ 

Grassley said this situation is a ‘prime example of the train wreck that ensues when you let partisan politics get in the way of your constitutional duty, and when the government stiff-arms Congress and the American people.’ 

‘The FBI and DOJ ought to be embarrassed by their colossal transparency failures,’ Grassley told Fox News Digital. ‘I won’t stop until all those responsible have been held to account and there is full transparency regarding the government’s conduct in this matter.’ 

Sen. Ron Johnson agreed, telling Fox News Digital that the FBI and DOJ’s ‘questionable’ handling of Smirnov and its ‘refusal to provide transparency to Congress underscores the scandal of the overall corruption within our federal law enforcement agencies.’ 

The DOJ and FBI confirmed receipt of the letter, but declined to comment further to Fox News Digital.

Former President Trump lashed out at his former vice president in the wee hours of Wednesday over disagreement on abortion policy.

Trump published on his proprietary social media site, Truth Social, a furious tirade against former Vice President Mike Pence.

‘Former Vice President (thank you President Trump!) Mike Pence has been doing a lot of talking about Abortion lately. He never felt I would be able to kill Roe v Wade and bring it back to the States where, according to all legal scholars, it belongs,’ Trump wrote.

‘He started at no abortion for any reason, and then allowing abortions for up to 6 weeks, then up to 15 weeks, and then, who knows?’ the former president asserted.

The comment appears to be a reference to various pro-life bills proposed or backed by Pence that sought to restrict abortion at the state or national level.

The former vice president has been a consistent pro-life advocate since his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000. He has maintained for his entire political career that the termination of an embryo is morally unacceptable at any stage.

The criticism also seems to use recycled language from a previous post attacking Sen. Lindsey Graham, whom he said ‘wanted no Abortions under any circumstances, then he was up to 6 weeks, where you’re allowed Abortion, now he’s up to 15 weeks.’

‘But it doesn’t matter because the Radical Left Democrats will never approve anything on this issue, and Republicans don’t have anywhere close to the number of Senators necessary to make it matter,’ Trump continued in his late night criticism. ‘Mike has been getting very bad advice from Mark Long, & others. That’s why he’s polling at 1%. With better advice, he would be polling at a solid 2%, and maybe even more!!!’

The ‘Mark Long’ referenced in the post is most likely a nickname for Marc Short, Pence’s former chief of staff while he was vice president. Short is now the chairman of Pence’s advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom.

‘Everyone must ask Democrats if they would allow abortions in the 7th, 8th, or 9th month, or allow the execution of a baby after birth, as was suggested by the former Democrat Governor of Virginia,’ Trump concluded. ‘They are the Radicals, not the Republicans!’

The sudden and scattershot criticism of Pence is most likely due to the former vice president speaking out against Trump’s abortion policy plan.

Pence charged on Monday that Trump’s decision not to support a federal ban on abortion is a ‘retreat on the Right to Life’ and ‘a slap in the face to the millions of pro-life Americans.’

The former vice president’s statement came a few hours after Trump took credit for the decision two years ago by the conservative majority on the Supreme Court that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which had legalized abortion nationwide.

However, Trump declined to support the push by social conservatives to ban abortion at the federal level and emphasized his support for states determining their own laws for abortion so long as there are exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.

In a statement on social media, Pence argued, ‘President Trump’s retreat on the Right to Life is a slap in the face to the millions of pro-life Americans who voted for him in 2016 and 2020. By nominating and standing by the confirmation of conservative justices, the Trump-Pence Administration helped send Roe v. Wade to the ash heap of history where it belongs and gave the pro-life movement the opportunity to compassionately support women and unborn children.’

The former vice president lamented that ‘too many Republican politicians are all too ready to wash their hands of the battle for life.’

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon on Tuesday relented to special counsel Jack Smith in a long-running dispute over the names of government witnesses in the classified documents case against former President Trump, agreeing to shield their identities from the public eye. 

Cannon only partially granted prosecutors’ request in agreeing to keep the names of FBI agents, Secret Service agents and other potential witnesses in the case under seal. In a 24-page order, the judge refused to categorically block witness statements from being disclosed, saying there was no basis for such a ‘sweeping’ and ‘blanket’ restriction on their inclusion in pretrial motions. 

Cannon rejected a request by Smith’s team to seal from pretrial motions the substance of all witness statements, except for information that could be used to identify witnesses.

‘As for legal authority, the cases cited in the Special Counsel’s papers do not lend support to this sweeping request; nor do they appear to have been offered as such,’ Cannon wrote. ‘And based on the Court’s independent research, granting this request would be unprecedented: the Court cannot locate any case — high-profile or otherwise — in which a court has authorized anything remotely similar to the sweeping relief sought here.’

The disagreement between Smith’s team and lawyers for Trump, which had been pending for weeks, was one of many that had piled up before Cannon and had slowed the pace of the case against Trump. Tuesday’s order was the second time this month that Cannon was critical of Justice Department prosecutors, yet the judge still ruled mostly in their favor, The Washington Post reported.

The case remains without a firm trial date, though both sides have said they could be ready this summer. 

Cannon, who earlier decided to grant Trump’s request for an independent arbiter to review documents obtained during an FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, made clear her continued skepticism of the DOJ theory of prosecution, saying Tuesday that the case raised ‘still-developing and somewhat muddled questions.’

In reconsidering an earlier order and siding with prosecutors on the protection of witness identities, Cannon likely averted a dramatic exacerbation of tensions with Smith’s team, which last week called a separate order from the judge ‘fundamentally flawed,’ according to The Associated Press. 

The issue surfaced in January when defense lawyers filed in partially redacted form a motion that sought to require prosecutors to turn over a trove of documents that they said would bolster their claim that the Biden administration had sought to ‘weaponize’ the government in charging Trump.

Defense lawyers asked permission to file the motion, which included as attachments information that they had obtained from prosecutors, in mostly unredacted form. However, prosecutors objected to unsealing the motion to the extent that it would reveal the identity of any potential government witness.

Cannon then granted the defense’s request for the motion and its exhibits to be filed in unredacted form as long as the personal identifying information of witnesses remained sealed. Smith’s team asked her to reconsider, saying that witnesses could be exposed to threats and harassments if publicly identified.

In agreeing on Tuesday for the witness names to remain redacted, she wrote, ‘Although the record is clear that the Special Counsel could have, and should have, raised its current arguments previously, the Court elects, upon a full review of those newly raised arguments, to reconsider its prior Order.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

President Biden and Vice President Harris’ re-election campaign has announced a new push to win over a group of voters that it claims is ‘a force to be reckoned with.’ The initiative comes just seven months ahead of the president’s rematch with the presumptive Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.

As Biden seeks to win another term in the White House despite facing historic low approval ratings, Team Biden-Harris announced the launch of ‘Out for Biden-Harris.’ The campaign describes the program as a national effort to mobilize LGBTQ+ voters and community members across the country.

In a statement, Biden-Harris 2024 campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said, ‘LGBTQ+ voters are a force to be reckoned with.’

‘They were critical to our victory in 2020, and they will be critical to winning again this November,’ Chavez Rodriguez added. ‘That’s why we’re thrilled to launch Out for Biden-Harris, which will harness the LGBTQ+ community’s organizing prowess to reelect President Biden and Vice President Harris this November.’

In a campaign video that accompanied the announcement, Vice President Harris said, ‘Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard. And because you made your voices heard, marriages are more secure.’

‘We will do what we have always done in this movement, in this community, which is collectively, we will continue to build unity. We will continue to build coalition. We will always be fueled by knowing we have so much more in common than what separates us. We will be fueled by knowing we are all in this together,’ Harris said.

The campaign statement boasted the Biden-Harris administration is ‘the most pro-LGBTQ+ in history’ and identified LGBTQ+ voters as ‘a key part’ of the re-election strategy.

The campaign has picked up endorsements from LGBTQ+ organizations across the country, including Equality North Carolina PAC, Fair Wisconsin, Delaware Stonewall PAC, the Center for Black Equity Political Action Fund, Equality California, Silver State Equality, the Human Rights Campaign, National Center for Trans Equality Action Fund and Equality PAC.

‘Collectively, these groups represent more than 3.8 million members who will use their resources to mobilize equality voters across every battleground state,’ the campaign said.

In the statement, Rodriguez added: ‘LGBTQ+ Americans couldn’t have more at stake this election.’

‘LGBTQ+ Americans deserve leaders who will fight for every American’s freedom and dignity,’ she said. ‘There has never been a more critical time to protect the rights of all Americans, no matter who you love or how you identify, and Out for Biden-Harris will be critical to not just safeguarding, but strengthening the rights and voice of every single American.’

The new program will kick off a series of events in the coming weeks, including virtual organizing calls, virtual training sessions and a series of ‘Out for Biden-Harris’ house parties and community events.

These events will be held in Phoenix; Ferndale, Michigan; Milwaukee; Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Las Vegas.

The Biden administration has openly LGBTQ+ members, including Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, Undersecretary of Defense Shawn Skelly, Ambassador to Switzerland Scott Miller and others. It also held the Pride Month celebration at the White House in Washington, D.C., last year. 

‘It’s wonderful to welcome all of you — and over a thousand Americans from all across the country,’ Biden said at the June 2023 event. ‘We’re gathered here today to honor the extraordinary the extraordinary courage and contributions of the LGBTQ community, to celebrate their legacy and their progress. And we welcome the largest Pride Month celebration ever held at the White House. But just the beginning.’

‘Jill and I, Kamala and Doug [second gentleman Douglas Emhoff], the entire administration are doing everything we can to advance equality for the LGBTQ community in our nation — the entire nation,’ he added.

In January, Biden’s approval rating plummeted to just 31%, a 15-year low. 

Nearly 4 in 10 voters (38%) approve of the job Biden is doing on the economy, his best rating in a year. He fares worse on inflation (34% approve) and immigration (30%). 

Overall, 41% approve of the job Biden is doing, while 58% disapprove.

Fox News’ Kaitlin Sprague and Victoria Balara contributed to this report.

Israel’s foreign minister drew a line in the sand with Iran on Wednesday, warning the country that Israel would respond with direct attacks on Iranian targets if Iran launches an attack on Israel from within its territory.

The minister, Israel Katz, issued the warning after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei once again threatened retaliation for an Israeli airstrike that killed several top Iranian military officials in Syria last week.

‘If Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran,’ Katz said in a post on X.

Iran has long carried out attacks against Israel, but it has typically done so through proxy terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. It would be a major escalation in the conflict for Iran to attack Israel directly, and likewise for Israel to strike targets within Iran’s territory.

The exchange of threats between Israel and Iran is the latest sign that Israel’s war against Hamas could explode into a regional conflict, something the U.S. has sought to avoid.

While the U.S. remains a staunch ally of Israel, there is a widening rift between President Biden’s administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Biden criticized Netanyahu’s current plans for the war in Gaza as a ‘mistake’ in an interview with Univision published Tuesday night.

‘I think what he’s doing is a mistake,’ Biden told the outlet. ‘I don’t agree with his approach.’

Biden’s criticisms have related largely to civilian casualties in Gaza, deaths which Israel insists it is doing all it can to prevent.

Democrats in Congress have gone so far as to call for Biden to withhold arms to Israel unless it does everything possible to limit civilian casualties on the battlefield. Last month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. called for Israel to hold new elections to replace Netanyahu, prompting backlash from Israeli officials.

Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.