Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has spent months hammering President Trump and his Justice Department (DOJ) over their handling of Jeffrey Epstein records, accusing them of trying to sweep evidence under the rug and even teasing that his “follow the money” work “ties back to Donald Trump.” 

However, emails reviewed by Fox News Digital in the DOJ “Epstein files” show Wyden’s own family connection – an April 2016 appointment at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion between his son Adam and the disgraced financier. 

An email chain from late April 2016, after it was already public that Epstein was a convicted child sex offender and was accused of operating an under-age “sex slave” ring, shows Adam Wyden sought investment backing from Epstein during a meeting at Epstein’s home in Manhattan where Epstein allegedly engaged in some of his criminal activity. The senator’s son founded his own private investment fund, ADW Capital, in 2010.

“Jeffrey, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and hope my passion and dedication for my business came through in the meeting. I live and breathe this business and take my returns, integrity, and reputation quite seriously. And, I believe I have the mental fortitude and energy to stick through the tough times and drive value when others are fatigued,” the younger Wyden said in an email in April 2016 to Epstein. “I intensely appreciate like minded individuals and would very much look forward to having you join us at the fund.”

CHILD SAFETY NONPROFIT FOUNDED BY TOM STEYER’S BROTHER HAS MULTIPLE EPSTEIN TIES: ‘NO CONCERNS’

Other emails inside the tranche of Epstein documents released by the DOJ show Epstein and the younger Wyden communicating about a time and location for the meeting. Meanwhile, another document appearing to be a ledger of Epstein’s daily engagements and activities on April 28, 2016, marks the meeting as taking place at 10:00 a.m. that day.

The same scheduling document also describes the young Wyden, in parentheses, as “Jonathon Farkas’ friend.” Farkas appears to refer to the husband of President Trump’s ambassador to Malta and the brother of Andrew Farkas, who had a “profound friendship” and business ties with Epstein, according to the New York Times. 

“I don’t speak to my kids about their business activities, and I read about this a few months ago on social media just like everybody else,” Sen. Wyden said in a statement to Fox News Digital when reached for comment. “My investigation began four years ago and continues unchanged. I want transparency and accountability across the board.”

WATCH: HILLARY CLINTON STORMS OUT OF EPSTEIN DEPOSITION AFTER HOUSE LAWMAKER LEAKS PHOTO FROM INSIDE

Adam did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment in time for publication. 

Wyden has repeatedly hammered the Trump administration over access to Epstein-related records and has argued his “follow the money” investigation “ties back to Donald Trump.”

“One of the most important questions that comes out of this is why were America’s leading banks – a number of them – basically sleepwalking throughout this whole Epstein matter,” Wyden said in a video chronicling his probe into the Epstein scandal as the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee. “They should have been watchdogging this. They should have brought to law enforcement what they believed was going on.” 

Wyden also touted his plans to author a bill that would hold banks accountable in the future if they turn a blind eye to such illegal activity.

At the time of the April 2016 meeting between Epstein and the senator’s son, Epstein was already a convicted sex offender who had pleaded guilty in Florida to sexually abusing a minor, and the Palm Beach investigation that led to Epstein’s plea had identified dozens of possible Epstein victims, many of which were reportedly minors. 

A progressive Chicago lawmaker issued an apology Tuesday after facing backlash for suggesting a slain college student was in the “wrong place at the wrong time.”

Last Thursday, Sheridan Gorman, 18, of Westchester County, New York, was gunned down while taking a walk with friends around 1:30 a.m. along Chicago’s lakefront.

Alderwoman Maria Hadden sparked outrage on social media after she suggested in an interview with Fox 32 Chicago that the Loyola University Chicago student was in the “wrong place at the wrong time” and that she may have “startled” the individual who shot and killed her.

The local Democrat’s comments were slammed as insensitive and also prompted a response from Gorman’s family, who referenced her remarks.

PRITZKER BREAKS SILENCE ON MIGRANT CHARGED IN STUDENT’S MURDER, BLAMES TRUMP FOR ‘POLITICIZING’ CASE

Hadden, a progressive ally of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, released a statement Tuesday saying her interview on Fox 32 had “gone viral on conservative media,” and that her comments were in response to a question comparing Gorman’s murder to a separate 2018 case.

“In an effort to make sense of a senseless situation, I said things that landed wrong with some people,” she said. “My comments were never intended to blame the victim or to imply that Sheridan should not have been out enjoying the park or that it was her fault that she was shot.

“In the interview, I tried my best to share what limited information I had with our community as fast as possible while helping to address the fears people had about the shooting,” Hadden continued. “I sincerely apologize for any additional pain that my comments may have caused.”

MASKED GUNMAN KILLS LOYOLA CHICAGO COLLEGE STUDENT IN SHOOTING NEAR CAMPUS; POLICE HUNT FOR SUSPECT

She added, “The fact that some media outlets are intentionally creating sound bites to misconstrue my words during this tragedy is also unfortunate.”

Gorman’s family referenced Hadden’s remarks from the Fox 32 interview, saying the slain college student “deserved the future that was stolen from her.”

“What happened to Sheridan cannot be reduced to the idea of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is not an abstraction. This is the loss of a daughter. The loss of a sister. The loss of a future filled with milestones that will now never come. Our family is forever changed.”

CHICAGO LAWMAKER RIPPED OVER ‘DISGUSTING’ RESPONSE TO COLLEGE STUDENT KILLED BY ALLEGED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

The family added: “We cannot accept a world where moments like this become something people grow used to. We cannot allow ourselves to become desensitized to violence. When we begin to accept these tragedies as inevitable, we all become vulnerable to them. Apathy is not harmless—it allows these moments to repeat.”

Jose Medina-Medina was arrested and charged with Gorman’s murder.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Medina is an illegal immigrant who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration before being apprehended and released into the country.

DHS said the 25-year-old Venezuelan national was previously arrested for shoplifting in Chicago.

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

A Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate is pushing a “permanent” federal ban on Muslim immigration, arguing Islam is incompatible with American law and values.

Former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, who launched his gubernatorial bid in the Sunshine State last summer, said Tuesday he would propose and promote a federal ban on Muslim immigration that is “permanent and comprehensive.”

“We have to be realistic and be honest that the long-term compatibility of Islam in this country does not exist,” he said. “We cannot have long-term compatibility with the American Constitution and with the American way of life.”

Renner added that anyone with terrorist ties, who has defrauded taxpayers or who has been convicted of a serious crime should be denaturalized and deported.

MAGA HARDLINER PUSHES BAN ON IMMIGRATION FROM ISLAMIC COUNTRIES, US ADVERSARIES IN WAKE OF TEXAS SHOOTING

Renner made the comments during a news conference while speaking in front of a “No Sharia Law” sign. Sharia law is a religious legal framework derived from Islamic texts that governs aspects of life for some Muslims.

The gubernatorial candidate pointed to the passage of a bill in the Florida Legislature prohibiting the use of certain foreign laws, including Sharia law, in state courts.

Renner asserted that “only American law can be used in American courts and that should go without saying.”

GOP GOVERNOR LAYS OUT PLAN TO ‘PURGE’ TERRORISTS AND TERROR SUPPORTERS FROM STATE

He added that he would also end all funding for schools that promote what he described as Sharia law concepts.

Renner said he would pursue legislation designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis previously issued an executive order last December designating the groups as FTOs, but a federal judge issued a temporary injunction citing First Amendment concerns, according to The Floridian.

In his announcement, Renner cited a “recurring pattern of conflict and violence” in the years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including a recent shooting at Old Dominion University in Virginia that left one person dead and two others injured.

The suspected shooter, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, was a former Army National Guard soldier convicted of supporting ISIS, according to the DOJ.

“The simple fact is while there may be people in this country that will live peaceably with us, as a system there will continue to be increased division, increased conflict, and increased violence, which we have seen over the decades since 9/11, and we have to be realistic about that and put a stop to it so that we protect Americans,” Renner said. “That is the first order of business for any governor or any elected official and that is what I will do as governor.”

DeSantis, who is serving his second consecutive term, is not permitted to run again in 2026. President Donald Trump has previously backed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds for the job.

New Jersey Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill attended a Ramadan event at a Paterson mosque led by an Imam who fought deportation for years over alleged ties to Hamas.

Sherrill posted photos of her visit to the Islamic Center of Passaic County on social media, wearing a hijab and taking selfies. In one image, she is seen speaking with the mosque’s longtime leader, Imam Mohammad Qatanani.

“Thank you to the Islamic Center of Passaic County for welcoming me to join their celebration as the holy month of Ramadan comes to a close,” she wrote. “I wish our Muslim neighbors a safe, joyous, and peaceful Eid al-Fitr.”

Qatanani, a Palestinian-born cleric, has been at the center of a decades-long immigration battle after federal authorities sought to deport him, citing alleged ties to Hamas and claims he failed to disclose a prior detention in Israel. He has denied those allegations, saying he was detained but never convicted.

MAMDANI TELLS TRUMP ADMIN ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVIST SHOULD ‘REMAIN IN NEW YORK CITY’ AMID DEPORTATION CASE

As Fox News previously reported, the federal government moved to remove Qatanani from the U.S. beginning in the mid-2000s, arguing he made misrepresentations on his green card application and raising national security concerns tied to Israeli records.

An immigration judge ruled in Qatanani’s favor in 2008, finding the government’s evidence unreliable and giving little weight to Israeli court documents used to support the allegations, according to court records . The judge also found the government had not proven Qatanani engaged in terrorist activity.

TOP DEMS BRUSH OFF TIES TO IMAM WHO HELD MEMORIAL FOR IRANIAN LEADER WHO VOWED ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’

Court records further raised concerns about the reliability of statements attributed to Qatanani, including whether they may have been obtained under coercive conditions. Subsequent rulings over the years continued to favor him.

A federal appeals court ultimately blocked his deportation in 2025, ruling immigration officials acted improperly in attempting to reverse his legal status.

MUSLIM CLERIC IS IN US COURT FIGHTING AGAINST DEPORTATION

The [Board of Immigration Appeals] exceeded its authority when it attempted to undo Qatanani’s adjustment to LPR status by using an agency regulation in a manner inconsistent with the procedures set out by Congress,” the court wrote.

The decision focused on legal process rather than resolving the underlying allegations, finding federal authorities failed to follow required procedures after missing deadlines to challenge a key ruling granting him permanent residency.

It is unclear whether Sherrill was aware of Qatanani’s legal history at the time of her visit. Fox News Digital has reached out to the governor’s office for comment.

Florida Democrats on Tuesday flipped control of a long-vacant Republican-held state House seat in a Palm Beach-anchored district that includes Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s home turf.

The Associated Press reports that Democrat Emily Gregory defeated Republican Jon Maples in a special election in Florida’s House District 87, in the race to fill the seat left vacant last August, when GOP state Rep. Mike Caruso resigned to become Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller.

The ballot box battle was one of three special legislative elections being held in GOP-dominated Florida on Tuesday. And while the contests won’t change the balance of power in the state legislature, where for more than a quarter-century Republicans have held majorities in both the House and Senate chambers, bragging rights were up for grabs in the president’s home district.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Maples was backed by Trump, who moved his primary permanent residence in 2019 from Trump Tower in New York City to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. He is also backed by a number of top Sunshine State Republicans.

“There is a very important Special Election tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24th, for Florida State House District 87 in beautiful Palm Beach County — JON MAPLES HAS MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT!” the president wrote in a social media post on Monday evening.

The 43-year-old Maples, a financial planner and former Lake Clarke Shores Council member who, during his years at Palm Beach Atlantic University was an all-American athlete, made cutting taxes and government spending, reducing regulations, promoting private sector job creation and advancing school choice.

Gregory, a 40-year-old Army spouse, owns and runs a Jupiter-based fitness center for pregnant and postpartum women. The first-time candidate made affordability, increasing public education, tackling rising property insurance and housing costs, and access to healthcare key parts of her campaign.

Maples was the favorite heading into the special election, thanks to his fundraising advantage in a district that leads to the right. Trump carried the district by roughly 10 points in his 2024 re-election victory. Palm Beach County was once firmly blue until a GOP surge in recent cycles.

Illinois’ Democratic Governor JB Pritzker recently highlighted the calm of Chicago’s shore with Lake Michigan in a video he posted across his social media platforms — a nearby area where an illegal alien shot and killed a college student last week.

“Lots of runners coming by,” Pritzker said in a video he posted to Facebook last September.

“Lakefront path, Lakefront Trail — absolutely gorgeous. Just gorgeous. Look at that overpass. A great lakefront.”

The tone of the resurfaced clip clashes with the death of Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old Loyola University student who was shot to death near Tobey Prinz Beach Park, an area included in Chicago’s Police District 24.

CHICAGO LAWMAKER RIPPED OVER ‘DISGUSTING’ RESPONSE TO COLLEGE STUDENT KILLED BY ALLEGED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

Pritzker’s walk went viral on social media when several viewers online criticized the governor for his characterization of the shoreside area.

“Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker & Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson haven’t posted anything about the murder of Sheridan Gorman, allegedly at the hands of a Venezuelan illegal alien,” Fox News Congressional Correspondent Bill Melugin posted on X. “Last year, Pritzker made a video from the lakefront she was killed at, mocking claims that it wasn’t safe.”

“Governor JB Pritzker posted this video of the Chicago lakeside to brag about how safe it is. Sheridan Gorman was just killed there by a Venezuelan immigrant his state law PROTECTED,” End Wokeness, a popular conservative account, wrote in a X post.

“> crosses the border illegally > released into the country by Biden > arrested for shoplifting > released back onto the street > murders an innocent girl,” former Trump White House staffer Greg Price wrote.

“Pritzker posted this video bragging about how safe Chicago’s lakeside is — right where Sheridan Gorman was just killed by a Venezuelan illegal his state law protected. Unreal,” another account wrote.

MY DAUGHTER WAS KILLED, AND I WARNED SANCTUARY CITY POLICIES WOULD COST LIVES AGAIN

The area has improved in the categories of thefts, burglary and motor vehicle theft in recent years, according to recent police reports. However, reporting for murder, sexual assaults and aggravated battery have gone up, according to crime stats from March.

District 24 has reported three murder cases, 19 sexual assaults and 32 aggravated battery incidents so far in 2026.

The district has the second-most murders of any district of the six districts included in Chicago’s Area 3, which covers a significant chunk of the city’s northern side.

In Gorman’s case, authorities charged Jose Medina, a Venezuelan national, with her murder.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Medina had already been apprehended for shoplifting in Chicago but had been released in June 2023.

Even before that, Medina had been apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol in May 2023. He was also allowed to walk free then.

“Sheridan Gorman had her whole life ahead of her before this cold-blooded killer decided to end her life. She was failed by open border policies and sanctuary politicians who RELEASED this illegal alien TWICE before he went on to commit this heinous murder,” Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.

“We are calling on Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this criminal illegal alien from jail back into American neighborhoods.”

The office of Governor Pritzker did not respond to a request for comment on the Chicago shoreside area and its crime rates.

Senate Republicans again didn’t budge against Senate Democrats’ bid to handcuff President Donald Trump’s war powers in Iran.

Senate Democrats again forced a vote on a war powers resolution to rein in Trump’s military authority in Iran, which Senate Republicans again blocked. It’s also been less than a week since Democrats triggered a war powers resolution in their bid to force the Trump administration to publicly explain the ongoing conflict.

The resolution, this time from Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., was blocked on a largely party-line vote, save for Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who joined all Senate Democrats to advance the measure.

It’s part of a flood-the-zone strategy Senate Democrats are taking to force Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to testify publicly before the Senate. Earlier this month, Murphy and a cohort of Senate Democrats unveiled their plan to force votes on five war powers resolutions.

DHS SHUTDOWN TIED FOR SECOND-LONGEST EVER AS DEMS AGAIN BLOCK FUNDING AMID AIRPORT CHAOS, TERRORISM CONCERNS

“We’re not going to let the Senate be silent until they make at the very least that commitment,” Murphy said at the time. “I don’t think they can defend this war.”

Whether either Hegseth or Rubio is forced to testify before the Senate Armed Services and Senate Foreign Relations panels, respectively, remains in the air, given that neither committee chair has made the move to request the administration officials appear.

TOM COTTON PUTS BIDEN ON NOTICE WHILE DEMANDING ANSWERS ON DRAINING OF NATION’S OIL STOCKPILE

The latest attempt to cuff Trump’s war powers comes as his strategy in Iran dramatically shifted in a moment of whiplash from the weekend to Monday.

Over the weekend, Trump warned that unless Iran fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. would “hit and obliterate” the nation’s power plants. 

But then Trump shifted gears Monday and announced that the U.S. and Iran had been engaged in “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East,” which the Iranian government denied. 

MULLIN CONFIRMED AS DHS CHIEF AS LAWMAKERS NEAR SOLUTION ON SHUTDOWN STANDOFF

Meanwhile, Congress is still awaiting a supplemental funding package from the administration that could be to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Some Republicans want to cram that funding, which could be as high as $200 billion, into another reconciliation package.

That vehicle could get busy fast, given that they are also eyeing reconciliation as a means to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and to pass portions of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who has led the charge on several war powers resolutions in the last several months, said that “the numbers that they’re talking about are pretty staggering in the sense of what they say about how this is going to go on.”

And as far as letting up on war powers, Kaine said Democrats were ready to keep going round for round.

“But we’re going to keep forcing war powers resolution votes,” Kaine said. “Have you seen enough? Have you seen enough? Have you seen enough? … We’ll probably have at least one a week, and continue to ask our colleagues, ‘okay, have you seen enough yet?’”

Some Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents are selling their blood plasma to make ends meet as the 38-day Department of Homeland Security shutdown drags on, acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl told reporters Tuesday.

“We got folks sleeping in cars,” Stahl told reporters at Washington’s Reagan National Airport, referring to TSA employees. “I talked to a single mother recently who has a three-year-old child with special needs and can’t afford to pay for childcare for that three-year-old child.”

Stahl also said some agents are having “blood drawn to afford gas to come to work.”

The bleak situation comes as TSA agents nationwide have been forced to report to work without pay during the prolonged funding lapse. More than 50,000 TSA personnel will miss their second full paycheck of the shutdown if the funding lapse is not resolved by Friday.

TRUMP SAYS ICE WILL DEPLOY TO AIRPORTS MONDAY TO ASSIST TSA AMID FUNDING STANDOFF

Though talks to end the shutdown have ramped up in the past 24 hours, Stahl warned that the impact funding lapses have on TSA agents would continue to worsen if the shutdown does not end soon.

“It’s a dire situation,” Stahl said. “The longer our folks don’t get paid, the more they’re going to not be able to come into work and the more they’re going to quit altogether.”

The shortage of TSA workers at major travel hubs across the country has led to hours-long wait times at airport security checkpoints. Stahl said the ongoing spring break travel season could exacerbate airports’ staffing constraints.

More than 400 TSA agents have quit since the shutdown began on Feb. 14.

“This again is going to get worse before it gets better if Senate Democrats particularly don’t act and don’t act soon,” he said, adding that a mass exit of TSA workers hurts the agency’s ability to prepare for the upcoming FIFA World Cup later this summer.

LIZ PEEK: VOTERS TELL CONGRESS ‘DO YOUR JOB’ AND END THE DHS SHOWDOWN

GOP lawmakers have blasted their Democratic colleagues for withholding support for a full-year DHS funding bill as the party demands reforms to immigration enforcement. They argue that TSA agents — in addition to thousands of other DHS workers employed by various sub-agencies — are victims of Democrats’ hardball tactics.

“The men and women who work for TSA agents are American heroes,” Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., said at Reagan National airport Tuesday. “Would you still be at your job if you were facing a third paycheck of not getting paid?” 

TSA agents were also forced to work without pay during the record-breaking 43-day shutdown in fall 2025.

Democrats, by contrast, have blamed Republicans for opposing legislation that would fund DHS — including TSA — minus the department’s immigration enforcement functions. 

President Donald Trump laid into Democrats Tuesday when asked about TSA agents working for over a month without their salary.

“They’ll do anything to hurt our country so they can try and win the midterms,” Trump said

Fox News Digital reached out to TSA for comment.

Conservative critics are accusing former special counsel Jack Smith of improperly coordinating with two federal judges after Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released documents Tuesday showing Smith’s team interacted with the pair during the Trump investigations.

“Democrat DC U.S. district judges illegally worked in secret with Biden Special Counsel Jack Smith to bring charges against President Trump,” Article III Project founder Mike Davis claimed on X as details of the documents emerged on Tuesday. 

Smith’s investigations led to criminal charges against President Donald Trump over the 2020 election and alleged retention of classified documents. Trump called the investigations a “witch hunt,” while Republicans widely condemned the charges as an abuse of power designed to take out the then leading Republican presidential candidate.

The documents released by Grassley included notes about a briefing Smith’s team gave Attorney General Merrick Garland on Jan. 13, 2023, just after Garland appointed Smith as special counsel. The notes referenced meetings with Judges Beryl Howell and James Boasberg of Washington, D.C., both Obama appointees and Trump nemeses known for their high-profile adverse rulings against the president.

MIKE DAVIS: WHY DC’S TRUMP-HATING JUDGE BOASBERG MUST BE IMPEACHED

“She liked our approach of pursuing the executive privilege litigation in an omnibus fashion,” Smith’s team wrote in reference to Howell, according to the documents. Omnibus motions allow for consolidated, rather than piecemeal, litigation and are typically used by lawyers to streamline court filings. Smith’s team frequently sought permission from the court to pierce executive privilege, a presumptive right that a president and his aides have that gives their communications a layer of legal privacy.

The briefing notes also referenced a forthcoming meeting with Boasberg on March 18, 2023, the day after he was set to become chief judge, succeeding Howell. The White House responded in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“We have long known that Judge Boasberg is a far-left judicial activist trying to undermine the President’s lawful authority, this is just further proof,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. “President Trump has restored integrity to the Department of Justice that Joe Biden and his administration weaponized to target their political opponents – including President Trump himself.”

Sen. Ted Cruz’s office told Fox News Digital the Texas Republican thought the meetings with the judges were significant, a remark that came after Cruz led a Senate hearing on the Trump cases on Tuesday. Cruz in the hearing declared Smith’s work a “modern Watergate” scandal that was expansive and hyper-political, sweeping up personal information, such as phone records, belonging to hundreds of Republican entities and individuals.

A Republican congressional investigator told Fox News Digital the meetings with the judges merited further scrutiny.

JACK SMITH DEFENDS SUBPOENAING REPUBLICAN SENATORS’ PHONE RECORDS: ‘ENTIRELY PROPER’

Smith’s team wrote in the briefing notes for Garland that Howell was aware that an omnibus executive privilege motion was coming “and loves the idea.” Smith’s team listed out nearly a dozen former Trump officials, such as Mark Meadows and Ken Cuccinelli, who would be included in the consolidated motion. The notes referenced five other, separate executive privilege motions that were already making their way through the court process, signaling that an omnibus motion would be a reduction in paperwork for the court.

The briefing notes also mentioned recent meetings between the special counsel’s team and top FBI officials. The FBI “has been very responsive,” Smith’s team wrote. The team mentioned “precedent-setting issues we face in areas of executive privilege [and] Speech or Debate,” a possible reference to Smith testing the separation of powers by seeking the potentially privileged material from those in Trump’s orbit.

Independent journalist Julie Kelly, an outspoken critic of the Biden DOJ, observed on X that Smith’s team interacted with the judges. Kelly suggested the judges were “in cahoots with Biden DOJ to rubber stamp, even advise, any strategy set forth by Jack Smith.”

Attorney Bill Shipley, a longtime federal prosecutor who represented dozens of Jan. 6 defendants, wrote on X that he did not find much about the memo “noteworthy,” saying it was “clearly” designed to bring Garland up to speed following the holidays and Smith’s new appointment. Shipley also noted how Howell and Boasberg were chief judges, meaning any grand jury matters were required to go through their offices.

Shipley noted, however, that he felt Howell notoriously ruled against the Trump administration and that her eager approval of an omnibus motion represented a desire for her to make decisions before her tenure as chief judge expired in March 2023.

“What troubles me in the text of the memo is the suggestion — which was borne out by events that followed — that Judge Howell desired to resolve all the issues involving witness privilege before she stepped down as Chief Judge,” Shipley wrote, though he noted that her decisions were appealable.

CRUZ DEMANDS IMPEACHMENT OF BOASBERG AND JUDGE WHO SENTENCED KAVANAUGH’S ATTEMPTED ASSASSIN

Smith has repeatedly stood by his work, testifying to Congress that it was aligned with DOJ policies and nonpartisan. 

A Smith representative declined to comment on the latest document release.

Howell’s and Boasberg’s chambers did not respond to requests for comment.

A Virginia murder case is fueling a political fight over immigration enforcement, as the victim’s family and Republican officials blame Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s policies and a progressive local prosecutor for failing to stop a suspect with dozens of prior arrests and a standing removal order.

Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, the victim’s mother, Cheryl Minter and local officials said failures by prosecutors, Fairfax County policies and federal immigration enforcement allowed the suspect to remain free. They spoke at a Tuesday press conference hosted by The American Border Story in Richmond.

At a State Capitol vigil, Miyares blamed liberal leaders in the Old Dominion, including Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, for creating the environment that led to the murder of Stephanie Minter of Fredericksburg at a Hybla Valley bus stop.

“A federal judge had issued a final order for his removal six years ago. A detainer was lodged, and Fairfax County refused to honor it. Police warned Steve Descano not once, but twice, writing repeatedly that this man would kill someone. They were right. He was a ticking time bomb, and that time bomb went off, and Stephanie was the casualty,” Miyares said, listing other similar cases.

CRITICS SLAM CHICAGO’S ‘REVOLVING DOOR’ AS LOYOLA STUDENT KILLING SPARKS OUTRAGE

Miyares, now a partner at William Barr’s Torridon Law Firm, said Jalloh has 30 prior arrests and that Fairfax police remain stymied by Descano, who has refused to honor ICE detainers. He also criticized Spanberger for revoking Youngkin-era cooperation between state, local, correctional and federal authorities, arguing the administration is forcing rural departments to follow Fairfax’s lead.

“The sheriff of Bedford, or the sheriff in Galax, or Grayson County, or Washington County, have to adopt the same criminal-first, victim-last mindset adopted in Fairfax that has harmed so many innocent Virginians,” he said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger for comment.

Miyares called Cheryl Minter “one of the bravest people that we’ve all ever seen to talk about her pain and the loss of her daughter among total strangers.”

Minter’s daughter, Stephanie, and her accused killer, Abdul Jalloh, both exited a Fairfax Connector bus at the same stop on U.S. 1 near George Washington’s Mount Vernon on Feb. 23, according to surveillance footage obtained by the Fairfax County Police Department.

The next day, officers responded to a suspicious person call on Route 1 and charged Jalloh with larceny. He was charged with Minter’s murder the following day after being identified, according to FCPD.

HOUSE PANEL SUMMONS SOROS-BACKED FAIRFAX PROSECUTOR OVER RELEASES TIED TO VIOLENT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CASES

In her remarks Tuesday, Cheryl Minter fought back tears as she cried, “I miss her so much,” speaking of Stephanie.

“I had her for 41 years. And I don’t know what I’m going to do without her. She was [a] joy to my life. She was a joy to everybody. Family, friends; she loved so many things and had so many goals.”

Minter said Stephanie was an artist and loved to cook and serve food for people.

“Always that smile, that amazing smile could just lift anybody up no matter how down they were. She did it to me a lot. I wish I could see it now,” Minter said before turning her attention to elected officials in Virginia.

“Change has got to happen — I don’t know where all these political people are. They stopped serving citizens. They just stopped. I’m not quite sure how they get voted in.”

“It’s got to stop from a court level up, all of it. Judges are part of it, lawyers are part of it, and it goes up the ladder. I couldn’t even name them all because I don’t know them.”

Nicole Kiprilov, director of The American Border Story, who was hosting the vigil, then read a statement from the lone Republican official remaining on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

Pat Herrity, supervisor for the Springfield District, condemned Stephanie Minter’s murder and blamed the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney and the Board of Supervisors Democratic majority.

“My heart goes out to the family of Stephanie Minter. The Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney and the Board of Supervisors majority failed her,” his statement said.

VIRGINIA PROSECUTOR’S RECORD ON VIOLENT OFFENDERS SCRUTINIZED AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED IN MOM’S MURDER

He also criticized the county’s Trust Policy, saying it undermined efforts to remove repeat offenders.

The Trust Policy, enacted in 2021, is intended to ensure “immigrant residents” can access county services without fear of information sharing with federal officials.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey McKay told Fox News Digital, in response to criticism, that the situation has “nothing to do with the Trust Policy.”

“Any loss of life is tragic, and my thoughts are with Ms. Minter’s loved ones,” McKay said.

“Our police department, which is under the purview of the Board of Supervisors, and the independent Sheriff’s Office did their jobs by arresting this individual multiple times and advocating that the judicial system keep him in custody.”

McKay said ICE had Jalloh in custody in 2018 after a felony conviction and allowed him to remain in the U.S.

“The focus of ICE needs to be on violent individuals, yet recent evidence shows it appears to be more focused on apprehending nonviolent individuals,” McKay said.

“We should all be asking why enforcement actions did not result in removal by ICE when this dangerous offender was in their custody, not questioning a policy designed to build trust between law enforcement and the community. That trust is one of the many reasons Fairfax County is the safest jurisdiction of its size in the United States.”

Descano’s office declined comment, citing the open criminal case against Jalloh.

Descano has been criticized for lax prosecution of illegal immigrant suspects and has also been summoned to Capitol Hill in April by Reps. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to testify on systemic criminal justice issues in Fairfax.