Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday replaced the country’s highest-ranking army general of the country in a national military shake-up. 

Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi was relieved of his position and thanked by Zelenskyy for his service — the president said it was not indicative of poor performance but part of bigger refresh of the military.

‘The time for such a renewal is now,’ Zelenskyy said.

Zaluzhnyi, who remains highly popular with Ukrainian troops and civilians alike, was replaced as commander-in-chief by Сol. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi.

‘A reset, a new beginning is necessary,’ Zelenskyy said. He claimed the review is ‘not about a single person but about the direction of the country’s leadership.’

The changing of the guard comes close to the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion — a conflict not expected to last this long due to the drastically different military capabilities going into the war.

The duration of the war has stressed Ukraine’s manpower and left the pool of combatants shallow.

Citizens turned out in force at the start of the conflict, signing up in huge numbers that kept the fighting force strong. Stories recounted how even old women had signed up for military training to rebuff Russia’s invasion.

Going into the second year of the conflict, Kyiv hyped up its counteroffensive for the spring and summer, but the effort failed to produce the anticipated results, leading many to question the future of the conflict and resist further plans to fund and equip Ukraine without a clear end in sight for the conflict.

Despite the lack of manpower, the Ukrainian military has remained a difficult opponent to Russian invading forces — which has been suffering its own setbacks.

Last week, Ukrainian media touted a major victory over the Russian fleet with the publication of a video that allegedly showed the destruction of a nearly $70 million missile ship, the Ivanovets. Multiple drones hit the vessel and sank it, with the crew’s fate unknown. 

‘As a result of a number of direct hits to the hull, the Russian ship received damage that was incompatible with further movement – the Ivanovets tilted to the stern and sank,’ said the Military Informant Telegram channel.

Fox News’ Peter Aitken contributed to this report.

Former President Trump said he is a ‘believer’ in the United States and a ‘believer’ in the Supreme Court after it heard arguments in Colorado’s effort to remove him from the 2024 ballot in the state.

Trump told reporters Thursday that it would be ‘tough’ to rule against him based on his poll numbers, but maintained that he is ‘leaving it up to’ the high court. 

The U.S. Supreme Court appeared skeptical of Colorado’s argument that Trump should be removed from the state ballot for ‘insurrection’ related to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots.

The court is considering for the first time the meaning and reach of Section 3 of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which bars former officeholders who ‘engaged in insurrection’ from holding public office again.

Trump has never been charged with inciting insurrection.

‘I just finished watching the Supreme Court… It’s unfortunate that we have to go through a thing like that,’ Trump said during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago after oral arguments concluded. ‘I consider it to be more election interference by the Democrats – that’s what they’re doing.’ 

Trump added that ‘the good news is, we’re leading virtually in every poll.’ 

The former president and 2024 Republican frontrunner said he felt the Supreme Court’s proceeding Thursday was ‘a very beautiful process.’

‘I hope that democracy in this country will continue, because right now we have a very, very tough situation,’ Trump said. ‘And with all of the radical left ideas with the weaponization of politics, they weaponized it like it’s never been weaponized before.’

Trump said that ‘every single’ case against him is ‘a phony hoax.’

‘It’s a disgrace that this country, that they work together with the Justice Department and the White House and not supposed to do that,’ Trump said. ‘Every one of these cases you see comes out of the White House. It comes out of Biden. It’s election interference, and it’s really very sad.’ 

Trump said he feels his defense at the Supreme Court was ‘a very good one.’

‘I think it was well received. I hope it was well received,’ he said. ‘You have millions of people that are out there wanting to vote, and they happen to want to vote for me. The Republican Party, whatever you want or however you want to phrase it, but I’m the one running, and we are leading in every poll. We’re leading in the local polls, in the state polls, and we’re leading in the swing state polls, and we’re leading very big in the national polls.’

Trump called his poll numbers ‘a very great honor.’

‘We love the country,’ Trump said. ‘I’m a believer in our country and I’m a believer in the Supreme Court. I listened today and I thought our arguments were very, very strong.’

Trump said his argument is ‘very important.’

‘The fact that you’re leading in every race, you’re leading in every state, you’re leading in the country against both Republican and Democrat and Biden. You’re leading in the country by a lot,’ Trump said. ‘And can you take the person that’s leading everywhere and say, ‘Hey, we’re not going to let you run’? You know, I think that’s pretty tough to do.’

He added: ‘But I’m leaving it up to the Supreme Court.’

During arguments, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was appointed by President Biden, said she understood Colorado’s argument, but pointed out that in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, there is a list of people that can be barred – but the president is not one of them.

‘Why didn’t they put the word president in the very enumerated list in Section 3?’ Brown asked Colorado voters’ lawyer Jason Murray. ‘The thing that really is troubling to me is I totally understand your argument, but they were listing people that were barred and president is not there. And so I guess that just makes me worry that maybe they weren’t focusing on the president.’

The 14th Amendment, Section 3 of the Constitution states, ‘No person shall… hold any office… under the United States… who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States… to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.’

Justice Brett Kavanaugh spoke for colleagues when saying they were confronting ‘difficult questions.’

Many of the queries focused on whether state courts or elected state officials can unilaterally enforce constitutional provisions and declare candidates ineligible for public office – so-called ‘self-executing’ authority – or whether that is exclusively the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. Chief Justice John Roberts warned of a ‘pretty severe consequence’ if disqualification proceedings came from ‘the other side,’ targeting Democratic candidates.

‘I would expect that a goodly number of states will say, whoever the Democrat is, you’re off the ballot,’ Roberts said. ‘It would then come down to a small number of states deciding the election.’

Justice Elena Kagan questioned ‘why a single state gets to decide who gets to be president of the United States?’ calling that ‘quite extraordinary.’

But Kagan also questioned whether it was ‘contrary’ to say the rule applies to other public office seekers, but does not apply to Trump.  

Fox News’ Bill Mears, Shannon Bream, Chris Pandolfo, Gabriele Regalbuto, Anders Hagstrom, and Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.

A foreign aid funding bill to provide tens of billions of dollars for Ukraine and Israel, without a previously-included border and immigration package, passed the first procedural hurdle in the Senate on Thursday amid Republican disarray.

The $95 billion package advanced in a 67 to 32 cloture vote, also known as a motion to limit debate on a bill and move to a final vote. It requires a three-fifths majority. Now, senators will enter into debate to add border amendments. 

Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham, Pete Ricketts, Tommy Tuberville, Rick Scott, Mike Lee, Katie Britt, John Barrasso, Josh Hawley, Rand Paul, Roger Marshall and Jim Risch were among the dissenting votes. Sen. James Lankford, who negotiated the border provisions that failed to pass the Senate on Wednesday, also voted no. 

Seventeen Republicans, including Sens. Chuck Grassley, Minority Whip John Thune, Roger Wicker, John Kennedy, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney and Mike Rounds voted to advance the bill. 

The package includes $60 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel, $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza, and nearly $5 billion for the Indo-Pacific. The Senate will proceed to hear debate on potential border amendments and reconvene for a final vote to potentially propel the package to full passage. 

Senate aides told Fox News Digital the process could take several days, as Republicans continue to negotiate which amendments will be up for consideration. The final decision about which amendments make it to the floor will be left up to Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. 

‘Now that we are on the bill, we hope to reach an agreement with our Republican colleagues on amendments,’ Schumer said after the vote. ‘For the information of senators. We are going to keep working on this bill until the job is done.’

Graham, a strong supporter of continued aid to Ukraine, told reporters before the vote: ‘I’m not going to vote for cloture until I know how this movie ends.’

‘I want to know what the Democratic leadership will agree to,’ he said. ‘Our border is a bigger national security threat to us in the short term than Ukraine. We have not even begun to do what we could do to secure the border.’

Democrats brought the package up for a vote after Republicans had blocked the $118 billion package that also included a slew of border and immigration provisions on Wednesday. Republicans had previously said they would not approve funding for Ukraine unless the overwhelmed southern border was secured first.

The border-foreign aid package was unveiled on Sunday night and hit a buzzsaw of conservative opposition from Republicans who said the package would normalize historic levels of illegal immigration and continue catch-and-release. Conservatives joined with some liberal Democrats in shutting down the bill, so Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer prepared a vote without the border package as a backup plan.

Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell had backed funding for Ukraine, but drew criticism from party members who urged lawmakers not to pass foreign aid without securing the border first. 

‘Support for our allies is more tenuous and the security of US personnel and interests is more questionable than it was three years ago. These are the circumstances in which the Senate must consider some weighty responsibilities of our own to invest in the hard power that the President instinctively consistently shies away from exercising, to commit to allies and fear of being abandoned,’ McConnell said Wednesday. 

The White House requested the supplemental funding package in October, but it was held up by Republicans who wanted more measures to fix the record-setting border crisis, including greater limits on asylum and limits on releases into the interior. Negotiators worked for months and on Sunday  finally released their text.

In addition to the foreign aid package, the failed border package included an ’emergency border authority’ to mandate Title 42-style expulsions of migrants when migration levels exceed 5,000 a day over a seven-day rolling average.

The bill would have narrowed asylum eligibility while expediting the process from years to months, provided immediate work permits for asylum seekers and funded a massive increase in staffing at the border and more immigration judges. The package also included greater detention, increased numbers of green cards, extra funding for NGOs and cities receiving migrants, $650 million for border wall funding and $450 million for countries to take back and re-settle illegal immigrants.

While the administration and negotiators described it as the toughest border package in years which would curb arrivals, limit asylum and lead to more expulsions, for conservatives it was seen as normalizing a crisis.

Some Democrats also objected to the bill, saying it was too harsh and did not include amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the U.S. — something immigration doves have wanted for years.

There has also been growing opposition to additional funding for Ukraine among Republicans, particularly in the House.

On Tuesday, Republicans in the lower chamber instead attempted to pass a standalone bill providing aid only to Israel. It failed after 14 Republicans and 166 Democrats voted against it.

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

Hunter Biden was paid $100,000 a month and James Biden was paid $65,000 a month in 2017 from their joint-venture with Chinese Communist Party-linked Chinese energy firm CEFC, a former associate testified to the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees.

Mervyn Yan, who testified behind closed doors at the committees last month, said he did not know the nature of the work the Bidens provided, according to a transcript of the testimony obtained by Fox News Digital.

Yan testified that he met Hunter Biden and James Biden in May 2017 through a CEFC business partner Gongwen Dong, also known as ‘Kevin.’ Yan said that meeting lasted less than 15 minutes, but that it was the impetus for the joint-business venture, Hudson West III, with the Bidens.

Yan said the business venture was intended to facilitate the investment of Chinese energy infrastructure firms — like CEFC — into U.S. energy companies in exchange for energy exports to China.

‘It was in May 2017, four of us. And then Kevin asked me to come to a meeting. And then eventually we met. I met Hunter Biden and James Biden and Kevin, just four of us… in Midtown. That was a relatively quick meeting, roughly 15 minutes, because I noticed the time because I couldn’t even get a water in that place,’ Yan told the committees.

‘So basically we shake hands and basically say we can work together,’ Yan continued, adding that he would be ‘sort of like on-the-ground person who executes and pretty much sources the infrastructure deals.’ Yan said he would be ‘working closely with Hunter.’

Yan was asked what he thought Hunter Biden ‘brought to the table’ in the joint-venture.

‘I don’t know,’ Yan testified. ‘I don’t know what he can contribute.’

Yan said he did not know if Hunter Biden had ‘knowledge’ in the energy infrastructure field.

Yan said Hunter Biden was given a $500,000 retainer, and then paid $100,000 per month. Yan also testified that Hunter Biden had been working for CEFC prior to their introductory meeting, but did not know for how long.

Hunter Biden, though, in correspondence that was shown to Yan during his interview last month, initially requested $30 million for introductions in the industry.

Fox News Digital last year reported correspondence between Hunter Biden and Gongwen Dong, in which the first son demands $10 million to ‘further the interest’ of the joint-venture, saying that the ‘Bidens are the best I know at doing exactly’ what the chairman of the CCP-linked firm wanted. 

‘The Biden’s [sic] are the best I know at doing exactly what the Chairman wants from this partnership,’ Hunter Biden writes in the WhatsApp message. ‘Please let’s not quibble over peanuts.’

According to a September 2020 report released by the Senate Homeland Security Committee and Senate Finance Committee on their investigation into Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, Ye Jianming, Gongwen Dong and other Chinese nationals that Hunter Biden had business associations with were linked to the Chinese Communist government and the People’s Liberation Army.

That Senate report showed that on Aug. 8, 2017, just days after this WhatsApp message, CEFC wired nearly $5 million to the bank account for Hudson West III, a firm that Hunter Biden opened with Chinese associates.

‘These funds may have originated from a loan issued from the account of a company called Northern International Capital Holdings, a Hong Kong-based investment company identified at one time as a ‘substantial shareholder’ in CEFC International Limited along with Ye,’ the report stated. ‘It is unclear whether Hunter Biden was a half-owner of Hudson West III at the time.’

The report also stated that ‘the same day the $5 million was received, and continuing through Sept. 25, 2018, Hudson West III sent request payments to Owasco, Hunter Biden’s firm.’ The report stated the payments were described as consulting fees and reached ‘$4,790,375.25 in just over a year.’

Meanwhile, Yan testified that none of the five infrastructure deals he worked on with the Bidens in 2017 came to fruition, but said Hunter and James Biden were still compensated for their work in attempting to bring business.

Yan testified as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

Yan told congressional investigators that Joe Biden was not involved in the joint-venture, and said neither Hunter Biden nor James Biden ever suggested he would be involved.

Yan also testified that he was not aware of any funds from the joint-venture going to Joe Biden. Yan maintained that he was never in contact with Joe Biden, and that Hunter Biden and James Biden did not discuss the then-former vice president in their conversations.

Yan was pointedly asked if he was ever told that he could receive political favors from Joe Biden if he engaged in business with Hunter Biden, to which he replied in the negative.

‘Did you engage in a business relationship with Hunter and James with the expectation that you would receive political favors from Joe Biden?’ Yan was asked.

‘No,’ Yan said.

After his interview last month, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., pointed to Yan’s testimony in which he ‘admitted on the record the Bidens had no experience in the energy and infrastructure sectors and was not sure what they brought to the table.’

Comer has stressed that evidence collected by congressional investigators reveals that President Biden ‘was at least aware of some of his family’s business ventures and sought to influence potential business deals that financially benefited his family.’

Yan’s testimony came as the committee continues to interview former business associates of Hunter Biden. Next up is Tony Bobulinski on Tuesday. Then, James Biden will appear for a closed-door deposition on Feb. 21, and Hunter Biden’s deposition is set for Feb. 28.

A Republican Party civil war nearly broke out over the Montana Senate race before House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., decided to step back from the GOP primary there, Fox News Digital has learned.

Three sources told Fox News Digital that Johnson planned to endorse Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., for Senate but reversed course after blowback from fellow Republicans.

‘Johnson planned to endorse Rosendale, but after receiving extreme blowback from Trump allies on the Hill, he decided to withdraw and not do it,’ the source said. ‘He told at least one senator, at least one congressman…that he was no longer planning to endorse after the blowback.’

A second source indicated that those two lawmakers were Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. 

Zinke told Fox News Digital, ‘I can confirm that upon further reflection, the speaker is not endorsing Rosendale for Senate. I am confident that his decision was based on the reality that Rosendale is the weaker candidate by far against [Democratic Sen. Jon Tester].’

Daines chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the Senate GOP’s campaign arm tasked with retaking the majority in the November elections. That includes a pickup opportunity that Republicans see in unseating Daines’ fellow Montanan, Tester.

Both he and Zinke have backed former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, who has also been endorsed by Montana’s governor and other top GOP officials. 

Rosendale, a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, has not entered the race but is expected to do so.

The second source said Zinke and Daines were ‘p—ed’ about Johnson’s intention to endorse Rosendale, which was first reported by Punchbowl. That source also said it was Rosendale who reached out to the speaker to ask for his backing.

A third source, who is familiar with Zinke’s thinking, told Fox News Digital, ‘The speaker called Zinke last night. It was a good conversation. Zinke supports the speaker’s decision to not get involved.’

The endorsement would have been an unusual step for Johnson, who has publicly tried to downplay the appearance of intraparty division since taking the speaker’s gavel in October.

Johnson’s campaign told Fox News Digital, ‘The Speaker has committed to sending a contribution to Congressman Rosendale, as he has for other House colleagues and friends, but he has not made any endorsements in Senate races. He is singularly focused on growing the House majority.’

Rosendale touted the about-face as establishment fear of him running.

‘Speaker Johnson and I have always had a great relationship. I am thankful for his continued support,’ Rosendale said. ‘Mitch McConnell and the D.C. Cartel are TERRIFIED about me going to the U.S. Senate. They know they can’t control me; they know I won’t vote for McConnell as Leader. But they are fixin’ to find out that in Montana, we don’t take orders from Washington; we send orders to Washington!’

Montana is seen as critical to the GOP’s chances of retaking the Senate next year. Tester, who has been in office since 2007, has survived several close races in an increasingly red state. That includes a challenge from Rosendale in 2018.

Former President Trump won the state by roughly 16% over President Biden in 2020. He has not endorsed anyone in the Montana Senate race.

As the 2nd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, more evidence has emerged that Moscow’s goal is to redraw the map of Europe and erase Ukraine, according to the testimony of three formerly abducted Ukrainian teenagers.

Authorities in Kyiv have provided evidence to the International Criminal Court that more than 19,000 Ukrainian children have been deported by the Russian military from Ukraine and sent to reeducation camps inside Crimea and Russia.

‘We do not know how many of our children have been abducted,’ testified Ukraine Ambassador Oksana Markarova before Congress on January 31. ‘We hear Russians bragging about 700,000 children. We know that our soldiers already registered more than 19,000. But the matter of the fact, until we liberate all Ukraine, until we win this war, we will not know how many of our children and our civilians have been abducted or killed.’

Three Ukrainian teens who escaped from these camps with the help of their relatives and a group called Save Ukraine spoke to FOX News after testifying before the Congressional Helsinki Commission. 19-year-old Ksenia was kidnapped from their home in Kharkiv by Russian troops two years ago with her brother who was 10 years old at the time.

‘I was sent to school and my little brother was sent to a ‘summer camp’,’ Ksenia told FOX. ‘My brother was under pressure all the time. He was told Ukraine has no future that nobody remembers him in Ukraine. He was told that Ukrainians are dumb, that Ukrainians know nothing, they’re Nazis. They were telling him, war would destroy Ukraine soon and there was no point going back, that he shall stay in Russia, where he can have future.’

Denys was 16 years old when he was abducted 2 years ago. He spent 10 months in a Russian camp in Occupied Crimea until he was rescued by volunteers from Save Ukraine. He was living in Kherson with his two deaf parents, who could not speak and could not fight back when Russian troops abducted him.

‘At the camps, they were telling us that very soon Ukraine will be part of Russia, that it is Russian land,’ Denys said during a visit to Washington DC. ‘They were pressuring us to become Russians.’

Rostyslav recently celebrated his 18th birthday with other children rescued from the Russian reeducation camps.

‘We were supposed to sing the Russian national anthem.

And if you refused, you were punished,’ Rostyslav explained. ‘If you did not sing for the third time, they would put you in a tiny solitary cell with no window and no phone. I was there four times in 35 days.’  

Rostyslav spoke to us in Ukrainian. Save Ukraine is the largest network of volunteers rescuing Ukrainian children deported to Russia in violation of the Geneva Convention. Its founder, Mykola Kuleba, compares it to ‘The Underground Railroad.’ He says they have rescued 232 Ukrainian children in the last 18 months and more than 100,000 other Ukrainians after Russia’s invasion, Feb 24, 2022.

‘It’s very hard. The searching in social media. We receive information on our hotline and check this information. We connect with relatives, with friends, and then we provide rescue operations,’ Kuleba explained after testifying before US lawmakers. ‘It’s very complicated. But we have success.’ 

A dangerous journey for the relatives who are trained to sneak behind enemy lines into Russia, pass interrogations by Russian agents working for the FSB, the internal spy agency, and find their missing children, before they are brainwashed and matched to a Russian family for a speedy adoption.

Kuleba explained what it was like for these children inside Russia’s reeducation camps:

‘Every day, you should wake up in the morning and sing Russian anthem. You cannot speak your language. You should speak only Russian language. You should attend every day classes and learn how Russian Empire is powerful. That everybody want to hurt you. And you have to be prepared well to fight.’

Pakistan heads to the polls Thursday with one of the leading candidates languishing in prison as some reports claim that voter enthusiasm is lacking among the country’s nearly 128 million voters. 

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has been barred from contesting the national parliamentary elections. Khan was ousted as the country’s 22nd prime minister after a no-confidence vote in April 2022. The former cricketer-turned-politician is currently serving more than 30 years in jail. Three out of Khan’s four sentences were delivered last week. Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023.

Khan’s party has raised fears of pre-poll rigging, something seemingly shared by voters. A recent Gallup poll revealed 70% of Pakistanis lack confidence in the honesty of their elections. The current election cycle has been marred with violence and harassment, casting a long shadow over the proceedings.

Forty-four political parties are to compete for a share of the 266 seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. The newly elected parliament will then choose the country’s next prime minister.

Despite many surveys having Khan as the favored leader, three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to return to power. Like Khan, Sharif is no stranger to the military establishment’s wrath and legal cases, which prematurely ended his past three terms as prime minister. Sharif, 74, had his last premiership cut short in 2017 over corruption allegations.

As a politician, Khan has been known to advocate for liberal ideas while simultaneously catering to Islamic principles and sentiments. During his tenure, Pakistan witnessed a notable surge in Islamist militancy and the fortification of positions held by religious radicals.

Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) took control of the country under his brother’s leadership in 2022. At the time, Sharif had exiled himself abroad to avoid being jailed at home.

The PML-N has been campaigning largely on Pakistan’s dire financial situation. The country faced the threat of default last June and is suffering from rising poverty levels. The International Monetary Fund has warned of persistent inflation hovering around 24% this year.

A third major party and PML-N ally, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), is unlikely to garner enough support to secure the premiership. However, PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari still stands a chance to be a part of a coalition government under Sharif. 

Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari, a former cabinet member and adviser to Khan, told Fox News Digital that Khan is wrapped up in more than 190 cases. Bukhari said all charges are politically motivated to keep Khan out of the election. Khan’s PTI party alleges a coordinated effort to obstruct their participation in the elections. ‘Draconian’ measures against the party include arrests, home raids, and internet disruptions and freezes, Bukhari said.

Government suppression has led to numerous detentions and heavy-handed tactics have forced PTI leaders to abandon the party. The United Nation’s leading human rights body recently warned of a ‘pattern of harassment’ against members of Khan’s party.

A spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Office has urged Pakistani authorities to ensure a free and fair election. In an effort to uphold this standard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that there will be as many as 92 international election observers. These observers will include European Union members and several foreign embassies.

Both the military and Pakistan’s caretaker government have denied suppressing Khan or the PTI, despite the party’s complaints of being marginalized and muzzled. Nonetheless, the PTI has pressed on, even leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) in its strategy.

With Khan confined in isolation, his party has heavily relied on social media. The PTI party’s Instagram, X and TikTok accounts boast several million followers, outstripping Pakistan’s two other main parties combined. The party has utilized generative AI to create Khan-approved content; Khan’s preliminary AI-generated speech debuted at a first-ever virtual rally.

Bukhari says the party’s strategic use of ‘social media seems to be doing the trick.’ The PTI has also cautiously and quietly been conducting covert canvassing operations to avoid further crackdowns. The PTI has stayed steadfast in the face of adversity and is ‘hopeful to scoop an easy win,’ Bukhari told Fox News Digital.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Attorney General Merrick Garland notified congressional lawmakers that Special Counsel Robert Hur has submitted his final report after months of investigating President Biden’s alleged improper retention of classified records.

Garland, in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Ranking Member Jerry Nadler, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin and Ranking Member Lindsey Graham, Garland said Hur submitted the final report on Monday to the Justice Department.

‘Prior to submitting his report to me, Special Counsel Hur engaged with the White House Counsel’s Office and President’s personal counsel to allow comments on the report,’ Garland wrote. ‘That included review by the White House Counsel’s Office for executive privilege consistent with the President’s constitutional prerogatives.’

Garland, though, said the White House’s privilege review ‘has not yet concluded.’ 

‘As I have made clear regarding each Special Counsel who has served since I have taken office, I am committed to making as much of the Special Counsel’s report public as possible, consistent with legal requirements and Department policy,’ Garland wrote.

Garland vowed to ‘produce to Congress the report, its appendices, and the letter from counsel following completion of the White House’s privilege review.’ 

White House spokesman Ian Sams tells FOX that the White House anticipates the privilege review of Special Counsel Hur’s report will be complete by the end of the week.

Hur has been investigating Biden’s improper retention of classified records since last year. Reports suggest there will be no charges filed against the president. 

Classified records were first found inside the Washington, D.C., offices of the Penn Biden Center think tank on Nov. 2, 2022, but only disclosed to the public in early January 2023.

A second stash of classified documents was also found inside the garage of the president’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, in December 2022, prompting Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint former U.S. Attorney Rob Hur to serve as special counsel in January 2023.

Days later, additional classified documents were found in the president’s home in Delaware. The FBI conducted a more than 12-hour search of Biden’s Delaware home, seizing additional classified records.

Biden has defended the storing of classified documents in the past.

‘By the way, my Corvette is in a locked garage, so it’s not like they’re sitting out on the street,’ he once said.

But Garland, on Nov. 18, 2022, appointed former DOJ official Jack Smith to serve as special counsel to investigate whether Trump was improperly retaining classified records at Mar-a-Lago.

When Smith was appointed to investigate Trump, Garland and top DOJ officials were simultaneously conducting an internal review of President Biden’s mishandling of classified records. That review, and the discovery of classified records at Biden’s office, was not disclosed to the public until January.

Republicans and allies of former President Trump were outraged, blasting the Justice Department for a double standard.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges out of Smith’s probe. The charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.

Trump, the 2024 GOP front-runner, was then charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of Smith’s investigation — an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts. Trump pleaded not guilty.

That trial is set to begin on May 20. 

Biden’s aides told Axios earlier this week that they are fearful former President Trump’s campaign could use the photos against the Democrat incumbent ahead of their likely 2024 rematch.

Anthony Coley, a former senior adviser to Garland, accused the Biden team of slow-walking discovery in the president’s classified records case, versus the handling of the Trump probe.

‘Against the backdrop of former President Trump’s indictment on charges of willful and deliberate retention of classified documents, the Biden team’s drip, drip, drip of information made the discoveries seem even worse,’ he wrote in an op-ed.

Reports this week suggested the Biden campaign was concerned about potentially embarrassing photos included in Hur’s expected report. 

The campaign was concerned that the images would show how Biden stored classified materials. The classified documents were carried over from Biden’s time as former President Obama’s vice president.

Hur interviewed Biden at the White House — an interview that lasted two days. The White House said the president’s interview with Hur was ‘voluntary.’

Last year, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who is co-leading the impeachment inquiry against President Biden, began investigating whether the sensitive, classified documents Biden retained involved specific countries or individuals that had financial dealings with Biden family members or their related companies. 

Comer questioned why Biden would have kept certain classified materials and asked Hur to provide his committee with a list of the countries named in any documents with classification markings recovered from Penn Biden Center, Biden’s residence, including the garage, in Wilmington, Delaware, or elsewhere; and a list of all individuals named in those documents with classification markings; and all documents found with classified markings.

It is unclear if Hur cooperated with Comer’s request. 

Fox News’ Patrick Ward contributed to this report.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., suggested that Republicans and Democrats are discussing a way to force comprehensive global security aid through Congress behind the backs of House GOP leaders.

‘There are several Republicans who are not in leadership, who have reached out to my colleagues on the Democratic side here in the House, to indicate a willingness to work together to advance a comprehensive national security package,’ Jeffries said at his weekly press conference on Wednesday.

House Republicans faced two major setbacks on Tuesday night when legislation aimed at impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and a standalone bill giving $17.6 billion to Israel both failed along bipartisan lines.

The Israel bill was Speaker Mike Johnson’s bid to undercut negotiations between the Senate and White House on a $118 billion supplemental security package with aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and Gaza and that also included conservative border policy reforms. 

But an avalanche of GOP opposition since the text was released on Sunday has put the deal on ‘life support,’ as Johnson, R-La., put it during a Tuesday press conference.

Jeffries during his own press conference on Wednesday acknowledged reports that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is getting ready to put a security bill without border policy up for a vote, something several Republican senators have suggested they would support. 

He said Republican lawmakers in the House have approached Democrats looking for pathways for a similar proposal.

‘We’ll see what the Senate does in a few hours. But either way, here in the House of Representatives, the only way forward is for Democrats and Republicans to come together to meet the national security needs of the American people in a bipartisan fashion, and that is exactly what we are committed to do in the next few days,’ Jeffries said.

In answer to a question by Fox News Digital, Jeffries said several Republicans have discussed with Democrats a package ‘that meets the needs of Israel in a time of war, Ukraine who are fighting for their lives in a brave and courageous fashion against brutal Russian aggression, as well as our allies in the Indo Pacific like Japan and South Korea who are dealing with the threat of China and North Korea, and of course provides humanitarian assistance to civilians who are in harm’s way.’

‘There are Republicans, we believe, who have increasingly recognized that the ‘my way or the highway’ approach of MAGA extremists is not working,’ Jeffries said.

Meanwhile, House conservatives who opposed Johnson’s Israel aid bill, specifically because it did not offset the $17 billion with spending cuts elsewhere, appear to be working on their own proposal to help the Middle Eastern ally.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital there are ‘ongoing conversations’ to shape a conservative Israel aid bill that would pair it with either policy changes or spending cuts.

‘We’re having ongoing conversations about what we need to do to stand with Israel, but do it responsibly,’ Roy said. ‘Which means we’ve got to factor in paying for it, or, and/or dealing with UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) and all of the ridiculous things this administration is doing to fund Israel’s enemies…and/or, what can we do about our own border.’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas’ offer for a full release of hostages in exchange for a 135-day cease-fire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of well over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

After U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli officials, Netanyahu dismissed any possibility of agreeing to the terrorist group’s demands.

‘Surrendering to Hamas’ delusional demands that we heard now not only won’t lead to freeing the captives, it will just invite another massacre,’ Netanyahu said at the Wednesday press conference.

‘We will continue until the end,’ he said. ‘There is no other solution besides complete victory.’

The terrorist organization made their offer to Israel on Tuesday in response to previous terms sent to them last week by Egypt and Qatar. 

‘We are on the way to complete victory. The victory is within reach,’ Netanyahu said Wednesday. He claimed the war could be finished ‘within a matter of months.’

The three-phase plan rejected by Netanyahu would have seen Israeli hostages released in stages – women and children first – in exchange for the Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel, including 500 Hamas would choose from a list of those serving life sentences..

Male hostages over the age of 19 would have been released after the first 45-day phase is complete and Israeli forces would have fully withdraw from Gaza at the same time.

Notably, the deal also specifically calls out UNRWA, with Hamas demanding that the organization maintain its role in overseeing aid to Gaza. The demand comes after Israel presented extensive evidence suggesting that there were at least 190 Hamas collaborators within the U.N. group.

Israel has previously said that it will not allow UNRWA to continue to operate in the region.

The deal also calls for a permanent cease-fire to be implemented after the third phase of the agreement is complete. Israel’s government has vowed that the war will not end until Hamas is destroyed, however.

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.