Politics

More than four months after launching his third straight White House run, former President Trump remains the front-runner in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, according to the latest national polls. Trump stands at 44% support among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents questioned in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis  clocking in at 30%. Additionally, an average of all the most recent national surveys which included a question on the 2024 GOP nomination battle compiled by Real Clear Politics indicates the former president at 44% and the Florida governor at 29%. Trump became the first major Republican to declare his 2024 candidacy when he launched his third straight campaign for the White House in mid-November, shortly after the 2022 midterm elections. DeSantis remains on the 2024 sidelines as of now but is widely expected to enter the race. In an interview that ran Thursday on Fox Nation, the Florida governor said “stay tuned” when asked about his political future. RON DESANTIS STARTS PUNCHING BACK AT DONALD TRUMP Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is likely to launch a presidential campaign in the coming weeks or months, stands at 5% support in the Reuters/Ipsos survey, which was conducted March 14-20 and released on Saturday.  In the Real Clear Politics compilation of all the most recent surveys in the emerging 2024 GOP presidential field, Pence stands at 6% support. So does former ambassador to the United Nations and former two-term South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who launched a GOP presidential campaign early last month. More than two years after leaving the White House following his 2020 election defeat at the hands of President Biden, Trump remains the most popular and influential politician in the Republican Party. Earlier this month, Trump once again overwhelmingly won the straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference. The largest annual gathering of conservative leaders and activists has become a Trumpfest since the former president’s 2016 election. TRUMP HAULS IN $1.5 MILLION SINCE WARNING OF LOOMING INDICTMENT However, Trump has taken plenty of incoming fire over his perceived negative impact on the GOP’s lackluster performance in the midterms, received some unfavorable reviews following his campaign launch at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, and faced criticism over controversial comments and actions in the past couple of months. Separately, legal scrutiny focusing on Trump is intensifying, and possible indictments in the coming weeks could make him the first former president in American history to face criminal charges. DeSantis saw his popularity soar among conservatives across the country over the past three years due to his forceful pushback against coronavirus pandemic restrictions and his aggressive actions as a culture warrior going after the media, corporations and teachers’ unions.  The governor scored an overwhelming 19-point gubernatorial re-election victory in November, and in recent speeches he has pitched policy victories in Florida as a roadmap for the entire nation. He has been traveling across the country, highlighting his “Florida blueprint” and promoting his newly released memoir, “The Courage to Be Free.”  Sources in DeSantis’ wider orbit have said any presidential campaign launch would come in the late spring or early summer, after the end of the current legislative session. However, the governor’s latest travel itinerary to the early voting states of Iowa and Nevada and a trip next month to New Hampshire are sparking more 2024 speculation. TRUMP IS DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT AS HE RUNS FOR PRESIDENT A THIRD TIME Trump views DeSantis as his chief rival and has repeatedly and increasingly blasted the Florida governor in recent months. In the past week, he has spotlighted the gains he has made over DeSantis in national polling. “His Polls have crashed,” Trump said of DeSantis in a statement last week. Trump kept up the jabs Saturday in Waco, Texas, as he held his first campaign rally of the year. “Man, he’s dropping like a rock,” Trump said of DeSantis. Using one of his derogatory nicknames for the Florida governor, the former president argued “they keep saying ‘DeSanctus’ could do well with farmers. I don’t think so. Based on polls, he’s not doing well with anything.” However, with roughly 10 months to go until the start of the first nominating primaries and caucuses, it is still very early in the 2024 cycle, and the field is far from set. The race for the GOP presidential nomination is not a national contest, but rather a battle for delegates up for grabs in the individual states’ nominating contests. Polls in the early voting states have been all over the map. DeSantis topped Trump by 12 points in a public opinion survey by the University of New Hampshire in late January, in the state that holds the first primary and second overall contest in the GOP nominating calendar. However, Trump held a massive lead over DeSantis in the Granite State according to a more recent survey from Emerson College. New surveys from a leading Republican polling firm – Public Opinion Strategies – that were conducted the past two weeks suggested Trump up by the lower double digits in a crowded field in New Hampshire and tied with DeSantis in Iowa, the state that kicks off the GOP’s caucus and primary schedule.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that President Biden warned him against moving forward with a bill to reform the country’s judicial system, saying it threatened democracy there. Netanyahu claims the Israeli Supreme Court has become “too powerful” and that his legislation makes it more accountable to the people, but his legislative proposal has been met with growing protests both within Israel and abroad. In an upcoming “Piers Morgan Uncensored” interview, airing on Fox Nation Monday, Netanyahu detailed his conversation with Biden following the decision. “Well, first of all, we spoke about Iran security. A lot. But he raised that [concerns over threat to Israel’s democracy] and I assured him what I assured you: that Israel was, is and will remain a democracy,” Netanyahu said of his conversation with Biden. NETANYAHU TELLS PIERS MORGAN DEMOCRACY IS SAFE IN ISRAEL DESPITE HIS MOVES TO WREST CONTROL OF ‘TOO POWERFUL’ During the interview, Netanyahu also took aim at former President Trump’s secret dinner with Kanye West and White supremacist Nick Fuentes, saying it “should be rebuked and condemned.” ISRAEL’S NETANYAHU FIRES DEFENSE MINISTER OVER OPPOSITION TO JUDICIAL OVERHAUL; PROTESTS ERUPT “I thought it was horrible. I think it’s a big mistake. It’s wrong from every point of view. It [antisemitism] should not be countenanced, it should not be accepted, it should be rebuked and condemned and that’s what I do. And I don’t care where it comes from, or from whom,” Netanyahu told Morgan. In November, Trump hosted Fuentes, who is known for making antisemitic and racist remarks, and West at a Mar-a-Lago dinner.  The former president quickly received backlash from prominent members within his party, including Senate Minority Leader Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said anyone meeting with individuals who hold the views of Fuentes and West “are highly unlikely to ever be elected President of the United States.” Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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Far-left Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a progressive “Squad” Democrat, got bodied by Twitter for her “lies” that a brawl between Palestinian teenagers in Jerusalem was actually the “violent apartheid government of Israel” targeting Palestinians with the military. Tlaib, one of the most notorious anti-Israel House lawmakers, has made numerous wild claims about the Jewish homeland, including being an “apartheid” state that targets Palestinians and claiming a person can’t be progressive if they back Israel. Her latest claim came on Sunday when Tlaib responded to a post from the pro-Palestinian nonprofit the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) showing a fight that broke out at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem during Ramadan festivities. RASHIDA TLAIB, ‘SQUAD’-LINKED COMMITTEES PUSHED LARGE SUMS TO ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVIST’S CONSULTING FIRM IMEU’s tweet Tlaib was responding to accused Israel of “apartheid” and claimed “Israeli soldiers” were attacking “Palestinians celebrating the first day of the holy month of Ramadan in occupied Jerusalem.” “This is the violent apartheid government of Israel,” Tlaib claimed in a quote tweet of the post from IMEU. “Don’t look away,” she continued. However; the Michigan Democrat’s latest baseless online claim against the Israeli government saw her bodied with an information check from Twitter itself revealing the actual cause behind the video. “Video shows police breaking up a brawl between Palestinian teenagers that broke out at the Damascus Gate,” the context box reads, linking out to a Jerusalem Post article on the altercation. Twitter also fact-checked IMEU’s video, linking to the Jerusalem Post article and a tweet regarding the incident. Fox News Digital reached out to Tlaib’s office asking if the congresswoman would correct or delete the tweet but received no response. Twitter users blasted Tlaib’s post, including antisemitism watchdog StopAntisemitism who wrote “Twitter calling out Rashida Tlaib’s lies is a perfect start to the week.” Mispacha Magazine editor Yochonon Don pointed out that a “US congress member just lied on Twitter” about the video. “Don’t normalize this,” Don wrote. Musician Phil Labonte laughed at the “community notes” under Tlaib’s tweet. IMEU’s website attacks the Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “racist right-wing government” as well as outlandish claims against Israel, such as “environmental apartheid.” Additionally, IMEU claims that the Israeli government engaged in “ethnic cleansing” targeting Palestinians through a conspiratorial “Plan Dalet” that “turned most Palestinians into stateless refugees and marked the start of Israel’s apartheid system on 78% of the land of Palestine.” “Many Israelis, including senior Israeli political and religious leaders, believe the ethnic cleansing carried out during Plan Dalet didn’t go far enough and openly call for further expulsions of Palestinians and the destruction of Palestinian communities,” the organization claims. “These threats and incitement fuel the fears of Palestinians rooted in the memory of the mass expulsions of 1948 and the knowledge that it could happen again,” they continued. Two committees associated with Democrat Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib and another “Squad”-linked committee transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to a firm run by an anti-Israel activist over the past two years, filings show. The progressive entities combined to push nearly $270,000 to Unbought Power LLC, a Florida-based consulting and advocacy firm owned and operated by Rasha Mubarak, a community and political activist who has openly expressed anti-Israel viewpoints several times on social media platforms. Many members of the “Squad” – a group of far-left Democrats in the House – have come under fire in the past over controversial remarks deemed antisemitic. Late last year, Democrat Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz set her sights on Tlaib after she claimed individuals couldn’t be progressive if they support Israel. Democrat Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar has repeatedly been in hot water over her anti-Israel comments. The Squad-linked money flowed to Mubarak’s firm this past election cycle. Tlaib’s campaign paid Unbought Power $179,000 for fundraising services in 2021 and 2022. At the same time, her leadership PAC, Rooted in Community Leadership, added $44,000 in payments, a Fox News Digital review of Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings found. Mubarak, meanwhile, also serves as treasurer of Tlaib’s leadership PAC, according to its records. The Squad Victory Fund, a joint fundraiser that props up the campaigns and leadership committees of the far-left Squad members, including Tlaib, Omar and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also wired several payments to the company. The fund added Unbought Power to its payroll last summer and paid $44,000 to Mubarak’s firm for fundraising help for the remainder of the year, their filings show.  Tlaib’s two committees and the Squad Victory Fund were the only federal entities to pay Mubarak’s consulting company, according to a search of the FEC database. Fox News Digital’s Joe Schoffstall contributed reporting.
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With the future of abortion rights and redistricting hanging in the balance, all eyes are on the April election for Wisconsin Supreme Court. But for people who find themselves in front of a judge, two questions on the ballot could have more substantial consequences than who controls the state’s highest panel. A proposed constitutional amendment will let voters choose whether it should be harder to get out of jail on bail. Early voters have reported confusion over what the proposal would do and how the questions are worded. The first question asks voters if they think judges should be able to set conditions to protect the public from serious harm when releasing people before trial. The second asks whether judges should be allowed to consider past convictions for violent crimes when setting bail for someone accused of a violent crime. The questions may seem vague and unimportant, but they would let judges set higher cash bail amounts that could disproportionately keep poor defendants behind bars, said Alison Shames, director of the Center for Effective Public Policy. The measure’s Republican sponsors say higher bail amounts would protect the public. “It traps people with little money in jail when the judge may in fact not even intend for that person to be staying in jail,” Shames said. FACTORY FARM, WISCONSIN DOJ REACH $215K MANURE POLLUTION SETTLEMENT Bail is meant to ensure a defendant returns to court and isn’t supposed to be a punishment, since the defendant hasn’t yet been convicted. Research shows that people who stay in jail before trial because they cannot afford their bail are more likely to be unemployed and reoffend in the years after their case ends. “Even just a few days of jail can disrupt someone’s life, can cause them to lose jobs or housing or contact with their family — essentially all of the stabilizing factors that help someone keep out of trouble with the law,” said Matt Alsdorf, who works alongside Shames to study bail policies. Many details of the Republican-backed plan to overhaul bail in Wisconsin were laid out in a separate bill passed last week by the Republican-controlled Legislature. Opponents raised concerns about how that bill defines the two key terms referenced in the ballot questions: serious harm and violent crime. Under the bill, which can only go into effect if the amendment passes, judges would have broad discretion to set stricter release conditions for any defendant they believe could physically or emotionally hurt someone or inflict damages of more than $2,500 while on release. The bill also names more than 100 offenses as violent crimes. Opponents say the list is too broad and contains offenses that should not make it harder to get out on bail, such as watching a cockfight or leaving a firearm where a child gains access to it. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers could still veto the bill, but he cannot veto a constitutional amendment. If Evers vetoes the bill and voters ratify the amendment, judges would have to decide what violent crime and serious harm mean. The governor’s office has not responded to messages asking about his plans for the bill. WISCONSIN LEGISLATOR SAYS PFAS POLLUTION IN STATE’S WATER SEEMS ‘INSURMOUNTABLE’ In the case that voters approve only one of the two questions, only that part of the amendment and clarifying bill would go into effect. Republican Rep. Cindi Duchow and Sen. Van Wanggaard, who sponsored the bail measures, say the legislation will keep communities safe by making it easier for judges to hold people they deem dangerous on high bail amounts. Shames argues that’s something that shouldn’t be made easier. “You’re talking about a person’s liberty,” she said. The stricter bail policies gained traction in Wisconsin after Darrell Brooks drove his SUV through a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee in 2021, killing six people and injuring more than 60 while out on $1,000 bail for a prior charge of domestic violence. Brooks’ bail for the parade killings was set at $5 million. Criminal justice advocates say that if a judge believes someone poses a serious threat, they should be able to hold that person without bail, instead of holding them on high bails that could still let wealthy defendants out before trial. Wisconsin law sets a high bar for holding someone without bail. Police organizations and conservative funding groups have voiced support for the bail amendment. Meanwhile organizers such as Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing, or EXPO, the ACLU, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and Milwaukee-based Black Leaders Organizing Communities, or BLOC, oppose it. Cash bail has been the subject of heated debate in statehouses across the country after a 2022 midterm where Republicans spent millions slamming Democratic candidates as soft on crime. The same messaging is playing on repeat in the leadup to the state Supreme Court election, and conservatives are betting on the bail amendment and concerns over crime to bolster voter turnout in their favor.
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An Associated Press investigation has revealed that China and its advocates based in the U.S. have been operating a successful influence campaign in the state of Utah.  The AP reported Monday that as a result of the efforts, “Lawmakers delayed legislation Beijing didn’t like, nixed resolutions that conveyed displeasure with its actions and expressed support in ways that enhanced the Chinese government’s image.”  The campaign reportedly has raised concerns among state and federal lawmakers, including the Justice Department.  U.S. officials also said the campaign is a threat to national security.  This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 
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The majority of Americans do not want former President Donald Trump to be elected in 2024, while voters remain split on whether he participated in any illegal activity regarding his hush money scandal. A new NPR/Marist poll found that only 38% of national adults want Trump to be president again, while the majority of 61% do not want the Republican to serve another term in office. According to the survey, 76% of Republicans, 34% of independents and 11% of Democrats want Trump to serve another four years in the White House. On the flip side, 89% of Democrats, a whopping 64% of independents, and 21% of Republicans do not want Trump to return to the White House next cycle. 2024 WATCH: THE WEEK THAT RON DESANTIS STARTED PUNCHING BACK AT DONALD TRUMP About 39% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Trump, down 3 percentage points from a November poll that found his favorable opinion at 42%, but up from 38% in the summer. KARL ROVE PREDICTS THE IMPACT A TRUMP INDICTMENT WOULD HAVE ON 2024 RACE As Trump makes another bid for the White House, 81% of Republicans and 37% of independents have a favorable opinion of the former president. Trump is currently under investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for reportedly reimbursing his then-attorney for hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. After a years-long investigation, Trump claimed on March 18 that he would be arrested within days When asked about the criminal probe, 46% said they think Trump has done something illegal. About 29% of Americans believe it was unethical, but not illegal, while 23% don’t think he did anything wrong. About 56% of Americans say the investigation is fair, while 41% consider it a “witch hunt” as he makes another run for office. “Amid multiple allegations of wrongdoing against former President Trump, what’s striking is that, although Republicans still largely back him, White evangelical Christians are not as strongly behind him,” Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, said alongside the poll results. “There is a consensus among Republicans that, although everything may not have been above board, Trump has done nothing illegal.” The survey was conducted from March 20 to 23 with a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
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Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. held a press conference in Manhattan Sunday to warn about “a deadly, skin-rotting zombie drug” that could make the scourge of fentanyl alone seem “tame.”  “Now we all know what a scourge fentanyl has been across the New York area – New York City, Long Island, all the suburbs – but now we’re seeing a new even worse type of drug being mixed with fentanyl. It’s also mixed with heroin and other addictive substances. This new drug could be a nightmare. It’s called xylazine,” Schumer said. “It’s a deadly, skin-rotting zombie drug that evil drug dealers are now mixing with fentanyl, with heroin and with other drugs. And it’s already bringing a horrific wave of death and overdose to upstate New York, and it’s on its way to New York City and Long Island where we’ve already seen it begin to rear its ugly head.”  Last week, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a public safety alert reporting the widespread threat of fentanyl mixed with xylazine.  DEA administrator Anne Milgram warned the American public about “a sharp increase” in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with xylazine, also known as “Tranq,” a powerful sedative that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved for veterinary use.  DEA ISSUES DIRE WARNING ON FENTANYL MIXED WITH FLESH EATING ‘TRANQ’ ZOMBIE DRUG SEIZED IN 48 OUT OF 50 STATES  Xylazine, a legal drug, is used as an anesthetic for large animals, such as horses and cows, Schumer said.  “China mainly sends it to Mexico, and it comes across the border. And that’s why we need the DEA involved heavily,” he said. “Because our New York City police do a very good job here, but it’s coming across the border. It’s not indigenous here. There are a few veterinarians who use it here but not many because there aren’t very many horses or cows in New York City.” “The results are deadly. It can rot your skin. It can eat away at your bones. It can cause legs to be amputated,” Schumer said. “And worse, xylazine can make fentanyl look tame because it doesn’t respond to Narcan. This evil drug – it’s not evil when it’s used legitimately – but this evil drug has no Narcan. Narcan has saved hundreds of thousands of lives.”  Schumer proposed a two-part plan “to fight and to fund this evil xylazine.”  The senator asked the DEA to deliver a “diversion control team,” made up of investigators, special agents, chemists, pharmacologists and program analysts, to swoop in and stop the spread of xylazine to the New York metropolitan area. As Senate Majority Leader, Schumer said he would also be pushing for an increase to the substance use and mental health services budget for New York and Long Island so that there are more dollars for law enforcement, treatment and education.  He namely wants more funding for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, an agency under the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services umbrella.  The mission of the DEA’s diversion control division is to prevent, detect and investigate the diversion of controlled pharmaceuticals.  “The diversion teams are to drugs like our Navy SEAL teams are to national security,” Schumer said.  ANIMAL TRANQUILIZED MIXED WITH FENTANYL ROTS SKIN, TURNS HUMAN INTO ‘ZOMBIES’: ‘THE WALKING DEAD’ Schumer quoted New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan’s recent comments to City Council. Last week, Brennan warned, “xylazine is increasingly linked to overdose deaths in New York City. It has been present in the city for about a year and is now beginning to saturate the street market.”  “If there was even a warning signal shot across the bow. This is it,” Schumer said.  New York City also revealed officers uncovered over 44 pounds of fentanyl cut with xylazine during a recent money laundering operation in Queens. In Nassau County, toxicology officials detected a xylazine uptick in autopsies, including four cases in the deceased person. So far, Suffolk County has had 16 cases where xylazine was found in a deceased person this year.  “As I’ve said, the drug is not meant for humans. It’s actually legal,” Schumer said. “It’s coming into the country through China and often through Mexico. And so these even drug dealers have started peddling this drug because it mimics opioids. Our law enforcement officials know we have to have an all-hands-on deck to fight this drug. What we’ve learned in the war on drugs is that if you nip it in the bud, if you stop it before it gets its tentacles into our society you can stop it.”  In Syracuse, there were 40 xylazine overdoses last month, Schumer said. It Is spreading in Albany and Rochester and is coming down to New York City and Long Island.  “Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier,” Milgram said in a previous statement. “DEA has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 States. The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022 approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine.”
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The importance of traditional American values has plummeted in the U.S. in recent decades, according to a new poll from The Wall Street Journal. The Monday poll questioned U.S. respondents about the importance of patriotism, religious faith, having children and other traditional U.S. metrics. The poll found that just 39% of Americans say their religious faith is very important to them, and just 38% say patriotism is very important. The WSJ compared those numbers ot the first time it ran the poll in 1998 when 62% of Americans said religion was very important to them, and 70% said patriotism was very important. Meanwhile, a plurality of respondents reported that the U.S. has not gone far enough in promoting equality between men and women; accepting people who are gay, lesbian or bisexual or promoting racial and ethnic diversity in business and universities. MEET SOME OF THE CONTROVERSIAL INDIVIDUALS BEHIND SAN FRANCISCO’S $5M REPARATIONS PUSH: ‘AMERICA, YOU OWE US’ Nevertheless, a large plurality of respondents reported that American society has already gone too far in accommodating people who are transgender, with 43% saying that is the case. Less than 25% said the U.S. has gotten the issue about right, and 33% say society needs to accommodate transgender people more. Roughly 50% of respondents had a very or somewhat unfavorable view of being asked to use transgender pronouns, while just 18% had a favorable view. 32% said they were neutral on the issue. PRO-FEMALE ACTIVIST ALLEGEDLY THREATENED BY TRANS PROTESTERS FIGHTS TO KEEP MEN ‘FROM WOMEN’S SPACES’ The WSJ poll, conducted alongside NORC at the University of Chicago, surveyed 1,019 Americans between March 1 and March 13. The poll reported a margin of error o 4.1%. The poll is only the latest in a series of surveys that have found a drop in patriotism or other related values in the U.S. A Fox News poll in 2022 found that pride in the country was down 30% compared to 2011. Another WSJ/NBC poll found in 2019 that Millenials do not hold many of the same values as older generations in the U.S.
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The Manhattan grand jury considering charges against former President Trump is expected to reconvene on Monday, according to a report. The expected session Monday comes after its last planned session Wednesday was canceled, sources with knowledge of the matter told the Wall Street Journal.  Trump said he expected to face arrest last week after a years-long investigation involving the former president’s alleged hush payments to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2020 election campaign. It was reported last week that Bragg’s office would likely issue an indictment for alleged hush-money payments.  NY GRAND JURY NOT EXPECTED TO CONSIDER TRUMP CASE THURSDAY, SOURCE SAYS Jurors are scheduled to meet this afternoon in the lower Manhattan municipal building, the New York Post reported. It is unclear if the jurors will hear from witnesses or begin deliberations, according to the outlet.  Trump held a rally Saturday in Waco, Texas, where he suggested Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg already dropped the case.  “I think they’ve already dropped the case,” Trump told reporters aboard his plane after appearing at a campaign rally in Waco, Texas. “It’s a fake case. Some fake cases, they have absolutely nothing.” Meanwhile, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee have demanded Bragg testify before Congress about the probe, which Bragg’s office slammed in a statement over the weekend. TRUMP HUSH-MONEY GRAND JURY PROCEEDINGS ‘CANCELED’ FOR WEDNESDAY, SOURCES SAY “We evaluate cases in our jurisdiction based on the facts, the law, and the evidence. It is not appropriate for Congress to interfere with pending local investigations,” the office said.  “This unprecedented inquiry by federal elected officials into an ongoing matter serves only to hinder, disrupt and undermine the legitimate work of our dedicated prosecutors,” the statement went on. “As always, we will continue to follow the facts and be guided by the rule of law in everything we do.” FLASHBACK: MANHATTAN DA BRAGG SUSPENDED TRUMP INVESTIGATION ‘INDEFINITELY,’ STOPPED PURSUING CHARGES The Manhattan District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.  Fox News Digital’s Jessica Chasmar and Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., announced plans to run for re-election on Monday. The 73-year-old has held her Senate seat since 2012. Warren made the announcement on Twitter early Monday, releasing a slick campaign ad of Massachusetts voters singing her praises. Warren’s announcement puts to bed any latent speculation that she could mount a challenge to President Biden if he runs again in 2024. “We’ve won some big victories for working families in Massachusetts and across the country, but there’s a lot more to do. So today I’m making it official: I’m running for re-election to keep up the fight,” Warren announced on Twitter. “Across Massachusetts, Elizabeth makes sure we have a choice,” one voter says in the video. “Elizabeth doesn’t f*** around. She’s always in our corner,” says another. KAMALA HARRIS WON’T SPEAK TO ELIZABETH WARREN AFTER ‘PRETTY INSULTING’ 2024 SNUB: REPORT Warren fed some speculation that she may be planning a repeat presidential campaign in February when she declined to endorse Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for 2024. Warren stopped short of endorsing Harris as Biden’s 2024 running mate during a January interview on Boston Public Radio. The radio host asked the senator if Harris should be Biden’s running mate if he were to run for re-election in 2024. ‘THE VIEW’ HOSTS ERUPT OVER KAMALA HARRIS, ELIZABETH WARREN FEUD: ‘DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH DEMOCRATS’ “I really want to defer to what makes Biden comfortable on his team,” Warren said. “I’ve known Kamala for a long time. I like Kamala. I knew her back when she was an attorney general and I was still teaching, and we worked on the housing crisis together, so we go way back. But they need — they have to be a team, and my sense is they are — I don’t mean that by suggesting I think there are any problems. I think they are.” Warren later backed away from the comments, however, saying she fully supports a Biden-Harris ticket. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I fully support the president’s and vice president’s re-election together and never intended to imply otherwise,” Warren told GBH News in February. “They’re a terrific team with a strong record of delivering for working families.” This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.
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