A political firestorm erupted this week after a Washington, D.C., internal police email appeared to reprimand rank-and-file officers for body camera footage allegedly showing them “finess[ing]” their way out of making arrests on reasonable grounds.

The news comes as the Trump administration cracks down on crime in the District of Columbia at the federal level. While crime rates have steadily declined from a peak in 2023, the nation’s capital continues to suffer per-capita violent crime at higher rates than the national average, according to FBI data.

The Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to Fox News Digital that its brass had rescinded an email sent by the captain for Sector 2 of the Sixth Police District, which covers areas north of Marion Barry Avenue and east of the John Philip Sousa Bridge.

“We are seeing more and more BWCs [body-worn cameras] where officers are not making arrests where probable cause or RAS [reasonable amount of suspicion] is apparent. This is leading to complaints to IAD (internal affairs division) and OPC, and it is also leaving victims and complainants unprotected by the police,” wrote Capt. Jerome Merrill.

CRIME-RIDDEN BLUE CITIES STRUGGLE TO COMBAT SHRINKING POLICE FORCES AS FEDS STEP IN TO CLEAN UP CHAOS

Merrill’s letter, first obtained by Washington’s CBS affiliate, said the situation is getting many police officials in trouble for failing to recognize or correct classifications of interactions with the public.

“Please do not try and finesse your way out of an arrest it is not worth the consequences I assure you,” the memo said, urging police to make arrests or apply for warrants before detectives need to follow up on them.

The department told Fox News Digital the information in the email was “incorrect” and that MPD is investigating.

Asked about the situation and whether arrests can be made on reasonable suspicion in any context, former Supreme Court Chief of Police Ross Swope told Fox News Digital that the distinction is “not only typical of most departments, it is the law.”

Swope, who served for decades with the MPD and later wrote texts on police ethics and internal operations, said probable cause requires more than reasonable suspicion.

“It requires a higher degree of certainty,” he said. “[Probable cause] is when the facts and circumstances within an officer’s knowledge would lead a reasonable person to believe that a crime has been committed for which a summary arrest may be permitted.”

DC MAYOR REPORTS ‘GREAT MEETING’ WITH TRUMP AFTER PAST PUBLIC FEUDS, TOUTS ‘COMMON GROUND’ ON NATION’S CAPITAL

He said Merrill may have viewed body cams and believed in his own view that arrests should have been made, but that he was wrong to instruct officers to make arrests based solely on reasonable suspicion.

Fox News Digital also reached out to the D.C. Police Union for comment but did not receive a response.

But Union President Gregg Pemberton told the CBS affiliate after the fact that he essentially, independently, agreed with Swope.

“The Union has reviewed Captain Merrill’s email and determined that the reason that our members are not making arrests based on reasonable articulable suspicion is because that’s illegal,” Pemberton told the outlet.

“We would expect a captain of a police patrol district to know that, but unfortunately, this command staff official has proven himself uninformed and incapable of managing police operations in the District of Columbia,” he added.

EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security lambasted Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and the state’s refusal to cooperate with ICE after an illegal immigrant convicted of child sexual abuse was released from jail despite calls for state officials to turn him over to federal authorities.

Both Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have repeatedly criticized the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement posture, with the mayor comparing President Donald Trump’s America to Jefferson Davis’ Confederacy.

Johnson has accused Trump of “declar[ing] war on Chicago” and using DHS as a “private, militarized, occupying force,” while pledging to fight them in the streets, the legislature and the judiciary. The state operates under the Illinois TRUST Act, a law championed by Springfield Democrats and signed by former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner that prohibits the use of state and local resources for most civil immigration enforcement purposes.

“Governor Pritzker continues to refuse to do his job to protect his citizens from illegal alien crime and instead chooses to smear our law enforcement,” Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.

NOEM, IN ILLINOIS, CALLS OUT GOV. PRITZKER, CHICAGO’S MAYOR OVER THEIR HANDLING OF CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

“Where is the investigation into his own policies that allowed this pedophile to be released from jail and be loose in Illinois communities?” she added of the Hyatt Hotels heir and potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate.

Bis called on Pritzker to “end this insanity and stop releasing pedophiles into our communities.”

DHS told Fox News Digital exclusively that ICE officers went to Chicago and arrested Guatemalan national Erik Giovanni-Quiroa, who had been released from jail after his ICE detainer was ignored following a conviction for aggravated sexual abuse of a five-year-old child.

DUFFY GIVES ILLINOIS 30-DAY ULTIMATUM AFTER AUDIT FINDS 1 IN 5 NONCITIZEN TRUCK LICENSES ISSUED ILLEGALLY

Giovanni-Quiroa, who also had a 2011 firearm-battery conviction, was given a three-year sentence on the pedophilia charge but ICE instead encountered him on the streets.

Last week, ICE conducted a targeted vehicle stop and arrested Giovanni-Quiroa after his detainer was denied, forcing agents to locate him themselves.

Officials said Giovanni-Quiroa refused to stop and briefly fled before being placed in federal custody.

Bis said “sanctuary” politicians in Illinois and elsewhere continue to wrongly protect criminal illegal immigrants and allow them to reoffend and perpetrate additional crimes against Americans.

ICE previously called on Illinois law enforcement to begin honoring ICE detainers, as Director Todd Lyons wrote to Attorney General Kwame Raoul noting that DHS says more than 4,000 illegal immigrants are in state custody.

Giovanni-Quiroa illegally entered the U.S. under the second Bush administration and has been essentially a beneficiary of the aforementioned TRUST Act.

In the heat of “Operation: Midway Blitz” in June, Raoul published a memo reiterating key provisions of the law as a “refresher for Illinois law enforcement agencies.”

“It is important to note, however, that although the Illinois TRUST Act prevents the use of state and local resources for civil immigration enforcement purposes, it does not prevent law enforcement officers from taking action to maintain peace and ensure public safety within their jurisdiction,” Raoul wrote.

“Although some provisions of federal immigration statutes are criminal, deportation and removability are matters of civil law, not criminal law [and] whether an individual is lawfully present in the United States is a question of federal civil immigration law.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Raoul for comment on the current case, as well as Pritzker and Johnson.

When Rauner signed the TRUST Act in 2017, he said it would “continue Illinois’ history of welcoming immigrants and help law enforcement focus on stopping violent crime and protecting Illinois residents.”

In that statement, Rauner also cited a federal court decision from the Chicago-based Northern District of Illinois in which an Obama-appointed judge whom President Joe Biden later promoted to an appeals court found flaws in ICE’s detainer process.

Judge John Z. Lee said in his 2019 order in Jimenez-Moreno v. Napolitano that immigration detainer orders exceeded DHS’ statutory authority but he also acknowledged a Philadelphia federal court ruling that ICE detainer requests do not violate the Tenth Amendment as alleged.

With President Donald Trump “hired” by the American people for a second term, Amazon — which now owns production rights to NBC’s “The Apprentice” — is looking for a new host to potentially reboot the once No. 1-rated television program, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Trump leveraged decades of media coverage as a New York mogul amid the ups and downs of the 1980s and 1990s into a smash-hit program that premiered in 2004, following several wannabe business executives through a several-week “job interview” to work for the Trump Organization.

Fifteen seasons and a presidency-compelled hiatus later, Amazon is reportedly considering Trump Organization Executive Vice President Donald Trump Jr. for the role, as the eldest son has served as a frequent stand-in “boardroom adviser” for Trump executives Carolyn Kepcher and George Ross.

Trump addressed rumors of a reboot on Thursday, telling Fox News’ Peter Doocy that his son is a “good guy” and would “probably be good” in the role.

JIMMY KIMMEL JOKES TRUMP SHOULD LET HIM HOST WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER TO ‘THINK OF THE RATINGS’

“He’s got a little charisma going. You need a little charisma for that sucker. So, we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.

Several people familiar with the discussions told The Wall Street Journal that Amazon executives have internally discussed casting Trump Jr. as a host for an “Apprentice” reboot if they do indeed launch the project.

The Journal reported Amazon has not yet approached Trump Sr., Trump Jr. or any Trump family members, but that, instead of NBC, it would air the show on Amazon Prime.

A source close to Trump Jr. told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the Journal report was indeed the first time the 48-year-old father of five had heard his name was in the pot.

Fox News Digital also reached out to the Trump Organization for comment, as well as Amazon and Amazon’s production company.

An Amazon spokesperson told the Journal that the Jeff Bezos-led company previously acquired MGM, which itself bought a majority stake in reality-show impresario Mark Burnett’s company several years earlier.

TRUMP’S KENNEDY CENTER HONORS OVERHAUL DELIVERS STAR-STUDDED LINEUP, NEW MEDALLION AND HISTORIC HOSTING ROLE

Burnett has launched several reality shows, including “The Apprentice” and CBS-aired contests “The Amazing Race” and “Survivor,” with the latter now in its 50th season. The credits for “The Apprentice” list Trump Sr. as executive producer.

A reboot would be Amazon’s second foray into Trumpworld in recent months, as it recently debuted a $40 million biopic of first lady Melania Trump that drew praise from supporters and mockery from critics like ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel.

“Melania” was directed by Brett Ratner of “Rush Hour” fame, as Trump reportedly pressed Paramount Pictures to revive the Jackie Chan-Chris Tucker series and put Ratner back at the helm, according to CNBC, which further reported the original New Line Cinema films are now subject to a distribution pact between Paramount and New Line parent Warner Bros.

Trump Sr. regularly touted his “Apprentice” success throughout his political tenure, once telling the National Prayer Breakfast that attendees should “pray” for former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger after the “Terminator” took over the show and oversaw what the president called a ratings collapse.

KIMMEL FIRES BACK AT TRUMP’S DEMAND TO TAKE HIM OFF THE AIR, SAYS ‘I’LL GO WHEN YOU GO’

Schwarzenegger, the most recent Republican to serve as governor in Sacramento, occasionally spars with Trump, as he is seen as less bombastic and more politically moderate than the president.

“Hey Donald, I have a great idea,” Schwarzenegger shot back at Trump in an X video at the time.

“Why don’t we switch jobs — you take over TV — since you’re such an expert in ratings, and I take over your job so that people can finally sleep comfortable again — hmm?” the Austria native, who voted for then-Ohio Gov. John Kasich in 2016, quipped.

Fox News Digital reached out to NBCUniversal for additional comment on the potential resurrection of their onetime series. Neither Amazon nor the Trump Organization responded by publication time.

Fox News Digital’s Janelle Ash contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Minnesota Republican lawmaker Kristin Robbins, chair of the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, announced on Friday she is ending her gubernatorial campaign to replace embattled Gov. Tim Walz.

“It was not a tough decision to get into the race 10 months ago,” Robbins exclusively told Fox News Digital. “We could not allow Tim Walz to have a third term in Minnesota. He’s destroyed our state, and we had to stop him, and so, I think I made a great case for that, and because of all my work on the fraud committee he got out nine months ahead of schedule, which is great.”

Robbins continued, “Once Senator Klobuchar became sort of the anointed candidate to replace him, I just think the establishment kind of circled the wagons and, you know, it became a challenging endeavor, and I’m a realist, and I am a numbers person, and when I look at the math, I don’t see a path for me to win.”

Weeks after Walz dropped his re-election bid in January amid a massive fraud scandal that unfolded during his watch, Sen. Amy Klobuchar jumped into the race, bringing her deep political backing and name recognition with her as the presumptive nominee for the Democrats.

MINNESOTA LAWMAKERS UNLOAD ON WALZ’S ‘LEGACY’ AFTER HE TOUTS FRAUD RECORD IN FINAL ADDRESS: ‘RIDICULOUS’

Robbins told Fox News Digital she determined it was better to “bow out” and find a “new way to contribute” due to love of her state and the realization that there are “many ways to serve.”

In terms of what’s next, Robbins says she hasn’t had the time to give that much thought but said she is focused on closing out the current legislative session and said “there’s a lot of big things going on in the front committee.”

“I know where the bodies are buried,” Robbins said about the fraud situation, pointing out that there is much more work to be done to get answers on how the billions of dollars in fraud was allowed to go unchecked for so long.

MN LAWMAKER TAKES ACTION TO GET ANSWERS ON OMAR’S ALLEGED FRAUD TIES AFTER SHE SKIPS KEY HEARING: ‘GHOSTED US’

With Robbins exiting the race, the Republicans vying to win the gubernatorial primary include Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, healthcare executive Kendall Qualls, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and several other lesser known candidates.

Robbins told Fox News Digital she will “not be endorsing anyone.”

“That will be up to the voters to decide, and I wish all the other candidates well,” Robbins said.

Ultimately, Robbins says her “overwhelming thought” is “gratitude” when she looks back on her campaign.

“I am so grateful for the last ten months of going all over the state meeting Minnesotans from every walk of life and to have had the privilege to run for governor and meet all these amazing people and hear their stories, be inspired by what they want for Minnesota,” Robbins said. “I am just so grateful and so privileged.”

Robbins says that going forward, the “answers” are not going to come from the capitol in St. Paul, but rather “from the communities and from the people” and she “looks forward to plugging into that.”

Katie Wilson, Seattle’s new self-proclaimed socialist mayor, sparked a social media firestorm after she gave her take on reports that millionaires are fleeing Washington state due to taxes and various far-left policies.

While speaking at a forum at Seattle University earlier this month, the new Democratic mayor said, “I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are like super overblown.”

“And the ones that leave, like, bye,” she continued, waving her hand and laughing. Though the line drew laughs and applause from those in the auditorium, it did not go over as well online, as conservatives quickly blasted the new Seattle mayor.

“Seattle’s Socialist Mayor responds to exodus of wealth from Washington State by saying “BYE” … then laughing. We’re doomed,” wrote Brandi Kruse.

MAMDANI’S RACIAL EQUITY PLAN A HIDDEN ‘MOVING THE GOALPOSTS’ PLOY TO JUSTIFY MASSIVE GOV EXPANSION: EXPERT

Kruse’s post has been seen over 4 million times on social media as of Friday morning.

Popular conservative account “End Wokeness” also posted on X, writing, “Mayor Wilson seems to welcome the idea of a wealth exodus from Seattle. This is the FA part. FO coming soon.”

“Enjoy, Seattle,” Fox News contributor Guy Benson posted on X.

SOCIALIST MAYOR-ELECT REVEALS WHY SHE EMBRACED HER PARENTS GIVING HER MONEY AS A 43-YEAR-OLD

“What do socialists think happens when the most productive, highest revenue driving members of their tax base leave their jurisdictions?” Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts posted on X.

“Socialists are driven by hate for the rich, not concern for the poor,” Manhattan Institute scholar Daniel Di Martino posted on X.

“This is the reaction of a spoiled child whose parents paid her bills up until the point that she became mayor… She has no grasp of reality or economics,” comedian Tim Young posted on X. “Seattle is extra cooked.”

Discovery Institute Senior Journalism Fellow Jonathan Choe posted on X, “Seattle, you voted for this.”

“This clip will live in infamy,” the Washington State Republican Party posted on X. “@MayorofSeattle Katie Wilson is not only unfit to be mayor, she lacks grace and gratitude. Perhaps, she’s the one who should leave #Seattle.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Wilson’s office for comment.

Wilson shocked many political observers when she was elected Seattle’s mayor last year, and many chalked up her victory to her ability to tap into a similar voting bloc that socialist Zohran Mamdani used on his way to becoming New York City’s next mayor.

Earlier this month, Fox News Digital reported on city advocates who say they are struggling to find solutions as homelessness and open-air drug use spread across Seattle’s streets, amid growing concerns about the direction of Wilson’s new administration.

“You can just see the foil is like blowing down the sidewalks like autumn leaves,” Andrea Suarez, founder and executive director of We Heart Seattle, told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

“Very common to see property damage of our parks and shared spaces. You can see Narcan is used to reverse an overdose, so you’ll see cartridges. But at least we’re remodeling the bathroom to be gender-neutral. I’m not [kidding] you, that’s where our priorities are.” 

Fox News Digital’s Nikolas Lanum and Rachel Del Guidice contributed to this report.

A Democratic candidate in a crucial Senate battleground showdown is taking plenty of incoming fire from his primary rivals as well as the Republican contender in the race as he prepares to team up on Tuesday with a controversial far-left online streamer.

Abdul El-Sayed, the 2018 Michigan Democratic gubernatorial runner-up who is backed by progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as he seeks his party’s 2026 Senate nomination, is scheduled to hold campus rallies at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University with Hasan Piker, as well as with progressive Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania.

Piker, a potent progressive influencer, could help boost El-Sayed in a competitive and combustible Democratic Senate nomination race thanks to his millions of younger, progressive social media followers on YouTube, Instagram and X.

But the appearance at the campus rallies by Piker — who once said “America deserved 9/11,” and who critics argue is antisemitic due to his sharp criticism of the Israeli government and the downplaying of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel — is alarming to many Democrats.

BERNIE-BACKED DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE IN KEY RACE TAKES INCOMING POLITICAL FIRE

El-Sayed’s top two rivals for the nomination have blasted his scheduled appearance with Piker, which was announced less than two weeks after a man rammed his truck into a Michigan synagogue, wounding a guard in what authorities said was a targeted act of domestic terrorism against the Jewish community.

“It is unacceptable for a candidate wanting to represent all Michiganders to campaign with Hasan Piker, a person who is unapologetic about a career of making hurtful and anti-Semitic comments,” Rep. Haley Stevens said in a statement. “With all that’s at stake in this election, we should be focused on the challenges Michiganders are facing and how to fight for them.”

And State Senator Mallory McMorrow, in an interview with the Jewish Insider, called Piker “somebody who says extremely offensive things in order to generate clicks.”

SANDERS-ENDORSED SENATE CANDIDATE KNOCKED FOR ALLEGED FLIP-FLOP TO ‘HAVE IT BOTH WAYS’ ON KEY ISSUE

“That is not somebody that you should be campaigning with at a moment when there is clearly a lot of pain and trauma across our state,” McMorrow added. “You don’t fan the flames and stoke division just to get attention.”

El-Sayed, Stevens and McMorrow will face off in an early August primary.

It’s not just El Sayed’s Democratic nomination rivals who are criticizing his decision to team up with Piker.

Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and the Anti-Defamation League have charged Piker is antisemitic and Matt Bennett, a leader of the well-known moderate Democratic group the Third Way, slammed El-Sayed as a “disgrace to the Democratic Party.”  

Former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who’s on a glidepath to the GOP Senate nomination in Michigan for a second straight cycle, told Fox News Digital in a statement, “If you would have told me a few years ago that Democrat frontrunners would campaign with known antisemites, I would’ve thought you were crazy. But one thing Abdul continues to prove, there’s no limit to how far left Democrats will go.”

WHO IS HASAN PIKER? MEET THE FAR-LEFT STREAMER WHO IS STIRRING UP CONTROVERSY ONLINE AND DIVIDING DEMOCRATS

“From calling to defund the police and make Michigan a sanctuary state, to attempting to abolish private healthcare, and now campaigning with an antisemite who claimed ‘America deserved 9/11,’ one thing that’s for certain: Abdul and the Democrats are too radical for Michigan,” Rogers argued.

In the wake of the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack that incited Israel’s war with Gaza, Piker described Hamas, a terrorist organization, as the “lesser of two evils” in the conflict.

Once, when asked if he supported terrorism, Piker answered by saying, “No, I don’t. I don’t support the state of Israel, and I don’t support the state of the United States of America.”

He also faced backlash for praising the “brave” “mujahideen” who injured Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, who lost an eye in Afghanistan.

“What the f— is wrong with this dude? Didn’t he go to war and like literally lose his eye because some mujahideen — a brave f—ing soldier—f—ed his eye hole with their d—?” Piker said.

El-Sayed has repeatedly stood his ground in defending his appearances with Piker. The candidate noted that Piker was allowed by Democrats to stream at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

“It’s about speaking to a broader audience,” El-Sayed said last week in an appearance on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.”

El-Sayed emphasized that “just because you invite somebody to campaign with you, or you’re engaging with them does not mean that you agree with them…. Every day, 30,000 people and counting tune in to Hassan’s stream. A lot of folks who don’t watch Fox News, they don’t watch CNN, they don’t watch MSNBC.”

The Senate race in Michigan is one of a handful in this year’s midterm elections that will determine if the Republicans hold their 53-47 majority in the chamber. Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is retiring, is one of the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s (NRSC) top targets as they try to not only hold onto their seats, but also possibly expand their majority.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., called President Donald Trump an “unhinged lunatic” in a Monday post on X, advocating for him to be ousted from office.

“This is not ok. Invoke the 25th amendment. Impeach. Remove. This unhinged lunatic must be removed from office,” she asserted.

The left-wing lawmaker made the comments while sharing a screenshot of the president’s controversial Easter Sunday Truth Social post threatening attacks against Iranian power plants and bridges.

TRUMP WARNS IRAN HE MAY STRIKE ‘EVERY POWER PLANT’ AS DEADLINE TO REOPEN HORMUZ NEARS

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F—in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,” Trump wrote in the post, referring to the Strait of Hormuz. 

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., warned in a Monday post on X, “Threatening to target power plants and other non-military targets is not strength. If those words become orders to destroy civilian infrastructure with no valid military purpose, it’s hard to see how they would not violate the laws of armed conflict. America leads best with strength, discipline, and professionalism. Illegal orders to make civilians suffer would be a black mark on our military and our country.”

MARK KELLY PRESSED ON WHETHER HE WOULD REFUSE ORDERS IF HE WAS STILL IN UNIFORM

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., declared in a Sunday post on X, “President Trump’s profanity-laden Easter threat to attack Iran’s civilian infrastructure—power plants and bridges—are the words of a frustrated and immoral madman. Many experts agree that such attacks would be war crimes under international law. To our military leaders, remember this: You are legally required to refuse orders to commit war crimes.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., characterized Trump’s comments as “the ravings of a dangerous and mentally unbalanced individual,” asserting in a Sunday post on X, “Congress has got to act NOW. End this war.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment early Tuesday morning.

‘GOD IS GOOD’: INSIDE THE HIGH-RISK US MISSION TO SAVE A WOUNDED AIRMAN SHOT DOWN IN IRAN

During remarks on Monday, Trump indicated the U.S. has “a plan … where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again. I mean complete demolition by 12 o’clock.”

“We don’t want that to happen,” he said.

The White House tore into Democrat activist and failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Monday after she argued President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to rein in mail-in voting was “patently illegal.”

“Has Stacey Abrams conceded the multiple elections she lost yet or is she still pretending to be Governor?” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital. “Election integrity has always been a top priority for President Trump, and the American people sent him back to the White House because they overwhelmingly supported his commonsense election integrity agenda.”

The comment was in response to Abrams, who said during an appearance on MS NOW over the weekend that Trump’s order would disenfranchise voters, resurfacing long-held tensions with the president amid his latest push to enhance voter security ahead of the midterms. Abrams previously ran for Georgia governor twice and refused to formally concede her 2018 election. 

“It is patently illegal, and it is entirely in the playbook of voter suppression that Republicans, including Donald Trump, have been using for the last decade or so,” Abrams said.

STACEY ABRAMS TOUTS 10 STEPS TO AUTOCRACY, SAYS ‘DO NOT LET PROPAGANDA WIN’

Trump’s order, called “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,” directed the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration, in coordination with state leaders, to create a list of citizens, and then directed the U.S. Postal Service to only deliver mail-in ballots to people on the list.

“The president will do everything in his power to defend the safety and security of American elections and to ensure that only American citizens are voting in them – that’s only controversial for Democrats like Stacey,” Jackson added.

Abrams founded Fair Fight Action after her 2018 loss to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, saying Georgia’s election system suppressed voters. The group was later ordered to reimburse the state more than $200,000 in legal costs after an unsuccessful lawsuit. 

Separately, Abrams-linked advocacy groups have faced campaign-finance and nonprofit-compliance scrutiny, including a Georgia Ethics Commission case involving the New Georgia Project and a 2025 IRS complaint targeting Fair Fight Action.

Abrams has since criticized Republican-led voting initiatives at the federal and state level as relics of the Jim Crow era and designed to disenfranchise racial minorities.

“The Constitution gives to the states the authority to determine how elections are held,” Abrams said. “What the Republican regime is upset about is that democracy has been working.”

Trump criticized Abrams as far back as 2018 over her stance on voting, accusing her of wanting “illegal aliens to vote.” Abrams “opposed requiring proof of American citizenship at the ballot box,” Trump said at the time.

Trump has long argued that noncitizen voting, which is illegal, is a widespread problem in U.S. elections. In addition to his executive order, Trump has urged Congress to pass the SAVE Act before the 2026 elections to impose a physical identification requirement on people registering to vote, though it lacks the needed support from Democratic senators to advance in the upper chamber.

While the White House has framed Trump’s executive order as an effort to bolster election integrity, Abrams and other critics argued it intruded on state authority and would unfairly suppress votes.

“The biggest risk for Americans right now is that we see these as piecemeal, and we don’t recognize it’s part of a pattern,” Abrams said. “This is step 10 in an authoritarian playbook. You end democracy.”

JAMES CARVILLE TELLS EX-CNN HOST HE’S WORRIED TRUMP WILL TAMPER WITH 2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Abrams also alleged that the executive order would serve to create a master list of voters, effectively usurping state control over voter registration lists and federalizing elections.

“The creation of a database … should terrify all of us,” Abrams said. “That is an attempt to do national surveillance.”

In addition to Abrams’ criticisms, roughly two dozen states and voting rights groups filed lawsuits seeking to block the executive order, arguing Trump’s directives violated the Constitution by encroaching on states’ authority to administer elections.

Fox News Digital reached out to an Abrams representative for comment.

ROME, GA — Republican congressional candidate Clay Fuller says that Tuesday’s special election runoff in Georgia is “extremely crucial.”

Fuller is facing off against Democrat Shawn Harris in the race to fill the seat in Georgia’s solidly red 14th Congressional District — in the northwest part of the state — left vacant when MAGA firebrand Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stepped down at the beginning of January. Greene quit Congress with a year left in her term, after a bitter falling out with President Donald Trump.

The special election, held on the same day as a state Supreme Court contest in battleground Wisconsin, comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218–214 majority in the House. The GOP cannot afford any surprises or allow the Democrats to pull an upset in the special election, in a district Trump carried by a whopping 37 points in his 2024 presidential victory.

“We need the reinforcements,” Fuller, a local district attorney and a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard who’s served in the Air Force since 2009, emphasized in a Fox News Digital interview on the eve of the runoff election, as he pointed to the GOP’s fragile majority. “I think the voters in Georgia 14 understand that, and they’re looking forward to sending a MAGA America first fighter up on Capitol Hill to support that agenda.”

PRIMARY PAUSE, POLITICAL FIRESTORM: HIGH-STAKES ELECTIONS THIS MONTH TAKE CENTER STAGE

Asked if he was concerned that MAGA supporters would sit out what may be a low turnout election since the president is not on the ballot, Fuller said voters “would crawl through glass to make sure they have a representative up there that fight for them and fight for President Trump, and that’s why we’re going to have the votes pouring out on April 7.”

TRUMP HITS CAMPAIGN TRAIL IN KEY BATTLEGROUND AS RACE TO REPLACE MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE HEATS UP

Harris, a cattle farmer who spent four decades in the military and retired as an Army brigadier general, needs the support of crossover Republicans in order to pull off an upset.

“I am a Democrat, but I’m not tied to the party,” Harris highlighted as he spoke with Fox News Digital. And Harris argued, “My opponent, Clay, cannot say that. He actually sold his soul to President Trump.”

Harris, pointing to surging gas prices fueled by Trump’s military attack on Iran, said when voters “go to the polls, they will have to stop at the pump, and that’ll be the last thing they think about before they go and vote. And they’re going to say, ‘You know what, Shawn Harris is the only one that’s talking about bringing down costs, Shawn Harris is the only one saying, ‘I’m going to stand up for the people here in Northwest Georgia, period.’”

“We will win this war militarily. However, if we don’t watch it and be clear with the American people, based on these gas prices and diesel prices, we could actually lose this war politically.”

Harris said he “will support President Trump on things like the…southern border.” But he added “when it comes to things like…a forever war. Send me. I will push back.”

Fuller said that “the voters in Georgia-14 support the president in this endeavor. They understand that the Iranian regime was a long term threat to our national security…they understand that President Trump is making the world safer, and they understand that there may be short term pain at the gas pump, and they’ll expect those prices to drop as soon as this conflict is over.”

Harris grabbed 37% of the vote, with Fuller at 35% amid a field of 17 candidates, including 12 Republicans, in the first round of voting in early March. Since no candidate topped 50%, Harris and Fuller advanced to Tuesday’s runoff.

The congressional seat — which stretches from Atlanta’s outer suburbs to the state’s northwest borders with Alabama and Tennessee — was left vacant when Greene quit Congress with a year left in her term, after a very public falling out with Trump mostly over her push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.

While Greene remains popular among Republicans in the district, Fuller said the voters he’s talked with on the campaign trail “are focused on the fights of the future, not anything that had happened in the past.”

Asked if he’s talked with Greene, Fuller said he “reached out to Rep. Greene, had conversations with her and got advice on the district, and I’ll keep those conversations confidential.”

Harris, who as a first-time candidate lost to Greene by nearly 29 points in her 2024 re-election, emphasized that “I’m not running against Marjorie Taylor Greene anymore,” and that his name “carries more weight than any other name in this district.”

If Harris loses but holds Fuller’s margin to the mid-teens or less, national Democrats will argue the election is the latest in nearly 15 months since Trump returned to the White House in which they overperformed.

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

The ballot box brawl in Northwest Georgia isn’t the only electoral showdown on Tuesday. There’s also a state Supreme Court election in battleground Wisconsin.

While officially a non-partisan contest, state Supreme Court elections in Wisconsin have become extremely partisan in recent years.

With the court’s majority on the line in last year’s contest, outside money poured in and out-of-state door knockers blanketed Wisconsin. One of the biggest spenders was Trump ally Elon Musk, who headlined a rally days before the election and donned a cheesehead hat worn by fans of the Green Bay Packers.

Democrats won that election by a larger-than-expected margin and currently hold a 4-3 majority on Wisconsin’s highest court.

With a conservative justice retiring, the majority isn’t at stake in this year’s election, although if state Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor, a former democratic state representative, wins, liberals would expand their majority on the high court to 5-2.

If Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar, a conservative, wins or keeps the margins close, the GOP may claim a moral victory.

A Democratic congresswoman whose parents fled the regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini decades ago announced Monday she would file articles of impeachment against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for alleged war crimes amid the current conflict.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona previously told the New York Times she initially “felt a rush of hope, but also unease” when she learned Americans and Israelis had taken out Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in February.

But she has since been harshly critical of how the Trump administration has overseen the conflict, including President Donald Trump’s Easter message to what’s left of Iranian leadership to “open the f—ing Strait” of Hormuz by Tuesday or risk strikes on critical infrastructure.

“Donald Trump’s deranged statements — including one on Easter Sunday — are further entrenching our country and our world in another devastating, never-ending war,” Ansari said in a statement announcing her plans to impeach Hegseth.

77-YEAR-OLD HOUSE DEM FACING YOUNGER PRIMARY CHALLENGERS SEEKS TO IMPEACH DONALD TRUMP

Ansari claimed Trump is threatening war crimes in violation of the Geneva Convention and has already committed “illegal actions and atrocities already committed at his direction — including violence that has destroyed schools, hospitals, and critical civilian infrastructure.”

“As the daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled this regime, and as an American Congresswoman who swore an oath to the United States Constitution, I know that this cannot go on,” she said.

Ansari’s father was a medical student studying in the United States when the Iranian Revolution broke out and couldn’t return to Iran, while her mother fled and was sent to live with another family in Delaware at age 17 after the Khomeini regime continually restricted women’s rights, according to the UK Guardian.

Ansari urged invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office and said she would file articles of impeachment and seek to formally impeach Hegseth “next week.”

DEMOCRATS THREATEN TO GRIND SENATE TO A HALT TO FORCE PUBLIC IRAN HEARINGS

She alleged the Pentagon chief “repeatedly violat[ed] his oath of office and his duty to the Constitution. Only Congress has the power to declare war, not a rogue president or his lackeys.”

“Hegseth’s reckless endangerment of U.S. servicemembers and repeated war crimes, including bombing a girls’ school in Minab, Iran, and willfully targeting civilian infrastructure, are grounds for impeachment and removal from office.”

Hegseth and Trump recently engineered the rescue of an airman shot down by Iranian forces over the weekend, with the president telling the press at the White House that a large military operation was required.

Gen. Dan “Raizin” Caine declined to state how many troops were involved, likely for security reasons.

When reached for comment, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson slammed the plan to impeach her boss, telling Fox News Digital that Ansari is “just another Democrat trying to make headlines” as an ongoing Mideast military operation and two “daring and successful” rescue operations were conducted.

“Secretary Hegseth will continue to protect the homeland and unleash epic fury on Iran’s radical regime,” Wilson said.

“This is just another charade in an attempt to distract the American people from the major successes we have had here at the Department of War.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

A new national poll is the latest to indicate that Democrats are facing major problems with their party’s image as they try to win back congressional majorities from the Republicans in this year’s midterm elections.

Just 28% of Americans questioned in a CNN poll view the Democratic Party positively, with 56% seeing Democrats in an unfavorable light.

The poll, the most recent over the past year to indicate the Democratic Party brand hitting historic lows, comes with just over six months to go until the midterms, when they hope to escape the political wilderness.

The GOP, which is working to defend its fragile House and slim Senate majorities in the 2026 ballot box showdowns amid President Donald Trump’s underwater approval ratings and a rough political climate that doesn’t favor the party in power, doesn’t fare much better in the poll, which was conducted March 26-30.

WHAT OUR LATEST FOX NEWS NATIONAL POLL SAYS 

Thirty-two percent of Americans said they viewed the Republican Party positively, with 55% seeing the GOP in a negative light.

An average of the most recent national polls that asked how respondents viewed the two major political parties show the Republicans’ favorability 15 points in negative territory but the Democrats 20 points underwater.

Helping to sink the Democratic Party’s underwater ratings are Democrats themselves.

A healthy percentage of Democrats feel that their leaders in Congress aren’t fighting back more vocally against Trump and his unprecedented second-term agenda. That’s fueling a less favorable view of the Democratic Party among Democrats compared to a noticeably more favorable view of the GOP among Republicans.

That’s a departure from 2006 and 2018, the most recent midterms, when the Democrats rode blue waves to win back the House when Republicans controlled the White House. In those years, Democrats led by double digits in net favorability.

Democrats were ecstatic two weeks ago after flipping a Republican-controlled legislative seat in a right-leaning, Palm Beach, Florida-anchored district that includes Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s home turf. The same day, Democrats also flipped a state Senate seat in Florida in a separate special election. The Democrats’ Sunshine State victories were their latest wins or overperformances in a slew of special elections from coast to coast since Trump returned to power in the White House 14 months ago.

DNC CHAIR KEN MARTIN BOASTS ‘WIN AFTER WIN,’ SHRUGS OFF MASSIVE TRUMP, REPUBLICAN MONEY LEAD

Democrats also scored larger than expected victories in last November’s gubernatorial elections in blue-leaning Virginia and New Jersey.

Partially fueling the Democrats’ ballot box performances is their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation. And the victories are further energizing Democrats as they work to win back control of Congress in the midterms.

“From now until November, Democrats are all gas and no brakes as we compete across every corner of Florida and the nation,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said after the Florida special elections.

But along with their brand issues, also troubling for Democrats ahead of the midterms is their standing in the generic ballot, the closely watched polling indicator that asks respondents whether they’d back the Democrat or Republican in their congressional district without offering specific candidate names.

Democrats are up over the Republicans by five points in the CNN poll, and an average of all the most recent national surveys to ask the generic ballot question gives the Democrats an edge over the GOP of just under six points. That margin for the Democrats is smaller than at the same point in the 2018 and 2006 cycles, when they won back the House.

National polls also indicate that when it comes to how both parties are handling the key issues that matter to voters, Democrats don’t enjoy any overwhelming advantage.

The most recent Fox News national poll, which was conducted March 20–23, indicated Democrats with a slight three-point margin over Republicans on which party has a clear plan to bring down prices and make things more affordable. The vast majority of voters questioned in the Fox News poll gave a big thumbs down to both parties.

Veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance, the president of New England College, told Fox News Digital that Democrats “have no room to coast.”

“Voters remain unimpressed with their brand and for far too many voters the party continues to be defined by Biden and Harris. Democrats are expected to win big in November. But, there is a great deal of work to rehabilitate their brand with voters for 2026 and 2028,” Lesperance said.

A top Senate Republican is eyeing a way to put a “down payment” on Trump-backed voter ID legislation through a party-line bill later in the year.

The Senate has been debating the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act for almost a month. But without Democratic votes to break the filibuster, the legislation has no chance of passing.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wants to put portions of the voter ID and citizenship verification legislation into a budget reconciliation package, which requires only Republican votes to pass.

GOP SENATOR’S GAMBIT EXPOSES FALSE DEM CLAIMS ABOUT SUPPORTING VOTER ID

“Reconciliation has limits, but we’re going to make a down payment on the SAVE Act in reconciliation in the fall,” Graham said Monday on a South Carolina radio show, “Straight Talk with Bill Frady.” 

Graham, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, is in charge of designing the framework for the reconciliation process in the upper chamber. He plans to meet with the White House Friday to “get this thing moving.”

Reconciliation does not allow for straight policy, meaning any provisions included in the package must have a budgetary or spending impact to survive Senate rules. If they don’t, they are stripped out.

Graham says he has a solution.

THUNE ACCUSES CRITICS OF ‘CREATING FALSE EXPECTATIONS’ AMID BACKLASH OVER STALLED SAVE AMERICA ACT

“Voter integrity laws — I’m going to create grant programs, but they’ll have conditions on them,” Graham said. “To get a grant, you’ve got to make sure you purge your rolls of illegal immigrants. There are a lot of blue states out there that don’t do that, and we’ll try to get as much of a voter ID system as I can.”

President Donald Trump and conservatives have demanded that the Senate launch a talking filibuster — or eliminate the filibuster entirely — to pass the SAVE America Act. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and other Republicans have made clear the option does not have enough support.

The current floor debate, which is paused while lawmakers are away from Washington, D.C., for the Easter break, is designed to force Senate Democrats to argue against voter ID — a policy that polls show is popular with voters across party lines.

SENATE PASSES BILL TO FUND MOST OF DHS AFTER HOUSE GOP CAVES

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., argued late last month that Democrats’ objection to the SAVE America Act is “not to a photo ID when you show up to vote,” despite blocking a standalone voter ID provision pushed by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio.

“Our objection is it’s a voter suppression bill, 20 million, maybe more people, when they show up to vote will be told you’re off the rolls,” Schumer said. “That’s the problem with the bill.“

While Graham’s provision could pass muster under Senate rules, it would likely come in a second reconciliation package in the fall, as midterm elections take center stage. Whether it would take effect by November is unclear. He’s eying provisions that would tackle fraud in the package, too.

Before that, Graham and Republicans are eyeing front-loading funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in a reconciliation bill that Trump wants on his desk no later than June 1.

Senate Republicans are largely aligned behind the idea, arguing that Democrats have refused to fund immigration enforcement without stringent reforms — reforms Republicans say they have offered and Democrats have rejected.

Still, House Republicans are not entirely on board, and their resistance could further prolong the longest government shutdown in history.

They are frustrated with the current Senate Department of Homeland SecuritySenate Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill, which carves out ICE and portions of CBP funding. They are demanding the upper chamber make real progress on a reconciliation bill before voting for the compromise plan.

“What I’m going to do is draft a reconciliation bill and load up ICE and Border Patrol funding without a single Democratic vote — give them all they need for three to 10 years, whatever I can fit in,” Graham said. “We’re going to fund the Border Patrol, and we’re going to fund ICE with Republican votes only.”