Category: Dramas

New video of U.S. troops being shot at overseas contradicts Vice President Kamala Harris’ claim the U.S. does not have troops in an active combat zone, according to Rep. Jim Banks.

The harrowing footage shows a firestorm of bullets and explosives targeting U.S. troops and was taken within the last “few months,” according to the Indiana Republican, who obtained it from a service member. 

The time and place of the footage cannot be divulged due to national security concerns. 

During her debate with former President Trump last week, Harris boasted of the Biden administration’s efforts to get U.S. troops out of war zones like Afghanistan.

MILITARY EXPERTS REJECT HARRIS CLAIM OF ‘NO US SOLDIERS IN COMBAT ZONES’ 

“There is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world, the first time this century,” she claimed. 

“That is just a complete lie,” Banks told Fox News Digital. “This video proves that we have troops being fired on.”

“Without a doubt,” U.S. troops are being fired at regularly, added Banks, an Afghanistan veteran and Armed Services Committee member. 

“We have troops currently in Syria. We still have troops in Iraq. We have troops in the Middle East. The Houthis are using our Navy ships as target practice. We have dangerous threats around the world, and Kamala Harris is trying to score cheap political points and lie to the American people right before the election to say that we don’t have troops in combat zones,” Banks said. 

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Iraq and Syria are designated combat zones, and troops that serve there earn combat pay. The U.S. has about 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria. The Defense Department is in talks about a plan to pull Americans out of Iraq beginning next year.

In an operation last month, U.S. troops and Iraqi forces killed a senior commander with the Islamic State, in addition to several other prominent militants, for a total 14 ISIS operatives. 

Five U.S. troops were wounded in the raid itself and two were injured from falls during the operation. 

The Islamic State group seized territory at the height of its power and declared a caliphate over swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014. It was defeated in Iraq in 2017, but attacks by ISIS sleeper cells across Iraq and Syria have been on the rise over the past few years. 

The Pentagon told Fox News Digital that service members are stationed in various dangerous locations but noted that those deployments are made by the executive branch and not due to wars declared by Congress.

“An aspect of military service includes serving in locations where hostile actions may occur,” a defense official said. “Those locations are designated by executive order and/or the secretary of defense.

“However, it’s important to note that just because a service member is in one of these locations does not mean they are engaged in war,” the official added. “The U.S. is not currently engaged in a war and does not have troops fighting in active war zones anywhere in the world.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to avert a partial government shutdown failed on Wednesday. 

It was voted down 202 to 220, with two Republicans – Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky. – voting “present.”

At least nine Republicans voted against House GOP leadership’s bill, a six-month extension of the current year’s federal funding levels coupled with a measure to require proof of citizenship in the voter registration process.

Three Democrats voted in support of the measure – Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., and Don Davis, D-N.C.

The bill began hemorrhaging support soon after Johnson rolled it out during a conference call with House Republicans earlier this month – to the frustration of the majority of the House GOP.

CLUB FOR GROWTH POURS $5M INTO TIGHT HOUSE RACES AS GOP BRACES FOR TOUGH ELECTION

A significant number of Republicans object to a stop-gap spending patch called a continuing resolution (CR) on principle – believing it to be an unnecessary extension of government bloat.

National security hawks expressed concern about the impact of a six-month funding extension on military readiness without added funds to keep up with rising costs.

The discord has caused tensions to run high within the House GOP.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a vocal supporter of the bill and author of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, said of fellow Republicans: “I would dare any one of my colleagues who are against this plan, come forward with a better plan that we will actually be able to move, pass, and unite the Republican Party to go beat Democrats.”

“Don’t predict failure and then be the reason why we fail – and that’s what some of my friends are doing, unfortunately,” Roy said on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” program. 

Johnson allies have also pointed out that this plan would be a strong opening salvo in a negotiation with the Democrat-controlled Senate on government funding – the speaker himself has repeatedly said the SAVE Act is worth fighting for.

JOHNSON UNVEILS TRUMP-BACKED HOUSE GOP PLAN TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, SETS UP BATTLE WITH SCHUMER

Both Republican and Democratic leaders have conceded a CR is necessary to give congressional negotiators more time past the Oct. 1 deadline to hash out fiscal year 2025’s priorities.

Democrats, however, have called for a “clean” CR free from conservative policy riders. And senior lawmakers in both parties argued that a CR through December is the best course of action to allow Congress to reevaluate after the election.

Johnson has repeatedly insisted he had no “plan B” beyond Wednesday’s vote. He said as much to GOP lawmakers in a closed-door Wednesday morning meeting, two sources told Fox News Digital.

MCCARTHY’S ‘FINAL STRUGGLES’ THREATEN TO HAUNT JOHNSON’S GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FIGHT

But with his initial plan defeated, Johnson is now caught between two warring Republican factions – one that wants him to leverage a partial government shutdown, and one that is reluctantly conceding that the House GOP could be left with no choice but to pass a “clean” CR into December.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, who initially backed the six-month CR plus SAVE Act plan, more recently advocated for congressional Republicans to shut down the government if they did not get “absolute assurances on election security.”

A majority of Republicans, however, are publicly and privately conceding that they would bear the brunt of public anger over a government shutdown weeks before Election Day.

Vulnerable Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., insisted to reporters on Wednesday morning that “there’s not going to be a shutdown.”

When asked directly about Trump’s insistence, Lawler answered, “I’m not shutting the government down. My colleagues aren’t shutting the government down.”

In an effort to “sow discord and shape the outcome of U.S. elections”, Iranian cyber actors sent messages during the summer to people involved in President Biden’s then re-election campaign containing stolen material from former President Trump’s campaign, U.S. agencies said.

“Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with President Biden’s campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign as text in the emails,” the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a joint statement on Wednesday. 

The agencies noted that there is currently no information indicating if recipients replied to the messages.

IRAN TRYING TO SABOTAGE TRUMP’S PRESIDNETIAL CAMPAIGN: US INTELLIGENCE

The U.S. intelligence agencies also alleged that Iran has continued their election interference since June and has sent stolen Trump campaign material to U.S. media organizations.

“Furthermore, Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump’s campaign to U.S. media organizations,” they said.

The agencies said that the continued election interference from Iran is to “stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process.”

“As the lead for threat response, the FBI has been tracking this activity, has been in contact with the victims, and will continue to investigate and gather information in order to pursue and disrupt the threat actors responsible,” they said. “Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities as we approach November.”

Iran is not the only foreign adversary accused of meddling with the 2024 presidential election. On July 10, ODNI officials called Russia the “preeminent threat” to the election.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced Wednesday it won’t endorse either Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Trump in the 2024 White House race.

The powerful union decided to remain neutral in a presidential race for the first time in over a quarter-century despite releasing internal polling of the union’s rank-and-file membership showing majority support for Trump.

And the populist former president and his campaign quickly spotlighted the strong support among union workers.

“It’s a great honor. They’re not going to endorse the Democrats. That’s a big thing,” Trump told reporters shortly after the Teamsters’ announcement during a stop in New York City ahead of a rally on nearby Long Island.

DAVID MARCUS: WHY TEAMSTERS MEMBERS THINK TRUMP, NOT HARRIS, IS THE REAL FRIEND OF THE WORKING MAN

In a release titled “Union Workers Support President Donald Trump,” the campaign highlighted the former president’s more than 25-point margin over the vice president in both online and phone surveys of Teamsters.

Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt argued in a statement that “the hardworking members of the Teamsters have been loud and clear — they want President Trump back in the White House. These hardworking men and women are the backbone of America and President Trump will strongly stand up for them when he’s back in the White House.”

The powerful union has over 1 million members in the U.S. and is deeply connected to working-class voters in the key Midwestern general election battlegrounds and in other swing states across the country. Until now, it had endorsed the Democratic candidate for president in every election since 1980.

DNC APPARENTLY SNUBS TEAMSTERS PRESIDENT FOLLOWING HIS HISTORIC RNC SPEECH

And the Teamsters became the only one of the nation’s largest 10 unions not to back Harris in the 2024 presidential showdown.

Asked if the move by the Teamsters will affect the election, Trump said, “I think it will. Yeah, I think so. The Teamsters carry a lot of weight.”

Trump’s support among Teamsters has surged since Harris replaced President Biden at the top of the Democratic Party’s 2024 ticket two months ago, the union’s data indicated. The union’s polling prior to Biden dropping out showed the president was ahead of Trump among members, 44.3% to 36.3%.

Biden made history as the first president to walk the picket lines with striking workers.

In explaining the reasoning for declining to endorse a 2024 presidential candidate Wednesday, the union said in a statement, “The union’s extensive member polling showed no majority support for Vice President Harris and no universal support among the membership for President Trump.”

Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said, “Neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business.

UNION LEADER’S PROVOCATIVE RNC SPEECH DRAWS IRE FROM SOME IN ORGANIZED LABOR

“We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries — and to honor our members’ right to strike — but were unable to secure those pledges.”

O’Brien spoke to reporters Monday after the union’s executive board meeting with Harris. The board met earlier this year with Trump and separately with Biden. O’Brien said the polling of the rank-and-file members would be an important factor but not the only factor in whether they would endorse, and, if so, whom they would endorse.

O’Brien noted that any endorsement is “going to come down to the rank-and-file members, the polling and also the discussion and deliberation of the general executive board.”

He also reiterated his criticism of Trump’s recent comments in an interview with billionaire business mogul Elon Musk, when the former president praised the tech CEO for retaliating against striking workers by firing them, which is illegal.

Asked if Trump’s comments would affect the Teamsters endorsement, O’Brien said, “It plays into the decision.”

The Harris campaign, in a statement to Fox News after the union opted to remain neutral, pointed to endorsements from “many Teamsters locals and rank and file.”

“While Donald Trump says striking workers should be fired, Vice President Harris has literally walked the picket line and stood strong with organized labor for her entire career,” Harris campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said.

“The vice president’s strong union record is why Teamsters locals across the country have already endorsed her — alongside the overwhelming majority of organized labor. As the vice president told the Teamsters on Monday, when she is elected president, she will look out for the Teamsters rank and file no matter what because they always have been and always will be the people she fights for.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. 

An Arizona sheriff told House lawmakers Wednesday a proposal for a wall on the southern border has a “racist component” to it unless a wall is built on the United States’ border with Canada as well. 

Testifying before the House Committee on Homeland Security on the border crisis, Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway explained how immigrants have a positive economic effect during an inquiry from Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.

“They actually reduce price inflation. You see help wanted signs all over the United States. If you add productivity to the economy, it makes the economy more productive,” Hathaway said. 

Hathaway then addressed calls for a wall on the southern border with Mexico. 

BIDEN-HARRIS BORDER CRISIS: VICTIMS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME TESTIFY IN HOUSE HEARING

“I hate to use the ‘R’ word, but it’s the 800-pound gorilla in the room,” he said. “There’s a xenophobic aspect to this. There was never a proposal to build a wall on the northern border, on the Canadian border. There was never any intent to aggressively enforce Title 42 on the Canadian border.”

Title 42 is a Trump-era policy established during the COVID-19 pandemic that allowed U.S. officials to turn away migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border because of health concerns.

“So, you know there is this kind of racist component to it that we kind of all ignore, but it’s there smoldering in the background,” Hathaway said.

His remarks came as he sat next to the mother of Rachel Morin, who was allegedly killed last year in Maryland by an illegal immigrant from El Salvador.

TOP HOUSE COMMITTEE SHREDS BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN ON BORDER CRISIS IN NEW REPORT: ‘ASSAULT ON THE RULE OF LAW’ 

“An illegal immigrant that was a gotaway from El Salvador had waited for her on the trail. I was told that they grabbed her, dragged her through the woods, raped her, strangled her, murdered her,” Patty Morin told lawmakers. 

“We were told that her body was blanketed in bruises. And I can tell you from looking at her when I went to the funeral home that it was probably the most graphic thing that I’ve ever seen.”

The Biden administration has come under fire from Republicans over its border policies that have allowed record numbers of illegal migrants to enter the U.S. 

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., scalded Hathaway, questioning him about his knowledge of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

“And you’re a sheriff?” Gimenez asked. “That’s one of the most violent gangs that’s coming out of Venezuela. That’s coming through your town.”

The congressman, an immigrant from Cuba, also took issue with Hathaway’s assertion that supporting a border wall is racist. 

“I believe that immigration should be legal immigration. I disagree with illegal immigration. Am I a racist?” Gimenez asked before the sheriff doubled down on his border wall argument. 

FLINT, Michigan – Former President Donald Trump argued that it is “consequential” presidents who face the threats he has over the last few months at a town hall event in Flint, Michigan, the former president’s first since surviving an assassination attempt Sunday.

“You wonder why I got shot at right. You know, only consequential presidents get shot at right,” Trump said during the town hall at Flint’s Dort Financial Center.

The event marked Trump’s first official campaign stop since the latest attempt on his life Sunday, when a lone gunman was spotted by U.S. Secret Service agents while Trump was playing a round of golf at Trump International Golf Club in Florida.

A DECISION TO MAKE: HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON’S GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL DIVIDES REPUBLICANS

The gunman, identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, was spotted by Secret Service agents as Trump moved between holes five and six on the course, with the agents firing at Routh after spotting his rifle and scope poking out of the brush.

Trump, who was about 300-500 yards away from the shooter at the time of the incident, escaped uninjured.

The attempt marked the second time Trump faced an assassination attempt, coming just over two months after the former president was grazed in the ear by a bullet fired at him during a rally in Butlery, Pennsylvania.

Trump reflected on the attempts on his life during the Michigan event, saying being and running for president is a “dangerous business.”

RUBIO CALLS OUT DEMOCRATS FOR ‘CLEARLY’ INFLUENCING SECOND WOULD-BE TRUMP ASSASSIN WITH INCENDIARY RHETORIC

“It’s a dangerous business. However, being president, it’s a little bit dangerous. It’s. You know, they think race car driving is dangerous. No, they think bull riding. That’s pretty scary, right? No, this is a dangerous business, and we have to keep it safe,” Trump said.

The former president spent much of the event, which took place in a critical swing state, hitting Vice President Kamala Harris on issues such as inflation and the auto industry.

“’I’ll say this for Michigan, if I don’t win, you will have no auto industry within two to three years,” Trump said. “China is going to take over all of your business because of the electric car and because they have the material we don’t.”

Michigan figures to play a key role in this year’s election. Trump won the state by less than one percentage point in 2016, but lost it to President Biden in 2020 by less than three percentage points.

Polls show a close race brewing in the state again, with Harris holding a less than one percentage point lead as of Tuesday, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average.

White House officials continue to call former President Trump a “threat” to democracy, despite two attempted assassinations on the former president’s life.

During a press briefing on Tuesday, Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about Trump being referred to as a “threat.”

“How many more assassination attempts on Donald Trump until the president and vice president and you pick a different word to describe Trump, other than ‘threat?’” Doocy asked.

Jean-Pierre told Doocy she completely disagreed with the premise of his question, calling the way he asked it “incredibly dangerous” because Americans are watching.

TRUMP BLAMES BIDEN-HARRIS RHETORIC FOR LATEST ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, SAYS HE WILL ‘SAVE THE COUNTRY’

She also went into defense mode, saying the Biden administration has consistently condemned political violence.

After Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at a Butler, Pennsylvania, campaign rally and grazed Trump’s ear with a bullet, President Biden called Trump to tell him he was grateful the former president was OK, Jean-Pierre explained.

She also defended the Biden administration because it has called out Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, called out the attack on Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s, D-Calif., husband Paul Pelosi and asked that the temperature of political rhetoric be lowered after the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler.

WHO IS RYAN WESLEY ROUTH: ALLEGED GUNMAN AT TRUMP GOLF CLUB

“What I have said about the president, the former president, about Jan. 6 is [a] fact that you all have reported. It is [a] fact. When you have a former president who basically says that the election wasn’t the results of the election… when dozens, dozens of more than 60 Republican judges said that it was a fee and fair election,” Jean-Pierre said. “You had more than 2,000 people who were told to go to the Capitol. It was one of the darkest days of our democracy, one of the darkest days.”

She continued, saying it was important to have disagreements on policies surrounding things like the economy, health care and foreign policy.

But the political rhetoric, she said, was not OK.

TRUMP SAFE AFTER ‘GUNSHOTS IN HIS VICINITY,’ CAMPAIGN SAYS

“To your point, there are people watching at home who might miss the part where you say, ‘Let’s lower the temperature,’ and… there are mentally unstable people who are attempting to kill political candidates… attempting to kill Donald Trump,” Doocy told Jean-Pierre. “And they are still hearing this White House refer to him as a threat. Is there no concern that people are taking that literally?”

Jean-Pierre responded by saying she and others are using examples to back up what they are saying, like Jan. 6.

The events covered on Jan. 6 happened, she noted, and the White House has denounced political violence “over and over again.”

MSNBC HOST ASKS IF TRUMP CAMPAIGN WILL CALL FOR ‘TONING DOWN’ RHETORIC AFTER SHOOTING OUTSIDE HIS GOLF CLUB

Jean-Pierre explained that people are watching what the media is saying about the White House raising political violence rhetoric.

“This is an administration that has denounced and condemned any type of political rhetoric or violence. It is the reason why this president decided to run in 2020. That is why the president decided to come back,” Jean-Pierre said of Biden.

On Monday, Trump said Biden’s and Vice President Harris’ “rhetoric” is what is causing him to be “shot at,” following the second attempt against him since July. Trump also told Fox News Digital that the suspected gunman “acted” on the “highly inflammatory language” of Democrats.

Trump spoke with Fox News Digital on Monday, a day after he was rushed off the golf course at Trump International in West Palm Beach, Florida, after Secret Service agents discovered a gunman in the bushes near the course.

DEMOCRATS HAVE REPEATEDLY USED VIOLENT RHETORIC AGAINST FORMER PRESIDENT: ‘TIME TO PUT TRUMP IN A BULLSEYE’

The suspected gunman, Ryan Wesley Routh, had an AK-47-style rifle pointing through a chain-link fence out toward the green, a GoPro camera and two backpacks. Routh ran from the scene, but was pulled over and arrested on Interstate 95 in Martin County. 

Authorities are treating the episode as an apparent assassination attempt against Trump.

“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump said. “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.” 

Trump pointed to Biden and Harris’ past comments casting Trump as a “threat to democracy,” while telling Americans they are “unity” leaders. 

“They are the opposite,” Trump said. “These are people that want to destroy our country.” 

He added: “It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat.” 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singeman contributed to this report.

Vice President Harris spoke to the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in Philadelphia on Tuesday, about a month after former President Trump spoke to the same group and made waves when he questioned Harris’ race.

The event marks Harris’ first solo interview with the national media. It was held at NPR’s Philadelphia station, WHYY, and was moderated by three Black journalists, including Eugene Daniels of Politico Playbook, WHYY’s Tonya Mosely and TheGrio’s Gerren Keith Gaynor. The stop marked Harris’ 13th visit to the Keystone State this year.

During his July interview with the NABJ in Chicago, Trump drummed up a firestorm of criticism when he said, “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So, I don’t know. Is she Indian or Black?”

Harris was not asked to respond to those remarks from Trump on Tuesday, but she did slam the former president for what the moderators described as racially charged rhetoric about Haitian migrants in a small Ohio town eating people’s pets.

OHIO AG EYES ‘CREATIVE’ PATH TO GET ‘MISHANDLED’ SPRINGFIELD MIGRANT CRISIS IN FRONT OF FEDERAL JUDGE

“It’s harmful, and it’s hateful and grounded in some age-old stuff that we should not have the tolerance for,” Harris said of the rumors being circulated by Trump. “We’ve got to say that you cannot be entrusted with standing behind the seal of the president of the United States of America, engaging in that hateful rhetoric that, as usual, is designed to divide us as a country.”

When asked by one of the moderators if this case of “irredeemable racism” deserved some sort of federal response to help the community heal, Harris sidestepped the question.

Meanwhile, Harris also sidestepped whether she would sign or veto a bill establishing a federal committee to study reparations for the Black community. Harris said she “thinks” a federal reparations commission will be taken up by Congress and, therefore, she won’t need to use her power as president to study the matter at the federal level.

Harris also spoke about the Black vote on Tuesday and took a far different approach than President Biden did in 2020. 

“If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t Black,” Biden said while campaigning for the presidency in 2020. Harris, however, said Tuesday that she expects to have to “earn” the Black vote, particularly Black men. “I think it’s very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybody’s pocket.”

MARYLAND GOVERNOR SAYS DEMS MUST EARN SUPPORT OF BLACK VOTERS AS TRUMP SEES SURGE IN POLLS: ‘NOT MONOLITHIC’

Beyond race-focused topics, the interview included remarks from Harris about her economic plan, abortion, support for Israel – which she said has the right to defend itself – and gun control.

“The United Sates of America absolutely has a role” in aiding Israel’s right to self-determination, Harris said during Tuesday’s interview. 

On gun control, Harris was resolute that she and her running mate, Democrat Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are both gun owners – something that came as news to voters during last week’s presidential debate. “We’re not trying to take anybody’s guns away from them, but we do need an assault weapons ban,” she said. Previously, as a presidential candidate in 2019, Harris said she thought a mandatory gun buyback program run by the federal government was “a good idea.” However, Harris’ campaign has said she no longer supports such a program.

Harris added that she does support universal background checks for those seeking to legally obtain a firearm. When one of the moderators pointed out that most handguns are purchased illegally, Harris pointed to the need to eradicate “gun show loophole[s].”

“We need to address each entry point in the issue,” Harris insisted.

KAMALA HARRIS WANTS TO HAVE IT BOTH WAYS ON CRIME. NO WONDER AMERICANS DON’T FEEL SAFE

Later, the moderators turned to the second assassination attempt made on Trump’s life over the weekend. Harris indicated that she spoke to Trump after the close call to check on him.

“I am in this election, in this race, for many reasons, including to fight for our democracy. And in a democracy, there is no place for political violence,” Harris said. “We can and should have healthy debates and discussion and disagreements but not resort to violence to resolve those issues.”

Harris was asked a follow-up question about her confidence in the Secret Service to protect her, with Harris responding in the affirmative.

“Not everybody has Secret Service. And there are far too many people in our country right now who are not feeling safe,” she said. “I mean, I look at Project 2025, and I look at, you know, the Don’t Say Gay laws coming out of Florida. Members of the LGBTQ community don’t feel safe right now, immigrants or people with an immigrant background don’t feel safe right now. Women don’t feel safe right now. And so, yes, I feel safe. I have Secret Service protection, but that doesn’t change my perspective on the importance of fighting for the safety of everybody in our country.”

A Chinese diplomat who has repeatedly praised the Chinese Communist Party is still fulfilling his role as the consul general of China’s New York Consulate despite conflicting narratives from the Biden State Department and New York’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul about the diplomat no longer being in his role.

Hochul said during a press conference almost two weeks ago that she supported Huang Ping being expelled from New York after he was referenced dozens of times in an indictment involving one of her former top aides and said that she was “informed” by the State Department that he was “no longer in the New York mission.”

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller contradicted Hochul’s comments hours later, saying the “consul general was not expelled” and that Ping “reached the end of a regularly scheduled rotation in August” and rotated out of the position. However, a Fox News Digital review of Ping’s social media shows that he hasn’t left the position in New York and is still pictured throughout the New York consulate’s website.

“Consul General Huang Ping is performing his duties as usual,” a consulate spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “He will leave his post as planned after completing his term. We strongly oppose any malicious associations, defamation, and smearing of Chinese diplomatic and consular personnel. We call on the media to adhere to journalistic ethics.”

DEM GOVERNOR REVEALS CCP OFFICIAL WITH DEEP TIES TO HER OFFICE ‘NO LONGER’ IN ROLE AMID FORMER AIDE’S ARREST

Ping, who has been the consul general of China’s New York Consulate since 2018 and has repeatedly called the CCP a “great party,” posted photos at the Chinese consulate in New York on his X account Tuesday, saying, “We celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China with nearly 700 Chinese Americans and students, enjoying the traditional Chinese culture and cuisine.”

China expert and author Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow in Indo-Pacific studies at the American Foreign Policy Council, sounded off on the Biden State Department in a statement to Fox News Digital for not punishing Ping and allowing him to stay in his post.

“Huang Ping frequently coordinated with Linda Sun as she sought to advance Beijing’s interests in New York. That activity crosses a line and deserves appropriate retaliation to deter future attempts to influence American public servants,” said Sobolik, who wrote the book “Countering China’s Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance.”

“The State Department’s hesitancy to decisively punish Huang makes America more vulnerable to Beijing’s malign influence,” he added.

FORMER AIDE TO NEW YORK GOV. HOCHUL, WHO IS ACCUSED OF BEING CHINESE SPY, WENT ON A TOUR OF THE WHITE HOUSE

Hochul’s former deputy chief of staff, Linda Sun, and her husband, Chris Hu, were arrested earlier this month, and Sun was charged “with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering conspiracy,” according to a Department of Justice press release. 

Fox News Digital previously exposed Ping’s ties to Hochul, but the unsealed indictment shed light on the close working relationship between Sun and Ping.

The unsealed indictment revealed that a speechwriter for then-Lt. Gov. Hochul wanted to mention the “Uyghur situation,” in China for her 2021 Lunar New Year message, but the plight of the minority group being persecuted by the Chinese government was ultimately omitted after Sun overruled the speechwriter. The indictment says Sun revealed to Ping what the speechwriter wanted to include, but insisted that she would not let her boss mention Uyghurs after admitting that she was “starting to lose her temper” with the speechwriter.

HUANG PING, ‘PURVEYOR OF CCP PROPAGANDA,’ JOINS SCHUMER, TOP NEW YORK DEMS AT CHINESE NEW YEAR PARADE

Ping appeared to chalk up the speechwriter’s suggestion as a clueless American who had never visited China and that U.S.-China relations could “sour” because of “people like the speechwriter,” the indictment said, prompting Sun to concur that the speechwriter had never visited China. Ping would go on to post Hochul’s Lunar New Year message days later on his Facebook page, which did not mention Uyghurs.

The indictment also claimed that Sun repeatedly used her government positions in the Cuomo and Hochul administrations to block “representatives of the Taiwanese government” from meeting with high-ranking New York government officials, including Hochul and Cuomo, and would then boast about her actions with Chinese officials, including Ping.

In one instance, she texted a Chinese official in the fall of 2020 to say she “almost had a heart attack when we referred to Taiwan as a country” and let the official know that she “had the press team correct it immediately,” according to the indictment.

These positions are espoused by Ping in a podcast that Fox News Digital previously reported on.

HOUSE GOP PRESSES HOCHUL ON ALLEGED CCP AGENT’S INFLUENCE IN NEW YORK, INCLUDING SECRET CHINESE POLICE STATION

In return for Sun allegedly acting on behalf of the Chinese government in her government roles, the indictment also lists several gifts she and her husband received from Chinese officials, including luxury tickets to concerts and other New York-based events and travel benefits, and Ping gifted Sun’s parents with Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by his chef. 

The indictment also listed the “facilitation of millions of dollars in transactions for the PRC-based business activities of Sun’s husband,” which the indictment says was used to purchase real estate property in Manhasset, New York, for $3.6 million, a $1.9 million condo in Honolulu, and other luxury purchases, including a 2024 Ferrari.

Ping’s social media post on Tuesday wasn’t the only post he has sent out in New York since Hochul’s press conference and when the indictment was unsealed on Sept. 4. The following day, Ping attended the China Institute’s Blue Cloud Gala at the Plaza Hotel in New York, according to a social media post on Sept. 6, saying, “We need such vision, courage, faith and solidarity for deeper people-to-people ties between our two countries.”

On Sept. 9, Ping posted photos from the 90th birthday party for Dr. James C. Hsiung, who Ping called, “an outstanding scholar and tenured professor of NYU.” The birthday party appeared to be located at the Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel in New York, according to the name of one of the boardrooms.

Fox News Digital has reported extensively on Ping’s relationship with Democratic politicians at the state and local levels in New York and Pennsylvania, two of 10 states that are covered by the consulate’s jurisdiction. In addition to meeting with politicians, he has been a guest at the Empire State Building, New York Stock Exchange, Conde Nast and several universities, including UPenn, Harvard, Tufts and Princeton.

He has also attended several Chinese parades in New York and has been spotted cozying up to New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Sun’s attorney Jarrod Schaeffer previously told Fox News Digital that he and Sun are “troubled by aspects of the government’s investigation.”

“We are disappointed by the filing of these charges, which are inflammatory and appear to be the product of an overly aggressive prosecution,” Schaeffer said. “As we said today in court, our client is eager to exercise her right to a speedy trial and to defend against these accusations in the proper forum — a court of law.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department and Gov. Hochul’s office.

The questions are always the same.

Be they in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy walloping the northeastern U.S.

Or the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

Or following the second attempt to assassinate a former President.

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Do they have enough money and resources?

Would the federal government provide sufficient money to help New York City and the Northeast recover after the massive hurricane spun through the most-densely populated corridor of the U.S.? Mudslides wiped out roads and bridges in Vermont. The storm drowned subway stations in the Big Apple. 

What will it take to rebuild the bridge in Baltimore? That bill will come due in a year or two.

And so the question now lands on the Secret Service after a gunman tried to fire at former President Trump during a round of golf at Trump International in Palm Beach, Fla. Does the service have the money? Does it need more resources?

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said his agency has “done more with less for decades.” Rowe says “we have immediate needs right now.”

President Biden agrees. 

“One thing I want to make clear. The (Secret) Service needs more help and I think that Congress should respond to their needs if they in fact need more services,” said the president.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. chimed in.

“We all must do our part to ensure an incident like this does not happen again. This means that Congress has a responsibility to ensure the Secret Service and all law enforcement have the resources they need to do their jobs,” said Schumer. “If the Secret Service is in need of more resources, we are prepared to provide it for them. Possibly in the upcoming funding agreement.”

That’s a reference to the looming interim spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, due at the end of this month.

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But on Fox, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., doubted this is strictly about financial resources. Johnson argued this was an issue specific to former President Trump. And it was a human resources problem.

“He’s the most attacked. He’s the most threatened. Even probably more than when he was in the Oval Office,” said Johnson on Fox. “So we are demanding in the House that he have every asset available and we will make more available if necessary. I don’t think it’s a funding issue. I think it’s a manpower allocation.”

By Tuesday, Johnson cooled to the concept of showering the Secret Service with additional money. 

“We don’t just want to throw more money at a broken system,” said Johnson.

Other conservatives spoke out about boosting funding levels for the Secret Service.

“We don’t need to throw more money at the Secret Service. We need new leadership,” said Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., on Fox Business.

“We need answers more than the Secret Service needs money. In the real world, when you don’t do your job, you get fired. In the world of Washington, common sense is illegal. When you don’t do your job, you get more money because obviously you need it. You don’t have enough,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., “What the Secret Service needs to do right now is simple: do better.”

There was chatter that lawmakers might try to infuse the Secret Service with cash by latching it to a still-to-be-determined interim spending bill, known as a CR, to sidestep a government shutdown in two weeks.

Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., who called for former President Trump to drop the Secret Service and use private security, lambasted that idea.

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“The American people are not stupid. They see it for what it is. They’re trying to attach the shiny bill to this CR to try and get it passed when the reality is, that’s not really what needs to happen. We need to stop the irresponsible spending,” said Mills on Fox Business.

“No. No. No. No. We don’t need more funding,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “They’ve got plenty of personnel. They got plenty of money. They need to prioritize where to be placing these Secret Service agents.” 

But, finding the right people – and assigning them to the right places with the right tasks – isn’t easy. 

“You don’t hire them right off the street,” argued Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

At a House hearing before she resigned following the Butler, Penn., shooting, former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testified that she needed 9,500 employees. But the agency was only staffed at 8,000. 

Still, some Republicans were more sympathetic to a cash injection for the agency. 

“They seem to need more resources,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., adding former President Trump suggested he needed a bigger detail. “There’s only one way to do that: have enough money to hire enough agents. If you can even find enough people willing to do it.”

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., chairs the Senate panel which controls purse strings for the Secret Service. He argues that the threat environment is so dangerous that lawmakers want the agency to get “creative” about getting appropriate resources to guard protectees.

The House is on the precipice of rejecting an interim spending plan pushed by Johnson to fund the government through next spring. The bill also requires people prove their citizenship in order to vote. That measure likely fails. So the Senate may counter with a straight bill to fund the government – tacking on some assistance to the Secret Service.

Johnson denied that the House would “get stuck” by the Senate if the House faltered. But remember, members of Jane’s Addiction get along better than some House Republicans. Johnson lacks the votes to pass his own bill. So, if the Senate sends over legislation with Secret Service aid, the House might just have to eat it to avoid a government shutdown.

“If increasing the funding is part of the solution, I’m for it,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “It would be politically beyond stupid for us to (shut down the government) right before the election because certainly, we’d get the blame.”

So this is the same question which arises after each crisis: could money solve the issue? It’s natural that Congress often responds with money. Spending authority is the ultimate power on Capitol Hill.

Will more dollars help?

If Congress spends the money and there are no more security breaches, then lawmakers will argue the extra dough worked.

But if Congress spends the money and something else happens, it will probably spend even more money.