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Democrats worry 'Abolish ICE' slogan will backfire politically like 'defund the police' did
Some Democrats are worried that the "abolish ICE" slogan will become as infamous a liberal slogan as "defund the police," the New York Times reported on Thursday.
Per the Times, "some Democrats worry that calls to eliminate the agency are an unwelcome distraction from more pragmatic approaches. They fear that the ‘Abolish ICE’ slogan will age as poorly as ‘Defund the Police’ did."
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., believes that pushing "Abolish ICE" rhetoric "would hurt the cause."
"Clearly ICE is an absolute problem — they’re out of control, moving way too fast," Gallego told the Times.
"The last thing we need to do, again, is to make the same mistake when it comes to ‘Defund the Police’ rhetoric. That ended up not actually helping communicate what people wanted. People want a slimmed-down ICE that is truly focused on security."
Calls to defund the police from far-left figures became more popular among Democrats in 2020, after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman. However, the phrase did not catch on with the public and wound up hurting down-ticket Democrats in that year's election, and many leaders in the party have sought to distance themselves from the slogan that appears to critics as wokeness run amok.
"But some Democrats caution that calling for the outright elimination of ICE is a trap that will only help Republicans," the New York Times reported.
The center-left think tank The Third Way cautions Democrats to avoid calls to abolish ICE.
"The impulse is emotional," reads their memo. "The slogan is simple. But politically, it is lethal. Every call to abolish ICE risks squandering one of the clearest opportunities in years to secure meaningful reform of immigration enforcement — while handing Republicans exactly the fight they want."
WHITE HOUSE BLAMES DEMOCRATS FOR ICE VIOLENCE AS MINNEAPOLIS ERUPTS, INSURRECTION ACT THREAT LOOMS
An ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good last week during a federal enforcement operation in south Minneapolis. Federal officials have said agents were attempting to make arrests when the woman tried to use her vehicle as a weapon, prompting an ICE agent to fire in self-defense.
Top Democrats, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, criticized the federal account of the incident and rejected the claim that the officer acted in self-defense. Minnesota has since sued the Trump administration, claiming the immigration enforcement surge in the state is "unlawful" and "unprecedented."
Florida teens buried alive in deadly sand tunnel collapse
A Florida community is reeling from the deaths of two teenage best friends who lost their lives while enjoying a day in the sand.
George Watts, 14, and Derrick Hubbard, 14, were digging a hole and tunnel in a sandpit near Sportsman’s Park in Inverness, roughly 70 miles north of Tampa, on Jan. 11, according to FOX 13.
"They were just kids," Corey Edwards, their coach and mentor in the 352 Legends program, told the outlet. "They were just kids doing what we try to tell kids to do, get outside and play."
When the hole was roughly five feet deep, it reportedly collapsed on the two teens.
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According to a Citrus County Sheriff’s Office report obtained by FOX 13, their parents became worried when neither Watts nor Hubbard answered their cellphones during lunchtime and came to the area to search for them.
Their parents reportedly located the boys’ bicycles and shoes by the sandpit, and immediately called for help as they began digging.
When first responders found Hubbard, he did not have a pulse and was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
TEXAS GIRL RESCUED AFTER SAND HOLE SHE WAS DIGGING COLLAPSES, BURYING HER
Watts was located with a pulse, but was unconscious and not breathing when he was pulled from the sand. He was transported to a hospital, and later flown to UF Health Shands in Gainesville in critical condition, FOX 13 reported.
He was pronounced dead two days later at 4:25 a.m. Tuesday, according to the outlet.
Details regarding the length of time in which the boys were trapped remain unclear.
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"They were digging a hole," Edwards reportedly said. "They were having fun, being adventurous, using their imagination. They're doing things that we preach to kids that we want them to do and, unfortunately, this just turned into a tragedy."
The two boys reportedly grew up together and were like brothers. They had recently celebrated winning the Citrus NFL Flag Football league championship, and are being remembered by loved ones as always being kind, funny and adventurous.
"It really killed a part of all of us, losing them," Lina Bilodeau told FOX 13. "This is a pain that will never subside. Born together and passed together. A true friendship most of us as adults never even get to experience."
Women’s sports on the line as Supreme Court wrestles with defining ‘sex’
The Supreme Court this week heard arguments in a landmark pair of cases regarding the future of women’s sports, but the real drama lies in whether the Court will choose to answer an increasingly controversial question: What is a woman?
The arguments in Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J. lasted an unusually long time – more than three hours, with tough questioning from the justices to both sides that mostly focused on highly technical legal standards.
The national context, however, is simple: there has been a surge of biological boys identifying as transgender girls participating in girls’ sports across the country. The result? Girls and women are losing athletic competitions, losing scholarship opportunities, and sometimes even suffering physical injury from their physically stronger male counterparts.
A recent United Nations report summed it up: as of August 2024, "over 600 female athletes in more than 400 competitions [worldwide] have lost more than 890 medals in 29 different sports" to "males who identify as women." As a result, more than half of the states in the country have passed laws protecting women’s sports by keeping participation separated by sex.
RILEY GAINES SLAMS DEMS AS SCOTUS SET TO HEAR ARGUMENTS ON WOMEN'S SPORTS CASES
On Tuesday, there were two questions before the Court.
In the Idaho case, it was: "Do laws that seek to protect women's and girls' sports by limiting participation to women and girls based on sex violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?" In the West Virginia case, there was a similar first question and the addition of another: "Does Title IX prevent a state from consistently designating girls’ and boys’ sports teams based on biological sex determined at birth?"
In 2020, Idaho became the first state in the nation to pass a law protecting women’s sports, "Fairness in Women’s Sports." The law preserves women’s sports in public schools – elementary through college – by linking participation on an athletic team to biological sex. Lindsay Hecox, a biological male athlete identifying as a transgender woman who wanted to try out for the Boise State University women’s track and cross-country teams, sued, arguing it was unconstitutional. The Ninth Circuit barred Idaho from enforcing the law. Subsequently, in the lead-up to the Supreme Court case, the transgender athlete attempted to have the lower court dismiss the case entirely, but the court rejected the request.
In 2023, West Virginia also passed a law protecting female sports teams by keeping them biologically sex-specific, called "Save Women’s Sports." Before the law took effect, B.P.J., a then-11-year-old biological male who identifies as female, sued and the law was paused as it was litigated. West Virginia alleges that B.P.J. eventually went on to beat and displace female competitors in cross-country and track and field events and that five female athletes refused to compete against the athlete. Lainey Armistead, a former West Virginia State University female soccer player, intervened in the lawsuit to help defend the state’s law. The Fourth Circuit ultimately blocked West Virginia from enforcing the law.
REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS URGE JUSTICES TO DEFEND WOMEN'S SPORTS AS SUPREME COURT HEARS KEY CASE
The bulk of the arguments in the Idaho case focused on whether Idaho’s law classifies on the basis of sex or status. The state argued that the law classified on the basis of biological sex, treating boys and girls equally by permissibly separating them in sports for fairness and safety reasons. The opposing side argued status – that the law impermissibly excluded boys who identify as transgender girls from participating in sports for discriminatory reasons, thereby warranting a higher level of scrutiny from the court.
If that sounds confusing, it’s because it is. On classifications, Justice Samuel Alito asked the ACLU attorney representing the West Virginia transgender athlete the following:
"You argue this is a status-based classification that targets transgender individuals. But if a state law treats all biological males the same — meaning no biological male can play on the girls' team — and it treats all biological females the same, how is that a status-based classification?"
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who notably refused to define what a woman was under questioning from Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., during her confirmation hearing, was sympathetic to the status argument and pushed for a case-by-case analysis where schools could create exceptions for boys who identified as girls but who did not pose an unfair advantage by having the transgender student medically prove they were not at an advantage. The transgender athletes in both cases had taken hormones and the one in the West Virginia case had taken puberty blockers; the states argued the drugs do not undo the physical advantages that are natural to biology.
Initially, Justice Neil Gorsuch also seemed sympathetic to the arguments from the transgender athletes, which was unsurprising given a 6-3 decision he authored in 2020 that found "sex" within Title VII’s prohibition against employment discrimination "because of sex" includes transgender individuals despite the law not mentioning sexual orientation or gender identity.
But later in the Title IX arguments, Gorsuch suggested that sports and the history of Title IX made it different.
"Javits [Amendment] changed Title IX, and it said, you know sports are different," he said. "And we've got these regulations that have been out there for 50-plus years. …Why doesn't that make this case very different than Title VII?"
IDAHO AG SAYS SUPREME COURT TRANSGENDER SPORTS CASE DEFIES 'COMMON SENSE'
Cutting through the hyper-technical discussions about classifications, Alito asked: "How can a court determine whether there is discrimination on the basis of sex without knowing what 'sex' means for equal protection purposes?"
Early on, the attorney for the transgender athlete in the Idaho case also raised the issue of mootness, reminding the justices his client had asked for the case to be dismissed. Justice Sonya Sotomayor appeared to be interested in this argument, but, notably, little time was spent on it overall.
The second round of arguments in the West Virginia case focused on Title IX.
Title IX, passed in 1972, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational settings. The law was considered a game changer for female athletes in that it ensured equal access to the same opportunities as their male counterparts.
West Virginia argued that Title IX did not prohibit their law protecting women’s sports because the law is consistent with the purpose of Title IX: treating biological boys and girls equally under the law – boys are permitted to participate on boys' teams and vice versa. The transgender athlete argued that the sports law violated Title IX because it discriminated against the athlete due to the sex the athlete identified as.
Chief Justice John Roberts staked out his position clearly in the Title IX arguments, saying, "You are asking us to find discrimination, but you are also urging us not to define the very word — 'sex' — that the statute is built upon. I don't see how we can do that."
He added: "If Title IX is to be administered fairly across thousands of schools, 'sex' must mean something specific and objective."
Alito echoed that sentiment throughout the arguments, saying at one point: "I think the purpose of the teams is to control for the variable of sex-based advantages, so that talented women athletes have all the same opportunities as talented male athletes. If we move away from biological sex, do we not undermine the very protection for women that Title IX was created to ensure?"
While the attorneys for the transgender athletes argued the harm to their transgender clients by not being permitted to play on the sports team of their choice, Justice Brett Kavanaugh underscored the danger to the future of women’s sports.
"One of the great successes in America over the last 50 years has been the growth of women and girls' sports," Kavanaugh said. "And it's inspiring. [Many groups] think that allowing transgender women and girls to participate will undermine or reverse that amazing success and will create unfairness."
Kavanaugh's comments underscore why this issue has moved beyond individual school districts and into the domain of the high court.
And over three-and-a-half hours later, the arguments concluded. The Supreme Court typically hands down decisions on high-profile cases at the end of the term, which would be in June. While it is likely the Court will side with female athletes, the devil will be in the details of how narrow or broad it goes in extending protection for women’s sports.
And whether it decides to have the final word on what a woman is.
Massachusetts town faces lawsuit for allowing criminal immigrant, sex offender to renew business license
A Massachusetts woman is suing the town of Hopkinton, alleging officials negligently approved a criminal immigrant with a history of workplace sexual violence to operate a business where he later assaulted the plaintiff when she was 16 years old.
The lawsuit, transferred to federal court Jan. 5, names Greek national Petros "Peter" Sismanis, who is in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. According to court documents, Sismanis was convicted in June 2025 for the 2023 sexual assault of the plaintiff while she worked at Hillers Pizza.
The complaint also notes that Sismanis was previously accused in 1998 of rape, indecent assault and battery involving female minors, which resulted in his registration as a sex offender. NBC Boston reported he assaulted two employees while operating a donut shop in Hopkinton.
The plaintiff, now 19, claimed Hopkinton officials, the police chief and Hillers Pizza all played a role in fostering a sexually hostile work environment. She alleges that town officials knew, or should have known, about Sismanis’s criminal history when he renewed Hillers Pizza’s license in 2016, a process that requires review by multiple town departments, including the police.
MOTHER SAYS ALLEGED STALKER WHO KILLED HER DAUGHTER SHOULD BE TRIED AS AN ADULT
The plaintiff is seeking $1 million in damages, according to Boston.com.
"There is no record of Hopkinton police or Chief Bennett ever raising questions about Sismanis’ ability to operate the pizza shop, even though he was a registered sex offender," court documents state. Despite Sismanis’ prior record, the town approved the license renewal, the lawsuit alleges, endangering the female minors Sismanis often hired.
TEXAS MAN ACCUSED OF CHILD SEX CRIMES AVOIDS JAIL IN PLEA DEAL WITH SOROS-BACKED PROSECUTOR: REPORT
An attorney representing Hopkinton officials said the town acted appropriately at the time of the license renewal.
"While town and police officials are sympathetic to the circumstances of what happened to the plaintiff, the town and police acted appropriately and constitutionally under the circumstances presented and known to them at the time," Douglas Louison, a lawyer representing Hopkinton officials, told Boston.com.
In 2023, the plaintiff alleged that Sismanis lured her into the pizza shop’s basement, where he forcefully kissed and hugged her. After the teen called her mother, Sismanis reportedly begged them not to involve the police, saying "he would rather be killed than have the police involved," according to documents. The lawsuit also claims that he blocked the mother’s car to prevent them from leaving.
KENTUCKY CHILD KILLER WALKS FREE ON 'GOOD BEHAVIOR', GETS ARRESTED AGAIN WITHIN DAYS
"Sismanis lured Isabelle into the basement of Hillers Pizza while she was working her shift and proceeded to sexually assault her against her will," court papers said. "Isabelle, who was only sixteen years of age at the time, was terrified, frozen in fear and did not know what to do."
Sismanis was convicted in June 2025 on charges of indecent assault, battery and witness intimidation. He was sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to register as a sex offender. After his conviction, he was placed in ICE custody "as a result of his questionable immigration status" and is being held in a facility in California.
Prior to the 2023 assault, the lawsuit said, Hopkinton police reportedly received several complaints from female employees at Sismanis’ business regarding his conduct.
In 1997, Sismanis was also charged with rape, indecent assault and battery on a person older than 14, court records show. NBC Boston reported that he sexually assaulted two of his employees while running a donut shop in Hopkinton.
His later guilty plea to two counts of indecent assault and battery required him to register as a Level 2 sex offender. Boston.com, however, reported that the online Sex Offender Registry Board only includes offenders classified after July 2013 and noted that anyone seeking information from previous years must contact local police department.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for more information.
Alexander brothers accused of cruise ship sex abuse ahead of real estate moguls' trafficking trial
Just weeks before a federal jury is scheduled to hear allegations of a two-decade sex trafficking scheme, federal prosecutors have expanded their case against the Alexander brothers, charging two of them with sexually abusing a woman who prosecutors say was physically incapable of saying no.
According to a newly filed superseding indictment, twin brothers Oren and Alon Alexander are accused of committing the assault in January 2012 aboard a Bahamian-flagged cruise ship that departed from and returned to the United States, a charge added as all three brothers remain in custody awaiting trial in New York.
The new charge marks a significant escalation in a case that has steadily expanded since the brothers were first arrested in December 2024, with prosecutors filing multiple superseding indictments as the case has moved closer to trial.
Prosecutors have accused Oren and Alon Alexander, along with their older brother Tal Alexander, of conspiring for more than a decade to drug and sexually assault women in locations including Miami, New York and the Hamptons, allegations the brothers have repeatedly denied.
CRUISE SHIP CHAOS MOUNTS AS DEATHS, CRIMES ON BOARD SHATTER ILLUSIONS OF SAFETY AT SEA, EXPERTS WARN
According to previous court filings, the brothers and their alleged co-conspirators are accused of luring women with promises of luxury travel, accommodations and access to high-end social events before allegedly incapacitating and sexually assaulting them, sometimes involving multiple men. Earlier filings also included allegations involving additional victims, including at least one minor.
Tal and Oren Alexander are prominent luxury real estate brokers who co-founded the firm Official after rising through the ranks at Douglas Elliman. Their brother Alon Alexander worked in the family’s private security business. Prosecutors have alleged the brothers used their wealth, industry status and access to exclusive events to attract women to trips, parties and dates before the alleged assaults occurred.
Defense attorneys for Oren and Alon Alexander have moved to dismiss the new charge, arguing the indictment is legally flawed because it does not allege the brothers knowingly engaged in sex with a woman they knew was physically incapacitated, according to amNY.
CARNIVAL CRUISE SHIP DEATH: FAMILY DYNAMICS MAY EXPLAIN INVESTIGATORS’ SILENCE, LEGAL EXPERT SAYS
"This is a fatal flaw requiring dismissal of the indictment," the attorneys wrote in a joint court filing cited by amNY, arguing prosecutors are improperly charging the same alleged January 2012 incident under different statutes.
During a court appearance, Zach Intrater, an attorney for Oren Alexander, criticized the timing of the new charge, telling the judge, "These men’s lives depend on this," according to amNY.
Judge Valerie Caproni rejected that argument, responding, "These are all serious charges," the outlet reported.
Prosecutors acknowledged in court filings that the word "knowingly" was omitted from the indictment and said they intend to seek another superseding indictment to correct the issue, amNY reported.
Caproni has also ruled on several other pretrial disputes, including a dispute over whether some alleged victims can testify anonymously, a request she granted over defense objections, according to amNY. Prosecutors have said the trial could stretch into late February or early March.
Court records show the brothers are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City, with jury selection scheduled to begin Jan. 20 and the trial scheduled to start Jan. 26.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Alexanders' attorneys for comment.
Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Julia Bonavita contributed to this report.
EXCLUSIVE: HUD launches civil rights probe into Minneapolis over race-based housing priorities
EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) opened an investigation into the city of Minneapolis Thursday, alleging the city’s housing policies illegally prioritize resources based on race and national origin, Fox News Digital has learned.
"Minnesota has been ground zero for fraud and corruption because it plays a cynical game of racial and ethnic politics," HUD Secretary Scott Turner told Fox News Digital. "This goes against our values as Americans, united by a common heritage, language and commitment to equal treatment under law."
Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Craig Trainor sent a letter to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey Thursday evening informing him that HUD had launched a probe into whether Minneapolis violated the Fair Housing Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act through its housing plans, programs and internal equity directives.
The Fair Housing Act is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or familial status. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race or national origin in any program or activity that receives federal funding.
SEC SCOTT BESSENT: HOW TO STOP FRAUD IN MINNESOTA AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Minnesota has become the focal point of government fraud as details emerged regarding an alleged sweeping COVID-era scheme involving money laundering tied to multiple social-services programs. Nearly 100 people, most of whom are from Minnesota's Somali community, have been charged, while federal prosecutors estimated that the total amount of fraud across various state-administered social services programs could reach more than $9 billion.
Considering the alleged fraud involved taxpayer dollars, HUD officials said evidence suggests that racial politics also extended to Minneapolis’s housing policy.
The letter argues that Minneapolis has "committed to making available and allocating housing resources based on race and nationality," raising potential federal civil rights violations.
HUD specifically cited language in the city’s "Minneapolis 2040" comprehensive plan, as well as the city's Strategic and Racial Equity Action Plan, as cause for concern.
Minneapolis 2040, adopted in 2020 under Frey, is the city's comprehensive plan outlining the economic, infrastructure and environmental vision of the city across the next decade and a half. It includes a section focused on establishing "cultural districts," which are described as "contiguous area with a rich sense of cultural and/or linguistic identity rooted in communities significantly populated by people of color, Indigenous people, and/or immigrants."
"This plan strives to eliminate disparities among people of color and indigenous peoples compared with white people," Minneapolis 2040 states.
MINNESOTA HEALTH CARE OWNER CHARGED WITH YEARS-LONG MEDICAID SCAM TOPPING $3M
The letter also cited Minneapolis’ Strategic and Racial Equity Action guide, which instructs city departments to align racial equity goals with their plans, programs and budgets.
"Minneapolis’s current Strategic and Racial Equity Action Plan claims to tangibly align ‘racial equity goals with department plans and budgets,'" the letter states. "For example, your Community Planning and Economic Development department will prioritize 'rental housing for Black, Indigenous, People of Color and Immigrant communities’ by ‘leveraging (its) rental licensing authority.’"
"That is not going to fly," Trainor wrote in his letter to Frey.
Turner told Fox News Digital he "will continue to deliver on President Trump’s promise to support affordable housing for American families, in part by dismantling illegal racial and ethnic preferences that deny Americans their right to equal protection under the law."
"I am committed to delivering on this promise by thoroughly investigating any housing discrimination involving the City of Minneapolis," he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Frey's office and the city of Minneapolis' communications team Thursday evening for comment on the letter but did not immediately receive a reply.
Fallout from Minnesota’s alleged fraud scandal spilled into the governor’s race in January, when Democratic Gov. Tim Walz ended his re-election bid.
Walz, who has served as governor since 2019, said the wrongdoing unfolded on his watch. He took responsibility for oversight failures, while arguing Republicans had "sensationalized" the multibillion-dollar figures.
Frey said earlier in January that "obviously, everybody could have done more to prevent" fraud, but that "you do not hold an entire community, any community, accountable for the actions of individuals," referring to the Somali community.
Minneapolis has been roiled by protests and agitators clashing with federal law enforcement deployed to the state amid the fraud investigations. The chaos heightened after the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent in early January after she allegedly attempted to use her vehicle as a weapon against a federal officer.
YOUTUBER TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS ON MINNESOTA'S MASSIVE $9B FRAUD NETWORK INVESTIGATION
Turner joined Fox News at the start of the new year and said HUD officials were on the ground in Minnesota investigating funds delivered to public housing authorities.
"We have investigators that are making sure that any HUD-funded programs in Minnesota are being carried out appropriately," he said. "Also, we just launched an investigation and housing authorities, public housing authorities there in Minnesota. They receive about $108 million in Minneapolis and also about $46 million in public housing assistance there. So, we want to make sure that we're being good stewards of taxpayer money."
Turner reported on X Monday that his department uncovered "up to $84 million in ineligible assistance during Biden’s final year, including $496,000 in improper assistance to 509 dead tenants."
Carville warns Democrats to avoid talking about trans athletes in women's sports, defunding the police
Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville warned the Democratic Party Thursday it should refrain from talking about transgender athletes competing in women's sports and defunding law enforcement agencies.
During Thursday’s episode of "Politics War Room," a listener asked Carville and his co-host, Al Hunt, why Democrats have not been able to create effective messaging like the Trump campaign did in 2024 with an ad depicting then-Vice President Harris supporting sex changes for inmates.
"We're not as disciplined as they are, and I think that they know their crap is unpopular, so they got to be more disciplined in how they portray things," Carville said.
"But I think the Supreme Court is probably going to rule on this trans athlete issue, which will probably take it off the table a little bit more than it was.
DEMOCRATIC THINK TANK URGES PARTY TO DROP ‘ABOLISH ICE’ SLOGAN IN NEW MEMO
"We didn’t get our messaging right on this whole thing, I have to say that," Carville said. "I think that we have done, because of this flubbing it, we've actually done more harm to trans people than we would have wanted to. It hasn't been very ineffective, our messaging on this."
"Let me raise a different messaging issue," Hunt interjected. "I don't want any Democrats out there talking about ‘abolishing ICE.’ You talk about ‘reforming ICE.' You talk about ‘making ICE work.’ You don't — I mean, we should have learned that lesson last time. When you say ‘abolishing ICE,’ you know what they're going to say? 'You want them pouring across the borders.'
"And what you want to do in immigration is go back to the Obama policy, a tough border policy with a pathway to citizenship. Don't talk about abolishing ICE."
Carville, who often urges Democrats to stay away from the fringes of the left, said the "three stupidest words in the history of the English language" are "defund the police."
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"The left is universally wrong about everything," Carville said, adding that ICE has flaws and needs to be reformed.
"Some of these ICE agents are dedicated law enforcement professionals. I'll be the first to admit that. Although I suspect it might be a smaller percent than you imagine. And a lot of them are just a pack of people that couldn't get a job anywhere else that figured they got a chance with not very much training to carry a badge and a gun and shoot people," Carville claimed.
"And … that's the real danger. The danger is not that we have an immigration and customs force. We need that. The danger is we don't have a necessarily expert workforce dealing with that at all, and it needs to be exposed about training and the backgrounds and the tests and the social media scrubs and everything else we do before we hire these people."
ICE didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Former Ukrainian PM accused of bribing politicians with US dollars to weaken Zelenskyy's government
A former Ukrainian prime minister has been accused of plotting to bribe politicians with stacks of U.S. dollars in a scheme aimed at weakening President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government, a former political advisor has claimed.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (UNACB) first confirmed Jan. 13 it uncovered an alleged effort by the leader of an unnamed parliamentary faction to offer illegal benefits to lawmakers, according to Reuters.
Video released by UNACB showed stacks of U.S. dollars seized during overnight searches earlier this week, including footage of a woman in an office sitting behind a desk. Authorities did not publicly identify the suspect.
According to the Kyiv Post, published recordings allegedly show that three lawmakers were offered $10,000 per month in exchange for their votes, with the case linked by some to Yulia Tymoshenko, a veteran politician, former prime minister and current leader of the Batkivshchyna party.
UKRAINIAN OFFICIAL YERMAK RESIGNS AS CORRUPTION PROBE ENCIRCLES ZELENSKYY
Former Zelenskyy press secretary Iuliia Mendel told Fox News Digital the cash allegedly belonged to Tymoshenko and was intended to pay lawmakers to vote against the president’s legislative proposals.
"In Ukraine, such transactions are usually discussed in U.S. dollars, as you can see from the law enforcement reports," Mendel, a former political advisor said.
"The U.S. dollars shown in that video were allegedly hers that she was supposed to use to pay people to vote against Zelenskyy’s legislative proposals. She said it was her personal savings," Mendel added.
Mendel said the sums shown in the footage appeared relatively modest, "about $40,000," she said, noting other corruption cases in Ukraine have involved "much larger sums, sometimes millions of dollars."
The raid on Tymoshenko’s party office reportedly lasted nearly all night.
"Officers arrived in the evening and remained in her office for almost the entire night," Mendel said.
Investigators allege several lawmakers — reportedly including members of Zelenskyy’s own faction — approached Tymoshenko, leading to discussions about regular monthly payments in exchange for coordinated voting.
Despite reportedly being served with a notice of suspicion, Tymoshenko also addressed parliament this week, calling the case "political persecution against me."
"The so-called ‘urgent investigative actions’ that lasted all night ended at the Batkivshchyna party office. These ‘urgent investigative actions’ have nothing to do with law and order," Tymoshenko also wrote on Facebook.
According to Mendel, the goal was not to attack Zelenskyy personally but to fracture the ruling mono-majority in parliament.
ZELENSKYY MOVES TO 'CLEAN UP' UKRAINE'S ENERGY SECTOR AS CORRUPTION SCANDAL ROCKS LEADERSHIP
"Ukraine’s system is a parliamentary-presidential republic, meaning the legislature plays a central role in governance. When the president controls a mono-majority, legislation can pass quickly," Mendel said.
"Breaking that majority would significantly weaken Zelenskyy’s legislative authority."
Tymoshenko, a central figure in the 2004 Orange Revolution and Ukraine’s first female prime minister, has faced legal trouble before.
In 2011, she was jailed over a gas deal with Russia in a case widely viewed as politically motivated before being released in 2014. She is expected to appear before Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court.
"Corruption is one of the key reasons we are losing this war. It severely damages Ukraine’s image on the international stage," Mendel warned.
"By 2024, corruption had reached such a scale that Ukrainians chose an extremely dangerous and painful path — exposing it publicly in order to fight it," Mendel added.
"Now, cases like this bring the issue back into the spotlight. Corruption will destroy Ukraine."
Fox News Digital has reached out to Zelenskyy’s office for comment.
Pentagon vows to reform military newspaper Stars and Stripes, remove 'woke distractions'
The Department of War announced Thursday it is reforming the long-running military newspaper Stars and Stripes, and questions are being raised about whether it will maintain editorial independence.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Stars and Stripes will be returning to its "original mission: reporting for our warfighters."
"We are bringing Stars & Stripes into the 21st century," Parnell wrote on X. "We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members."
PENTAGON'S NEW PRESS RULES MAY BE ‘BRIDGE TOO FAR,’ TURLEY WARNS
Parnell said its coverage going forward will prioritize "ALL THINGS MILITARY" and that the paper will no longer publish "repurposed DC gossip columns" and "Associated Press reprints."
"Stars & Stripes has a proud legacy of reporting news that’s important to our service members. The Department of War is committed to ensuring the outlet continues to reflect that proud legacy," Parnell added.
According to its website, Stars and Stripes "provides independent news and information" to members of the U.S. military and their families. It "retains its editorial independence and is congressionally mandated to be governed by First Amendment principles, but it is part of the Pentagon’s Defense Media Activity.
"The Pentagon funding that makes up roughly half of Stars and Stripes’ annual budget is primarily used to print and distribute the newspaper to troops scattered across the globe, including in warzones such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The remainder of the news organization's funding comes from advertising and subscriptions," Stars and Stripes says on its Q&A page.
However, a report from The Washington Post suggests its editorial independence could be in question, alleging new job applicants "are being asked how they would support the president’s policy priorities."
"In recent months, applicants for positions at the publication ... have been asked, 'How would you advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired,'" the Post reported.
According to the Post, the leadership at Stars and Stripes was unaware that applicants were being asked such questions until the Post brought them to their attention.
"Asking prospective employees how they would support the administration’s policies is antithetical to Stripes’ journalistic and federally mandated mission," Stars and Stripes ombudsman Jacqueline Smith told the Post. "Journalistically, it’s against ethics, because reporters or any staff member — editors, photographers — should be impartial."
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As the Post noted, Smith's position as the Stars and Stripes ombudsman "is a congressionally mandated position charged with defending the newspaper’s editorial independence."
Smith confirmed the questions were being posed to Stars and Stripes applicants by USAJobs, the federal government's employment website, and that it came from the Office of Personnel Management.
OPM Director Scott Kupor told the Post the essay questions were optional and that it was one of four questions that all job applicants across the federal government receive.
"We have been very clear that hiring decisions cannot consider political or ideological beliefs," Kupor said in a statement. "The plan prohibits any ideological litmus tests and reinforces the nonpartisan character of the federal workforce."
When reached for comment, a Pentagon spokesperson cited the statements from Parnell, and OPM and declined to comment further.
Biden DHS's purchase of weapon linked to Havana Syndrome attacks leads House Republicans to demand answers
The Biden administration purchased a pulsed energy weapon suspected of being the type that may have caused "Havana Syndrome" which caused a series of mysterious ailments for U.S. diplomats and government workers in Cuba.
The weapon was bought at the end of the Biden administration and has since been tested by the Pentagon, Fox News has learned. House Republicans are demanding answers amid reports of the purchase of the device.
In a letter to Homeland Security Kristi Noem, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., is asking for information on the procurement process for the weapon, its costs and the findings associated with its year-long testing related to Havana Syndrome, officially known as Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI).
"The device in question is described as capable of producing pulsed radio waves and containing Russian components, though it is supposedly not entirely Russian in origin," the letter states. "Following HSI’s successful acquisition of the device, it was reportedly transferred to DoW, which spent more than a year testing the device and its capabilities."
Some U.S. intelligence agencies have said a foreign adversary could be behind the mysterious ailment.
Fox News Digital previously reported that Adam, a former government employee whose identity Fox News agreed to protect, is considered to be "Patient Zero."
He was first attacked in December 2016 while living in Havana on assignment. During his time on the Caribbean island, Adam experienced multiple attacks and described pressure to the brain that led to vertigo, tinnitus and cognitive impairment.
HAVANA SYNDROME: FOREIGN ADVERSARIES' MICROWAVE WEAPONS CAPABILITIES EXPLAINED BY PHYSICIST
"While assessments from the Intelligence Community (IC) do not conclusively identify the factors causing AHIs or any foreign actor responsible, an assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) presented a majority view concluding that it was ‘very unlikely’ that a foreign actor ‘used a novel weapon or prototype device to harm even a subset of the U.S. Government personnel,’ with five out of seven agencies agreeing with that assessment," Garbarino wrote in his letter.
"However, two agencies dissented from the majority view and assessed that there was a chance that foreign actors may have developed some sort of ‘novel weapon or prototype device’ that could have harmed U.S. personnel," he added.
However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released the report and held a background call with reporters on Friday explaining that new reporting "led two components to shift their assessments about whether a foreign actor has a capability that could cause biological effects consistent with some of the symptoms reported as possible AHIs."
"This shift consequently led two IC components to subtly change their overall judgment about whether a foreign actor might have played a role in a small number of events," the agency said.
Fox News' Liz Friden contributed to this report.