Nearly 30 vulnerable House Democrats voted for a bill Wednesday to deport illegal immigrants who commit sex crimes, signaling a shift in the party’s focus on the migrant crisis as the November elections draw near.

The Republican-led bill passed 266 to 158, with 51 Democrats voting with GOP lawmakers.

Democratic critics of the bill have accused it of unfairly targeting illegal immigrants and “weaponizing” the issue of domestic violence. In total, 158 Democrats voted against the bill.

But out of the 31 left-wing lawmakers running for re-election in competitive seats, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, only Reps. Darren Soto, D-Fla., and Val Hoyle, D-Ore., voted against the bill. Twenty-nine vulnerable Democrats, however, crossed the aisle on the measure.

EX-BORDER CHIEF WARNS OF ‘SIGNIFICANT THREAT’ AS MIGRANT NUMBERS SKYROCKET: ‘ENTIRE SECTORS’ MISSING AGENTS

Fox News Digital reached out to Hoyle and Soto’s offices about their opposition to the bill but did not immediately receive a response.

Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, voted “no” on Wednesday night, but his office told Fox News Digital that it was in error: “Rep. Landsman intended to vote yes on H.R.7909 and has already submitted a statement to the Congressional Record affirming as such,” his office said.

Both Hoyle and Soto are in seats classified as “likely Democrat” but could be vulnerable to an upset. Soto’s seat is rated eight points in favor of Democrats, and Hoyle’s is four. Landsman is closest to a toss-up, being rated “D+2.”

However, the significant number of vulnerable Democrats who supported the bill is a hallmark of the larger shift in focus the party has experienced on border security.

GERMANY CLAMPS DOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AS COUNTRY FORCED TO RETHINK POLICIES AMID VOTER ANGER

Moderate Democrats and those in danger of losing their seats have raced to call for bipartisan measures to tackle the migrant crisis, which has reached states and cities well beyond the U.S.-Mexico border.

In addition to deporting migrants convicted of sex crimes, the legislation would also deem illegal immigrants who admit to domestic violence or sex-related charges — or are convicted of them — to be inadmissible to the U.S.

It was led by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., herself a survivor of rape.

It’s part of a wider legislative push by the House GOP to spotlight issues stemming from the border crisis.

TOP HOUSE COMMITTEE RAMPS UP PRESSURE TO OBTAIN ‘IMPORTANT’ DOCS ON HARRIS’ ROLE IN BORDER CRISIS 

Among the Democrats who spoke out against the bill is Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.

“Here we are again, debating another partisan bill that fearmongers about immigrants, instead of working together to fix the immigration system,” Jayapal said during debate on the bill.

“I probably shouldn’t be too surprised. Scapegoating immigrants and attempting to weaponize the crime of domestic violence is appearing to be a time-honored tradition for Republicans.”

A conservative legal watchdog group is heading to court to get the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to explain how gunman Thomas Crooks had been able to “fire a relatively simple shot that came within an inch of killing President Trump and struck fellow Americans.”

In a lawsuit filed Thursday, America First Legal alleges that the Secret Service and DHS illegally concealed government records related to the attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. The organization claims it submitted multiple public records requests about the incident but still has not received any documents.

“On July 13, the American people watched in horror as a lunatic attempted to assassinate former President, and current candidate for President, Donald Trump,” Gene Hamilton, AFL senior counsel said in a statement. 

WATCH ON FOX NATION: THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATIONS OF DONALD TRUMP

“Today, there is widespread and bipartisan acknowledgment that there were catastrophic failures that tragic day and in the weeks and months ahead of it. We are committed to obtaining these records so that the American people can see for themselves exactly what senior DHS leadership was prioritizing in its mission, and why more resources were not devoted to the protection of President Donald J. Trump,” Hamilton said.

AFL requested documents pertaining to the Secret Service’s staffing shortages, hiring and employment standards and all communications to or from Secretary Alejnadro Mayorkas and two senior DHS official Kristie Canegello and Jonathan Davidson.

According to AFL, the Secret Service said it would not process their expedited public records’ requests, because there was “no threat to the life or safety of anyone” and that there was no urgency to grant their request. 

NEW WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIMS ON FIRST TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ‘HIGHLY DAMAGING’ TO SECRET SERVICE: HAWLEY

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill – both Republican and Democratic – have also been trying to obtain documents from government agencies related to the events that unfolded that day and what security lapses may have occurred.

“Politicians on both sides of the aisle and the American people both agree that USSS and senior officials at DHS are failing to provide well-deserved and well-needed transparency,” AFL said in its news release.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal recently told reporters on Capitol Hill that he is “reaching the point of total outrage,” because the DHS response has been “totally lacking.” 

“In fact, I think it’s tantamount to stonewalling in many respects,” the Connecticut Democrat said.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., also recently told Fox News Digital that the Secret Service had refused to release documents about Crooks’ autopsy report, saying, “We don’t have any of the trajectory reports.”

“So, where’d the bullets go? We don’t even know how they handled the crime scene,” he said. “We haven’t been able to interview the sniper who took out Crooks,” Johnson said. Crooks is the would-be assassin that, during the July 13 rally in Pennsylvania, opened fire, grazing the former president’s ear, killing a rally attendee and critically injuring two others.

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

In light of the second attempted assassination of former President Trump’s life at his golf course in Florida last week, AFL said in it statement: “There is no denying that President Trump currently faces genuine threats, and AFL’s requests would help to ensure that USSS and DHS leadership are suffcieintly trained and staffed to ensure the safety of President Trump.”

“The American people and Congress need total transparency,” the group said.

A new statewide poll in California found that nearly three-quarters of Golden State residents support making changes to “Prop 47” – the 2014 public referendum that reduced penalties for larceny, forgery and drug offenses. 

Critics have blamed the current policy – which includes the provision deeming shoplifting under $950 a misdemeanor – for the crime wave gripping urban areas of the state.

In the poll, conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, 71% of likely voters say they will vote “yes” on “Prop 36” – the ballot initiative that seeks to make such revisions.

The highest support came from residents of the Inland Empire east of San Diego and bordering Arizona – at 79% – with the lowest coming from the Bay Area at 64%.

KAMALA HARRIS PLAYED ‘CRITICAL ROLE’ IN CALIFORNIA CRIME LAW

Sixty-three percent of Democrats and 85% of Republicans support Prop 36, according to the poll, which met Fox News’ polling standards.

Prop 36 will allow felony charges for certain types of drug possession and thefts under $950, if the defendant has two such prior convictions, according to the California Department of State. It will also apply more serious penalties for fentanyl dealers.

The department said approving Prop 36 could also lead to millions of dollars in “state criminal justice costs,” according to its “Fiscal Impact” section.

Prime supporters include Crime Victims United and the California District Attorney’s Association, while opponents include Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton, according to CDOS.

CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS ‘PLAYING DIRTY TRICKS’ TO KEEP PROP 47 REFORM OFF BALLOT, GOP LEADER SAYS

The poll surveyed more than 1,000 likely voters and was conducted from Aug. 29 to Sept. 9.

Prop 36 was originally introduced in part by two Democrats, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire, in July, according to reports.

“Californians want safer, stronger communities, and we’re delivering exactly that with this commonsense approach,” McGuire said in a statement.

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“These are a methodical set of measures that will crack down on retail theft and hold offenders accountable for hardcore drug crimes, without enacting the Draconian policies of the ‘80s and ‘90s that devastated communities of color and cost taxpayers billions of dollars.”

Fox News Digital also reached out to California Republicans for comment.

The PPIC’s survey director told the Sacramento Bee that of the 10 ballot initiatives primed for November, Prop 36 is getting the most attention:

“Proposition 36 on crime sentences currently leads in support, interest, and importance among the 10 state propositions,” Mark Baldassare said.

A director at a leading Black activist group is expected to slam the Biden administration’s energy agenda for prioritizing climate policies over the affordability crisis, according to an internal preview of Capitol Hill testimony.

Donna Jackson, the director of membership development at Project 21, a Black think tank at the National Center for Public Policy Research that seeks to promote the views of African Americans, is expected to testify during a House Budget Committee hearing Thursday dubbed, “The Cost of the Biden Energy Crisis.”

According to a copy of Jackson’s prepared remarks, she will comment on the cost of household appliances, electric vehicle mandates and how the housing affordability crisis is affecting Black Americans. 

“Cars are also indispensable to raising a family. As a single mom who raised five kids, don’t even try to tell me that I could have done that by relying on public transportation,” Jackson says in prepared remarks. 

BIDEN PLEDGES $7.3B IN ‘CLEAN ENERGY’ SPENDING WITH NATIONAL DEBT AT $35T

“Dangling free money in front of low-income households does not make up for the damage done. Whether it is proposals to give $25,000 to new home buyers or the generous tax credits to buy EVs, or government rebates for politically-correct appliances, no handout can substitute for getting rid of these policies,” the activist is expected to tell the committee.

BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN HAS ‘FAILED’ REPEATEDLY ON HEALTH CARE: ANALYSIS

Jackson will also rail against the Biden administration’s “Green New Deal-style policies.” 

“These green policies are a bad deal for the American people, and it is low-income households that suffer most when energy affordability is no longer the priority.”

Jackson is expected to conclude her speech by discussing energy poverty, specifically how the continued use of coal, oil and natural gas would “ensure real energy abundance and affordability.”

Other witnesses expected at the hearing include Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment at The Heritage Foundation; Alex Epstein, president and founder of the Center for Industrial Progress, and Trevor Higgins, senior vice president for Energy and Environment, Center for American Progress.

FLASHBACK: High-profile Democrats have had their fair share of collaborations with rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, whom federal authorities have charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and more in a disturbing indictment unsealed Tuesday. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, New York Mayor Eric Adams and former President Barack Obama have all been connected to the “Hello Good Morning” artist for Democratic causes over the years. Combs has been one of the major celebrities backing Democrats throughout his career.

In 2020, Harris, – now the Democratic frontrunner in the 2024 race – thanked Combs for hosting a political town hall about COVID-19. 

“There’s a lot at stake for our communities right now and it’s critical we bring to the forefront how coronavirus is perpetuating racial inequality and health disparities,” Harris wrote on X.

Combs also played a crucial role in engaging young voters for Democrats at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, where he interviewed young delegates and Democrat lawmakers – including Obama and Clinton – for MTV. 

SEAN ‘DIDDY’ COMBS ARRESTED FOLLOWING RAIDS, HUMAN TRAFFICKING INVESTIGATION

In 2008, just days before the election, Combs made a last effort to court Black voters for Obama’s presidential campaign at a Democratic event – dubbed the “Last Chance For Change Rally” – in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

In 2020, Combs endorsed then-candidate Joe Biden for president and launched the “Political Black Party” while saying that “White men like Trump need to be banished” in a podcast interview with Charlamagne tha God. 

Combs was awarded the key to New York City in September 2023, only to return it later at Mayor Adams’ request following the release of a 2016 video allegedly showing the rapper assaulting his ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie. Adams informed Combs of the key’s rescission in a letter, and the key was returned to the city on June 10.

Combs was part of a group of dozens of Black individuals who sent a letter to Biden in August 2020 urging him to select a Black vice presidential candidate, which appeared to reference reports that then-Sen. Harris was too “ambitious” to be his choice, The Hill reported.

Combs has appeared with former President Donald Trump in photos in the past, primarily at galas and other apolitical celebrity functions.

FOX NATION SPECIAL EXPLORES SEAN ‘DIDDY’ COMBS INVESTIGATION, RAIDS

Combs pleaded not guilty after appearing in a Manhattan courtroom for his arraignment Tuesday. He was arrested Monday by federal agents based on a sealed indictment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York confirmed. 

The rapper was charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution in the indictment unsealed earlier Tuesday.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE INDICTMENT

Authorities claimed Combs ran a criminal enterprise through his businesses, including Bad Boy Entertainment, Combs Enterprises and Combs Global, among others. He used “violence, use of firearms, threats of violence, coercion, and verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse” to fulfill his sexual desires, according to the unsealed indictment obtained by Fox News Digital. 

Combs engaged his victims in “physical, emotional, and verbal abuse” in order to force them into participating in the “freak offs,” the court docs read. Combs would also supply drugs to the sex workers and female victims to facilitate sexual encounters.

DIDDY ALLEGEDLY FORCED STUDENT, EX KIM PORTER TO TAKE ECSTASY DURING SEXUAL ASSAULT, ACCORDING TO NEW LAWSUIT

“Freak Offs were elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded,” authorities stated. Combs often provided IV fluids to his victims following “freak offs” to recover from physical exertion and drug use, the indictment read.

During raids on Combs’ home in March, authorities seized “freak off supplies” along with three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, the court docs stated. The feds took “cases and cases of the kinds of personal lubricant and baby oil that Combs’ staff allegedly used to stock hotel rooms for the freak offs – more than 1,000 bottles altogether,” Williams said at a press conference.

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Fox News Digital’s requests for comment sent to Clinton, Obama, Adams and Harris were not returned before publication.

When reached for comment, a White House spokesperson referred Fox News Digital to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s statements during Tuesday’s press briefing. “Look, it’s an ongoing — ongoing situation, legal matter. I would have to refer you to the Department of Justice. Everything, kind of, is happening today. And so, I’m just — we just don’t comment on ongoing legal matter. I’m not going to do that from here. So, I’m going to leave it there.”

Fox News Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz and Andrew Murray contributed to this report.

Former President Trump had presidential-level security in place when officers foiled an attempt on his life last weekend, the U.S. Secret Service told lawmakers on Wednesday.

The House task force probing the July 13 shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, received a briefing from USSS after the incident at the ex-president’s golf course on Sunday.

During that briefing, officials told House lawmakers that Trump had nearly all of the same protections afforded to President Biden at the time of the second attempt. It had been put in place after the July 13 shooting, where Trump was injured and one attendee died.

“He had the same coverage as sitting president as he had last Sunday. And we’re talking mainly today with Secret Service,” task force Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., told reporters after the briefing.

‘I’VE NEVER SEEN THIS’: TOP REPUBLICAN DETAILS LEVEL OF SECRET SERVICE ‘LACK OF COOPERATION’ 

“I came away today feeling that the Secret Service on this past Sunday was treating it the same way as when President Trump was a sitting president.”

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., the top Democrat on the panel, told reporters, “It’s our understanding that after July 13 that President Biden ordered the Secret Service to provide the same level of security to both Vice President [Kamala] Harris and to former President Trump that would be a presidential level security, commensurate with what the president would receive, and that that security is being provided.”

A spokesperson for the task force told Fox News Digital on Thursday that USSS told lawmakers Trump was getting protection “commensurate” with Biden’s.

TRUMP MAKES A BOLD PREDICTION ABOUT THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 

“There are a handful of specialized assets only the commander and chief gets, but the rest of his protection is at the same level,” the spokesperson explained.

“They also told us that his level of protection on Sunday was essentially the same as it was when he was the sitting President, many of the assets he had when he was President were there in West Palm Beach.”

Wednesday’s briefing was the first for the task force since USSS arrested 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh after spotting him with an AK-47 in the bushes near where Trump was golfing at his West Palm Beach course.

The July 13 Trump rally shooting has already served to heighten scrutiny on USSS, and it is prompted conversations about whether elected officials are being sufficiently kept safe in today’s hyper-partisan environment.

WATCH ON FOX NATION: THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATIONS OF DONALD TRUMP

The incident prompted condemnations of political violence on both the right and left.

The bipartisan House task force, which was initially created to focus only on the July 13 shooting, is now examining both events. 

The task force is also seeking a briefing from the FBI on the Sunday arrest. 

Former President Donald Trump has faced two known assassination attempts against his life across a roughly two-month span, and he may still be in danger of others, experts warned Fox News Digital.

“This is not the last attempt that there’ll be. They’re going to keep coming at him,” Gene Petrino, a retired SWAT commander for Florida’s Plantation Police Department for 26 years and an expert on active shooter incidents, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. 

“Other people are gonna see it that way, and the only responsible thing to do is now increase, even more, his security footprint,” Petrino added. 

Trump was safely escorted from the green at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday after suspect Ryan Routh allegedly pointed a rifle towards the 45th president just outside the perimeter of the club. Routh fled the scene but was apprehended shortly thereafter on I-95. 

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

Authorities are investigating the incident as an apparent assassination attempt against Trump.

On July 13, Trump held a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was shot in the ear by 20-year-old Matthew Crooks. Crooks opened fire on the president while perched on a nearby roof, injuring two others attending the rally, and killing local dad and volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore. 

The attack in July unfolded just two days ahead of the Republican National Convention kicking off in Milwaukee. Trump attended the convention despite the attack and was seen wearing a bandage over his ear when he accepted the GOP’s presidential nomination. 

“The amazing thing is that prior to the shot, if I had not moved my head at that very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark and I would not be here tonight. We would not be together,” Trump said at the RNC in his acceptance speech. 

“Bullets were flying over us, yet I felt serene. But now the Secret Service agents were putting themselves in peril. They were in very dangerous territory,” Trump continued. “Bullets were flying right over them, missing them by a very small amount of inches. And then it all stopped. Our Secret Service sniper, from a much greater distance and with only one bullet used, took the assassin’s life. Took him out.”

The apparent failed attempted assassination in Sunday’s attack did not fire a shot off – unlike Crooks – as a Secret Service agent spotted him and shot at him first.

RYAN ROUTH, ARMED MAN ARRESTED AT TRUMP GOLF COURSE, POSTED PROLIFICALLY ABOUT TRUMP, POLITICS 

Petrino lauded the actions of the Secret Service and other law enforcement on Sunday for protecting Trump before the unthinkable unfolded, but the attempt has sparked concern among security experts. 

“They did a great job this time. They seemed to be on the ball,” he said before adding he believes “there should have been more” effort on the part of Trump’s security detail to catch Routh before he was located just roughly 300 yards from the 45th president. 

Bill Stanton, a former NYPD officer and an executive protection expert, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that he also fears bad actors will make another attempt on Trump’s life. 

“This is my fear. When it rains, it pours … I don’t think it stops at two,” Stanton said.

Both Stanton and Petrino called for an increase in security surrounding Trump, which echoed calls from Capitol Hill that Trump be offered heightened protection following the second attempt. 

“It is imperative that the USSS detail assigned to President Trump be afforded additional protective resources, including greater staffing capabilities that would allow agents to secure a broader perimeter,” Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., wrote in a letter to acting Director Ronald Rowe on Tuesday. 

Marshall and Tuberville, joined by Sens. James Risch, R-Idaho; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.,;Bill Cassidy, R-La.; Rick Scott, R-Fla.; and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., requested that Rowe and the Secret Service “designate President Trump as a protectee with the same level of protective resources afforded to a sitting president.” 

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SUSPECT LAUGHS, SMILES DURING FIRST COURT APPEARANCE IN FLORIDA

Trump, as well as Petrino and Stanton, pinned blame for the second attempt on inflammatory political rhetoric, with the former president specifically pointing to comments from the Biden-Harris administration. 

“[The suspect] believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump told Fox News Digital on Monday. “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.” 

WHITE HOUSE CONTINUES TO CALL TRUMP ‘THREAT’ TO DEMOCRACY DESPITE MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS ON FORMER PRESIDENT’S LIFE 

In the interview, Trump pointed to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ past comments describing him as a “threat to democracy,” while telling Americans they are “unity” leaders. 

“It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat,” Trump said.

During the White House press briefing on Tuesday, Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked if the administration planned to drop using words such as “threat” to describe Trump, considering the second assassination attempt. Doocy noted in his question that Trump has lobbed similar attacks against Biden and Harris. 

HOUSE DEM LEADER RAILS ‘WE MUST STOP’ MAGA AMID NEWS OF 2ND TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended the use of the word, citing Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol. 

Trump is back on the campaign trail this week, heading to Long Island for a campaign rally on Wednesday. False reports spread across social media ahead of the rally that explosives had been found in a car near where Trump was set to speak. 

The reports were quickly dismissed by local officials as false, but underscore ongoing concerns and potential threats against Trump. 

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

The Harris campaign addressed the revelation by federal agencies that individuals tied to the Biden campaign were targeted by Iranian actors with emails containing stolen Trump campaign materials, stating that they do not know of any materials sent “directly” to the Biden campaign, but that some people received emails on their personal accounts.

“We have cooperated with the appropriate law enforcement authorities since we were made aware that individuals associated with the then-Biden campaign were among the intended victims of this foreign influence operation,” Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Morgan Finkelstein said in a statement.

“We’re not aware of any material being sent directly to the campaign; a few individuals were targeted on their personal emails with what looked like a spam or phishing attempt,” Finkelstein added. “We condemn in the strongest terms any effort by foreign actors to interfere in U.S. elections including this unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity.” 

In a joint statement released Wednesday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) 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.” 

PAKISTANI MAN WITH IRAN TIES PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN ALLEGED MURDER-FOR-HIRE PLOT TO ASSASSINATE US POLITICIANS

“There is currently no information indicating those recipients replied,” the statement continued. “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.” 

The agencies said such “malicious cyber activity” served as the latest example of Iran’s multipronged approach “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,” the statement said. “Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities as we approach November. In particular, Russia, Iran, and China are trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in U.S. society for their own benefit, and see election periods as moments of vulnerability.” 

Trump in a new TRUTH Social post on Thursday demanded to know, “WHEN DOES KAMALA AND HER CAMPAIGN GO BEFORE A GRAND JURY ON IRAN, IRAN, IRAN?”

“MY CAMPAIGN WHEN THROUGH HELL ON THE RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA HOAX. THE BIG DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE IRAN/KAMALA CAMPAIGN CORRUPTION CASE IS REAL!” Trump added. 

Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s campaign spokesperson, said the development “is further proof the Iranians are actively interfering in the election to help Kamala Harris and Joe Biden because they know President Trump will restore his tough sanctions and stand against their reign of terror.”

“Kamala and Biden must come clean on whether they used the hacked material given to them by the Iranians to hurt President Trump. What did they know and when did they know it?” she said in a statement.

A Harris campaign official told Fox News Digital that “the material was not used.”

IRAN TRIED TO INFLUENCE ELECTION BY SENDING STOLEN MATERIAL FROM TRUMP CAMPAIGN TO BIDEN’S CAMP, FBI SAYS

Federal authorities said they have thwarted Iranian assassination plots against U.S. politicians in recent months. U.S. officials say Trump, as well as President Biden and former presidential candidate Nikki Haley, were among the targets. Earlier this week, a Pakistani man with deep ties to Iran was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court for alleging paying undercover agents he believed were hitmen to carry out the assassinations this summer. 

Within two months, Trump has faced two assassination attempts at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and while golfing at his course in West Palm Beach, Florida, though authorities haven’t publicly linked either plot to Iran. 

Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. 

Several Democrats responded overnight to news that the Teamsters, under General President Sean O’Brien, decided against issuing a presidential endorsement.

“Unfortunately, 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,” O’Brien said in a statement.

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. who, like O’Brien, hails from the Boston area, called former President Trump the “most anti-labor president we have ever had.”

“It’s clear that these workers are misinformed or uninformed about Trump’s record on labor,” McGovern told the Washington Times. “His allegiance isn’t toward working people.”

McGovern, the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, said it is obvious that Trump supports “rich people” over the working class.

The Teamsters have not made a non-endorsement since the 1996 contest between former President Clinton and Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan. Their last GOP endorsement went to former President George H.W. Bush over then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis in 1988.

Meanwhile, Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., tweeted that Harris had cast the tie-breaking Senate vote to “protect Teamsters pensions.”

TEAMSTERS BOSS HAS NO REGRETS ON TIFF WITH SEN. MULLIN: ‘SOUNDED LIKE HE WANTED TO DATE ME, NOT FIGHT ME’

Horsford shared that Nevada’s Teamsters councils had bucked the national organization and independently endorsed Harris.

“She’s fighting for us,” Horsford said.

Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, D-Nev., echoed Horsford, saying the Silver State’s Teamsters “know that Kamala Harris is a fighter for our union workers.”

“I learned it from my father who was a Teamster in Las Vegas: when we stand together, we win,” Cortez-Masto said.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House speaker, meanwhile, called the Teamsters’ decision “disappointing.”

“Donald Trump refused to support a pension bill for Teamsters. It was Biden-Harris and Democrats who saved Teamsters pensions in the Butch Lewis Act of our American Rescue Plan — without one Republican vote,” she said on X. 

Trump, however, called the non-endorsement of Harris a “great honor” for him.

AUTO WORKERS FOR TRUMP LEADER SAYS THOUSANDS POISED TO BREAK FROM DEMS OVER GREEN POLICIES, JOB-KILLING REGS

“They’re not going to endorse the Democrats. That’s a big thing,” Trump said while campaigning in New York City. The GOP nominee added that the internal Teamsters vote showed about 60% of national membership support his bid.

A leading progressive in Congress, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., called the non-endorsement “unfortunate” while adding that the Evergreen State’s sub-council still supports Harris.

“I think you’re going to see more of that across the country,” she told the Times.

In a more direct shot at O’Brien, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., claimed the national leader has been “boosting Republicans all year while supporting anti-worker, anti-choice Senate candidates.”

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O’Brien has reportedly reached out to some Republican lawmakers, like Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and JD Vance, R-Ohio, per the BBC, but it was the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail & Transportation union that recently gave Hawley their endorsement.

Two U.S. Senate candidates whom the union did endorse, however, are Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.

A spokesman for Harris’ campaign said in a statement reported by multiple outlets that Trump believes striking workers should be fired, while Harris “literally walked the picket line.”

“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,” Lauren Hitt said.

In that regard, a council representing 35,000 Teamsters in the key swing state of Pennsylvania ignored O’Brien’s non-endorsement and threw their weight behind Harris. 

The board of Teamsters Joint Council 40, covering Pittsburgh, Erie, State College and Washington, held a separate vote, where they unanimously selected Harris.

“She is the best for our locals and best for our unions,” council president Carl Bailey told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

O’Brien has also not been afraid to tussle with Republicans, as he and Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., nearly came to blows during a 2023 hearing in which Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., had to intervene as Mullin rose from his chair — after the men told each other to “stand your butt up.”

Former Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi insisted on Wednesday that her party’s presidential nominating process after President Biden dropped out was “open,” and Vice President Kamala Harris “won it,” despite the absence of any such contest. 

Prior to Biden stepping down as the Democratic Party’s nominee in mid-July, Pelosi reportedly said she favored a competitive open primary process to replace him if needed. On Wednesday, Semafor’s Kadia Goba asked Pelosi if she had changed her mind after seeing all the “excitement” Harris generated when she was tapped to replace Biden.

“No, I didn’t change my mind. We had an open primary and [Kamala Harris] won it. Nobody else got in the race,” Pelosi said. “Yes people could have jumped in – there were some people who were sort of preparing, but she just took off with it, and actually it was a blessing because there was not that much time between then and the election and it sort of saved time.”

“But it wasn’t that we didn’t have an open primary,” Pelosi added. “It’s just that nobody got in because she had a running start.”

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Amid intra-party pressure, Biden dropped out of the race for president on July 21 and endorsed Harris as his successor the same day. Harris was the informal nominee from that point forward until the Democratic National Committee decided to implement an unprecedented virtual roll call ahead of its national nominating convention in August. The first-of-its-kind roll call vote ended with Harris getting 99% support from the party’s participating delegates. Harris was the only candidate who qualified for the virtual roll call vote, despite three challengers who wanted to run against her. The failed challengers were reportedly unable to collect the 300 delegate signatures necessary to gain access to the virtual ballot, according to Politico. 

Conservatives focusing on the election called Pelosi’s comments about Harris’ nominating process a “joke” and a “lie.” 

“The votes of 14 million Americans who voted for Joe Biden were thrown away as Harris was installed as the Democrats’ nominee for president – a job for which she has never received a single vote,” said Ryan Walker, executive director at Heritage Action For America, a conservative political advocacy organization in Washington, D.C., affiliated with the Heritage Foundation. “Saying she won an open primary is a joke.” 

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“Listening to Nancy Pelosi’s comments about Joe Biden, you could almost forget that she was one of many who lied to us about his condition, right up until the moment it was no longer to her political advantage to do so,” Jenny Beth Martin, president of Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund, added. “It doesn’t surprise me at all that she’d now to try to lie about what she calls the ‘open nomination’ process that led to Kamala’s ascension.”

Meanwhile, academic elections experts told Fox News Digital that nothing illegal or undemocratic took place because ultimately it is each party’s purview how they go about nominating their candidate. 

“You could probably sue the party for a civil tort and say, you know, ‘They did something wrong to me here.’ But it wouldn’t be a violation of election law,” said Jeremy Mayer, a professor at George Mason University’s Schar School of Public Policy and Government. “It’s not a coup, as some would say.”

American University professor Leonard Steinhorn, a political communications expert, questioned what other options the party had at that point with the election being less than four months away.

“One has to ask themselves: What else would a party do?” he asked. 

Mayer and Steinhorn also argued that the Republican Party would likely have done something similar with Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Trump’s vice presidential running mate, if the GOP nominee faced some sort of hurdle preventing him from running. 

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“You can always talk in ideal circumstances about what’s best and what ought to be. But you know, as there’s that old 1980s expression, ‘Reality Bites,’ and you have to be able to adjust and adapt to the circumstances that you have,” Steinhorn said. “In an ideal world, you may want to have the candidates vetted by the public more, whether it’s an open primary – which might have been impossible to set up in any number of critical mass states – or forums that would allow people to sort of evaluate different candidates. But at that point, Vice President Harris moved quickly with Joe Biden’s support, to consolidate her support and get the majority of the delegates. In which case, why would anyone else run?”

Mayer and Steinhorn also pointed out that, while the process did go against contemporary norms, it is not entirely unprecedented.  

“She was picked in the way that we picked our candidates from 1832 to 1968 – the convention – and that produced some pretty good presidents, but we expect today for a president to be picked by the people of the party in an open primary process. And that’s not what happened with Harris,” Mayer said. Meanwhile, Steinhorn pointed to former President Gerald Ford, who he said “did not once face any primaries or any national referendum at all.”

Last week, Pelosi also responded to questions on the fairness of the Democratic Party’s nomination process during an episode of ABC’s “The View.”

“It was an open [process],” Pelosi insisted. “Anybody could have gotten in. She got in, and she won, and a president of the United States had endorsed her who was very respected. So, that meant a lot, but people don’t understand, other people could have gotten in. She just locked it up. Politically astute, as I said to you before.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Pelosi’s office for comment but did not receive a response.