Author: NOVA Corp

Colorado has reversed a controversial requirement that attorneys using the state’s court e-filing system certify they would not use court information to assist federal immigration enforcement efforts.

The verification requirement was removed from state law last week after Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 26-1276, creating a carveout for attorneys seeking to use the filing system.

Multiple attorneys spoke out in April after the state’s e-file system required them to certify they would not share such personal information with the federal government — a requirement Colorado officials said stemmed from the Protect Civil Rights Immigration Status Act of 2025.

Colorado Springs attorney Ian Speir told Fox News Digital that Colorado appeared to be “unlawfully coopting private attorneys across the state to further its anti-federal sanctuary policies,” while noting that he doesn’t practice criminal nor immigration law but couldn’t sign into the state court system without “saluting the resistance.”

COLORADO LAWYERS SAY COURT E-FILE SYSTEM NOW MAKES THEM CERTIFY THEY WON’T ASSIST ICE

The House Judiciary Committee took note of Fox News Digital’s reporting on the matter and notified Colorado officials in April that their immigration-related certification wrongly “commandeers private attorneys into Colorado’s radical sanctuary policies, handcuffs federal officials from enforcing immigration law in Colorado, and violates fundamental free speech principles.”

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s immigration integrity, security and enforcement subcommittee, told Fox News Digital in a Monday interview that he was pleased to see Colorado reverse itself but warned that the incident is just the latest volley in sanctuary states’ battle against federal supremacy.

He called it the latest example of the notion that any state “can obstruct federal laws they don’t like.”

REP JIM JORDAN, REP TOM MCCLINTOCK: DEMOCRATS THINK THEY CAN OVERRULE LAWS

“I think they’ve crossed the line into obstruction by forbidding attorneys access to the court system without this outrageous pledge under penalty and perjury that they wouldn’t report any information for federal immigration enforcement purposes,” McClintock said.

“Obviously, the state recognized what tenuous ground they had staked out, and it reversed themselves. But I remain concerned over what other sanctuary jurisdictions that comprise this new ‘Confederacy’ may take in the future.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), celebrated the news and noted it was prepared to file a lawsuit against the state government in Denver on First Amendment grounds if it did not repeal the provision.

“Colorado made the right move removing the certification requirement, which was a clear viewpoint-based regulation that violated the First Amendment,” the Washington-based group said in a statement.

Speir added that while the state may be able to tell its own public lawyers what to say to ICE, he, as a private attorney, “work for my clients, not the government.”

Greg Greubel, FIRE’s senior attorney, said in a statement that the government by law cannot condition an attorney’s access to courts “on a promise not to use information for a lawful purpose the state disfavors.”

BLOODTHIRSTY VENEZUELAN GANG PUT ON NOTICE AS NEW BILL CURBS BLUE STATE SANCTUARY POLICIES

 “Kudos to Colorado legislators and the governor for acting quickly to resolve this issue, but it’s troubling that the state attempted this in the first place.”

Laws restricting speech must be viewpoint-neutral under the First Amendment, but critics argued that by forcing attorneys not to speak with ICE, they were putting their thumb on the partisan scale.

McClintock said his panel’s focus continues to be on the variety of sanctuary policies in states and cities that are “resisting and in many cases obstructing federal law enforcement,” citing the Supremacy Clause’s assertion that immigration falls under the federal government’s authority.

“That’s particularly important in regions such as mine where the local sheriffs very much want to cooperate with ICE,” said McClintock, who notably chaired the raucous hearing that featured Fairfax County, Virginia, prosecutor Stephen Descano and Sheriff Stacey Kincaid who have been lambasted for their handling of illegal immigrant-related cases.

A measure his panel is working on would allow victims of sanctuary policies to sue those jurisdictions for damages created by the release of illegal immigrant criminals and the like.

Fox News Digital reached out to Polis and ICE for comment.

President Donald Trump has hailed the newly signed Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) as a breakthrough that normalizes relations between the two countries after months of fighting. 

But by the White House’s own account, the agreement settles few of the issues that dominated months of negotiations, leaving sanctions relief, frozen assets and Iran’s nuclear program for a new round of talks.

“This is really just the first MOU and then we’re going to launch into the real technical discussions later this week,” a senior administration official told reporters Monday. 

The memorandum, signed digitally by Trump and Vice President JD Vance Sunday, kicks off a 60-day period for technical talks aimed at a final agreement. A formal signing ceremony with U.S. and Iranian officials, along with Pakistani and Qatari mediators, is planned for Friday. Yet even administration officials acknowledge that the memorandum leaves many of the most contentious issues unresolved. 

“We’ll know over the next two to three weeks whether those understandings will turn into an actual agreement,” a senior administration official said. 

TRUMP MAY HAVE WON A STRATEGIC PAUSE IN IRAN. NOW COMES THE HARD PART

Nate Swanson, a former senior advisor on Iran policy to successive administrations and now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said the memorandum appears to postpone rather than resolve disputes over sanctions relief, Iran’s nuclear program and the future of the Strait of Hormuz.

“It does not appear to resolve the core issues surrounding the mechanics of the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian nuclear concessions, or Iranian financial incentives and sanctions relief,” Swanson wrote in an analysis published by the Atlantic Council.

The remark was striking given that U.S. and Iranian officials have been negotiating since the April ceasefire and already had announced a signed memorandum and upcoming signing ceremony.

The president expressed optimism for a final deal.

“I think it’s going to happen, fairly on time, but we’ve been both involved. I think they’re going to want to get it done. Iran wants to get it done. They have to get back to business. And the relationship is now normalized,” Trump said during the G7 Summit in Évian-les-Bains, France.

JD VANCE REVEALS DETAILS OF US-IRAN DEAL, ADDRESSES WHETHER TAXPAYER MONEY WILL GO TO TEHRAN

The administration has yet to publicly release the text of the memorandum, but officials indicated that many of the issues that have dominated months of negotiations remain subject to future talks, including sanctions relief, frozen Iranian assets and the disposition of Iran’s remaining enriched uranium stockpiles.

“Here’s what it says: Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. That’s what it says. It won’t have one to buy, to develop. They will not have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. 

Administration officials said Monday the text of the deal would be released Tuesday or Wednesday.

On perhaps the most disputed issue, White House officials insisted Monday that no frozen Iranian assets have been released, despite reports in Iranian state-linked media that Iran could gain access to roughly $24 billion in blocked funds during the negotiation period.

“The very simple fact is, $0 of unfrozen assets have been released by the United States or any other country.”

The administration also said it will maintain its current military posture in the region during the negotiations, despite Iranian accounts suggesting the framework contemplates a future reduction in U.S. forces around Iran.

“The plan is to keep the current force posture during the 60-day negotiations.”

Officials repeatedly stressed that any concessions would be tied to verification rather than promises.

“We’re still at the early phases where we’re building trust.”

“This memorandum does not mean trusting the enemy; it has been written with active distrust,” Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said, according to Iranian state-linked Mehr News. “We will monitor the implementation of US commitments.”

The clearest immediate effect appears to be the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments normally pass, and a commitment by both sides to preserve the ceasefire while negotiations continue. Oil prices fell to their lowest levels in three months on the agreement to lift the blockade and open the strait. 

Administration officials repeatedly described the memorandum as a framework that could eventually lead to sanctions relief, economic normalization and a broader settlement of Iran’s nuclear program — if negotiators can reach a final agreement in the coming weeks.

“Nothing is on the table if it doesn’t come along with real performance.”

Iranian state-linked media have described the framework as already containing commitments on sanctions relief, access to roughly $24 billion in frozen assets, future reductions in U.S. military forces in the region and a $300 billion reconstruction program. The White House has disputed key elements of that characterization.

“We don’t pay them — there was some statement. We’re going to spend $300 billion. No, we’re allowed to go and invest if we wanted to. Someday, in the future. We have no obligation whatsoever,” Trump said during the G7 Summit.

The competing descriptions underscore how much remains unsettled.  

“There will likely be a significant delta between the aspirations outlined in the MOU and what emerges in a final deal,” Swanson said. 

Some congressional Republicans already are questioning whether Washington and Iran are describing the same agreement.

“I think we’d all like to see the terms of the memorandum and hopefully end up with a real deal,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told reporters at the Capitol Tuesday. 

“I don’t think there’s anybody in Congress that’s ever gonna support giving money to them,” he went on. 

“They ought pay for what it cost us to do this to bring them to their senses to stop killing us … I want to get reimbursed for the money we’ve had to spend to bring them to their senses. They’ve got plenty of oil, they can rebuild their own country.”

“I am pleased to hear the memorandum of understanding with Iran to allow the Strait of Hormuz to open has been agreed to. I will be watching closely the ensuing negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear program and other matters. I am somewhat concerned that Iran’s view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming.”

FIRST ON FOX: A new report reveals that a dangerous dynamic of anti-Christian extremism and “assassination culture” could have fueled the recent attempt to kill conservative leader Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk, as threats against public officials and figures rise to historic levels.

In late May, Bexar County charged Jacob Wenske, 26, with a third-degree felony count of making a terroristic threat involving public fear of serious bodily injury or public disruption for his alleged plan to bomb a Turning Point USA event where Kirk was the keynote speaker. 

In an email to TPUSA, Wenske said he was targeting Kirk, other event speakers and so-called “Christian nationalists,” according to an arrest warrant.

Wenske, who worked as a valet driver, also posted multiple threats on social media, according to the warrant.

TEXAS MAN ALLEGEDLY THREATENED TO BOMB TURNING POINT USA EVENT AND KILL CEO ERIKA KIRK IN ONLINE POSTS

Wenske’s arrest emerged amid a record number of threats against political figures and members of Congress. The U.S. Capitol Police Threat Assessment Section showed a 58% increase in threats against members of Congress from 2024 to 2025, and threats overall have nearly doubled since 2020. 

The Network Contagion Research Institute, a research lab that studies how radical ideologies spread across digital networks and social media, analyzed the threats against Kirk to assess the level of danger and how “permission structure” plays a role in originating the threat.

“What we’re seeing is a massive influx of foreign malign influence that is truly shaping the Western world right now, particularly through social media,” Travis Hawley, cyber threat and open-source intelligence analyst at the Network Contagion Research Institute, told Fox News Digital. “What you could call our digital diet is really shaping how people see ourselves, our values, our country, and even our history.”

TRUMP, KIRK SHOOTINGS EXPOSE ONLINE HATE BREEDING LONE-WOLF ASSASSINS, EXPERTS WARN

“And there are many countries, organizations, and wealthy individuals, whether it’s [Neville Roy] Singham in China, who are really pushing or putting their thumb on the scale, trying to push us and accelerate us into violence, dystopian even, and a civil unrest type of environment,” Hawley added. “This is really concerning and really showing how democracy actually has a weakness if it is not protected.”

The targeting of Kirk comes nine months after the assassination of her husband, who was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University. 

FBI Director Kash Patel said that Tyler Robinson, Kirk’s alleged assassin, confessed the killing in the chatroom platform Discord, a platform which members of Congress have criticized for radicalizing users.

NEIGHBORS OF CHARLIE KIRK’S SUSPECTED KILLER, TYLER ROBINSON, SPEAK OUT

In the case of Luigi Mangione, the alleged assassin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, pro-Mangione demonstrators regularly frequent the courthouse to support him, and a legal fund for Mangione has collected more than $1.5 million.

The new study obtained by Fox News Digital shows that “permission structure” plays a role in promoting the idea that a murder is justified.

LUIGI MANGIONE ‘DOES NOT SUPPORT VIOLENT ACTIONS,’ ATTORNEY SAYS AS POLITICAL ATTACKS MOUNT ACROSS THE US

Permission structure gives individuals the excuse to commit an act that would normally be unacceptable, like murder, assassination or political violence.

In 2025, a Network Contagion Research Institute study found that 1,264 U.S. adults, or 38% of people surveyed, considered it “somewhat justified” to murder President Donald Trump, and the figure increased to about 55% among those identifying as left of center.

In a post on X, Charlie Kirk cited the study, blaming “left-wing protest culture” for a rise in political violence. He was assassinated 153 days later.

NEW BOMBSHELL STUDY REVEALS ‘ASSASSINATION CULTURE’ SPREADING ON THE LEFT UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP

Hawley also told Fox News Digital that alleged malign foreign influence in protest and agitator networks plays a role in boosting radicalized beliefs. Hawley said that the far-left network stokes an anti-West ideology that aligns with the propaganda messages of America’s adversaries.

“The motivation of our adversaries to push Marxist ideology, Islamist ideology, Marxist ideology, socialists, you name it, anything that is anti-Western, anti-democratic, anti capitalist is to defeat us from within,” Hawley explained. 

He also noted that malign actors can easily use social media platforms to quickly mobilize pro-communist, anti-Western agitators.

A Fox News Digital investigation uncovered that U.S. tech tycoon and Shanghai resident Neville Roy Singham has  poured $278 million into nonprofits that have promoted Chinese Communist Party propaganda at protests around the country, often taking aim at U.S. leaders and public figures, like the Kirks.

“It seems to be bubbling up increasingly is these protests, these riots, whether it’s against the government itself, whether it’s against ICE and the military, the war,” Hawley told Fox News Digital. “We’re living in a time where it is very clear that our ability to protect our country really hinges on understanding how much of the civil unrest we are living through in recent years is actually organic.”

EXCLUSIVE — President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general has earned the endorsement of a sprawling sheriff’s association in what is expected to be a contentious confirmation process.

The Western States Sheriffs’ Association sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., along with high-ranking Senate Judiciary Committee members expressing their support for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s permanent confirmation to the position.

The organization represents sheriffs and their command staff from 19 states in the West, from Missouri to Washington state.

“We believe Mr. Blanche possesses the experience, integrity, and commitment necessary to lead the Department of Justice effectively during this important time,” the letter says.

“His background as a seasoned prosecutor, his demonstrated leadership as Acting Attorney General, and his focus on upholding the rule of law, supporting law enforcement, and prioritizing public safety align closely with the values and operational needs of America’s Sheriffs.”

TODD BLANCHE ‘HONORED AND HUMBLED’ BY TRUMP’S AG NOMINATION AFTER EXPLOSIVE WEEK OF FEDERAL ARRESTS

The letter notes that western sheriffs face “unique challenges,” particularly with border security concerns and policing vast rural areas — and they believe Blanche will help address those issues.

“As an organization dedicated to assisting Sheriffs with federal and state legislative issues, addressing policy matters, and promoting the strength and effectiveness of local law enforcement, we have long recognized the critical partnership between federal leadership at the Department of Justice and the frontline work performed by Sheriffs across The West,” the endorsement states.

The group said it is encouraged by Blanche’s understanding of the role that local and state officials play in federal law enforcement operations, and his willingness to work with those local and state officials to combat violent crime, drug trafficking, illegal immigration and other community threats.

RED STATE AGS WELCOME TRUMP CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AFTER FOUR YEARS BATTLING BIDEN

“WSSA members stand ready to partner with Attorney General Blanche to advance policies that empower Sheriffs, enhance officer safety and wellness, secure our borders, and ensure that federal resources are directed toward the real-world problems facing our counties and states,” the letter says.

It concludes with a call to action for Congress, urging the Senate to quickly confirm Blanche as U.S. attorney general.

Blanche’s nomination was formally sent to the Senate on June 8 after he was installed as acting AG following former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s bombshell ouster in April.

Republicans are reportedly targeting late summer for a full Senate confirmation vote.

President Donald Trump has the beginnings of an agreement to end the war in Iran, but Congress hasn’t seen it, and Republicans want details before lending their support.

Trump declared that the deal had already been signed by all parties, but senators, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who is a member of the Gang of Eight who receives top-level intelligence briefings from the administration, are still in the dark about what exactly it entails. 

“I don’t think even the people who follow this stuff closely up here know much about it,” Thune said. 

TRUMP AGAIN SAYS DEAL IS CLOSE, THEN CONFIRMS A LAST-MINUTE AGREEMENT WITH IRAN, BUT DETAILS STILL SECRET

As Congress awaits information on the long-awaited deal, Vice President JD Vance went on a media blitz for much of Monday to provide rough sketches of what’s inside. When asked if Vance should brief senators on the matter, Thune said, “Somebody will need to.”

“I don’t know whether it’s the vice president, but for sure, our members are gonna have a lot of questions about it,” Thune said. 

There’s also an issue of trust with Iran and whether it will follow through with whatever has been agreed to. 

“History shows that the religious zealots running Iran lie like fish swim,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said.

IRAN’S LONG TRAIL OF DECEPTION FUELS SKEPTICISM OVER NEW NUCLEAR DEAL AS TALKS CONTINUE

Vance’s media tour did outline a rough timeline of about 60 days from the initial signing of the deal to allow for further negotiations on a permanent end to Iran’s nuclear program. 

But there are critics, including former President Barack Obama, who told “Good Morning America” that he was “doubtful” Trump’s deal would be different from his own agreement with Iran in 2015. 

Vance shot back on CBS News that Obama’s deal “took an Iranian nuclear program that it accelerated, and it basically bribed the Iranians to stop that program.” However, Vance confirmed that there would be a $300 billion reconstruction fund available to Iran if it stayed in line with the guardrails of a forthcoming agreement.

Trump and Vance have both said that details of the deal would emerge in the coming days, likely during an official signing ceremony on Friday in Switzerland. But that’s not good enough for some. 

“We’ve been told dozens of times that this war is over, and dozens of times we’ve been disappointed,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “There have been divergent statements from a variety of people in the administration. In these high-stakes negotiations, the devil is in the details, but Trump still hasn’t even revealed the text of his ‘understanding’ with Iran.”

JD VANCE REVEALS DETAILS OF US-IRAN DEAL, ADDRESSES WHETHER TAXPAYER MONEY WILL GO TO TEHRAN

When asked why the administration had not revealed the contents of the deal to lawmakers, a White House official said, “We will continue our long history of extraordinary levels of transparency with the Hill, as we maintained throughout the course of this conflict.”

While Republicans weren’t sure of the specifics of the deal, many said that they wanted a vote on a final product to ensure that it was permanent and wouldn’t end up like former President Barack Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, which Trump ripped up during his first term. 

“Once we have a final agreement, we need to check it out and pass it,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said. “The only way it’s lasting — executive agreements last through the executive — you want a long-term agreement. It’s gotta be law.” 

Lankford leaned into the Trump factor in his understanding of the deal and contended, “President Trump … is pretty unconventional the way he does this kind of stuff.”

“I don’t foresee him going to go make a bad deal in things. Is it gonna be everything I want? Probably not. Or Iran would never, ever sign it,” he said. “But I don’t see him giving away the farm on this.”

Meanwhile, while much of Congress is in the dark, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair James Risch, R-Idaho, may have some insight into the deal.

When asked if he had been read into the administration’s agreement with Iran, Risch said, “I do. I have.” 

“I don’t have any comment on it at this point. It’s still a work in progress,” Risch said.
”We’ll get to that here pretty quick.”

Vice President JD Vance is set to make his first appearance on ABC’s “The View” on Wednesday, becoming just the third sitting vice president to join the daytime talk show’s panel.

“It may be the optimist in me, but I just fundamentally think that most people — not everybody, but most people — even if I disagree with them, you ought to try to have a conversation with them,” Vance told Fox News Digital in a sit-down interview Tuesday.

Vance will join all six co-hosts, including Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro, to discuss his new book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.” His appearance comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s newly reached agreement with Iran, in which the vice president played a key role in negotiations.

Asked how he was preparing for the interview, Vance said he was approaching it as an opportunity for an earnest conversation, even with people whose views differ from his own.

FLASHBACK: VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE WILL APPEAR ON ‘THE VIEW’ AFTER HOSTS CONDEMNED HIM FOR YEARS

“My job as vice president of the United States is not just to talk to the people who voted for me, it’s to talk to the people who didn’t vote for me too,” said Vance.

“We’re going to go and try to have a good conversation. I hope they meet me halfway. I’m a little skeptical, but we’ll see,” he added.

Vance’s appearance comes after years of criticism from the show’s hosts, who have repeatedly targeted both him and his wife since he was tapped as President Donald Trump’s running mate.

‘THE VIEW’ CO-HOSTS CLAIM USHA VANCE IS ‘ADDICTED TO POWER’ IN ON-AIR ATTACK AGAINST SECOND LADY

Co-host Joy Behar argued Vance was selected to serve as vice president to be a “carbon copy” of Trump and would fail to bring in any new voters.

[Trump] “knows that he’s the vice president who will do the things that Mike Pence would not. I really do believe that. He is an election denier. He has not committed to accepting the results of this year’s elections,” Hostin said during the same episode in July 2024.

Co-host Ana Navarro once pointed out that Walz could have an opportunity to embarrass Vance prior to the vice-presidential debate last year.

GOV. TIM WALZ SAYS HE’D ‘BEAT THE S— OUT OF’ JD VANCE IN A DEBATE REMATCH

“What Tim Walz needs to do is reveal JD Vance for who he is, a coward, duplicitous, hypocritical opportunist who remains silent while Trump attacks Kamala Harris for being biracial even though his children are biracial,” Navarro said. “Who remained silent while Trump supporters issue attacks on Kamala Harris for being of Indian descent, for being South Asian, even though he’s married to an Indian woman.”

Vance will be the third sitting vice president to join the program and the first Republican vice president to do so, after appearances by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

“The View” had a total of 341 guests in 2025, but only two of them were conservative, while 128 were liberal, according to a study conducted by the Media Research Center’s NewsBusters.

VP JD VANCE ADDRESSES US-ISRAEL RELATIONSHIP, WHETHER IRAN IS TRYING TO ‘PLAY’ THE UNITED STATES

In a media appearance Monday, co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said she plans to ask Vance about the financial incentives being proposed to Iran under the newly announced peace agreement.

“He was, um, reportedly one of the chief negotiating partners. I just want to get some clarity,” she said.

Fox News Digital reached out to “The View” for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Alexander Hall contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: Vice President JD Vance said Tehran is effectively entering a probationary period under the Trump administration’s agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran required to demonstrate through its actions — not its promises — that it has abandoned nuclear weapons development and support for terrorism.

“The thing I’ve learned from the President of the United States is whether friend or foe, you shouldn’t trust anybody, you should trust people’s actions,” Vance told Fox News Digital in a sit-down interview. “That’s why the way this agreement is built is that if they act in the right way, if they behave in the way, they get a lot of benefits.”

The agreement would test whether Iran is willing to trade decades of isolation for economic relief and renewed ties with the West. While Tehran could gain access to sanctions relief and foreign investment, administration officials say those benefits will depend on whether Iran can prove it has abandoned its nuclear ambitions and support for terrorist organizations during a 60-day negotiating period.

“The Iranians have two pathways. If they behave like a normal country, if they don’t try to build nukes, if they try to fund terrorism, then the United States is going to change our relationship with Iran. We’re going to lift some sanctions. We’re going to welcome them back into the international community,” Vance said.

JD VANCE SAYS IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM ‘SUBSTANTIALLY’ SET BACK AFTER ‘PRECISE, SURGICAL’ US STRIKES

He said the United States would be prepared to ease sanctions and normalize relations with Tehran, including welcoming it back into the international community, if Iran abandons its nuclear ambitions and ceases support for terrorism.

But if Iran attempts to rebuild what Vance described as its “destroyed” nuclear program or continues funding terrorist groups, Vance said it would forfeit any benefits offered under the agreement.

Under consideration is a proposed $300 billion investment fund for Iran that would be financed by private companies seeking to do business in the country.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES PEACE DEAL WITH IRAN, DECLARES STRAIT OF HORMUZ WILL REOPEN: ‘LET THE OIL FLOW!’

“If they’re serious, the president has said we want to have a good relationship with them. And if they are not serious, of course, we still have all the options we have today. We’ll continue to have them a month from now, two months from now as well,” Vance said.

Vance argued that with the Strait of Hormuz remaining open, the United States is in a stronger economic position to confront Iran.

“Oil is flowing, gas is flowing. It’s ticking back up every single day. We think within a week, two weeks, you’re going to see the substantial resumption of the oil and gas flows. So that means energy prices come down for Americans,” Vance said.

JD VANCE REVEALS DETAILS OF US-IRAN DEAL, ADDRESSES WHETHER TAXPAYER MONEY WILL GO TO TEHRAN

Oil prices fell on Monday to their lowest levels since early March after a preliminary U.S.-Iran agreement raised hopes that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz could soon return to normal.

“It gives us a little bit more time, fundamentally, but the most important thing it does for us is it strengthens our hand, it allows some of the oil to flow, and it fundamentally allows us to see are they serious or not,” Vance said.

Trump, Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf have signed the memorandum, paving the way for a formal signing ceremony later this week, according to officials.

A victim of violence inspired by a controversial far-left nonprofit told Fox News Digital he knew the man who shot-up his workplace was motivated by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) before the suspect confessed.

The SPLC has recently come under Justice Department scrutiny for allegedly funneling millions to extremist organizations that they told donors they were fighting — including funding events like KKK cross burnings and the infamous Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally in 2017.

Tony Perkins is the president of the Family Research Council (FRC), a conservative nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that was labeled a “hate group” in 2010 by the SPLC for claims it was an anti-LGBT organization.

Just two years later, on Aug. 15, 2012, disaster struck.

Perkins was in a meeting when the building’s security system was triggered.

FOCUS ON THE FAMILY’S JIM DALY REJECTS SPLC ‘HATE GROUP’ LABEL: ‘THIS ISN’T HATE, IT’S THE LOVE OF CHRIST’

“The doors closed on our floor, and I heard some commotion, and so I ran out to see what it was, and was told that there was a shooting downstairs,” he recalled of the horrific incident in an interview with Fox News Digital.

He ran down the stairs into the lobby, and saw the carnage.

“By the time I got down there, the police had arrived, and so we saw Leo Johnson, who was our building manager, who was in a pool of blood,” said Perkins.

HOSTILITY AGAINST CHURCHES A ‘GROWING TREND,’ AS STUDY FINDS HUNDREDS OF ATTACKS ON U.S. CHURCHES IN 2024

Johnson had been shot by Floyd Lee Corkins II, then 28, who pulled a gun out of his bag upon entering the building. He got past security by telling them he was interviewing for a position as an intern. Corkins was also found in possession of two fully loaded 15-round magazines, a box of .9mm ammunition and 15 Chick-fil-A chicken sandwiches.

The sandwiches were meant to be smeared on the faces of his victims, as Corkins also believed the Christian-owned restaurant chain was anti-gay.

“It was a shocking day for our staff, especially — there was glass and blood and bullet holes in our lobby,” said Perkins, who is also a pastor and former police officer.

POLITICAL VIOLENCE ON THE RISE. IS IT TIME FOR A NEW DOMESTIC TERRORISM LAW?

He said he never expected to see anything like that again after he finished his career in law enforcement.

Corkins was taken into federal custody immediately after the attack and charged with committing an act of terrorism while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed and interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition.

He is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the charges in 2013.

In an interrogation video later released by FRC, investigators asked how the group came to be his target.

DOJ SAYS SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER FUNNELED $3M+ TO WHITE SUPREMACIST AND EXTREMIST GROUPS

“It was, uh — Southern Poverty Law lists, uh anti-gay groups,” Corkins said. “I found them online. I did a little bit of research, went to the website, stuff like that.”

The SPLC was recently indicted for allegedly funneling $4 million donor dollars into shell companies to fund extremist organizations they claimed they were fighting.

MIKE DAVIS: SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: A TALE OF A RACISM SCAM

Perkins said the SPLC once legitimately fought groups like the KKK, but that they saw their business “drying up” in the 1980s and 1990s. So, according to Perkins, the group had to find a way to keep its legacy of fighting white supremacy alive.

“I think they began to peddle that legacy to those on the left … in particular, beginning around 2010, 2012, when there was a big effort to redefine marriage,” Perkins said. “They wanted to leverage that to help the left by going after conservative groups that were standing in the way, but they needed to hold on to those white supremacist extremist groups, to pin the conservative and Christian groups next to.”

Perkins believes that there wasn’t much of a white supremacy problem, but that it was politically expedient for the SPLC to pretend that there was.

FIRST ON FOX: SPLC’S LEGAL WOES GROW AS JIM JORDAN FIRES LATEST SALVO AT LEFT-WING GROUP

“It was like they were fattening them up, keeping them alive so that they could use them for their bigger political purpose, and that was to be able to help the left advance their agenda by marginalizing and silencing conservative groups,” he said.

Perkins told Fox News Digital he does not want the federal government to shut the SPLC down, but he hopes they’ll be forced to pay restitution for the harm he says they’ve caused.

FRC has had to pay $8 million out of pocket just for heightened security since the day of the shooting.

“So yes, they’re sitting on $750 million. Part of what I hope the government, the federal government, the courts get to is making them pay restitution to their victims.”

The SPLC did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

President Donald Trump wants Republicans to include his long-sought voter ID and citizenship verification legislation into a party-line package, but even the bill’s strongest backers don’t think it’s possible. 

Trump last week demanded that Republicans get to work on a third budget reconciliation package, cramming $350 billion in defense spending along with the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act into one bill. 

Republicans, fresh off passing their second reconciliation package to fund immigration enforcement for the remainder of the Trump era, were lukewarm at best on doing the process again, especially with little time left before the fast-approaching midterm elections. 

TRUMP’S PUSH FOR $350 BILLION ‘ARSENAL OF FREEDOM’ HITS GOP SKEPTICISM

But some see reconciliation, which would completely cut Democrats out of the process, as the only way to pass the SAVE America Act.

“It’s our only shot.
It’s the only shot,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said. “I just don’t think we have enough time. We burned a lot of time, and I’m not sure that we can agree on all the stuff to put in it. Not everybody is as easy to get along with as I am.” 

The problems facing the legislation are two-pronged. Senate Democrats have vowed to block it on the floor, meaning any hope of hitting the 60-vote filibuster threshold is impossible — and not every Republican is on board with the bill. 

“I support voter ID and support only American citizens voting, but Democrats are implacably opposed to it, and we don’t have enough Republicans to fill the gap,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said.
”So we should move on and focus on winning the midterms instead of fighting each other.”

SCHUMER SAYS DEMS WILL FIGHT VOTER ID PUSH ‘TOOTH AND NAIL,’ BALKS AT DHS ROLE IN ELECTIONS

Republicans have tried and failed several times now to pass the bill, even launching a quasi-floor takeover earlier this year to force debate on the matter. 

Still, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged that “we don’t have the vote.” 

“Even if you confine it to just the two issues of photo ID and, you know, citizenship, in order to register to vote on those two issues, you take 60 votes in the Senate,” Thune said. “The only way you could get there is to undo or get rid of the legislative filibuster, and there aren’t even close to the votes here in the United States Senate in order to achieve that.”

Trying to put the bill into a reconciliation package, which can pass with a simple majority of votes, has its own issues beyond a vote count. 

The process is governed by the Byrd Rule, which dictates broadly that any item in reconciliation has to have a direct budgetary impact and can’t be pure policy. If a provision is ruled as being policy, it triggers the 60-vote threshold. 

REPUBLICANS FAIL TO ATTACH SAVE AMERICA ACT TO PARTY-LINE FUNDING PACKAGE

Republicans, including Kennedy, tried three separate times to include the SAVE America Act — or versions of it — into the latest reconciliation package. All three hit the 60-vote mark, and all but one failed to hit 50 votes.

Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, is one of the top backers of the SAVE America Act in the upper chamber and said that he has “been looking for every way possible to get the SAVE America Act passed.”

“And we are currently working on some options that could meet the standard to be part of the reconciliation process,” Husted said. “But I am in no way certain that we get it done, but we should try.” 

Those alternatives would likely be quite different than what the current bill looks like, which Trump has already asked Republicans to revamp to include policy unrelated to elections, like barring biological men from participating in women’s sports.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, the main driver of the SAVE America Act in the Senate, acknowledged that the bill was “policy, it’s non-budgetary. Therefore, SAVE America itself is not eligible for consideration in a third reconciliation.”

But he said a plausible pathway to getting at least an aspect of the bill through the Byrd Rule would be providing funding for states to issue an “Enhanced Real ID,” which shows proof of citizenship.

Then, lawmakers could pass a separate bill outside of reconciliation that would require proof of identity to register to vote in federal elections. But Lee, like many in the Senate GOP, was skeptical that a third reconciliation bill would even be an option. 

“The second reason is just, as a practical matter, I see no evidence that there is a viable path to a third reconciliation bill,” Lee said.
”I hope there is. I would love to be wrong on that. I want us to do that. I think we should do that. But the schedule that we’ve got, to my great disappointment, is not — It doesn’t accommodate any of it.”

Scandal-plagued Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner is facing even more scrutiny over posts he made on the online blogging platform Reddit, after a report surfaced fresh posts attributed to his old username, including one appearing to mock a teenage girl’s suicide attempt.

The New York Post reported Saturday that an account using Platner’s former Reddit handle, “P-Hustle,” responded to a 2012 post about a young girl’s failed suicide attempt. “A girl at my old high school tried jumping from a window because her cousin died the day before,” the post’s caption read. “These students saved her. I have hope.” The post showed the teenage girl hanging out a window, being held on by just her classmates from falling.

“Someone clearly isn’t trying hard enough,” the P-Hustle account responded.

TOP OFF-THE-WALL REDDIT POSTS HAUNTING GRAHAM PLATNER’S MAINE SENATE BID

The newly uncovered Reddit posts follow other inflammatory remarks Platner has made on the online blogging platform Reddit, including comments calling rural White Americans “racist and stupid,” posts pushing racial stereotypes about Black people, comments promoting political violence and remarks blaming victims of rape, among others.

The freshly uncovered Reddit post mocking a young girl’s suicide quickly drew criticism from Republicans and conservatives, including Maine State House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, Maine Republican Party Executive Director Jason Savage and former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.

“Graham Platner is clearly a person with deep and disturbing psychological issues that predate his military service and continue to this day,” Faulkingham told the New York Post.

“Yet another example of abject cruelty from Graham Platner,” Savage told Fox News Digital. 

“When someone tells you who they are, believe them,” he continued. “Platner has told us repeatedly. Sadly, this time he was mocking the pain of a young woman facing a terrible loss. If this doesn’t show you who Graham Platner is, what will?”

SEE IT: MAINE VOTERS SOUND OFF ON PLATNER’S DIVISIVE CAMPAIGN AS CRUCIAL PRIMARY NEARS: ‘HE’S A DISGRACE’

“Of all the rotten, troubling, and warped things Platner has done and said, his mocking encouragement of a young girl to commit suicide is the worst,” Fleischer reacted, questioning how “anyone” could support the Maine Senate candidate amid all the controversies he has been embroiled in.

“There is something seriously perverted and wrong with Graham Platner,” he added.

Platner’s activity on Reddit has been a focus of his campaign as far back as last year, amid his attempt to unseat GOP incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. His controversial posts have included comments disparaging police officers and rural White Americans, remarks about rape victims needing to take more responsibility, promotions of political violence, and praise for Hamas. In one post, Platner slammed a Purple Heart recipient who Platner argued “didn’t deserve to live,” blaming his return home on “poor marksmanship on the Taliban’s part.”

In one post from Sept. 1, 2020, Platner responded in a politics subreddit declaring that “White People Aren’t as Racist or Stupid as Trump Thinks.”

“Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are,” Platner wrote of the people he is now seeking to represent in the U.S. Congress.

Platner had a history of promoting armed political action on Reddit as well, including writing that “an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice.” In a separate post, he argued that if people “expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, they ought to do some reading of history.” 

PLATNER’S BRUTAL ATTACKS ON ARMY SOLDIERS AS ‘FAT, LAZY’ REVEALED IN RESURFACED POSTS

“There are times in this world when, for the good of tolerance and humanity, you need to kill a motherf—er,” Platner also wrote on his now-deleted Reddit account in September 2013. “Sadly most people who are true believers in tolerance and humanity find that activity repulsive. Which I suppose is morally good, but pragmatically a shortfall.”

Meanwhile, in a 2021 Reddit post, Platner wrote that all cops are “bastards” and called himself a “communist,” though Platner later disavowed the remark about law enforcement and later said he has “an immense amount of friends” who are police officers and that they are “not all” bastards.

“I was [expletive] around on the internet at a time when I felt lost and very disillusioned with our government who sent me overseas to watch my friends die,” Platner said in a statement to CNN at the time. “I made dumb jokes and picked fights. But of course I’m not a socialist. I’m a small business owner, a Marine Corps veteran, and a retired s—poster,” the 41-year-old Platner added.

In another set of resurfaced Reddit posts, The Washington Post reported that Platner downplayed sexual assault concerns, including writing in a thread about rape-prevention underwear that “rape is a real thing,” but that people worried about assault should “take some responsibility for themselves” and not get so intoxicated that they wind up “having sex with someone they don’t mean to.”

The New York Post also reported this week that Platner praised a video recording Hamas terrorists shooting at Israeli soldiers and trying to kidnap one of them who was screaming for his life. Platner reportedly wrote in response to the 2014 combat footage on Reddit: “Looks like an all around well executed and successful small unit raid to me.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Platner and his campaign for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.