Fani Willis dealt another big blow as court turns prosecutor power against her

A Georgia judge has ruled that state lawmakers can subpoena Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as part of an inquiry into whether she engaged in misconduct during her prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump.

In his Dec. 23 order, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram gave Willis until Jan. 13 to file a list of claimed privileges and objections to anything that has been subpoenaed.

Willis plans to appeal the decision. 

“We believe the ruling is wrong and will appeal,” former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, who is representing Willis in the case, wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

GEORGIA APPEALS COURT DISQUALIFIES DA FANI WILLIS AND HER TEAM FROM TRUMP ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE

Earlier this month, an appeals court removed Willis from the Georgia election interference case against Trump and others, citing an “appearance of impropriety.” The panel also cited the romantic relationship between Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

“This is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings,” the court said. 

At the time, Trump called the case a “disgrace to justice.”

“It was started by the Biden DOJ as an attack on his political opponent, Donald Trump,” he said, “They used anyone and anybody, and she has been disqualified, and her boyfriend has been disqualified, and they stole funds and went on trips.” 

In August, the Republican-led Senate committee sent subpoenas to Willis seeking to compel her to testify in September. She skipped a hearing that month when lawmakers hoped to question her. 

The committee was formed to examine misconduct allegations against Willis during her prosecution of Trump over efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 election loss in Georgia.

FANI WILLIS WAS ‘TERRIFIED’ BECAUSE HER CASE AGAINST TRUMP WAS ‘WEAK,’ ATTORNEY SAYS

Barnes, Willis’ attorney, argued the subpoenas were overly broad and not related to a legitimate legislative need and that the Senate committee didn’t have the power to subpoena her in the first place. 

One issue raised is that the Georgia legislative term will end when lawmakers are sworn in for their new term on Jan. 13. Republican state Sen. Greg Dolezal said last week that he plans to file legislation to re-establish the committee at the beginning of the 2025 legislative session.

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“The law is clear, and the ruling confirms what we knew all along,” Dolezal wrote in a text Friday. “Judge Ingram rejected every argument made by Willis in her attempt to dodge providing testimony to the committee under oath. I look forward to D.A. Willis honoring the subpoena and providing documents and testimony to our committee.”

Homeowner fatally guns down masked intruder, sheriff says criminals ‘should expect’ it

A Florida sheriff said intruders should “expect to be shot” after releasing information about a homeowner who opened fire at two masked men trying to break into his house, killing one.

The deceased suspect was identified as 23-year-old Jorge Nestevan Flores-Toledo, from Mexico, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

The second suspect, Michel Soto-Mella, 39, an illegal immigrant from Chile, is charged with armed burglary, with additional charges pending, according to the sheriff’s office.

Just after 9 p.m. Thursday, the Manatee County homeowner saw the two men entering the back of his house on his video surveillance system, according to authorities.

HERE ARE 10 TIMES LEGAL GUN OWNERS RECENTLY THWARTED CRIMES IN LIFE-THREATENING SITUATIONS

“He knew something bad was about to happen and he didn’t stall,” MCSO Sheriff Rick Wells said during a press conference Friday. “He grabbed his firearm [and] told his wife to get into a safe spot.”

The homeowner fired multiple rounds, hitting Flores-Toledo “several times,” while Soto-Mella fled the scene, according to the sheriff’s office. 

“I sat down next to the lanai, the door was open,” John Nuceder, who was visiting a family member in the neighborhood, told Fox 13. “I vividly heard three gunshots.”

Authorities said Flores-Toledo was initially reported to be in critical condition before being transported to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where he died Friday morning.

“This is the state of Florida,” Wells said. “If you want to break into someone’s home, you should expect to be shot.”

STUDY SHOWS CONCEALED HANDGUN PERMITS SOARED DURING PANDEMIC, RECORD YEAR-OVER-YEAR INCREASE

Deputies tracked down Soto-Mella, who was in the country illegally after his 90-day visa expired in September, using K9 units and arrested him a few blocks away, according to the sheriff’s office. The scene was secured and everyone involved was accounted for, posing no threat to the community.

Detectives are currently investigating Flores-Toledo’s background and are “seeking to understand” why he and Soto-Mella targeted the home, according to a statement released by the sheriff’s office Friday afternoon.

“We’re trying to get everything that we can from the [surviving] suspect,” Wells said. “He’s being somewhat cooperative, but he’s not telling us everything.”

At a court hearing, Fox 13 reported Soto-Mella used a translator to tell the judge he did not have any guns.

Manatee County homicide detectives said they believe there may be other individuals involved in the crime.

Flores-Toledo, who also went by the name of Anibal Miller-Valencia, was arrested in Oak Brook, Illinois in 2023 and served four months in jail for residential burglary before being released on parole in November, according to authorities. He had an active warrant for a parole violation and was considered “armed and dangerous.”

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The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to inquires from Fox News about whether the homeowner is facing any charges. His identity has not been released, as of Friday night.

Scottie Scheffler undergoes surgery after freak accident on Christmas

After one of the most historic seasons in golf in 2024, 2025 will not get off to an ideal start for Scottie Scheffler.

The reigning PGA Player of the Year and No. 1 golfer in the world will miss next week’s Sentry tournament after he underwent hand surgery.

In a statement released Friday, Scheffler’s manager, Blake Smith, said Scheffler “sustained a puncture wound … from broken glass” in his right hand on Christmas Day preparing dinner.

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“Small glass fragments remained in the palm, which required surgery. He has been told that he should be back to 100% in three to four weeks,” Smith said, adding Scheffler has officially withdrawn from The Sentry.

Scheffler’s next scheduled tournament is the American Express, which begins Jan. 16. This year, the Sentry is labeled a signature event, the first of eight.

Scheffler’s injury comes months after he completed one of the greatest seasons the PGA has ever seen. He kicked off his season with four top 10 finishes in his first five tournaments. Then, he kicked into another gear. He had four wins and tied for second in his next five events. He won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Players, the RBC Heritage and the Masters.

CHARLIE WOODS, 15, MAKES FIRST EVER HOLE-IN-ONE AT PNC CHAMPIONSHIP

His season took a wild turn in May, though, when he was arrested while headed to the second round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla. He spent time in a jail cell before casually shooting a 66 later in the day. He finished tied for eighth in the tournament.

Scheffler then won the Memorial and Travelers in June and then won Olympic gold in Paris. Including the Olympics, Scheffler posted eight wins, two second-place finishes, 17 top 10 finishes and zero missed cuts in 20 events. His seven victories in PGA events are the most since 2007.

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With a $25 million payday from winning the FedEx Cup, Scheffler’s prize money for the 2024 season was over $54 million, by far the most ever won in one season. 

‘Home Alone’ director quit ‘Christmas Vacation’ after ‘bizarre’ meeting with star

Filmmaker Chris Columbus allegedly walked away from one of the biggest Christmas movies of all time because of Chevy Chase.

Columbus, who went on to direct 1990’s “Home Alone,” revealed Chase’s behavior before filming began turned him off from working on the 1989 holiday classic, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”

“I was signed on… and then I met Chevy Chase. Even given my situation at the time, where I desperately needed to make a film, I realized I couldn’t work with the guy,” the director told Vanity Fair.

CHRISTIE BRINKLEY RECREATES HER ‘GIRL IN THE RED FERRARI’ MOMENT FROM ‘NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION’

Columbus recalled his first meeting with Chase and the “bizarre” thing the actor said to him.

“It was just the two of us,” Columbus explained. “He had to know I was directing the movie. I talked about how I saw the movie, how I wanted to make the movie. He didn’t say anything. I went through about a half hour of talking. He didn’t say a word. And then he stops and he says — and this makes no sense to any human being on the planet, but I’m telling you. I probably have never told this story.

“Forty minutes into the meeting, he says, ‘Wait a second. You’re the director?’ And I said, ‘Yeah… I’m directing the film.’ And he said to me the most surreal, bizarre thing. I still haven’t been able to make any sense out of it. He said, ‘Oh, I thought you were a drummer.’ I said, ‘Uhh, okay. Let’s start talking about the film again.’ After about 30 seconds, he said, ‘I got to go.’”

CHEVY CHASE, CHRISTIE BRINKLEY AND BEVERLY D’ANGELO ENJOY ‘NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION’ REUNION

Chase later went to “Christmas Vacation” writer John Hughes and requested the trio meet, according to Columbus.

“Then we had a dinner where John Hughes was present, and I was basically nonexistent,” Columbus admitted. “It was Chevy and Hughes, and they talked about everything except ‘Christmas Vacation.’ We spent two hours together, and I left the dinner and I thought, ‘There’s no way I can make a movie with this guy. First of all, he’s not engaged. He’s treating me like s—. I don’t need this. I’d rather not work again. I’d rather write.’”

Columbus noted he didn’t know why Chase acted that way.

“I guess that sense of humor was funny in the early ’70s,” he told the outlet. “It’s so surreal…Who says anything like that to anybody? It makes no sense. So to tell that story almost makes no sense, but it actually happened. I thought, This was how we’re going to work together? I’m going to be on set and he’s not listening.”

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Columbus exited “Christmas Vacation,” but another opportunity with Hughes was just around the corner.

“I quit ‘Christmas Vacation.’ The next weekend, I got another script from John — and it’s ‘Home Alone,’” he recalled. “‘Home Alone,’ for me, was even more personal, a better script. And I thought, I can really do something with this, and I don’t have to deal with Chevy Chase. That was it. John and I started to work together, and we had the same sensibility.”

Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for Chase.

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Chase and Beverly D’Angelo starred as Clark and Ellen Griswold in the classic family film series that began with an innocent, cross-country drive to Walley World theme park in “National Lampoon’s Vacation.”

The 1983 film, directed by Harold Ramis and written by John Hughes, also starred Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron, Randy Quaid and John Candy. Christie Brinkley played the role of “The Girl in the Ferrari.” 

The Griswolds headed abroad for the second movie, 1985’s “National Lampoon’s European Vacation,” and returned to Chicago for the ultimate holiday tradition, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”

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Russia signals possibility of Ukraine peace talks — with one big condition for US

Trump sends request to Supreme Court as TikTok faces ‘imminent shutdown’ in US

President-elect Trump says he should be the one to make the decision on whether TikTok can continue operating in the United States due to the unique national security and First Amendment issues raised by this case, he said in an amicus brief Friday.

Trump’s argument comes in an amicus brief “supporting neither party,” filed Friday, weeks before the Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments on Jan. 10, 2025 on the law that requires a divestment of TikTok from foreign adversary control.

TIKTOK DIVESTMENT COULD BE ‘DEAL OF THE CENTURY’ FOR TRUMP, HOUSE CHINA COMMITTEE CHAIR SAYS

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a company based in Beijing and connected to the Chinese Communist Party. 

“Today, President Donald J. Trump has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Court to extend the deadline that would cause TikTok’s imminent shutdown, and allow President Trump the opportunity to resolve the issue in a way that saves TikTok and preserves American national security once he resumes office as President of the United States on January 20, 2025,” Trump spokesman and incoming White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital.

“President Donald J. Trump (“President Trump”) is the 45th and soon to be the 47th President of the United States of America,” the brief states. “On January 20, 2025, President Trump will assume responsibility for the United States’ national security, foreign policy, and other vital executive functions.”

Trump argues that “this case presents an unprecedented, novel, and difficult tension between free-speech rights on one side, and foreign policy and national-security concerns on the other.” “As the incoming Chief Executive, President Trump has a particularly powerful interest in and responsibility for those national-security and foreign-policy questions, and he is the right constitutional actor to resolve the dispute through political means.

President Trump also has a unique interest in the First Amendment issues raised in this case,” the brief states. “Through his historic victory on November 5, 2024, President Trump received a powerful electoral mandate from American voters to protect the free-speech rights of all Americans—including the 170 million Americans who use TikTok.”

“President Trump is uniquely situated to vindicate these interests, because ‘the President and the Vice President of the United States are the only elected officials who represent all the voters in the Nation,’” the brief continues.

WILL TRUMP WHITE HOUSE RESCUE TIKTOK FROM LOOMING BAN? PRESIDENT-ELECT HAS DONE A 180 ON THE APP

Trump argues that due to his “overarching responsibility for the United States’ national security and foreign policy— President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture, and seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.”

“On September 4, 2024, President Trump posted on Truth Social, ‘FOR ALL THOSE THAT WANT TO SAVE TIK TOK IN AMERICA, VOTE TRUMP!’” the brief states.

Trump argues that he “alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the Government—concerns which President Trump himself has acknowledged.”

“Indeed, President Trump’s first Term was highlighted by a series of policy triumphs achieved through historic deals, and he has a great prospect of success in this latest national security and foreign policy endeavor,” the brief states.

Trump notes that the 270-day deadline imposed by the new TikTok law “expires on January 19, 2025—one day before President Trump will assume office as the 47th President of the United States.”

That legislation, which was signed into law in the spring, requires a sale of TikTok from ByteDance by Jan. 19. If ByteDance does not divest by the deadline, Google and Apple are no longer able to feature TikTok in their app stores in the U.S.

“This unfortunate timing interferes with President Trump’s ability to manage the United States’ foreign policy and to pursue a resolution to both protect national security and save a social-media platform that provides a popular vehicle for 170 million Americans to exercise their core First Amendment rights,” the brief states. “The Act imposes the timing constraint, moreover, without specifying any compelling government interest in that particular deadline.”

Trump points to the law, which “contemplates a 90-day extension to the deadline under certain specified circumstances.”

JOURNALISTS, COMMENTATORS RESPOND AS TRUMP JOINS TIKTOK, RAPIDLY GAINS 10X MORE FOLLOWERS THAN BIDEN

Supreme Court Justices said they will hold a special session on Jan. 10 to hear oral arguments in the case — an expedited timeline that will allow them to consider the case just nine days before the Jan. 19 ban is slated to take effect. The law allows the president to extend the deadline by up to 90 days if ByteDance is in the process of divesting.

“President Trump, therefore, has a compelling interest as the incoming embodiment of the Executive Branch in seeing the statutory deadline stayed to allow his incoming Administration the opportunity to seek a negotiated resolution of these questions,” the brief states. “If successful, such a resolution would obviate the need for this Court to decide the historically challenging First Amendment question presented here on the current, highly expedited basis.”

TikTok and ByteDance filed an emergency application to the high court earlier this month asking justices to temporarily block the law from being enforced while it appealed a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Lawyers for TikTok have argued that the law passed earlier this year is a First Amendment violation, noting in their Supreme Court request that “Congress’s unprecedented attempt to single out applicants and bar them from operating one of the most significant speech platforms in this nation” and “presents grave constitutional problems that this court likely will not allow to stand.”

TikTok, last year, created its “Project Texas” initiative, which is dedicated to addressing concerns about U.S. national security.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew says “Project Texas” creates a stand-alone version of the TikTok platform for the U.S. isolated on servers in Oracle’s U.S. cloud environment. It was developed by CFIUS and cost the company approximately $1.5 billion to implement.

Chew has argued that TikTok is not beholden to any one country, though executives in the past have admitted that Chinese officials had access to Americans’ data even when U.S.-based TikTok officials did not. TikTok claims that the new initiative keeps U.S. user data safe, and told Fox News Digital that data is managed “by Americans, in America.”

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Trump has signaled support for TikTok. Earlier this month, he met with Chew at Mar-a-Lago, telling reporters during a press conference ahead of the meeting that his incoming administration will “take a look at TikTok” and the looming U.S. ban.

“I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” Trump told reporters.

Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary jumps on Trump’s 51st state comment

President-elect Trump’s interest in making Canada the 51st U.S. state is a “huge opportunity” to do “something great” on the world stage, according to “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary. 

“I think this is a great idea, and I think the potential is massive, and the opportunity is huge,” the Canadian investor said Friday during an appearance on “America’s Newsroom.” “I think at the end of the day, Canadians and Americans, their DNA is the same in terms of what they believe in… freedom.” 

‘ABSOLUTE NECESSITY’: TRUMP SPARKS CONCERNS AFTER FLOATING DESIRE TO CONTROL PANAMA CANAL, GREENLAND

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump mockingly referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor” and reiterated that Canada should be turned into a U.S. state. The former president originally floated the suggestion to Trudeau during a meeting at Mar-a-Lago after threatening to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products, sources told Fox News.

“If Canada was to become our 51st state, their taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other country anywhere in the world,” Trump wrote.

‘AMERICA FIRST’ VS. ‘AMERICA LAST’: WHAT DOES TRUMP’S RETURN MEAN FOR US FOREIGN POLICY?

According to O’Leary, “more than half” of Canadians want to know more about the president-elect’s unique idea. 

“There are 41 million of them who want to know more, want to understand what the proposal really is, because the concept of an economic union has been bandied around for 40 years. And it makes sense because the resources Canada has, the U.S. needs. Particularly power and water,” O’Leary explained. 

TRUMP’S PROPOSED TARIFFS: WHAT CONSUMER PRODUCTS COULD BE IMPACTED?

The O’Leary Ventures chairman also believes that China’s rise to dominance is a dilemma that could prompt the neighboring nations to reach an agreement regarding the northern border. 

“The Pentagon is worried and has been for decades about the northern border where China and the USSR are. And we had NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense) decades ago, but China was a nothing burger back then, and now they’re a serious problem,” he said.

O’Leary concluded, detailing the “prize” that could be achieved through the U.S. and Canada’s union. 

“I think in this kernel of an idea and yes, maybe it was a joke to start. There is something great here to be done, because if you figured out a way to put these two countries together, it would be the most powerful country on Earth, the most powerful military on Earth, the most powerful resources, and no adversary anywhere would mess with it. That’s the prize,” he said.

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‘Miracle therapy’ offers life-changing hope for parents fighting to save their children

Renowned visionary English physician William Harvey wrote in 1651 about how our blood contains all the secrets of life.

“And so I conclude that blood lives and is nourished of itself and in no way depends on any other part of the body as being prior to it or more excellent,” he wrote. “So that from this we may perceive the causes not only of life in general … but also of longer or shorter life, of sleeping and waking, of skill, of strength and so forth.”

Dr. Kevin Watt, team leader of the Heart Regeneration and Disease Laboratory at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne, Australia, understands this concept deeply. 

STEM CELL RESEARCH SHOWING NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR TREATING INFANT HEART DISEASE

He lives it every day, as he and his fellow researchers study and reprogram the potential of the blood to treat disease, specifically heart failure in children. 

Building on the work of Dr. Shinya Yamanaka of Japan, who discovered that specialized cells could be reprogrammed back to immature stem cells, Watt and his collaborators have taken this work several steps further. 

They have used small molecules to turn these new stem cells from the blood into heart cells.

Small heart organoids are developed in the lab — which can then be injected into the failing hearts of children. 

BOY FACING BLINDNESS GETS LIFE-CHANGING EYE SURGERY: ‘SUCH A BLESSING’

Relying on the philanthropic support of the Murdoch Institute, the work is progressing rapidly and has been shown to be effective already in mice, pigs and sheep.

“The vision of our research is to develop new therapies that can transform the lives of children with heart failure.”

Clinical trials in humans will be starting soon, and as Dr. Watt told me in an interview from Australia, “Large sheets of heart tissue will be stitched into the failing heart.” 

Congenital heart failure as well as side effects of chemotherapy in children will be targets for this miracle therapy. Millions of children around the world suffer daily from these conditions. 

Watt said that certain chemotherapy (anthracyclines) have a higher risk of heart failure – up to 15% of the time – and this treatment may be useful to protect the heart.

Watt said, “Heart failure remains an urgent, unmet clinical challenge across the world. While we have made significant advances over several decades in managing the disease, we lack targeted therapies to treat these devastating conditions.”

FAMILY OF CHILD WITH DOWN SYNDROME WENT FROM SHOCK TO GRATITUDE: ‘LOST THE AIR IN MY CHEST’ 

He added, “More than 500,000 children around the world live with advanced heart failure that requires transplantation. The vision of our research is to develop new therapies that can transform the lives of children with heart failure.”

To achieve this, he said, “we use a technology called induced pluripotent stem cells, where we can convert blood or skin cells of patients with heart failure into stem cells that we then turn into heart cells … or even make engineered heart tissues that can be stitched onto the patient’s heart to help it pump.” 

The cells that are targeted in the blood are known as peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). 

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They are “pushed back in time to an earlier time before they became differentiated into heart or kidney cells,” he said. 

Then they can be pushed forward to become healthy heart cells or mutations — or other abnormalities can be corrected.

While the team at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute is making heart cells from stem cells in the blood for clinical use, it’s also using these stem cells to figure out new drugs to treat heart failure directly.  

Said Watt, “Using stem cells from patients with heart failure caused by chemo, we are actively developing new drugs and cell-based treatments that we believe will transform the lives of patients with these conditions … Our research group has pioneered methods to turn these stem cells into miniature heart tissues that can be used to model disease-in-a-dish, to identify new drug targets for the development of new therapies.”

These treatments are personalized and highly expensive, but they’re also highly effective. 

Correcting heart failure in young children is only a few years away from becoming a reality. 

It’s a Christmas miracle that relies on the kind of philanthropic support that MCRI is famous for arranging.

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“Philanthropic support plays a critical role in accelerating the development of these new, transformative treatments,” said Watt, “and this support will be essential as we work toward bringing stem cell-based precision therapies for heart failure to every child who needs it.” 

Visit go.fox/MCRI to donate or to learn more about MCRI’s important research.