Crucial election in California with national implications pits Newsom against Schwarzenegger

Early voting is now underway in California in a special election that will make a huge impact on next year’s battle for the U.S. House majority.

California voters are deciding whether to pass a ballot proposition this November which would dramatically alter the state’s congressional districts, putting the left-leaning state front-and-center in the high-stakes political fight over redistricting that pits President Donald Trump and the GOP against the Democrats.

California state lawmakers this summer approved a special proposition on the November ballot to obtain voter approval to temporarily sidetrack the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and return the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democrat-dominated legislature. Ballots began being mailed out on Monday.

The effort in California, which could create five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts, aims to counter the passage in the reliable red state of Texas of a new map that aims to create up to five right-leaning House seats. Failure to approve what’s known as Proposition 50 would be a stinging setback for Democrats.

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Two-term Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is seen as a likely 2028 Democratic presidential contender, is spearheading the push to pass the proposition.

“If we lose here, we are going to have total Republican control in the House, the Senate and the White House for at least two more years,” Newsom emphasized in a recent fundraising appeal to supporters. “If we win here, we can put a check on Trump for his final two years.”

The push by Trump and Republicans for rare mid-decade redistricting is part of a broad effort by the GOP to pad its razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

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Trump and his political team are aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House, when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections.

Missouri last month joined Texas as the second GOP-controlled state to pass congressional redistricting ahead of next year’s elections. The new map in Missouri is likely to give the GOP another right-leaning seat.

But unlike Texas and Missouri, California voters need to weigh in before giving redistricting power back to the legislature in Sacramento.

“Heaven help us if we lose,” Newsom said in his fundraising pitch. “This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for Democrats.”

Proponents and opponents of Proposition 50 reported raising more than $215 million as of Oct. 2, with much of the money being dished out to pay for a deluge of ads on both sides.

One of the two main groups countering Newsom and the Democrats is labeling their effort “Stop Sacramento’s Power Grab.”

Also getting into the fight is former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was the last Republican governor of California.

During his tenure as governor, Schwarzenegger had a starring role in the passage of constitutional amendments in California in 2008 and 2010 that took the power to draw state legislative and congressional districts away from politicians and placed it in the hands of an independent commission.

“That’s what they want to do is take us backwards — this is why it is important for you to vote no on Prop 50,” Schwarzenegger says in an ad against Proposition 50. “Democracy — we’ve got to protect it, and we’ve got to go and fight for it.”

As ballots start reaching mailboxes across California, a panel of federal judges in Texas is hearing a case in the legal battle over the passage of the new congressional maps.

If redistricting in Texas is blocked, it’s not clear how the ruling would impact California. 

Newsom this summer indicated that California could continue with its nonpartisan redistricting commission if other states rescinded their efforts to change their maps. But that language was not included in the proposition now on the ballot.

Even before Trump initiated his redistricting push, Ohio was under court order to redraw its maps. That could boost Republicans in a one-time battleground state that now leans right.

Republicans in the GOP-dominated states of Indiana and Florida are also mulling congressional redistricting. And Democrats in heavily blue Maryland are weighing a redistricting push.

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Other states considering altering their maps are Democrat-dominated Illinois and red states Kansas and Nebraska. 

Meanwhile, Democrats could pick up a seat in Republican-dominated Utah, where a judge recently ordered the GOP-controlled legislature to draw new maps after ruling that lawmakers four years ago ignored an independent commission approved by voters to prevent partisan gerrymandering. 

WH advisor Stephen Miller mocks ‘dumb question’ about ICE raids from CNN host

Top White House aide Stephen Miller laughed off what he called a “dumb question” about alleged racial profiling in immigration raids during a testy CNN interview on Monday.

Miller spoke with host Boris Sanchez about President Donald Trump’s plan to send National Guard troops to Illinois to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker criticized the decision, calling it an “invasion” by the Trump administration and accusing ICE agents of harassing people based solely on their race.

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“[I]s it the case that, as Pritzker frames it, you are profiling Brown people, that this immigration crackdown is designed to go after people of color?” Sanchez asked.

“Oh, what a dumb question,” Miller laughed. “The illegal aliens who are here are taking jobs away from Blacks. They’re taking jobs away from Whites. They’re taking jobs away from Latinos. They’re taking their health benefits away. They’re taking their school slots away. And of course, in many cases, they’re committing heinous crimes. We cannot have a system of law in this country that privileges illegal aliens over American citizens. And that’s what they’re doing. You know it, and I know it.”

“So that’s not exactly a no, Stephen,” Sanchez responded. “Can you just unequivocally state that immigration policies—”

“I said it was a dumb question.” Miller interrupted. “OK, no, and it was a dumb question.”

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Elsewhere in the interview, Sanchez took issue with Miller describing ICE protesters as “terrorists.”

“Isn’t that hyperbolic to call them terrorists?” Sanchez asked.

“No. If anything, I’m understating the severity of the situation,” Miller said. “What issue was more central in 2024 than turning back the border invasion? And since the day we came in, ICE officers have been subjected to a nonstop campaign of physical violence and harassment every single day, and outside the Portland field office, in particular, every night.”

He added, “They come. They assemble. They fight. They try to impede movement. They physically attack. For what purpose? Because we had an election, Boris. We had one. What’s the purpose? To use actual physical violence to change the result of the election. To say you cannot turn back the border invasion. Do you have any idea how many resources we have had to redesignate to deal with these street terrorists?”

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Sanchez also asked Miller whether there were concerns over a future Democratic president sending National Guard troops to red states over “what amounts to a demonstration that gets rowdy.”

“They’re posting pictures of their kids because it’s a demonstration.” Miller responded sarcastically. “They have a sniper on top of a building firing a high-caliber rifle at an ICE facility because it’s a demonstration, and they are engaged in a vehicle-ramming attacks because it’s a demonstration.”

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

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Miller has frequently clashed with CNN anchors over Trump administration policies. In May, he attacked what he called CNN’s Pamela Brown’s “lazy assumptions” over Trump’s executive power.

Feds: Chicago gang leader offered $10K on Snapchat to kill Border Patrol commander

Federal agents in Chicago on Monday arrested a suspected Latin Kings leader accused of offering cash bounties to capture and kill a senior immigration officer working with “Operation Midway Blitz.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois unsealed a criminal complaint Monday charging 37-year-old Chicago resident Juan Espinoza Martinez with a single count of murder for hire. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified the official Martinez allegedly placed a bounty on as Commander at Large of the U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino.

Martinez was taken into custody Monday morning, though his initial court appearance has not yet been scheduled.

U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros called the alleged plot “an attack on the rule of law.”

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“Putting a price on the life of a law enforcement officer is an attack on the rule of law,” Boutros said. “The defendant’s actions in this case demonstrate a profound contempt for human life and public safety. Under my leadership, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago will hold defendants accountable for their grave criminal actions and ensure that no federal officer has to fear for their life for doing their job.”

According to the complaint, Martinez is a ranking member of the Latin Kings, a gang notorious for violent crimes and drug trafficking across Chicago. DHS said Martinez is from Mexico and entered the U.S. illegally at an unknown date and time.

The complaint alleges Martinez sent Snapchat messages that read, “2k on information when you get him” and “10k if you take him down.”

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In the exchange, Martinez used the handle “monkeys—” and the name “Juan,” according to investigators.

The message included a photo of a senior Border Patrol officer involved in immigration enforcement operations in Chicago as part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s “Operation Midway Blitz.”

The complaint says a confidential source told investigators that after a police-involved shooting on Oct. 4, 2025, involving Border Patrol agents in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood, Martinez sent Latin Kings members to 39th and Kedzie in response.

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The source said Martinez ordered members to obtain firearms and patrol the area around 26th Street and South Drake Avenue to defend Latin Kings territory.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the case reflects the Justice Department’s renewed focus on combating gang violence.

“Placing a bounty on the head of a federal officer is an attack on the rule of law and on every American who depends on law enforcement to keep them safe,” Blanche said. “This case is exactly what we mean when we say Take Back America — taking back every neighborhood and street corner from violent thugs and criminal gangs and returning them to the law-abiding members of our communities.”

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The arrest followed a violent weekend in Chicago marked by multiple shootings and clashes with law enforcement.

On Saturday, federal agents arrested two people accused of ramming government vehicles. One suspect, Marimar Martinez, was shot and wounded; the other, Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, was taken into custody in a separate but similar incident.

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Marimar Martinez’s shooting was among 22 incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday, leaving 29 people shot and four dead, according to Chicago police.

Two years after brutal invasion, Israel fights with ‘extraordinary restraint’

On this, the second anniversary of the massacre in Israel following the invasion from Gaza by Hamas and other terrorists, all commentaries about that day of horrors, should begin by recalling the specifics of that attack — its immediate toll, the brutality of the mayhem and the extraordinary cruelty of killers on that day two years ago. 

Some 6,000 terrorists invaded Israel that morning, including approximately 3,800 terrorists from Hamas and approximately 2,200 terrorists from other terrorist groups and unaffiliated terrorists. 

That’s the equivalent of the landing of two brigades of American troops — an invasion force close to the size of that which the U.S. deployed to Grenada in Operation Urgent Fury in 1983. 

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The terrorists from Gaza murdered more than 1,100 citizens of Israel as well as dozens of foreigners, wounded 5,000 more innocents and kidnapped 250 hostages. 

Of the 250 hostages, 146 have been freed or rescued, and 83 have been confirmed murdered by Hamas and other terrorists. Hamas and its allies continue to hold 20 live hostages and the remains of 30 others who died in captivity. 

For the sake of understanding the scale of the trauma experienced by all of Israel and most of worldwide Jewry as well as all decent people in the world, consider this: the population of Israel is almost 10 million; the population of the United States is 340 million. An equivalent terrorist attack on the U.S. would kill more than 40,000 Americans, wound 170,000 and see 8,500 carried away into captivity. 

Every discussion of the two years of war Israel has endured should begin with those numbers. It’s like noting that when Imperial Japan began its war of choice with the United States on December 7, 1941, a total of 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 were wounded. The casualties included 2,008 Navy personnel, 109 Marines, 218 Army personnel and 68 civilians. In the war of retaliation that followed, according to American Heritage magazine, deaths “in the ‘Pacific War’ included about three million Japanese (two-thirds combatants).”

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American casualties in the Pacific theater over the course of the entire war totaled around 160,000 dead, with a much higher number of wounded. 

So far, since the war Hamas began, at least 913 members of the Israeli Defense Forces have been killed. Again, to get to an equivalent cost in lives of our uniformed forces, America would have to suffer more than 31,000 “killed in action” (“KIA”).

Approximately 33,700 Americans were killed in action in the Korean War, 47,400 in the Vietnam War, 150 in the First Gulf War, around 1,900 in the Afghanistan War, and roughly 3,700 in the second Iraq War. 

So, the civilian toll from a 10/7 level attack on America would be 40,000.  Israel’s military response has cost the IDF and Israel almost the equivalent number of lives lost by the American military in the Korean War and about six times the total number of our war dead in both Iraq Wars and the Afghanistan War waged since 1991. 

These are the numbers and the scale that Americans must absorb and reflect on at length before offering any opinion on Israel’s response to the invasion by Hamas and other terrorists on 10/7 –- or on attacks since then on Israel from Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Shia militias in Iraq and Syria, from within Israel’s West Bank, and of course, directly from Iran in the “Islamic Republic’s” two massive bombardments of Israel since 10/7. 

Israel’s seven front war has now entered its third year and may end soon. The United States has no parallel in our collective experience to the past two years in Israel. 

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But only the willfully ignorant will ignore the scale of that attack on Israel or the burden Israel has borne in the two years since then without making some mental calculations as to what America would have done in the aftermath of anything approaching an equivalent strike on her and her people. 

That Israel has conquered all its enemies, on all seven fronts, should not dull the sense of shock about what happened two years ago. 

That Israel’s response has been one of the most discriminate wars ever waged in retaliation after being invaded and brutalized is an understatement. Propagandists for Hamas and Iran and all of Israel’s other enemies have counted on the endless churning of the news cycle to dim our memories of that awful day and obscure our vision of how carefully Israel has responded in its just battles that have followed. 

Those propagandists have actually succeeded among the West’s fellow travelers and useful idiots, but not among any objective and serious outside observers. 

Those observers will conclude that no other country in history has shown as much restraint as Israel in waging an obviously just war in response to such an invasion and slaughter. 

John Spencer is a U.S. Army veteran of the Iraq War. He now studies urban warfare at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He has studied Israel’s military operations in Gaza with  professional detachment and a scholar’s  approach to data and history. 

“Israel has taken extraordinary steps to limit civilian harm,” Spencer posted on X in late July. Israel “warns before attacks using text messages, phone calls, leaflets, and broadcasts,” he continued. “It opens safe corridors and pauses operations so civilians can leave combat areas. It tracks civilian presence down to the building level. I have seen missions delayed or canceled because children were nearby. I have seen Israeli troops come under fire and still be ordered not to shoot back because civilians might be harmed.”

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Spencer, aware of the propaganda campaign waged against the IDF unequivocally 24/7/365 on social media and via “activist journalism,” laid down the facts at length:

 “Israel has delivered more humanitarian aid to Gaza than any military in history has provided to an enemy population during wartime. More than 94,000 trucks carrying over 1.8 million tons of aid have entered the territory. Israel has supported hospitals, repaired water pipelines, increased access to clean water, and enabled over 36,000 patients to leave Gaza for treatment abroad.

The IDF has coordinated millions of vaccine doses, supplied fuel for hospitals and infrastructure, and facilitated the flow of food and medicine through the UN, aid groups, and private partners. The U.S.–Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation alone has delivered more than 82 million meals—one to two million a day—while weakening Hamas’s control over aid. This is not genocide. It is responsible and historic mid-war humanitarian policy.”

Israel has done this against enemies that prepared for a siege in response to its invasion and savagery, by constructing an elaborate underground fortress of tunnels and redoubts — an underground warren outfitted to withstand what it thought would be a typical Israeli war of limited duration. Hamas planned on tactical surprise and strategic survival because it knows the history of international pressure on Israel not to win wars but only not lose them. 

Not this time. While fighting a multi-front war with more restraint than history has ever recorded anywhere in the annals of war, Israel has never flagged in its determination to set free its hostages and to destroy the enemies which began this war. It appears poised to do both. But it is not over yet. 

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10/7 ought to have changed Americans’ understanding of Israel and the threats which surround it. The savagery of that day two years ago — captured on film by the terrorists, undeniable and undenied — stunned and revolted most civilized people and scars and sickens any normal person who watched it. That kind of fanaticism evokes the worst of World War II or Stalin’s or Mao’s epic cruelty. Worse, in fact, as they did not appear to publicly celebrate death. Even the Nazis were ashamed of their barbarism. 

Not Hamas and its allies. They celebrated their barbarism. Israel will never forget. Neither should the West. 

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The lesson of 10/7 that everyone should hold on to: When enemies declare their intent to kill you and your family, to torture and maim before killing or abducting, to wipe out your country and your race or co-religionists — believe them.  Understand that those enemies are serious and, given the opportunity, that they will do exactly those things. 

And they will do them with glee and a bloodlust, we had thought subdued, at least in the West. 

The events of 9/11 did not prepare Americans for 10/7 because the horror of that day appeared to have been perpetrated by 19 hijackers and a handful of planners, though Afghanistan’s Taliban provided them a safe haven from which to plot and plan.  

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Six thousand invaders was beyond our imagination. It should not be now. 

For what Hamas did on 10/7, it, and its fellow fanatics, would gladly do again and again to Israel, the United States and any open and pluralist society. The evil of fanatical theocrats is still there, along with the evils of the radical left and its atheist overlords. Every 10/7 should be an Ebenezer to mankind’s capacity for cruel killing and its celebration — not just in Israel but in America and all other open societies.   

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‘Wild Things’ star sobs on stand describing alleged abuse by husband hours after surgery

LOS ANGELES – Denise Richards broke down in tears in the courtroom Monday as she recalled the alleged abuse she endured at the hands of her estranged husband, Aaron Phypers.

The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star – who was granted a temporary restraining order against Phypers on July 17 amid their ongoing divorce – took the stand to testify against her estranged husband.

Dressed in blue leather, a composed Richards described multiple allegations of physical and emotional abuse as she detailed terrifying incidents that left the mom-of-three fearful for her life. 

At one point during the hearing, Richards pleaded for a tissue and began crying while recalling a particularly abusive event in July. 

Richards claimed Phypers got “very volatile” with her at the Four Seasons hotel just hours after the reality TV star had undergone multiple cosmetic surgeries – including a face lift. 

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Phypers allegedly tried to search through Richards’ devices while she was sleeping. He allegedly hit her face and damaged a drain in the process.

“That is when I really, really knew that our marriage was over because there’s been physical abuse, but it kept getting worse and worse,” Richards testified. “But the fact that he did that to me five hours after coming out of a seven-hour surgery … made me feel a lot of things. Scared and vulnerable. I couldn’t walk by myself.”

DENISE RICHARDS’ EX CHARLIE SHEEN, BRANDI GLANVILLE TO TESTIFY IN DIVORCE DRAMA: WHAT DO THEY KNOW

Richards continued, “And the person I looked to as my husband to protect me, wasn’t anymore. That’s when I really, really knew there wasn’t going back. To do that to your wife coming out of surgery?”

“I felt broken and defeated and so alone and just so vulnerable because I just had an extensive surgery. Him knowing the body and wellness and working on people … and to do that to your wife?”

The “Wild Things” star recalled another incident of abuse earlier in the year.

“[Aaron] started to argue with me when I brought up asking him when his parents and family were going to move out of the house,” Richards said of Phypers, whose family moved into their shared home months prior. “I was told every month that they were leaving. When I started to bring it up, he got very angry with me and volatile. He got very close to me and I had just recovered from a full face lift and I still had stitches by my ears.”

Richards described one instance in which Phypers allegedly grabbed her by her arms while she was recovering from her surgeries. 

“He would yell and call me names. Once he found out I was texting another man, he would flip it and call me a cheating w—- and a c— and a lying b—- and he would make it about that. And then he would calm down, and we would be in separate rooms, and he would come back at me and start arguing again.”

“He grabbed my arms,” she claimed. “I was three weeks out of a breast augmentation, lipo and the face lift. I was feeling extremely vulnerable and in pain. I asked him to please stay at the other house with his family. I needed to rest and heal and couldn’t have him around me like that.”

After describing her 5-foot, four-inch small stature in comparison to Phypers’ six-foot frame, Richards remembered feeling her body feeling “extra sensitive” to pain following a grueling surgical process.

“The first surgery was 7.5 hours, a very complicated one. The other was 6 hours. I was in so much pain as it was, and he knew that … and for him to grab me and be so forceful, it caused a lot of pain for me,” she claimed.

Recalling an incident from April, Richards said she woke up to Phypers allegedly squeezing her head. 

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“In April, we had gotten back from a work trip. We were lying on the couch, and he wanted to watch a show and stream it from my phone, so we were watching a TV show and I fell asleep on the couch,” she recalled. “I woke up to him squeezing my head with his hands. My heart started beating so fast. He said, ‘You f—ing b—-, I just saw you’ve been talking to Rudy.’ I was shocked because my phone was opened to stream, he was able to get in and see my messages.”

“I thought I had deleted them, but I hadn’t,” she said. “He started to get louder, and I told him to be quiet and that the girls are sleeping upstairs,” she added. 

Richards said the alleged altercations made her feel extremely “vulnerable and scared.”

“It made me feel sad. It made me feel intimated by him – he’s very big. Just very vulnerable.”

Phypers filed for divorce from Richards on July 7. He cited irreconcilable differences and is seeking spousal support from the “Real Housewives” star.

A judge granted Richards’ request for a temporary restraining order against Phypers amid their ongoing divorce on July 17.

“Throughout our relationship, Aaron would frequently violently choke me, violently squeeze my head with both hands, tightly squeeze my arms, violently slap me in my face and head, aggressively slam my head into the bathroom towel rack, threaten to kill me, hold me down with his knee on my back to the point where I would have to plead with him to get off me so that he would not kill me and hack into my laptop and phone and download all of my text messages,” Richards claimed in the documents, filed on July 16.

“Aaron regularly threatened to ‘break my jaw’ and would cry, beg me to stay, and promise to get help – none of which ever happened. Aaron has caused me at least three concussions.”

“Until now, I have been afraid to report Aaron to the police or file for a restraining order because he has repeatedly threatened to kill himself and me if I reported him to the police, among his other threats of harm to me and himself if he is reported for his abuse to anyone,” Richards continued. 

Additionally, said Richards, Phypers “threatened that I would ‘disappear’ if I called the police.”

Phypers denied all allegations of mental or physical abuse in a statement at the time.

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“I want to address recent rumors and speculation that have surfaced regarding my relationship with my wife, Denise Richards,” he told People. “Let me be unequivocally clear: I have never physically or emotionally abused Denise – or anyone. These accusations are completely false and deeply hurtful. Denise and I, like many couples, have faced our share of challenges, but any suggestion of abuse is categorically untrue. I have always tried to approach our marriage with love, patience, and respect.”

He concluded, “I ask for privacy as we navigate personal matters, and I hope that the public and media will refrain from spreading harmful and baseless claims.”

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In court documents filed on Sept. 29 and obtained by Fox News Digital, Phypers’ lawyers named Richards’ ex Charlie Sheen and “RHOBH” alum Brandi Glanville as witnesses. 

In the filing, Phypers’ attorneys stated that Sheen could testify regarding “Denise’s history of not being truthful and of drug and alcohol abuse.” 

On Sept. 30, Richards responded to Phypers’ witness list by filing an objection that was obtained by Fox News Digital.

“This person is not a percipient witness to abuse committed by Petitioner against Respondent,” the document said of Sheen and Glanville, as well as other named witnesses, including Richards’ father Irv Richards. 

Phypers’ witness list stated that Irv’s testimony would include “communications from Denise regarding the case and her plans to violate court orders restricting disposal of assets.”

The witness list also named Richards herself, who would be asked to address “all of the false allegations being made against Aaron as well as her violations of court orders, her lack of fear of Aaron including phone calls and messages and video sent, her unreliability as a witness, and her violence against Aaron.”

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In addition, the witness list included Phypers himself and three of his family members who would speak to “all of Denise’s allegations, as well as her [alleged] violations of court orders, her lack of fear, phone calls, messages, video she sent, violence by her, breaking Aaron’s phone, trespassing in family members’ rooms, Denise’s drug and alcohol use.”

Chiefs star’s touchdown days after Swift’s album release sparks controversy

Travis Kelce started the scoring for the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but NFL fans raised questions about the call on the field.

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs had the ball on the 2-yard line on their second drive of the game. He snapped the ball and found Kelce cutting across the goal line. However, officials initially threw a penalty flag over a possible offensive pass interference committed by JuJu Smith-Schuster.

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After a conversation, the officials picked up the flag. Fans debated on social media over whether the Chiefs got away with one.

Regardless, the Chiefs went up 7-0. Kansas City eventually lost to Jacksonville, 31-28.

It was only Kelce’s second touchdown catch of the season. Mahomes targeted him early in the game against the Jaguars. He had three catches on four targets along with the touchdown through the first quarter.

The score also came days after Kelce’s fiancée Taylor Swift released her new album, “The Life of a Showgirl.” Kelce and the podcast he hosts with his brother, Jason, are mentioned numerous times during the duration of her album.

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Swift spoke about her album on BBC Radio 2 and shut down a question about whether her latest album could be her last as she’s set to get married to the star tight end.

“That’s a shockingly offensive thing to say,” Swift said. “It’s not why people get married, so that they can quit their jobs.”

Swift emphasized she’s not planning on quitting music anytime soon.

“It’s like, I love the person that I am with because he loves what I do, and he loves how much I am fulfilled by making art and making music,” she said.

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“That’s the coolest thing about Travis: he’s so passionate about what he does that me being passionate about what I do, it connects,” Swift added. “There’s no point in time where he’s gonna be like, ‘I’m really upset that you’re still making music.’ Imagine [him saying], ‘The music that I signed up for, that I knew you love, I thought you were going to stop doing that.’”

Police union calls on Jay Jones to quit after claim more dead cops would mean fewer shootings

Jay Jones, Virginia’s embattled Democratic attorney general candidate, once allegedly suggested that if more police officers were killed, they would shoot fewer people, a former colleague in the state legislature said.

Republican Del. Carrie Coyner told Virginia Scope on Monday that during a 2020 conversation about qualified immunity, she told Jones that without the legal protection, police officers would get killed, the New York Post reported.

“Well, maybe if a few of them died, that they would move on, not shooting people, not killing people,” Jones responded, according to Coyner.

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Jones was already under fire after Coyner previously revealed 2022 text exchanges in which he suggested he would shoot then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert over Adolf Hitler. He also said Gilbert and his wife should have to watch his “fascist” children die.

At one point, Jones wrote, “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler, and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”

The Fraternal Order of Police of Virginia sent a letter to Jones on Monday, calling for him to bow out of the Attorney General race immediately, while also condemning his actions.

“The Virginia Fraternal Order of Police is aware of the recent text message scandal involving you, the Democrat candidate for Attorney General. While this incident may have occurred in 2022, this conduct has no place in our society or democracy, especially from an elected official who is running to be the top prosecutor in Virginia,” the FOP wrote. “The men and women of the Virginia Fraternal Order unequivocally condemn these violent text messages sent by you about a political opponent and his family.”

The FOP said it supports everyone’s right to “respectful and peaceful discussions” with politicians, though “calling for any type of violence is unacceptable.”

“We have seen what this type of rhetoric has caused in other parts of the country. The men and women of law enforcement work tirelessly to combat the violence you wished on a fellow Virginian and his family,” the FOP added. “Therefore, the members of the Virginia Fraternal Order of Police believe that you, Jay Jones, are unfit for the office of Attorney General of Virginia. It is time you hold yourself accountable for these actions and withdraw from the Attorney General race immediately.”

Jones is also facing calls from Republicans to drop out of the attorney general race.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Coyner said Jones, a Democrat, is unfit for office.

“My position is very clear. It is never acceptable to think that killing people is a justifiable method to achieve policy changes. Period. Anyone that advocates for killing someone for disagreeing with them is not qualified to serve,” Coyner said.

YOUNGKIN PRESSES DEMS TO PUSH JAY JONES OFF VIRGINIA AG TICKET AFTER ‘BEYOND DISQUALIFYING’ MESSAGES SURFACE

Jones denied the new allegations.

“I did not say this. I have never believed and do not believe that any harm should come to law enforcement, period. Every single day, police officers put their lives on the line to protect our communities, and I am deeply grateful for their service and sacrifice. As Attorney General, I will work hand-in-hand with law enforcement to support their work,” Jones told Virginia Scope.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Coyner and Jones.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Jones should abandon his campaign in light of the messages, saying they were “beyond disqualifying.”

“This violent, disgusting rhetoric targeted at an elected official and his children is beyond disqualifying,” Youngkin wrote in an X post Saturday. “Jay Jones said that ‘Gilbert gets two bullets to the head’ and then hoped his children would die. Read those words again.”

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Meanwhile, no high-level Democrats have come out against Jones.

Trump ends Venezuela talks, military options loom, new report says

President Trump has stopped diplomatic discussions with Venezuela in his bid to end drug trafficking and cartels operating in the U.S., according to a report by the New York Times.

The outlet cited U.S. officials and claimed Trump has closed the door on negotiations, potentially setting in motion increased military action against drug traffickers, cartel ships or President Nicolás Maduro’s government.

According to the report, Richard Grenell, the special presidential envoy who was leading talks with Maduro, was informed Oct. 2. that all diplomatic contact must stop. 

TRUMP SAYS ‘WE’LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS’ WHEN ASKED ABOUT POSSIBILITY OF STRIKING VENEZUELA AMID RISING TENSIONS

During a meeting with top military leaders, Trump had reportedly called Mr. Grenell directly and delivered the new order.

The president reportedly felt impatience with what the administration sees as Venezuelan intransigence.

Reports said that in September, Maduro wrote a letter to Trump and denied Venezuela trafficked drugs. He offered further negotiations with the U.S. through Grenell.

Officials also told the New York Times that the president was frustrated with Maduro’s refusal to step down voluntarily.

VENEZUELAN MILITARY JETS BUZZ US NAVY SHIP IN ‘HIGHLY PROVOCATIVE’ MOVE, PENTAGON SAYS

The Trump administration has accused Maduro of overseeing a “narco-state,” indicting him on drug trafficking charges and offering a $50 million reward for his arrest.

Senior officials said several plans have been drawn up, including potential operations aimed at removing Maduro from power. 

TRUMP TOUTS US STRIKE AS MADURO SLAMS MILITARY ‘THREAT’ OFF VENEZUELA

Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio has also described Maduro as a “fugitive from American justice” and an “illegitimate leader” in the past.

Trumps latest move comes amid escalating U.S. military activity and strikes against supposed cartel boats near Venezuelan waters. 

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Last month, the administration formally notified Congress that the U.S. was engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, designating cartel members as “unlawful combatants.” 

Trump admin slaps 25% tariff on medium- and heavy-duty trucks starting next month

President Donald Trump said on Monday that his administration will impose a 25% tariff on medium- and heavy-duty trucks next month. 

“Beginning November 1st, 2025, all medium and heavy-duty trucks coming into the United States from other countries will be tariffed at the rate of 25%,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

The White House did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.

BACK-TO-BACK HIGHS: AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER BRING IN $62.6B IN TARIFF REVENUE

The U.S. trucking industry is a cornerstone of the national economy, moving roughly 73% of all domestic freight, according to the American Trucking Associations. 

Around 2 million Americans work as heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, with many more employed as mechanics and support staff, according to data provided by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 

What’s more, profit margins across the U.S. logistics sector are typically slim, leaving it highly sensitive to any unexpected increases in operating costs.

The top five import sources by customs value are Mexico, Canada, Japan, Germany and Finland, according to data compiled by the United States International Trade Commission.

Those trade relationships will take center stage this week, as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump will meet with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday and Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Thursday.

BESSENT DEFENDS TRUMP’S TARIFFS AGAINST CLAIMS THEY HARM US BUSINESSES

Leavitt declined to share details about Trump’s upcoming discussions with the leaders but said trade policy will likely be among the topics.

The latest revelation comes as the Supreme Court weighs the legality of Trump’s sweeping trade policy – a central piece of his economic agenda.

The White House has previously defended Trump’s tariffs as a legitimate use of presidential powers to protect the economy in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

“We look forward to ultimate victory on this matter with the Supreme Court,” wrote White House spokesperson Kush Desai.

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The U.S. government collected $31.3 billion in tariff revenue in September, according to Treasury Department data released Sept. 29.

Tariff revenues rose steadily from $17.4 billion in April to $23.9 billion in May, before climbing to $28 billion in June and reaching $29 billion in July.

American businesses pay these import taxes directly to the federal government, but they often pass the cost along by raising prices – meaning consumers ultimately shoulder much of the burden.