The Democratic committee with power to alter rules and push Biden out
In the two weeks since President Biden’s “Emperor’s Not-so New Clothes” debate, there’s been a concerted movement from some Democratic power centers – donors, media, congressional candidates in swing districts – to convince the incumbent president to choose to give up his reelection effort and allow the Democratic Convention to pick a new nominee.
So far, he insists he’s running.
Many on Capitol Hill remain publicly in his camp: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., deflected all questions by saying, “I’m with Joe” – and South Carolina Democrat Rep. Jim Clyburn (the man who rescued Biden’s flailing candidacy in 2020 just said, “Ridin’ with Biden.”
BIDEN SAYS ONLY THE ‘LORD ALMIGHTY’ CAN CONVINCE HIM TO DROP OUT AS CALLS FROM DEMOCRATS INTENSIFY
But many others remain clearly skeptical of his chances in November. On Tuesday night, Colorado Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet said he was likely to lose decisively to Trump. And on Wednesday morning – despite Biden’s letter stating that he had firmly decided to remain the candidate, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., kept the pressure up – saying that Biden needs to make a decision.
She certainly sounded like she had determined what that decision ought to be.
But is there realistically anything that Democratic skeptics – and there are many – donors, candidates in tight races, and left-leaning media – can do to force him off the ticket?
Many point to August 1974, when former Republican presidential nominee Berry Goldwater, then a senator from Arizona, led a team to the White House to convince President Richard Nixon to resign.
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The public take on that visit was that Nixon listened to the elder statesman and decided it was best for him and the nation.
In fact, the message Goldwater delivered – subtly – was not subtle. Nixon knew he was about to be impeached by the Democratically-controlled House – but thought he had a chance to survive a Senate trial and remain in office. Goldwater told him that actually, many Republicans would vote to convict him and that Nixon was certain to be removed from office by the Senate.
JOE BIDEN AND THE GHOST OF LBJ
Do the Democratic elites – who clearly appear to want President Biden to step down – have anything similar to threaten?
In fact, they do.
Under Democratic Party rules, the pledged delegates are obligated to vote in line with the support of the primary and caucus voters who send them to the Party convention party which will be in Chicago in August.
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But the Democratic Party has a Rules Committee that can recommend new rules to be voted on by the Democratic National Committee – and by the delegates at the convention.
Floor fights over Party rules have taken place in the past. For example, the ABM movement (Anybody but George McGovern) in 1972, the ABC movement (Anybody but Jimmy Carter) in 1976 – and a pro-Teddy Kennedy movement to dump incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980.
The reality is that the Party has mechanisms to change their rules and decide to move in a direction different from how delegates may have been “pledged” by Party rules.
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And Democratic elites have significant sway. In 2020, it was the elites who settled on Biden as the nominee – about whom they were very skeptical – after his surprisingly strong showing in South Carolina. A 78-year-old former vice president, who had been passed over at least three times previously, and who had no discernable base in the Party – but who seemed like the best option for the November election.
It’s too early to tell whether the elites will play this game – but the White House should not assume that they’re able to force Biden to be the nominee.
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Biden camp responds to Trump’s golf match challenge — with $1M donation on the line
After the two presidential candidates got into a heated discussion about their golf handicaps, former president Donald Trump now wants to walk the walk.
At his rally at his Doral course in south Florida, the 45th president challenged President Biden to a golf match, even offering $1 million to a charity of Biden’s choice if he were to lose.
“I’m also officially challenging crooked Joe to an 18-hole golf match right here on Doral’s Blue Monster, considered one of the greatest tournament golf courses anywhere in the world, one of the great courses of the world,” Trump said. “It will be among the most-watched sporting events in history. Maybe bigger than the Ryder Cup or even the Masters.
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“And I will even give Joe Biden 10 strokes a side. Ten strokes, that’s a lot. That means 20 strokes, in case you don’t play golf. And if he wins, I will give the charity of his choice, any charity of his choice, $1 million. And I’ll bet you he doesn’t take the offer.”
Biden’s spokesperson, James Singer, fired back.
“Donald Trump hasn’t been seen in public for 12 days, now he’s inviting fictional serial killers to dinner, teasing lil’ Marco Rubio, praising Project 2025 architect Tom Homan, and challenging the President of the United States to golf,” his statement said.
“We’d challenge Donald Trump to create jobs, but he lost 3 million. We’d challenge Donald Trump to stand up to Putin, but he bent the knee to him. We’d challenge Donald Trump to follow the law, but he breaks it. We’d challenge Donald Trump to not destroy our country, but that’s all his Project 2025 aims to do.
“Joe Biden doesn’t have time for Donald Trump’s weird antics – he’s busy leading America and defending the free world. Donald Trump is a liar, a convict, and a fraud only out for himself – par for the course.”
The golf discussion, perhaps the most viral moment of their June 27th debate in Atlanta, came after Trump said he won two club championships when discussing fitness, while adding Biden couldn’t drive a ball 50 yards.
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Biden then alleged that he had gotten his golf handicap down to a six as vice president, and later corrected it to an eight.
But Trump, an avid golfer, wasn’t buying it.
“That’s the biggest lie — that he’s a six handicap — of all,” he said. Trump’s handicap has been recorded as low as 2.5.
The debate on golf handicaps might never be settled, but reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau offered to help settle it.
“Let’s settle this whole handicap debate, I’ll host the golf match on my YouTube.”
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Trump owns several golf courses. Doral has hosted the LIV championship, while his course in Bedminster has also hosted the Saudi-backed tour.
Retailer calls police after thieves rampage shelves — city is now going after the store
The City of Sacramento, California’s legal department threatened to fine a popular retail store for public nuisance over numerous calls to police after thieves stole from its Land Park location multiple times, according to a report.
The Sacramento Bee reported that a person with knowledge of the warning who wanted to remain anonymous out of fear they could be retaliated against, said Sacramento officials warned they would issue an administrative fine to the Target at 2505 Riverside Boulevard in Land Park, during the past year.
A police spokesperson confirmed the location to the publication after being asked about the alleged warning.
After learning about the city’s warning and comparable actions across the state, state lawmakers added an amendment to a retail theft bill, outlawing these types of threats toward businesses from authorities.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, and Senator Mike McGuire are pushing a package with 14 bills that tighten penalties on retail theft offenses. The lawmakers believe their legislation will help deal with retail theft crimes, rather than pass changes to Proposition 47.
Last month, California’s Secretary of State announced that petitioners had garnered more than enough signatures to place a measure to reform Proposition 47 on the November ballot. Prop 47, a voter-approved initiative passed in 2014, loosened the penalties for drug and theft crimes in California and has been blamed for California’s rampant theft problems.
Shortly after the measure to reform Prop 47 was approved, legislators in the Democrat-controlled Capitol in Sacramento began debating legislation that they say would address crime in the state. Critics say the move is essentially a “poison pill” that Democrats will use to discourage people from voting to fix Prop 47 in November by arguing that doing so would undo the legislation that combats crime.
NEWSOM PROPOSES DEFUNDING LAW ENFORCEMENT, PRISONS, PUBLIC SAFETY AS CALIFORNIA FACES MASSIVE DEFICIT
“Newsom keeps insisting that reports of theft are dropping – well now we know why. Not only are thieves let off without even a slap on the wrist, but now the victims are being threatened for even reporting crimes,” California Assembly GOP Leader James Gallagher told Fox News Digital. “Everyone can see that Newsom’s pro-criminal policies are a failure – no matter how much his allies try to cover it up.”
Criminal defense attorney Nicole Castronova also weighed in on the matter, telling Fox News Digital politicians in California are leaving citizens out to dry, as “crime begets crime.”
“Lawmakers have allowed smash and grab robberies to terrorize our cities. As a consequence, retailers are leaving major cities in droves – taking jobs with them,” she said.
Castronova explained that losing jobs directly correlates to an increase in crime.
‘UNETHICAL’: CALIFORNIA SHERIFF RIPS DEMS FOR PLOTTING ‘IMMORAL’ MOVE TO SINK ANTI-CRIME PROPOSAL
She also said retailers are being victimized by the government for failing to protect them.
“Now the government seeks to silence those retailers and, in turn, manufacturers lower crime rates,” Castronova said. “No citizen should ever be penalized for lawfully calling upon its government for protection.”
Alexander Gammelgard, president of the California Police Chiefs Association, testified during the State Assembly’s first retail theft committee meeting in December, saying he was surprised anyone would ever attempt to make a nuisance case out of someone calling to report a legitimate crime.
“I don’t think there is a place for that,” Gammelgard said.
NEWSOM URGED TO HALT PROGRESSIVES’ ‘SCHEMING’ TO DERAIL POPULAR ANTI-CRIME INITIATIVE
It is not clear why the city attorney, Susana Alcala Wood, and her office would issue warnings to businesses like Target, seeking assistance from police. Her office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
California State University, Stanislaus criminal justice professor Blake Randol told the Sacramento Bee he found the situation in Sacramento to be disconcerting. He told the publication the city has a responsibility to help residents, and if the city were to threaten public nuisance for reporting crimes, it could deter a business from making a report.
Randol also said city officials may issue warnings to make it look like crime statistics are going down.
“What’s problematic is that what Target is complaining about is a legitimate crime concern,” Randol told the Sacramento Bee. “The city does have a responsibility to be more responsive to the public and be responsive to crime control demands from the public.”
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The location in question has drawn criticism from the local community, as reported by a local CBS station.
Sacramento City Councilman Rick Jennings II, city police and the city attorney’s office reportedly put together a plan after seeing the reports, to meet with the retail store and produce a safety plan to mitigate incidents, the Sacramento Bee discovered through a public records request.
“It would be great to be at the store and show what we have actually [been] working on to address the concern raised most recently in all the news this week,” Alex Garcia, a former director of Target’s governmental affairs, wrote in an email regarding past news coverage. The note was sent to Dennis Rodgers, Jennings’ chief-of-staff.
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As a result of the collaboration, the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design was created to address concerns brought up in the reports.
The plan also included “placement of security measures such as alarms, cameras, and security personnel” along with the implementation of “light fixtures, landscaping, wayfinding and space activation measures,” the internal communications reportedly showed.
During the meetings, city officials also got a chance to discuss their “concerns” with Target, which also acknowledged its “problems,” according to a statement from Jennings.
The concerns raised, though, are still vague.
Fox News Digital reached out to both Target and the City of Sacramento for a statement but did not immediately hear back.
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The publication reported that data from the police department shows city law enforcement officials saw an increase in theft, robbery and shoplifting at the city’s three Target locations during 2023.
In 2023, Target locations in Sacramento reportedly had 375 calls for service for theft, robbery and shoplifting, compared to the 80 crimes reported for theft, robbery and shoplifting by Sacramento police in 2023.
Alec Baldwin’s lawyer Alex Spiro began the defense’s opening statements around 9:30 am local time.
“This was an unspeakable tragedy,” Spiro told the jury. “But Alec Baldwin committed no crime. He was an actor. Actor playing the role of Harlan Rust. An actor playing a character can act in ways that are lethal, that just aren’t lethal on a movie set. These cardinal rules, they’re not cardinal rules on a movie set.”
Spiro emphasized that Baldwin’s role on the “Rust” movie set was not to ensure safety.
“Those people failed in their duties, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime,” he claimed.
Special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson revealed witnesses claimed Alec Baldwin put his finger “on or around” the trigger of the F.LLI Pietta Long Colt 45 Revolver he was holding before the fatal shooting on the set of “Rust.”
“The defendant takes [the gun] out quickly the first time pointed — and you will hear witness testimony who will tell you the first time he does it his finger is on or around the trigger,” Johnson told the jury. “He does it again. Takes it out very fast, points it, and once again you will hear testimony that his finger was on or around the trigger. And the evidence will show that that third and fatal time, he takes it out once again, fast, cocks the hammer, pointed straight at Mrs. Hutchins and fires that gun.”
However, Baldwin has maintained that he did not pull the trigger of the gun on Oct. 21, 2021.
“I didn’t pull the trigger,” the actor told George Stephanopoulos in Dec. 2021. “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never.”
Special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson began the opening statements in Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial at 9:14 am local time.
“It’s simple, straightforward,” she told the jury of the case. “The evidence will show that someone who played make believe with a real gun and violated the cardinal rules of firearm safety is the defendant, Alexander Baldwin.”
The trial began July 9 with jury selection following years of back-and-forth between the prosecution and Baldwin’s legal team. The prosecution has largely accused Baldwin of being “reckless” on the Western film set in the days leading up to cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ death.
Meanwhile, Baldwin’s lawyers accused Morrissey of only charging the actor to “humble” him because “she finds him ’arrogant’ and wants to give him a ‘teachable moment,'” in court documents previously obtained by Fox News Digital.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer began the court day by giving the jury instructions in the case.
The judge emphasized that Alec Baldwin’s trial is a public proceeding and there may be distractions.
“This is a public proceeding, so people may go in and out,” Sommer said. “You may find yourself looking at who goes in and out, but after a while, you’ll get used to it. But if there is anything that is distracting you from being able to listen and be involved in this case, please tell [the bailiff] immediately. He’ll let me know and I’ll do my best to get rid of the distraction.”
Jurors are allowed to ask questions, but they have to be written and presented to the judge. Judge Sommer will then decide if the question should be asked to the prosecutors or Alec Baldwin’s defense team.
The panel of jurors were told they are not allowed to discuss the case until they are a jury that is deliberating.
Alec Baldwin’s wife Hilaria was seated next to his brother Stephen Baldwin for the first day of the involuntary manslaughter trial.
The two could be seen sitting side-by-side behind the actor.
Stephen wore an earpiece while sitting in the courtroom, although it’s not clear what it is for.
Both Hilaria and Stephen attended the jury selection, which took place Tuesday.
The opening statements in Alec Baldwin’s trial were slightly delayed due to Wi-Fi issues in the courthouse, Fox News Digital can confirm. Baldwin sat in the courtroom with his attorneys. They could be seen whispering as they waited for the jury to be brought in.
The courtroom is packed with all benches for the public full and all benches for media and attorney also full.
Baldwin’s legal team and the prosecution will both give opening statements. Afterwards, the prosecution will begin arguments, which are expected to last for multiple days.
Baldwin was holding a gun on the set of “Rust” in Oct. 2021 when it discharged, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Gloria Allred, the attorney for Halyna Hutchins’ family, arrived to the courthouse after Alec Baldwin.
Allred held a mini press conference in which she emphasized that the late cinematographer was “killed by the gun that Alec Baldwin was holding.”
“We would like truth. We would like justice,” she added.
Allred plans to attend the majority of the actor’s trial as Hutchins’ family is based in the Ukraine. The lawyer also slammed Baldwin’s upcoming reality TV show.
“He has apparently signed up for a reality show,” Allred said during the press conference. “This is not a reality show. This is a trial for involuntary manslaughter of a young, talented cinematographer.”
She added: “I don’t care what his plans are. Except if he uses this trial or his children as part of a reality show, I think it’s sick.”
Alec Baldwin arrived Wednesday morning around 8 am local time for the first full day of his involuntary manslaughter trial.
“Mr. Baldwin, are you feeling confident in your arguments today?” a member of the media asked as he walked into the Santa Fe courthouse.
The actor remained silent as he passed the cameras and made his way into the courthouse. His wife Hilaria arrived with his lawyer, Alex Spiro.
A jury panel of 16, including four alternates was chosen yesterday after a two-hour delay in the morning. Baldwin did attend the jury selection as did his brother, actor Stephen Baldwin.
The prosecution and Baldwin’s legal team questioned the potential juror pool of 70 about how much press coverage of the case they had consumed, their views on gun regulation and if they were connected to the film industry.
Baldwin’s trial will begin Wednesday with opening statements and is expected to last until July 19.
“Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March. The armorer’s trial, which began Feb. 21, saw testimony from weapons experts, FBI and Santa Fe County authorities and crew members who witnessed the fatal shooting.
The prosecution largely focused on Gutierrez Reed’s behavior as an armorer, saying she didn’t do her job correctly.
“Interestingly, it was Gutierrez Reed who presented the most evidence as to Baldwin’s culpability,” Kate Mangels, partner at Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir LLP, told Fox News Digital. “Her attorneys presented Baldwin as failing in his role as part of the ‘Rust’ production team and as an actor.”
“This strategy could be used by the prosecution in Baldwin’s case to increase the chances that a jury finds him culpable in one of those roles. The prosecution’s case against Baldwin will depend largely on whether the crew witnesses who testified against Gutierrez Reed testify similarly against Baldwin.”
Jury selection in a high-profile case like Alec Baldwin’s trial for the involuntary manslaughter charge of Halyna Hutchins was complex because of all the considerations the jurors will need to make.
After nearly three years since the tragic shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust,” the selected jury will be expected to come to a resolution following a nine-day trial.
The jury will need to decide whether Baldwin will be put in jail for 18 months or let off. The decision will be dependent on two standards for proving the charge. The first standard is that of negligence while in possession of a firearm and the second is whether Baldwin acted with complete disregard or indifference for the safety of others, which must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The prosecution will have the task of proving these elements to the jury.
Hannah Gutierrez Reed
, the armor during the time of the fatal shooting, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. One consideration that the jury in Baldwin’s case must make is whether he bore the same responsibility as the armorer. It is her specified job to ensure the safety of the guns. The jury must consider whether he bore the same level of responsibility since negligence is an attribute of the involuntary manslaughter charge.
Scarlett Johansson prenup joke gives a ‘don’t ever leave cuz I’d find you’ feeling
Scarlett Johansson fans could be seeing a lot more of husband Colin Jost in the future.
On Monday night’s episode of “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” Johannson joked that her husband made a cameo appearance in her upcoming movie, “Fly Me to the Moon,” because it was written in the prenup.
“Greg Berlanti was our director … [he’s] a huge fan of Colin’s,” Johansson began. “Colin … I think he had to do it ’cause it’s, like, in our prenuptial agreement.”
SCARLETT JOHANSSON AND COLIN JOST WALK THE OSCARS 2020 RED CARPET TOGETHER
Johansson jokingly added, “If I ask him to do something, he has to be there to support me. He has to be in every one of my films.”
Johansson and Jost, a comedian and writer best known for his work on “Saturday Night Live,” tied the knot in October 2020. In August 2021, the couple welcomed their first son, Cosmo.
The Marvel actress was previously married to actor Ryan Reynolds from 2008 to 2011 and French journalist Romain Dauriac from 2014 to 2017. Dauriac and Johansson share a 6-year-old daughter, Rose. This is Jost’s first marriage.
Johansson previously gushed about Jost’s marriage proposal. “He did [do it in a romantic way], he killed it,” she told Ellen DeGeneres in 2019. “It was a very James Bond situation. It was surprising. He’s got a lot behind that [“Saturday Night Live”] news desk he’s hiding.”
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“He’s very charming and very thoughtful and romantic,” Johansson added. “I was surprised, even if you imagine what that moment is going to be like, it’s still, it’s a beautiful moment. It was very personal. It was a very special moment and I think more than anything, when someone tells you they want to share the rest of their life with you, it’s a lovely, special thing.”
During her appearance on “The Tonight Show,” Johansson admitted that she sometimes turns to Jost to help her with her lines for films – but it does not always work out as planned.
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“I run lines with him,” Johansson said of her husband. “Which is great … you’d think that would be very convenient because you have a partner there to help you out. You learn your lines for tomorrow or whatever. He does, like, real serious … he really commits to the line reading.”
She continued, “It’s not always the performance I want it to be. I’m just like, ‘Say the lines!’ Big dramatic pauses. He gets really into it. I’m like, ‘I can’t focus. Forget it. I’ll just learn them myself.’”
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Johansson and Channing Tatum star in “Fly Me to the Moon,” – a film based on the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing.
“Fly Me to the Moon” debuts in theaters on July 12.
Cleveland Browns great reveals devastating diagnoses: ‘My body gave out on me’
Cleveland Browns great Bernie Kosar, who led the team to three AFC championship game appearances, says he has liver disease and was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
Kosar, 60, was placed on a transplant list in late spring, a revelation he made in a recent interview with Cleveland Magazine.
The former NFL quarterback explained he was diagnosed with cirrhosis 16 months ago, but he said he had a serious health scare at a Thursday Night Football game between the Browns and the New York Jets he attended last season.
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“My body gave out on me,’’ he told the outlet. “I really felt like I wasn’t going to make it home from the Jets game. I sucked it up, though, and continued to avoid the doctors until the new year. Then, I went into the hospital and got a massive blood transfusion. It was like, ‘How are you alive? How are you moving? Because your hemoglobin levels are so low.'”
Kosar said he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in February by an independent NFL doctor.
Kosar’s doctors told Cleveland Magazine he will need a liver transplant eventually.
FORMER NFL QUARTERBACK BERNIE KOSAR SOUNDS ALARM ON THREAT OF BRAIN INJURIES AFTER 100+ CONCUSSIONS: ‘TRAGIC’
“Liver disease does tend to fluctuate,” Dr. Anthony Post, a hepatologist for University Hospitals, said. “So, he’s on that wave thing where it goes up and down. He’s in a good phase right now, but anything bad could happen.”
Kosar echoed that sentiment, adding he’s in a much better place health-wise after undergoing treatment and a change in lifestyle.
“I wish you could have seen me three months ago,’’ he said. “Actually, maybe not, because I looked like death. I felt like death. E. Coli blood poisoning. Heart trouble. And I really thought I needed the liver transplant ASAP. I was in bad shape.’’
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“It’s amazing that you can feel as good as I do despite all this stuff going on,” he added. “I can see that what I’m doing is making a difference. I strongly believe it will continue. Time will tell.’’
Kosar led the Browns to three AFC championship game appearances. He was cut by Cleveland coach Bill Belichick in 1993 and went on to win a Super Bowl as a backup with the Dallas Cowboys. He passed for 23,301 yards and threw 124 touchdown passes from 1985 to 1996. He was a star at the University of Miami before being drafted by the Browns first overall in the 1985 supplemental draft.
CIA agent reveals how she was able to keep job a secret while dating in viral TikTok video
A former government employee’s TikTok about her strict dating protocols while working in a sensitive position in Washington has gone viral — and now she’s sharing even more information about it.
Brittany Butler, a mom of young children living in the South, is active today on social media, sharing insights and knowledge from her time working at the CIA as a “targeting officer.”
Butler recently touched on a topic that’s turning heads on TikTok: dating.
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The full-time author discussed in a video that currently has over 560,000 views what she could and couldn’t share with her boyfriends while working for the government.
In the video, she said she had two serious boyfriends in her eight years of working at the CIA.
The first boyfriend, she explained, was Mexican American and a Harvard Law student at the time.
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“He and I dated for nine months, and I did have to tell the CIA that I had a serious relationship with him,” she said in the TikTok video.
She added, “The rule is when you have recurring contact with a foreign national, you do have to report it at the CIA.”
Butler said she had to provide her then-employer with her boyfriend’s name, date of birth and a brief background.
As for what she could share about her job with her boyfriend, Butler told Fox News Digital that she would tell men that she “was a consultant for the Department of Defense, making the work sound mundane to avoid further questions.”
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“In Washington, D.C., many people work in defense or government roles, so saying I was a ‘government consultant’ usually sufficed and people knew not to probe further,” she told Fox News Digital.
Butler began dating her husband while working at the CIA as well.
She told Fox News Digital that the pair were dating for about four months before she shared her place of work.
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“I could talk to him about work personalities and whether I had a good or bad day, but that was the extent of it,” she said.
She added, “I couldn’t discuss specifics about my operational activities due to the clandestine nature of my work.”
“The rule is when you have recurring contact with a foreign national, you do have to report it at the CIA.”
Butler shared in her TikTok video that her husband was able to visit the CIA headquarters, after giving his Social Security number, where he saw the common areas.
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Butler told Fox News Digital that she started as an intern with the State Department at the American Embassy in Paris when she was a junior at Florida State University, then went on to work at the CIA full-time.
“Encouraged by mentors there, I applied to the CIA and was recruited as a CIA case officer within the Directorate of Operations,” she said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the CIA for comment.
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After a series of interviews, standardized tests, psychological assessments and polygraph exams, Butler said she became a targeting officer in the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center — first in the Iraq division and then in the Afghanistan-Pakistan department.
“The pace of operations was intense and stressful,” she said. “As a mother of two young sons, I found it challenging to maintain a healthy work-life balance.”
After Butler became a mom for the second time, she decided she didn’t want her “boys to suffer from having a mom who was always away,” so she left the CIA in 2014 to focus on her family.
Today she has three children.
Butler is the author of “The Syndicate Spy: A Juliet Arroway Novel,” a mystery published last year. She told Fox News Digital aims to “change the false narratives about women in intelligence.”
She is also working on another book.