Category: USA Politics

Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas has endorsed former Rep. Colin Allred ahead of the candidate’s May Democratic primary runoff against Democratic U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson in the Lone Star State’s 33rd Congressional District.

“Colin has the record, the grit, and the heart to stand up for working families and communities under attack by this administration. He will fight to abolish ICE and go toe to toe with Donald Trump to stop his extreme agenda,” Crockett declared in a statement.

“I’ve seen Colin’s fight firsthand. We worked together to bring hundreds of millions in federal investments to North Texas for affordable housing, health care, and transportation. Colin doesn’t just talk about fighting for the community that raised him. He wins. That’s why I’m proud to stand with him,” Crockett noted.

JASMINE CROCKETT’S SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS ABOUT WHCD SHOOTING SHOW DIFFERENT TONES

Sharing Crockett’s statement of support in a post on X, Allred wrote, “Proud to receive the endorsement of my friend @JasmineForUS. Jasmine has never been afraid to speak truth to power, fight for our communities, and stand up for Texans who deserve better. I’m grateful to have her support in this fight to lower costs, protect our rights, and deliver real leadership for Texas.”

Crockett has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since early 2023.

‘STRAIGHT OUTTA CONGRESS’: TOP PROGRESSIVE CONCEDES RACE AFTER VIRAL MOCKERY FOR ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEFEAT

Last month she lost a Democratic Texas U.S. Senate primary to state Rep. James Talarico.

Allred, who had been running in the Texas Democratic U.S. Senate primary, dropped out of the contest the same day in December that Crockett jumped in.

Allred had endorsed Crockett before she lost that primary race.

DEMOCRAT ADMITS ‘OF COURSE’ JASMINE CROCKETT IS A FACTOR IN HIM DROPPING OUT OF TEXAS SENATE RACE

“She’s tough. She speaks truth to power. She’s fearless in the face of vitriolic attacks from Donald Trump and the far right. She works day in and day out to protect our fundamental rights and strengthen our democracy. She’s a colleague, and she’s a friend. Her name is Jasmine Crockett. And I’m incredibly proud to be endorsing her in Texas’ U.S. Senate race,” he noted on Substack.

FIRST ON FOX: The Superior Court of California is ordering Kevin Morris, an attorney notoriously dubbed as Hunter Biden’s “sugar brother,” to pay $50,000 to former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler and Marco Polo, the conservative nonprofit research group he founded, to cover legal expenses.

The ruling ends a protracted dispute over whether Ziegler impersonated a Democratic strategist to pry sensitive information out of Morris about the Hunter Biden laptop during a conversation over the phone in 2022.

To Jennifer Holliday, Ziegler’s attorney, the judgment doesn’t even begin to make up for three years of legal battles.

“It’s not really how I envisioned it would play out, and I don’t think that’s how the Constitution envisions that something like this would play out — which is why we filed a petition with the Supreme Court of the United States to review,” Holliday told Fox News Digital.

FORMER ’60 MINUTES’ PRODUCER SAYS HE WAS PRESSURED TO APOLOGIZE OVER HARRIS INTERVIEW

“I certainly hope that they will take a really hard look at what happened here because this is not a situation that should have ever happened,” she added.

Holliday is asking the Supreme Court to evaluate California’s anti-SLAPP law, arguing the state’s protections for free speech actually only worsened the case by prolonging what she believes were weak accusations.

A person familiar with Morris’ case called the conclusion a formality and downplayed the Supreme Court filing as unlikely to receive a review, noting that Ziegler’s representation had requested as much as $300,000 to conclude the case.

Morris’s legal battle with Ziegler began when Morris picked up the phone and spoke with someone whom he thought was a Democratic operative about the laptop back in 2022. But when, after the call, he received an image depicting a squid, the phrase “NOTHING IS BEYOND OUR REACH,” and the words “Marco Polo,” Morris realized his mistake.

Morris, who reportedly loaned Hunter Biden approximately $6.5 million to bankroll his lavish lifestyle, concluded the caller must have been Ziegler, a Republican strategist who had worked on combing through the contents of the laptop and who had gone on to found Marco Polo.

TRUMP HOPES TO KEEP WINNING WHEN HE TAKES ABC NEWS, CBS NEWS TO COURT OVER ALLEGED ‘DISHONEST REPORTING’

Morris accused Ziegler of harassment, criminal harassment, criminal impersonation, false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The case soon soured for Morris when he failed to establish a connection between his phone call and Ziegler.

With the suit in the rearview mirror, Holliday marveled that Morris had kept up his case for three years without ever offering evidence that the call had been linked to Ziegler.

“There was no phone number that was ever presented to the court, to the Court of Appeal, to me, in discovery, anywhere,” Holliday said.

Asked about whom the caller might have been, Holliday said she was not at liberty to discuss the issue.

Asked about the case, Ziegler said Morris was an enabler of Hunter Biden who had knowingly brought a weak case against him.

“Morris is the one responsible for all the bull—- that Hunter pulled over the last couple years,” Ziegler said, referring to funding Morris reportedly gave the younger Biden for his legal services, including paying his rent, buying his art and lending him a private jet, among other payments.

ABC NEWS WAS WISE TO SETTLE DEFAMATION SUIT WITH TRUMP TO AVOID ‘EMBARRASSING’ DISCOVERY, LEGAL EXPERTS SAY

Ziegler’s representation has secured a debtor’s exam request for Morris if he hasn’t paid the $50,000 sum ordered by the court within 30 days.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth will give his first public testimony in the Senate since the start of the Iran war in a hearing that will expose the divide across the aisle in the upper chamber.

The hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday morning is meant to discuss the Pentagon’s staggering $1.5 trillion budget request for the upcoming fiscal year. Instead, it is expected to become a public back-and-forth on the war and the administration’s objectives.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who chairs the committee, and Republicans on the panel are expected to push Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan “Raizin” Caine on turning that colossal budget request inward to rebuild military manufacturing stateside.

AFTER THIRD ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, DEBATE GROWS OVER WHETHER TRUMP ATTACK WARRANTS ANOTHER INVESTIGATION

“Like the generations that came before us, we are now revitalizing manufacturing right here at home to rebuild the American arsenal,” Wicker said in a statement. “By reindustrializing and investing in new technology, we are creating jobs across our homeland. This is critical work that supports our military and civilian workforce.”

But much of the hearing will likely be dominated by Operation Epic Fury, which will have entered its 59th day on Thursday. The war, along with its cost and timelines, was a focal point at the House’s hearing the day before.

Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital that the hearing would be a good opportunity to get a public update on how the conflict is progressing, and how the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz “is being realized, not just inside Iran, but global oil markets, and how they’ve interacted.”

When asked if he expected his Democratic colleagues to maintain composure during the hearing, Sheehy said, “I hope so, but hope don’t float.”

REPUBLICANS EYE PICKING UP $400M TAB FOR TRUMP’S BALLROOM AS SOME DEMS OPEN TO ‘DISCUSS’ IDEA

Hegseth’s appearance before the panel comes as the 60-day deadline under the War Powers Resolution Act will arrive on Friday, and as Senate Democrats have forced weekly votes on resolutions to terminate hostilities in Iran. Time and again, Republicans have sided with the president, but that hasn’t stopped Democrats from exerting pressure.

Senate Democrats on the panel hope their Republican colleagues will ask hard questions of Hegseth, particularly on Iran and the $400 million in congressionally-approved funding for Ukraine that so far hasn’t been distributed.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital that he believes Republicans share the same concern about the cost of the Iran war.

DEM PLOT TO LIMIT TRUMP WAR POWERS ON CUBA FAILS AS GOP FALLS IN LINE WITH MILITARY ACTION ABROAD

“They’ve been disappointed, I believe, in the administration’s failure to be more forthcoming,” Blumenthal said. “I’ve asked these questions in classified settings as well in open hearings, and, you know, they said they share my concern. Now, I don’t know whether that will come out here.”

The cost of the conflict in the Middle East so far was revealed during Hegseth and Caine’s appearance before the House Armed Services Committee’s own budget hearing on Wednesday.

The Pentagon’s acting comptroller, Jules Hurst, told Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., that to date, Operation Epic Fury had cost taxpayers $25 billion, and that “most of that is in munitions.”

“We will formulate a supplemental through the White House that will come to Congress,” Hurst said. “Once we have a full assessment of the cost of the conflict.”

But some aren’t buying that figure as the real cost of the war.

“Sounds low to me, but I need to get briefed on the whole hearing as I decide what I’m going to ask tomorrow,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told Fox News Digital.

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., rallied behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis while blasting Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and California Gov. Gavin Newsom over redistricting efforts.

DeSantis unveiled a new congressional map this week that could give Republicans four additional seats. If approved by the Republican-led state legislature, DeSantis would then have to sign it into law before it takes effect in the 2026 midterms.

“Governor DeSantis is doing the right thing,” Donalds told Fox News Digital. “I fully support what he’s doing.”

Following a push led by President Donald Trump, multiple states have advanced similar redistricting efforts. But Democrats argue the strategy could backfire.

REDISTRICTING FIGHT ERUPTS AS MARYLAND DEMOCRATS MOVE TO REDRAW LONE GOP HOUSE SEAT

Newsom said he hopes Florida’s redistricting effort signals the end of a nationwide push for untapped partisan advantages in redrawn congressional boundaries. Jeffries echoed those concerns, warning DeSantis could put Republican seats at risk.

Donalds said he is not paying attention to criticism from Democrats like Jeffries and Newsom.

“I don’t listen to Hakeem,” he said. “He’s a fake tough guy. I’m not listening to Gavin. He’s a terrible governor, worst in the country.”

“Nobody cares about Gavin,” he added.

FORMER DEMOCRATIC ADVISOR SAYS PARTY’S RHETORIC ON REDISTRICTING IS GETTING ‘A LITTLE OUT OF CONTROL’

Jeffries and DeSantis have traded multiple jabs over redistricting, starting with Jeffries’ “F around and find out” warning. DeSantis responded by offering to pay for his trip to Florida, and Jeffries later called him a “lame duck.”

Republicans and Democrats are in a nationwide gerrymandering battle as they vie for control of the House of Representatives ahead of the upcoming elections. Both parties aim to win the House through redistricting.

Donalds argued Democrats have attempted similar map battles in the past, pointing to New York, where a Democratic-drawn congressional map was later struck down by the state’s highest court.

“Democrats have been doing this,” Donalds said. “They’ve been doing it for a long time. They tried to write four Republican members out of New York, and the only thing that stopped them was their court of appeals.”

MARYLAND HOUSE APPROVES NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP AS SENATE LEADERS WARN OF RISKS

Last week, a congressional redistricting referendum spearheaded by Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger passed, handing Virginia Democrats a key advantage.

California, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, Ohio and Virginia have already adopted new congressional maps, redrawing districts ahead of the 2030 census.

Republicans expect to add up to nine seats through redistricting in Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri and Texas. Democrats aim to add nine in California, Virginia and Utah.

A special session began Tuesday with lawmakers now considering the maps.

Fox News Digital’s Leo Briceno contributed to this report.

A group of cultural and historic preservation groups on Wednesday called on a federal judge to block President Donald Trump from making major renovations to The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which has undergone significant changes since the president returned to office last year.

The groups asked U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent any construction ahead of the scheduled July 6 project launch, saying they worry the president and the center’s board of trustees will ignore historic preservation rules that aim to maintain the building.

Attorney Greg Werkheiser said after the hearing that the laws that govern the process “go to the very fundamental question of: Do we slow down and take stock before we make changes to properties that define the American experience?”

Justice Department attorneys, representing the president and board, argued that the administration’s plans for the building are limited in scope and well within the authority of the board as they claimed extra approvals were not needed.

TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER’S BOARD VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO APPROVE $257M RENOVATIONS AND TWO-YEAR CLOSURE

After returning to the White House, Trump ousted the center’s previous leadership and replaced it with a handpicked board of allies who named him chairman, a move that sparked backlash from many artists. Trump’s name was also later added to the building’s facade so that it reads: “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”

Trump announced the scheduled renovations for the center earlier this year.

The hearing on Wednesday came after a separate one the day before regarding the future of the center.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, has also filed a lawsuit to stop renovations as an ex officio member of the board, and Cooper is also overseeing that case.

The center’s executive director, Matt Floca, a former facilities manager who was bumped up to the Trump-selected board, testified that the scheduled renovations are simply to repair decades of wear and tear, including extensive water damage to a part of the building that was nicknamed “the swamp.”

“The most efficient and effective way to complete the magnitude of projects we need to complete is to close the center,” Floca said.

Attorneys for the preservation groups questioned claims about the limited scope of the project, citing Trump’s statements that he would “fully expose” the building’s steel skeleton.

Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth said those concerns have been blown out of proportion.

“There’s no risk that there will be unilateral changes … that we’ll wake up and the building will be gone,” Roth said.

TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER’S NEW LEADER REVEALED AS RIC GRENELL EXITS TOP ROLE

The lawsuits regarding the Kennedy Center’s fate come amid other fights against Trump’s efforts to change historical landmarks in the nation’s capital.

Since he returned to office last year, Trump has frustrated preservationists, including by paving over the White House’s Rose Garden. Last year, the White House tore down its East Wing to make room for the president’s proposed $400 million ballroom, although construction of the ballroom has been halted by a judge as litigation continues.

Trump also has plans to erect a 250-foot “triumphal arch” to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The House of Representatives approved a budget blueprint funding immigration enforcement for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term over Democrats’ fierce objections on Wednesday.

Lawmakers voted 215-211 along party lines to take a critical step toward ending the record-breaking Department of Homeland Security funding lapse that began on Feb. 14.

Rep. Kevin Kiley, I-Calif., who caucuses with Republicans, voted present. House Democrats united in opposition to the immigration enforcement measure while every Republican present voted in support.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., could spare just a handful of defections with Republicans’ slim majority.

REPUBLICANS CAN FUND ICE FOR AN ENTIRE DECADE WITHOUT A SINGLE DEM VOTE: SEN CRUZ

The House’s approval of the Senate-passed budget framework unlocks the partisan budget reconciliation process, which Republicans are using to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection without support from congressional Democrats.

Trump has given Republicans a June 1 deadline to send a budget reconciliation bill to his desk, giving GOP leadership little room for error.

“We have a real sense of urgency about getting this done,” Johnson told Fox News Wednesday.

The successful vote came after more than a dozen GOP lawmakers ranging from conservatives to farm-state and Midwestern Republicans withheld their votes over concerns unrelated to the budget framework.

Republican leadership held the vote open for more than five hours to win over the numerous holdouts and six GOP lawmakers who voted “no” before flipping to “yes.”

Those lawmakers included Reps. Max Miller, R-Ohio, Andy Harris, R-Md., Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., and Michael Cloud, R-Texas.

“This is why they say lawmaking is like watching sausage be made,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday. “That’s what this is, but we’ll get it done.” 

The budget resolution teeing up funding for Trump’s immigration agenda is just one piece of Republicans’ DHS funding strategy.

SENATE BORDER BUDGET TRIUMPHS AFTER ALL-NIGHT SESSION WHILE TRUMP-BACKED HOUSE BILL LAGS

House GOP leadership has not specified when it plans to take up a Senate-passed measure funding the rest of the department.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., agreed on a two-track approach to fund DHS by steering around Democratic opposition weeks ago. But Johnson has so far declined to put the Senate’s partial DHS bill on the House floor over concerns that it zeroes out funding for immigration enforcement. 

Johnson said earlier this week that some “modifications” to the measure may be necessary but has not gone into detail about specific changes.

The White House on Tuesday sent Hill offices an internal memo, obtained by Fox News Digital, urging passage of the Senate’s partial DHS bill, raising the pressure on Johnson to act.

Many rank-and-file House Republicans want ICE and the Border Patrol funded before the rest of the department, which could mean a delay for several more weeks.

“I think that there’s a serious problem with the bill in that it zeroes out, ICE and CBP,” Rep. Eric Burlison, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told Fox News. “It’s one thing to not do the funding, but it’s a whole other thing to put zeros in the bill.”

“I know that the speaker’s working on making sure that we have all the assurances and even maybe the cash in hand in terms of reconciliation being wrapped up, finalized before we take the 95% of the rest of Homeland Security,” House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, said.

Meanwhile, the White House is warning that it will be short on funds to pay the department’s hundreds of thousands of employees beginning in May.

“If this funding is exhausted, the Administration will be unable to pay DHS personnel beginning in May, which will once again unleash havoc on air travel, leave critical law enforcement officers—including our brave Secret Service agents—and the Coast Guard without paychecks, and jeopardize national security,” the White House memo published Tuesday states.

House Republicans’ approval of the Senate blueprint also effectively shuts the door on adding other GOP priorities to the budget package. Some GOP lawmakers had floated adding affordability-focused provisions, defense supplemental funding and the SAVE America Act to the bill.

GOP leadership had argued for weeks that a larger bill risked derailing the budget reconciliation process.

“We’re focused on funding Homeland Security and stopping the Democrat shutdown and, in particular, using reconciliation to fund ICE and CBP because Democrats refused to fund it,” Arrington said. “Everything else is not germane to this conversation.”

EXCLUSIVE: First Lady Melania Trump is carving out a forward-looking role in the White House, positioning herself as a leading voice on artificial intelligence and education as the administration embraces emerging technology, according to an exclusive interview with her senior advisor.

The first lady this week hosted an immersive event at the White House tennis pavilion — a space she designed during her husband’s first term — where students used Meta virtual reality headsets and AI-powered glasses to explore British landmarks and examine historical artifacts.

The event, which coincided with a visit from Queen Camilla, highlighted Melania Trump’s broader initiative, Fostering the Future Together, a global effort focused on expanding access to technology and education for children.

“She wanted to create an innovative cross-cultural educational experience,” senior advisor Marc Beckman told Fox News Digital, describing the event as part of her ongoing push to integrate artificial intelligence into learning.

TRUMP, ALONGSIDE FIRST LADY, TO SIGN BILL CRIMINALIZING REVENGE PORN AND AI DEEPFAKES

Students first used VR headsets to virtually visit sites including Buckingham Palace, Stonehenge and the Giant’s Causeway before engaging directly with Queen Camilla. They later used AI-enabled glasses to examine curated artifacts from the White House collection and the National Archives, with the technology providing real-time historical context.

The artifacts included a portrait of John Adams, the first U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom, a World War II-era map associated with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and a bust of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill — all selected to underscore the longstanding relationship between the two nations.

Beckman said the initiative reflects a broader focus by the first lady on artificial intelligence and education, which has become a central theme of her work during the administration.

FOX NEWS AI NEWSLETTER: CHATGPT ‘CODE RED’

“She has been a champion of artificial intelligence and education for children,” he said.

Her interest in AI predates her return to the White House. Before reentering public life, Melania Trump worked to develop an AI-powered audiobook version of her memoir, released in multiple languages — an effort Beckman said gave her firsthand experience with the technology.

That background has informed her support for the Presidential AI Challenge, a program aimed at engaging students across all 50 states in technology-focused education and competition.

Beckman also pointed to her recent appearance at the United Nations Security Council, where she emphasized the role artificial intelligence could play in expanding access to knowledge and education worldwide.

“This theme just keeps going — children, education, technology,” he said.

With additional partnerships, regional initiatives and research efforts already in development, Beckman said the first lady plans to continue expanding her AI-focused agenda in the months ahead.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., traded barbs with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in a fiery Senate hearing Wednesday over cost-benefit analysis of coal plants and whether President Trump’s EPA had done enough to weigh whether hospital bills and insurance claims should factor into the calculus.

The heated back-and-forth left Zeldin taking a thinly-veiled dig at Whitehouse long after the Democratic environmentalist had concluded his line of questioning.

“We just want to stick to the truth,” Zeldin said.

“We want to stick to the science. If you don’t agree with them, you don’t follow their logic, then they’ll want to vilify you … and I’m not going to take morality lessons from people who join all-White country clubs,” Zeldin added.

He was referring to reports of Whitehouse’s family membership at Bailey’s Beach Club, a beach club formerly known as Spouting Rock Beach Association.

EPA CHIEF TAKES ON MEXICAN ‘SEWAGE CRISIS’ FLOWING INTO US WATERS WHERE NAVY SEALS TRAIN

“I think the people who are running the place are still working on that, and I’m sorry it hasn’t happened yet,” Whitehouse said in 2017, referring to allowing minority members. “It’s a long tradition in Rhode Island, and there are many of them. And we just need to work our way through the issues.”

The interaction comes as lawmakers weigh President Donald Trump’s 2027 budget request for the EPA, a framework that has alarmed Democrats for its proposed 50% reduction to agency funding. 

Zeldin’s clash with Whitehouse also underscores sharp divisions between the administration and Democrats in Congress over what threat, if any, climate change poses and what resources the U.S. should devote to combating it.

Whitehouse, who panned the proposed budget, argued that Zeldin was ignoring secondary costs brought on by fossil fuels.

“One plant in Michigan has already cost Michiganders $600 million in excess health costs. That is money out of consumers’ pockets and into the pockets of your fossil fuel polluters, Trump’s big donors. Are you even tracking the consumer costs of those coal plants?” Whitehouse asked Zeldin.

“We’re going to get to talk about math?” Zeldin replied. “Oh, this is great; I don’t even know where to start.”

“Are you even tracking the consumer costs of those coal plants?” Whitehouse asked again. “Answer that question: Are you even tracking the consumer costs of those coal plants?”

ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS PRESENT DIFFERING OPINIONS OF TRUMP’S ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT APPOINTEES

Zeldin began replying that the EPA did, in fact, track consumer costs of energy but was cut off.

“Where are you tracking the consumer costs of those coal plants?” Whitehouse interjected.

Zeldin, setting aside the matter of tracking, turned to confront Whitehouse’s underlying argument about the cost-benefit of coal across the country.

“Are you kidding me? Coal plants even staying open – you think that the math is that it’s better for West Virginia if you close down their coal plants and put these people out of work and tell them to learn how to code?” Zeldin said.

“According to you, in your mind, that’s saving West Virginia? Is it saving them on energy access? Is it saving them on jobs?” Zeldin added.

Whitehouse, running out of his allotted time, closed his line of questioning by proposing that Trump’s administration stood to gain from energy-aligned donors.

NEW SEN. JIM JUSTICE ‘ABSOLUTELY’ SHOCKED BY DEMOCRATS’ RESPONSE TO ELON MUSK’S DOGE REVELATIONS

“You’re raising costs on purpose because the money that you get when you raise costs from consumers goes to Trump’s big fossil fuel donors,” Whitehouse said.

The EPA was given roughly $8.82 billion in the 2026 fiscal year. For 2027, Trump has requested just $4.2B for 2027, a drop that would represent a 52% decrease year over year.

Rick Jackson, a Republican gubernatorial hopeful in Georgia, is facing heat from critics calling him a “fraud” and claiming he lied during a debate earlier this week when the candidate struggled to answer whether he has illegal aliens working for him.

“I don’t know,” Jackson replied when his fellow Republican frontrunner in the race, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, asked him point-blank whether he has any illegal aliens working for him. 

Jackson explained he was not directly involved in the hiring process in question, but he also said on the debate stage that anyone making hires for him “obey[ed] the laws,” including verifying employment eligibility using the appropriate federal “verification” measures despite saying the opposite during a sworn deposition.

After his contradictory remarks on the debate stage Monday night, Jackson’s critics leaped at the opportunity to call him out, pointing to his sworn remarks from a worker’s compensation case, during which Jackson admitted that new hires were not vetted using mandatory federal I-9 forms meant to ensure employees are eligible to work.

FLORIDA GOV DESANTIS TANGLES WITH REPORTER OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, TELLS HER ‘YOU SEEM TO HAVE NO SYMPATHY’

“Rick Jackson is lying to someone. Either he lied in his deposition under oath or he lied to Georgians on the debate stage,” said political strategist Phil Vangelakos after the debate. “It’s pretty clear that he knows he’s employed illegal immigrants.”

“Richie Rick Jackson is a fraud that will say what he needs to in order to win and is pretending to be a Trump Conservative, when in fact, he is a Bush moderate,” said Georgia Tea Party activist Debbie Dooley, who is unrelated to the football coach turned Republican candidate for Georgia governor, Derek Dooley. “He campaigns against illegals, yet he hires them.”

The criticism against Jackson stems from a worker’s compensation lawsuit Jackson found himself embroiled in, which included documents and records indicating he was paying at least one landscaper at his mansion who is undocumented, possibly more. The story was first reported by The New York Post ahead of Monday night’s debate.

The suit was filed against Jackson Investment Group, LLC, and JIG Real Estate, LLC, which is owned by the former firm. Jackson is publicly listed as the CEO of both companies as well.

SCOOP: TRUMP ALLY TO LAUNCH KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE CAMPAIGN IN BID TO FLIP DEMOCRAT-HELD SENATE SEAT

According to the case’s filings, Jackson “maintained a long-standing workforce of multiple laborers performing landscaping and property maintenance work for decades, including individuals without work authorization who nonetheless performed continuous employment for the employer.”

Jackson was deposed as part of the case, during which Jackson indicated he was unaware that his hires were undocumented immigrants. However, according to the deposition, Jackson was aware that his new hires were not being vetted using mandatory I-9 verification forms.

“No,” Jackson replied when asked in the deposition if he does any employment verification through the I-9 system.

In other parts of the deposition, Jackson echoed what he said Monday night, that he was not directly involved with the hiring of workers and only engaged with the landscaping superintendent.

DEMOCRATS VYING FOR NYC MAYOR SPAR OVER DEFUNDING POLICE, COMBATING ICE

“I know that sounds confusing,” Jackson explained in his deposition. “But most of our — if we have other employees, we usually hire them through JIG or another entity. I’m talking about if JIG has employees, we hire them through another entity. I’m not sure that we have any direct employees, from a payroll standpoint, out of JIG Real Estate.”

Greg Bluestein, a reporter with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, pointed out Wednesday that it “didn’t take long” after Monday night’s debate for one of Jackson’s leading opponents in the GOP primary battle, which will culminate with a May 19 primary election, to attack Jackson over the inconsistency of his statements.

“No I-9’s, no background checks for decades,” says a narrator in an attack ad from the Jones campaign. The ad then cuts to Jones asking Jackson on the debate stage whether he has any illegal immigrants working for him, to which Jackson responds, “I don’t know.”

TRUMP FRONT-AND-CENTER AS NATION’S BIGGEST CITY HOLDS PRIMARY ELECTION FOR MAYOR

“He knew,” the narrator chimes in. “He’s not just hiring illegal immigrants, he’s lying to Georgians.”

When asked for a response to the backlash, Jackson’s team said that the takeaway from the debate “is the universal agreement that Burt Jones has used his office corruptly to enrich himself and attack his political opponents.” The campaign spokesperson also alleged that much of the criticism targeting Jackson stems from people part of the Jones campaign.  

“It’s like a corrupt politician to attack Rick over someone hired by his landscaper,” the spokesperson added. “In the debate exchange, Rick talked about hiring thousands of people per year, a reference that could only be about Jackson Healthcare, which has used E-Verify since 2012. Rick would never knowingly hire someone in the country illegally and, as governor, he’ll make Georgia No. 1 in criminal illegal deportations.”

The primary election on May 19 will also include GOP front runners Attorney General Chris Carr, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and former college football coach Dooley.

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday the U.S. is weighing a potential drawdown of American troops in Germany, opening a new front in his escalating feud with the country’s leadership just days after he blasted Chancellor Friedrich Merz over Iran.

In a Truth Social post Wednesday afternoon, Trump said the U.S. is “studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany.”

He said a determination will be made “over the next short period of time.”

The announcement comes after the president on Tuesday criticized German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, saying he “doesn’t know what he’s talking about” regarding Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

TRUMP VOWS TO HIT IRAN ‘VERY HARD’ AFTER OBLITERATING NEARLY ’90 PERCENT’ OF REGIME MISSILES

“The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Tuesday. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! If Iran had a Nuclear Weapon, the whole World would be held hostage.”

“I am doing something with Iran, right now, that other Nations, or Presidents, should have done long ago. No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!” he added.

The president’s comments were seemingly in response to Merz’s speech in Marsberg Monday, where he said the U.S. was being “humiliated by the Iranian leadership.”

ECONOMIST EDITOR SAYS EUROPEAN LEADERS NOW FEAR A TRUE NATO ‘DIVORCE’ AFTER TRUMP PULLOUT THREAT

Merz added he hopes the war ends “as quickly as possible.”

During both of Trump’s terms, the leaders have publicly clashed on issues including tariffs and defense.

Earlier this month, Merz said he did not believe NATO should be involved in the war with Iran, as Trump urged allies to secure Strait of Hormuz.

As of December 2025, there are more than 36,000 active U.S. service members stationed in Germany, more than any other European country, according to the Defense Manpower Data Center.

It is unclear how much the president may slash troops.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey contributed to this report.