Fox News 2024-08-01 12:08:59


Trump legal spox accuses VP of ‘committing a crime’ for hiding Biden’s cognitive decline

Alina Habba, a legal spokesperson for former President Donald Trump, accused Vice President Kamala Harris of breaking the law by “co-conspiring” to hide President Biden’s cognitive decline during a speech on Wednesday.

Habba was speaking to a crowd of Trump supporters at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, when she made the comments. The lawyer now serves as a senior adviser to Trump’s re-election campaign.

“President Trump has been and is innocent of any crime other than loving this country,” Habba began.

“Let me tell you, Kamala,” she continued. “You are committing a crime because the only co-conspirator I know of the Biden-Harris administration is you, and you have lied to us about President Biden for the last three and a half years.”

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The crowd cheered while Habba delivered the speech.

“The truth always comes out,” she added. “So let me just tell you, America. Her policies are the same ones we’ve been living in for three and a half years, so don’t get it twisted. They don’t work.”

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Trump and Harris have been throwing jabs at each other in recent days as the 2024 presidential election nears. 

Biden dropped out earlier in July after concerns about his age intensified. 

He almost immediately endorsed Harris.

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

Lawmakers, families of 9/11 victims react to plea deal with terrorists: ‘Slap in the face’

Reaction came swiftly after the news that three terrorists who masterminded the Sept. 11 terror attacks will be spared the ultimate punishment after striking a plea deal with prosecutors on Wednesday.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi were awaiting trial in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, when they came to an agreement with the Convening Authority for Military Commissions, Susan Escallier, the Department of Defense (DOD) said.

The three defendants are accused of providing training, financial support and other assistance to the 19 terrorists who hijacked passenger jets and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 11, 2001.

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Upon hearing the news Wednesday, loved ones of the nearly 3,000 people killed during the attacks reacted with anger and disappointment.

“I am very disappointed. We waited patiently for a long time. I wanted the death penalty; the government has failed us,” Daniel D’Allara, whose twin brother, John, was an NYPD officer killed in the attacks, told the New York Post

“I feel like I was kicked in the balls,” Jim Smith, a retired police officer and husband of Moira Smith, the only female NYPD officer who died on 9/11, told the Post. “The prosecution and families have waited for 23 years to have our day in court to put on the record what these animals did to our loved ones.”

Brett Eagleson, who was 15 years old when his father, Bruce, died while working at the World Trade Center in New York City, told the Boston Herald that news of the plea deal was “sh—y timing.

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“It’s just another move to wrap up 9/11 and put it in a box and make it go away,” he said. 

Meanwhile, lawmakers and other public officials blasted the Biden administration for the deal.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called the plea deal a “disgrace” while blaming the Biden administration. 

“Anything short of their execution is a complete and total miscarriage of justice. Time and time again, this administration shows weakness to our adversaries,” he wrote on X. 

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, former President Trump’s running mate in this year’s presidential election cycle, blasted the plea deal while addressing supporters at a campaign rally in Glendale, Arizona, on Wednesday night.

“We need a president who kills terrorists, not negotiates with them,” he told supporters. 

Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, said, “Their crime merits the ultimate punishment. There should be no plea deal and absolutely no leniency.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the three defendants have the blood of Americans on their hands. 

“Yet they were apparently allowed to plead guilty and avoid the death penalty, and potentially received a host of other conditions,” Graham wrote on social media. “From the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan to broken borders and empowering Iran, the Biden-Harris Administration has been a dream team for terrorists and rogue states like Iran.”

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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the deal was a “slap in the face” to the loved ones of those who died. 

“America mourned for weeks afterwards as first responders sifted through the ashes at Ground Zero, at the Pentagon, and at the crash site in Shanksville,” he wrote. “For more than two decades, the families of those murdered by these terrorists have waited for justice. This plea deal is a slap in the face of those families. They deserved better from the Biden-Harris Administration.”

NFL stars’ mom re-posts Olympics ceremony defense that called critics homophobic

Donna Kelce, the mother of Super Bowl champion brothers Travis and Jason, reposted a critical take of the controversy around the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Monday.

The opening ceremony was criticized for making a mockery of “The Last Supper” – one of the most revered moments in Christianity. Those defending the segment have claimed the ceremony was meant to resemble the feast of Dionysus.

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Kelce’s repost called for better education and to limit “mindlessly sharing posts.”

“This is what happens when you ban books and limit education,” the Facebook post she shared read. “The Opening Ceremony of the Olympics wasn’t a mock of the Last Supper. If you have any knowledge of the Greek origin of the Olympics and the French’s rich history of theater you would have gotten this. However, because of your veiled homophobia, some of you can’t discern factual information. 

“This is was what went down last night, so do your own research into the Olympics. 

“The scene was a portrayal of a Greek Dionysus Feast celebration, which is a Greek (the origin of the Olympics) celebration of Dionysus (who is also known as Bacchus) who is the god of festivities, ritual, wine, pleasure, and frenzy. The blue guy…..that’s Dionysus. Dionysus was one of the 12 Olympians. 

“The French are known for theatrics.

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“Historical context and education surrounding the Olympics and its origin is important here in this. Many of you fell for the controversy in spun-up click bait. 

“Stop mindlessly sharing posts and do some research.”

The performance ensemble also included drag queens, a transgender model and a naked singer who was stylized to resemble the Greek god Dionysus. The segment received condemnation from athletes and American and Christian leaders alike.

Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps spoke about it on Sunday.

“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. (The opening ceremony) tried to celebrate community tolerance,” Descamps told reporters, via Reuters.

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“We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense, we are really sorry.”

Major business leader announces he’s switching parties and backing Trump

Former president of PayPal David Marcus announced he has switched political parties and endorsed Donald Trump via X, the site formerly known as Twitter.

The tech entrepreneur, who recently headed up Messenger at Meta, announced he was “crossing the Rubicon and backing the Republican Party” as well as the campaign of former President Donald Trump.

In his lengthy post, Marcus cites an “eye-opening process of disenchantment, zero-basing lifelong beliefs, and rebuilding” in order to reach his ultimate conclusion.

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“I am crossing the Rubicon and backing the Republican Party and President Trump. Many — including a former version of myself — get trapped in a mental framework that becomes their identity and prevents them from radically evolving their thinking with new facts and information. I finally broke free from it.”

“My journey has been a gradual political 180 from where I stood in every previous election. It has been an eye-opening process of disenchantment, zero-basing lifelong beliefs, and rebuilding from there,” wrote Marcus.

Marcus cited an anecdote where, in 2017, he was enlisted to raise $100M from Silicon Valley for the Democratic National Convention in order to “prevent a repeat of Hillary Clinton’s inadequate, outdated 2016 campaign.”

Marcus was shocked to discover that the DNC only intended to use a “single-digit percentage” for tech purposes.

He also cites a 2019 incident after testifying on Meta’s behalf at the Senate and the House. He recalls, “at the time, I still believed the mainstream idea that Democrats were all about serving the People. However, I was shocked to learn that, for the most part, Republicans cared more deeply about their constituents, while Democrats, in my experience, cared more about government power and control.” 

The former PayPal president posited, “this trend of spinning and manufacturing a parallel reality to serve the Dem agenda, solidified by complicit mainstream media, hit home with the Hunter Biden laptop story, the coordinated vilification of President Trump and his followers, and President Biden’s cognitive decline — depriving voters of a voice in a proper primary. These examples displayed the hubris of the current Dem leadership.”

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“You must think the American people are fools to believe the spin on these issues. I despise this elite vs. general population ideology viscerally. This version of the Democratic Party is sidelining moderates and centrists and has adopted an increasingly leftist ideology,” wrote Marcus.

David Marcus is aligned with Trump on technology innovations like crypto and AI as well as foreign policy–especially the Middle East. Marcus opined, “on Iran, this administration is continuing a misguided Obama-era plan to bring Iran closer to the West by unfreezing Trump-era sanctions, thus giving the Mollahs’ regime the ability to fund terrorism and pursue its anti-America, anti-Israel, and anti-Jewish agenda.”

“I believe we need a President who is unequivocally pro: America, the Constitution, business, Bitcoin/crypto, innovation, Israel, small government, legal immigration, free speech, meritocracy, and common sense — and anti: regulatory proliferation, illegal immigration, unjust wars, Iran’s current regime, and domestic groups that oppose American values.”

“These issues are central to President Trump’s platform,” asserted Marcus. The tech entrepreneur does not accept, however, the GOP’s stance on “reproductive rights.”

Marcus completed his post by referencing the attempt on former President Trump’s life at a rally in Butler, PA on July 13.

“It’s impossible to close this post without mentioning President Trump’s recent assassination attempt. The courage and resolve he displayed seconds after being hit by a bullet was awe-inspiring for his followers and detractors alike. This was a man, however imperfect, who, at that moment, incarnated the American spirit in the most vivid way, starting to bring a split nation together,” wrote Marcus.

“In this pivotal moment, confronted with the choices we have, I am endorsing and supporting a return to a Republican administration in 2025,” the post concluded.

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Fellow tech entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale, founder of Palantir Technologies, commented, “Well said. Thank you for your intellectual courage.”

Iran’s supreme leader reportedly orders ‘direct’ attack against Israel

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has commanded Iranian forces to launch a “direct” attack against Israel, according to a report Wednesday.

Three Iranian officials confirmed the situation to The New York Times. The news comes hours after Hamas’ leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Tehran on Wednesday.

The White House has been unable to independently verify Haniyeh’s death as of Wednesday afternoon, but Tehran is placing the blame on the Israel Defense Forces. Israel launched a strike on Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday, but has neither claimed responsibility nor denied killing Haniyeh.

“The criminal, terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our territory and has caused our grief, but it has also prepared the ground for a severe punishment,” Khamenei’s English-language X account said on Wednesday.

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“Martyr Haniyeh was willing to sacrifice his honorable life in this dignified battle for many years. He was prepared for martyrdom and had sacrificed his children and loved ones on this path.”

“It’s not surprising that the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader is vowing to avenge Haniyeh’s assassination,” foreign analyst Lisa Daftari told Fox News Digital. “Haniyeh was a guest of the regime’s, visiting for the inauguration of their new president when the attack took place. In the eyes of the regime, this wasn’t just an attack on Hamas or Haniyeh, it was an attack on the Islamic Republic as well.”

Commanding Officer of the Israeli Air Force Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar issued an ominous statement later on Wednesday, promising that there is nowhere “too far” for Israel to strike if needed.

“The Israeli Air Force defends and operates in all arenas of the war, enveloping the state of Israel with dozens of aircraft, manned and unmanned, ready and prepared within minutes for any scenario, in any arena,” the statement read. “We will act against anyone planning to harm the citizens of the state of Israel, there is nowhere that is too far for us to strike.”

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Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country is in a fight “against Iran’s axis of evil.”

“This is an existential war against a stranglehold of terrorist armies and missiles that Iran would like to tighten around our neck,” Netanyahu said, later adding that Israel has heard “threats from all sides,” after Israel’s recent strike against Beirut.

“We are prepared for any scenario, and we will stand united and determined against any threat,” the leader said. “Israel will exact a very heavy price for aggression against us from whatever quarter.”

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Trump assassination attempt probe gets a major boost from outside source

The FBI has contracted the Israeli tech firm Cellebrite to help in its investigation into Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old Pennsylvania man who tried to kill former President Trump at a rally on July 13 and mortally wounded a supporter in the crowd instead, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

American law enforcement agencies have tapped the company for years for its ability to break into smartphones from a range of Big Tech firms and using different mobile operating systems. 

However, while a Cellebrite software patch helped investigators get into Crooks’ phone within 24 hours of the shooting, the company is not privy to any of the investigation’s findings, according to the source.

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The FBI on Wednesday told Fox News Digital it does not comment on the tools or techniques it uses and could not confirm or deny Cellebrite’s involvement in the Crooks probe. 

The wider investigation involves more than just accessing that data on Crooks’ phone. Providers of encrypted messaging services have been served legal process, and the bureau is awaiting responses from them.

While the FBI obtained a shocking search history and other evidence from the gunman’s phone after he struck Trump in the ear and critically injured two other spectators, they ran into trouble with encrypted apps, authorities told lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

“I think we’ve experienced a range of returns because some of the applications that he was using online were encrypted in nature,” FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said during the hearing Tuesday under questioning from South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.

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Once investigators get a search warrant or other legal authorization, Cellebrite provides tools that can help access encrypted apps and hidden data on a suspect’s smartphone, the firm’s chief marketer, David Gee, told Fox News.

Most present-day smartphone apps use some kind of encryption, he added, and it is not uncommon for them to store data outside the U.S.

“Whether that application was created in the U.S., in Europe, in Asia, the chances are that they have some encryption built into them to ensure that the data is transferred backwards and forwards, and stored on the device, generally encrypted,” he said.

However, reports that Crooks used encrypted apps and had data stored overseas have raised questions about who he was talking to — and about what. Especially after federal authorities acknowledged they were aware of an Iranian threat on Trump’s life before the failed assassination attempt.

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While Abbate said investigators have found no information that Crooks had any co-conspirators, “foreign or domestic,” he added that the encrypted information remains a wild card and said investigators are keeping an open mind until they get all the results back. 

The FBI has gained access to some of Crooks’ emails, he said, but some of his encrypted communications remained unavailable. Authorities are also awaiting responses to legal requests from some of the companies behind the apps.

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Investigators are also continuing to examine information that they have received, including activity from social media accounts that may have been used by the gunman and espoused what Abbate called “differing points of view.”

On Friday, Trump revealed he would be returning to Butler for another rally to honor the bystander who was killed by a stray bullet fired by Crooks.

Crooks fatally struck 50-year-old Corey Comperatore and critically wounded David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74.

Suni Lee joins Simone Biles in firing shots at former teammate over critical remarks

Suni Lee poured gasoline on the fire after Simone Biles fired a shot across the bow of a former American Olympic teammate following the team’s gold medal win at the Paris Olympics.

Biles posted a collage of photos on Instagram showing her and her teammates carrying the American flag across the floor to celebrate their gold medal victory in the team final. In her post on Instagram, Biles did not mince words.

“Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions,” she wrote.

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Biles appeared to be clapping back at criticism from former American Olympic gymnast MyKayla Skinner, who was a part of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics team and won a silver medal on vault after replacing Biles after she left the team to deal with the twisties.

Lee added her piece in the comments section.

“Put a finger down if Simone Biles just ended you,” she wrote.

Before the 2024 Paris Olympics, Skinner gave her opinion of the team.

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“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be. Just notice like, I mean, obviously a lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic,” Skinner said in a since-deleted YouTube video, according to the New York Post.

Skinner issued an apology for her remarks earlier this month.

Biles then wrote that Skinner blocked her on Instagram and Jordan Chiles confirmed it.

McKayla Maroney joked, “It doesn’t get more iconic than this.. She f’d around n found out fr. Feels like I need to apologize just to redeem my first name.”

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Lee now has four Olympic medals to her tally. She won gold in the all-around, a silver in the team final and bronze in the uneven bars in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

FDA approves new test to detect colon cancer for those at average risk

Screening for the second leading cause of cancer deaths just got a bit easier.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of a new blood test for colorectal cancer (CRC).

Shield, made by Guardant Health in California, is the first approved blood test that is considered a primary screening option for the disease and meets Medicare coverage requirements, the company stated.

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The FDA’s approval, announced Tuesday, follows a large clinical trial that included 20,000 average-risk adults, which found that Shield had an 83% sensitivity for the detection of CRC.

Those findings were published in The New England Journal of Medicine in March.

There is another approved blood test, Epigenomics’ Epi proColon, but it is a second-line screening option, which means it can only be given to patients who have been offered first-line options and have a history of not completing CRC screening, according to Michael Weist, a spokesperson from Guardant Health.

Robert Smith, PhD, senior vice president of Early Cancer Detection Science for the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, confirmed that Shield is the only blood test currently available for colorectal cancer screening

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“It compares favorably with other colorectal cancer screening tests,” such as colonoscopy, CT colonography and stool tests, Smith, who is not affiliated with Guardant, told Fox News Digital.

“The test … likely will be more appealing to people who have never been screened, or not recently screened,” he added.

The key advantage of the blood test is that it can be done during a routine doctor’s appointment without the need for prepping or taking an entire day off from work.

“It offers the potential to detect colorectal cancer in a person who is non-adherent with screening recommendations, asymptomatic and willing to get this test based on preference, convenience or both,” Smith said.

“Compared to colonoscopy, it is simpler and less time-consuming.”

Shield has shown “reasonable sensitivity and specificity compared to other blood/stool tests,” according to Dr. Shuji Ogino, chief of the Molecular Pathological Epidemiology program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which is a member of Mass General Brigham in Boston.

“Compared to colonoscopy, it is simpler and less time-consuming,” Ogino, who is not associated with Guardant, told Fox News Digital.

Risks and limitations

While the risks of the Shield test have not been studied in a population of regular users, they are likely to be minimal, according to ACS’ Smith. 

“However, the Shield test does not offer the same level of benefit to prevent colorectal cancer by detecting and removing precursor lesions (polyps), which is a significant benefit from regular screening with the currently recommended tests,” Smith cautioned.

That downside would be offset by more unscreened people choosing to get screenings, he noted.

“The Shield blood test does have a lower degree of sensitivity than the Cologard stool test for detecting colon cancer,” Stephen Grabelsky, M.D., a hematologist and medical oncologist at the Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, told Fox News Digital.

The test is only intended for people with a standard risk for colon cancer, which excludes patients with a family history of colon cancer or a personal history of inflammatory bowel disease, Grabelsy added. (He also was not involved in the test’s development.)

Early detection is key

The compliance rate for colorectal cancer screenings is only about 59% — well below the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable’s goal of 80% for eligible individuals, according to Weist.

The test is expected to be commercially available by this fall. 

“More than one out of three eligible Americans – over 50 million people – do not complete CRC screenings, often due to the perception that other available options, such as colonoscopies or stool-based tests, are invasive, unpleasant or inconvenient,” he said. 

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When detected early, colon cancer has a relative survival rate of 91% — compared to just 14% if the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body. 

“Early detection is critical,” Weist said. “The most effective screening test is the test that gets done.”

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The Shield test is indicated for colorectal cancer screening in individuals age 45 and older who have an average risk for the disease, he told Fox News Digital. 

The test is expected to be commercially available by this fall. 

Patients interested in the Shield test should discuss the benefits and limitations with a health care provider before making a choice, Smith recommended, and should also determine whether their insurance will cover it. 

“It is important to appreciate that a colorectal cancer screening test that is positive is not complete until the patient has had a colonoscopy,” Smith noted.

“Any non-colonoscopy screening test for colorectal cancer that is positive must be followed up with a colonoscopy.”