U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Republican challenger Hung Cao clashed on the debate stage Wednesday night on a range of issues including immigration, education and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the military. 

Kaine, who previously served as governor of Virginia and was Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential running mate in 2016, made his case during the hourlong showdown at Norfolk State University on why he should keep his seat in the upper chamber of Congress. The only debate of the campaign focused on national issues and matters that resonate in Virginia and the coastal city of Norfolk, which is home to the country’s largest Navy base.

Cao, a 25-year Navy veteran endorsed by former President Donald Trump, criticized COVID vaccine mandates for service members and the Biden-Harris administration’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal when asked about the military’s collective failure to recently meet recruiting goals. He also criticized DEI efforts.

“When you’re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want,” Cao said. “What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them and ask for seconds. Those are the young men and women that are going to win wars.”

VIRGINIA SCHOOL BOARD TO PAY ‘WRONGFULLY FIRED’ TEACHER WHO REFUSED TO USE STUDENT’S PREFERRED PRONOUNS

Kaine, who is on the Senate Armed Services Committee, responded by saying that railing at DEI “is a red herring” and the real challenge is informing more Americans about the benefits of the military when only about 1% of the population serves in the armed forces. “We need to do a better job of talking about the G.I. Bill and other benefits as well as the tremendous leadership training that you get in the military,” Kaine said.

Cao, meanwhile, brought up the G.I. Bill when challenging Kaine on student loan forgiveness. The incumbent Democrat had praised the Biden administration for having forgiven “the loans of more than a million public servants in thanks for the public service they provide, whether it’s in the military, whether it’s teaching, whether it’s working as a frontline health professional or working for a local or state government.” 

The moderator then posed a question to Cao on how the Republican candidate would ease the burden, noting that the U.S. Department of Education reports more than a million Virginians owe a collective $43 billion in federal student debt as of last October, impacting their ability to contribute to the state’s economy.

“If you’re struggling to pay for your school, then get a G.I. Bill,” Cao said. “That means go out and serve in the military. You’ll get a stipend as well as tuition. We need to fix education, and we need to do it now. But here’s the thing with people like Senator Kaine, you’ve been an officer for 30 years in various offices, in the U.S. Senate for 12. Why have you not fixed it yet?” 

VIRGINIA FAA CONTRACTOR ALLEGEDLY SPIED FOR IRAN, SHARED PRIVATE INFO ON US AIRPORTS, ENERGY INDUSTRY: DOJ

Kaine responded by saying Virginia “was named the best state for a child to be raised in the United States” and “the best managed state and the best state to do business” when he was governor from 2006 to 2010. 

“Oh, again, he says what he’s going to do,” Cao shot back. “Honestly, of the 227 bills that Senator Kaine has proposed, only three of them made it through… That’s a 99% failure rate.” 

“Check the tape on that. That’s completely wrong,” Kaine insisted. 

However, Cao retorted, “There’s two truths in the world, okay? Never walk into a target store wearing a red shirt and never go against an Asian when it comes to math. Trust me.” 

“He’s got a 99% failure rate,” Cao added. “If I just had 99% failure rate, and I defused bombs, I wouldn’t be here right now.” 

The moderator also pressed Cao, whose family fled Vietnam during the 1970s, on whether he supports the mass deportation of “all undocumented immigrants.” 

“When Vietnam fell, we had nowhere to go, and America had brought us in and my parents waited in line for seven years. We all did for seven years to get our citizenship. The last thing that my dad had [hung] over his bed when he passed away two years ago was his naturalization certificate. I love this country so much that I wrote a blank check – up to including my life – to defend it for 25 years in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and other parts of the world,” Cao said. “Here’s my thing to anybody who wants to come here, don’t ask for an American dream. If you’re not willing to be American laws and embrace the American culture, because I did.” 

“If you come here illegally, then you need to leave, especially if you’re a violent crime person,” Cao said, citing new Immigration and Customs Enforcement data provided to lawmakers last week. 

“There are 13,000 convicted murderers and 16,000 convicted rapists that came across under their watch. That’s unacceptable. We need to protect Americans every single day,” Cao said. 

“If you came here illegally, you’ve basically screwed up the whole system,” Cao said. “You can’t jump the line – I mean, you go to Costco and jump the line, what do you think is going to happen? You can’t come here and expect the American dream if you’re not willing to obey the American laws and embrace the American culture.”

“Deport anybody that’s committing crimes right now,” he added. “That’s the first thing we need. Secure the border.” 

Kaine said he never supported mass amnesty but believes it would “devastate the economy” to deport the 10 million illegal immigrants who crossed the border during the Biden-Harris administration – a figure the moderator cited and the Democratic candidate echoed. He also slammed former President Donald Trump for asking Republicans to oppose the last congressional border deal. 

“We recently negotiated a very tough border deal that would have put a lot of resources on the border to stop illegal immigration,” Kaine said. “President Trump asked for Republicans to oppose it, even though it was supported by the border control union.”

Another subject was Trump’s proposal to place more tariffs on imported goods. 

“What we need to do is not tax our industry here,” Cao said. “What we need to do is tax other countries bringing in goods.”

Kaine criticized Trump’s proposal. “The Trump tariffs would be a massive tax that would cause prices on all of these items that are imported to go up,” Kaine said. “On that, I differ strongly from my opponent.”

With Kaine’s seat considered solidly Democratic, the race has not seen the kind of dead-heat polling as the national presidential contest or the high-stakes drama of other Senate races such as those in Montana and Ohio, where Democratic incumbents face tough re-election bids, according to The Associated Press. 

Trump has endorsed Cao, and political scientists say his path to victory is narrow given Virginia’s moderate electorate, aversion to Trump in 2020 and Kaine’s salience with voters, according to the AP. 

Kaine won his last race in 2018 by 16 percentage points, although he said he was preparing for a tough race this year. The most recent Republican from Virginia to hold a U.S. Senate seat was the late John Warner, a centrist with an independent streak who last won in 2002.

Republicans have won statewide offices in Virginia. Glenn Youngkin was elected governor by two points in 2021, along with a Republican lieutenant governor and attorney general.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

A federal judge on Wednesday unsealed a key filing from special counsel Jack Smith’s updated election interference case against former President Donald Trump.

U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Tanya Chutkan unsealed Smith’s 165-page filing, in which Smith argues that Trump is not immune from prosecution for his alleged criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 election results. Smith submitted the document after the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that a president is immune from prosecution for official acts. 

“Although the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one,” Smith wrote. “Working with a team of private co-conspirators, the defendant acted as a candidate when he pursued multiple criminal means to disrupt, through fraud and deceit, the government function by which votes are collected and counted — a function in which the defendant, as President, had no official role.” 

The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States held that Smith could not prosecute Trump for the president’s alleged use of the Justice Department to look into unproven claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. In response, Smith filed an updated indictment that revised the allegations against Trump to fit within the scope of the Supreme Court’s decision. 

JUDGE UNSEALS KEY FILING IN SPECIAL COUNSEL’S ELECTION CASE AGAINST TRUMP

In the unsealed filing, Smith told the court that Trump is not immune from the remaining allegations against him and laid out his case for why Trump “must stand trial for his private crimes.” 

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him by Smith.

Here are five key details from the special counsel’s new filing, which is partially redacted: 

In the filing unsealed Wednesday, Smith outlined a “factual proffer,” alleging Trump “resorted to crimes to try to stay in office” after losing the 2020 presidential election.

“With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin,” Smith wrote. 

“His efforts included lying to state officials in order to induce them to ignore true vote counts; manufacturing fraudulent electoral votes in the targeted states; attempting to enlist Vice President Michael R. Pence, in his role as President of the Senate, to obstruct Congress’s certification of the election by using the defendant’s fraudulent electoral votes; and when all else had failed, on January 6, 2021, directing an angry crowd of supporters to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification.” 

PROSECUTORS REQUEST INDEFINITE DELAY IN TRIAL FOR TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SUSPECT RYAN ROUTH

Smith claims that the “throughline of these efforts was deceit,” alleging Trump and co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy to interfere with the federal government function by which the nation collects and counts election results, which is set forth in the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act (ECA); a conspiracy to obstruct the official proceeding in which Congress certifies the legitimate results of the presidential election; and a conspiracy against the rights of millions of Americans to vote and have their votes counted.” 

Smith claims that several people close to Trump had told the former president his claims of election fraud were “bulls—.” 

According to Smith, in one conversation, an unnamed Trump attorney had told Trump that the campaign was “looking into his fraud claims and had even hired external experts to do so, but could find no support for them.” 

“He told the defendant that if the Campaign took these claims to court, they would get slaughtered because the claims are all ‘bulls—,’” the filing states, with Smith claiming that a lawyer discussed with Trump the investigations and “debunkings on all major claims.” 

For example, the attorney allegedly told Trump that Georgia’s audit disproved claims that votes had been altered. 

TRUMP BLASTS DOJ FOR ‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE,’ CALLS JACK SMITH CASE A ‘SCAM’ AFTER JUDGE UNSEALS KEY FILING

Smith also claims a senior campaign adviser who spoke with Trump on a “daily basis” and had “informed him on multiple occasions that various fraud claims were false” had complained that Trump was losing his election lawsuits because his lawyers could not back up false claims about the election.

“When our research and campaign legal team can’t back up any of the claims made by our Elite Strike Force Legal Team, you can see why we’re 0-32 on our cases,” the campaign adviser allegedly wrote.

“I’ll obviously hustle to help on all fronts, but it’s tough to own any of this when it’s all just conspiracy s— beamed down from the mothership.”  

The filing details several alleged interactions between Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence in the days following the election.

Smith details a Nov. 7, 2020, call between Pence and Trump in which Pence allegedly “tried to encourage” Trump “as a friend” by reminding him that he “took a dying political party and gave it a new lease on life.” 

Smith also details a private lunch between Trump and Pence on Nov. 12, 2020, when Pence allegedly gave Trump a “face-saving option.” That option, according to the filing, was “don’t concede but recognize the process is over.” 

In another private lunch between Trump and Pence on Nov. 16, 2020, Pence allegedly tried to encourage Trump to accept the results of the election and run again in 2024. Trump is alleged to have responded, “I don’t know, 2024 is so far off.” 

TRUMP TRIAL STEMMING FROM JACK SMITH’S PROBE DELAYED PAST ELECTION DAY

In yet another private lunch on Dec. 21, Pence allegedly “encouraged” Trump “not to look at the election ‘as a loss – just an intermission.'” Later that day in the Oval Office, Trump allegedly asked Pence for advice on what he should do. According to Smith, Pence said, “after we have exhausted every legal process in the courts and Congress, if we still came up short, Trump should ‘take a bow.’” 

Additionally, Smith reveals that Trump allegedly showed little regard for Pence’s safety during the Jan. 6, 2023 riot at the U.S. Capitol after it became clear that Pence would not support his attempt to stop the certification of the election. 

Smith alleges that an unnamed Trump aide, “upon receiving a phone call alerting him that Pence had been taken to a secure location… rushed to the dining room to inform the defendant [Trump] in hopes that the defendant would take action to ensure Pence’s safety.” 

Smith writes that instead, after the aide delivered the news, Trump “looked at him and said only, ‘So what?'” 

Smith alleges that Trump at multiple times showed complete disregard for those who informed him his claims of voter fraud were false, including Republican elections officials in states where Trump had claimed the election was stolen. 

“Election officials, for instance, issued press releases and other public statements to combat the disinformation that the defendant and his allies were spreading,” Smith wrote. “At one point long after the defendant had begun spreading false fraud claims, [REDACTED], a White House staffer traveling with the defendant, overheard him tell family members that ‘it doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.” 

Smith goes on to assert that Trump and his legal team “repeatedly changed the numbers in their baseless fraud allegations from day to day,” and even “made up figures from whole cloth.” 

TRUMP INDICTED A SECOND TIME IN ELECTION SUBVERSION CASE BROUGHT BY SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH

The special counsel claimed Trump “was on notice that there was no evidence of widespread election fraud in Arizona within a week of the election” and claimed Trump also “had early notice that his claims of election fraud in Georgia were false.” 

By the time Trump spoke at his rally on Jan. 6, after Pence had refused to stop the certification of the election, Smith said the former president knew his “last hope” to overturn the results was “the large and angry crowd standing in front of him.” 

“So for more than an hour, the defendant delivered a speech designed to inflame his supports and motivate them to march to the Capitol. The defendant told the crowd many of the same lies he had been telling for months—privately and publicly, including to the officials in the targeted states—and that he knew were not true.”

Smith argues that based on a “factbound analysis” of Trump’s conduct, the court should determine that the former president was not acting in his official capacity when he challenged the election results and is therefore not immune from prosecution. 

“None of the allegations or evidence is protected by presidential immunity,” Smith wrote, asserting Trump’s “scheme was a private one.” 

“He extensively used private actors and his campaign infrastructure to attempt to overturn the election results and operated in a private capacity as a candidate for office,” Smith claimed. “To the limited extent that the superseding indictment and proffered evidence reflect official conduct, however, the Government can rebut the presumption of immunity because relying on that conduct in this prosecution will not pose a danger of intrusion on the authority or functions of the Executive Branch.” 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Vice President Kamala Harris is maintaining her lead over former President Trump in Wisconsin despite Trump leading on the key issues, according to a Wednesday poll.

The new poll from Marquette Law School finds Harris leading Trump in a 52%-48% match-up. The poll also found that voters are deeply invested in the election, with 46% of respondents saying they have stopped talking to someone about politics due to the presidential race.

Marquette conducted the survey from Sept. 18-26, polling 882 Wisconsin registered voters and 798 likely voters. The poll advertises a margin of error of 4.4%.

Despite trailing in the polls, Trump leads Harris in the top issues in the race, including border security, the economy, and handling the Israel-Hamas war.

YOUNG SWING STATE VOTERS DELIVER ADVICE FOR KAMALA HARRIS

Trump enjoys a sizable 49-37% lead over Harris on immigration. Meanwhile, 50% of Wisconsinites say he will handle the economy better than Harris, with the vice president getting just 42% support. Trump also enjoys a 45%-33% lead when it comes to Israel’s conflict in the Middle East. He also has a narrow lead over Harris when it comes to foreign relations more generally.

FOX NEWS POLL: HARRIS, TRUMP LOCKED IN TIGHT RACE IN BATTLEGROUND PENNSYLVANIA

Harris does have a lead over Trump in a number of other issues, however, namely abortion and election concerns. Roughly 53% of respondents said they trusted Harris to handle the former, compared to 36% for Trump. Another 49% said Harris would be better for ensuring a fair and accurate election, compared to Trump’s 39%.

Wisconsin is among a handful of swing states that are likely to determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. Other states like Ohio and Pennsylvania are also critical to either a Trump or Harris victory.

Pennsylvania in particular is one of the tightest contests in the nation, where Harris leads Trump in a razor-thin 49%-47% match-up, according to new data from AARP. 

The AARP survey spoke with 1,398 likely voters in Pennsylvania and has an overall margin of error of four percentage points. 

In an effort to win the vote of disgruntled Republicans as she battles former President Trump in the race for the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to the town that claims to be the birthplace of the GOP.

A senior Harris campaign official says that the vice president on Thursday will team up in battleground Wisconsin with former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, a one-time rising conservative star in the GOP who became her party’s most visible anti-Trump leader.

The campaign event will take place in Ripon, Wisconsin, where a one-room schoolhouse was designated a national historic landmark due to its role in holding a series of meetings in 1854 that led to the formation of the Republican Party.

According to her campaign, Harris plans to spotlight the significance of that moment and that place – as she makes another direct appeal to Republican voters frustrated that Trump is their party’s presidential nominee – and as she reiterates her pledge to be a president for all Americans.

LIZ CHENEY WEIGHS IN ON WHOM SHE’LL BACK IN THE 2024 ELECTION

Harris is also expected to praise Cheney for her courage and patriotism in putting country over party.

Cheney, at a speaking event in early September at Duke University in swing state North Carolina, announced that she would be voting for Harris in the presidential election.

TRUMP UPS HIS ANTE IN THE 2024 FUNDRAISING FIGHT WITH HARRIS

“As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this, and because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.”

Cheney’s father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, also endorsed Harris. 

The younger Cheney was once rising in the ranks of House Republican leadership 

But she was the most high-profile of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach then-president Trump in early 2021 on a charge of inciting the deadly Jan. 6th attack on the Capitol, which was waged by right-wing extremists and other Trump supporters who aimed to disrupt congressional certification of President Biden’s Electoral College victory in the 2020 election.

The conservative lawmaker and defense hawk immediately came under verbal attack from Trump and his allies, and was eventually ousted from her number-three House GOP leadership position.

WHITE HOUSE LAWYERS WHO ADVISED REAGAN AND BUSH BACK HARRIS OVER TRUMP

Cheney, who has been vocal in emphasizing the importance of defending the nation’s democratic process and of putting country before party, was one of only two Republicans who served on a special select committee organized by House Democrats that investigated the riot at the Capitol.

In 2022, she was ousted in the GOP congressional primary in Wyoming to a candidate that was backed by Trump.

Cheney — who has argued that the former president is a “liar,” a “con man” and a potential “tyrant” who, if elected again, would “torch the Constitution” — vowed after leaving Congress that “I will do everything I can to make sure [Trump] is never anywhere near the Oval Office again.”

The Harris campaign says that the vice president, at her event with Cheney, plans to note that while Republicans may not agree with her on every issue, she promises to uphold the Constitution, America’s fundamental principles, and the rule of law.

The Cheneys are part of a growing list of prominent Republicans who are supporting Harris.

Two other high-profile anti-Trump Republicans — former Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan – had speaking roles at the Democratic National Convention, which was held six weeks ago in Chicago.

And Harris is backed by more than 200 alumni who served in both Bush administrations or worked for the late Sen. John McCain and Sen. Mitt Romney, the 2008 and 2012 GOP presidential nominee. She’s also supported by more than 100 Republican former national security officials and other prominent Republicans.

Ripon is not the only town that claims to be the birthplace of the GOP. Exeter, New Hampshire also has some bragging rites, as it was the site of meetings in 1853 – a year ahead of the Ripon gatherings – by disenchanted political leaders who discussed the formation of a new party of Republicans.

But officials in Ripon said the group in Exeter never actually formed a political organization, or chose officials, as they did in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin is one of seven crucial battleground states with razor-thin margins that decided Biden’s 2020 White House victory and are likely to determine if Harris or Trump wins the 2024 presidential election.

With less than five weeks until Election Day in November, Harris and Trump are locked in a margin-of-error race in the key swing states.

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

FIRST ON FOX: Nonprofit groups that assist illegal immigrants would be cut off from federal grant money under the terms of a bill introduced Thursday by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.

“NGOs and non-profits serve as the foot soldiers for the Biden-Harris administration’s mass-migration policies by helping illegal aliens cross the border and stay here for years after illegally,” Gaetz said in a statement previewed exclusively by Fox News Digital. “My legislation, the BARRIER Act, will strip these organizations of their federal funding, which can be used to assist those who break federal law.”

FEAR GRIPS IDYLLIC NANTUCKET AMID MIGRANT CRIME SPIKE: ‘A LOT OF BAD PEOPLE’

The bill, Blocking Assistance and Resources to Restrict Illegal Entry and Residency (BARRIER) Act, which Gaetz is expected to introduce Thursday, is co-sponsored by Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Mary Miller, R-Ill., Eric Burlison, R-Mo., Randy Weber, R-Texas, Troy Nehls, R-Texas, Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., and Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.

The Florida Republican said his BARRIER Act would also penalize organizations helping immigrants who are already living in the U.S. unlawfully.

“The federal government should not be financing the destruction of its own country,” said Gaetz, who is running for re-election to a fifth term in Congress.

NANTUCKET PARENTS FEAR FOR CHILDREN AMID SPIKE IN MIGRANT CRIME: ‘AS A FATHER IT TRULY SCARES ME’

If enacted, immigration groups like the National Immigration Law Center, American Immigration Council and CASA would likely lose their federal grants.

Illegal immigration and the crisis at the southern border are among the top issues for voters this election cycle. Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants with sex offenses and homicide convictions could be loose on the streets, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data provided to lawmakers last week.

AURORA POLICE DENY TREN DE ARAGUA GANG HAS ‘TAKEN OVER’ THE CITY IN PRESSER: ‘NOT AN IMMIGRATION ISSUE’

The Biden administration came under fire for releasing many migrants who came to the U.S. border into the interior, which coincided with a sharp drop in deportations as it focused on prioritizing public safety and national security threats. There were 142,580 removals in fiscal 2023, up considerably from 72,177 in fiscal 2022 and 59,011 in fiscal 2021, but still down from the highs of 267,258 under the Trump administration in fiscal 2019.

The number of illegal immigrants on the nondetained docket, meanwhile, has soared from 3.7 million in fiscal 2021 to nearly 4.8 million in fiscal 2022 to more than 7 million in fiscal 2023.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Dozens of lawmakers in the House and Senate are calling for more information from the Justice Department about efforts to stop noncitizen voting in federal elections, which they call a “serious threat” to election integrity, citing officials in multiple states who have identified noncitizens on their voter rolls.

A letter from 73 lawmakers, led by Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland said they were “deeply concerned” by reports of noncitizens registering to vote and voting in federal elections and had not received a response from an inquiry in July on the matter.

“As of today, there has been no response from you or your Department regarding the inquiry on July 12, 2024, seeking information on efforts undertaken by your Department to enforce laws prohibiting non-citizen voting. Given that the 2024 Presidential Election is in less than 34 days, your Department’s inaction and refusal to provide any information regarding its efforts to promote public trust and confidence in our elections is especially alarming,” they wrote.

Specifically, they asked how many aliens have been prosecuted under laws related to noncitizen voting, how the DOJ handles allegations of noncitizen voting or registration and the steps it takes to prevent such practices.

Noncitizens are not allowed to vote, and top Republicans, including former President Trump, have repeatedly expressed concern that noncitizens may attempt to vote in federal elections, particularly given the influx of immigrants across the southern border in recent years.

DOJ: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT STOLE US CITIZEN’S IDENTITY TO VOTE IN MULTIPLE ELECTIONS, OBTAIN AMERICAN PASSPORT

In August, Republican lawmakers pushed for the SAVE Act, which aimed to require states to obtain proof of citizenship in person when registering an individual to vote and require states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls, to be attached to a spending bill extension to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year.

The lawmakers in the letter cited an announcement by the Virginia attorney general that it had identified 6,303 noncitizens on its voter rolls in 2022 and 2023, while Texas had removed 6,500 noncitizens from its voter rolls. Of those, 1,930 had a history of voting.

The DOJ itself announced last month that it had charged an illegal immigrant with stealing a U.S. citizen’s identity to vote in multiple elections and fraudulently obtain a U.S. passport. 

“Clearly, there is a non-negligible amount of voter participation by non-citizens in federal elections, which is not only a serious threat to the integrity of our elections and the democratic process they represent, but also has the potential to reduce Americans’ trust and confidence in election results,” they wrote.

ALABAMA ELECTION OFFICIAL SAYS BIDEN EXECUTIVE ORDER GIVES ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ‘MECHANISM’ TO REGISTER TO VOTE 

Lawmakers quizzed the DOJ on information related to the issue in a July 12 request but had not received a response.

It also asks what steps the department is taking to prosecute noncitizens registered to vote in the 2024 election. Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.

This week, the DOJ sued Alabama, alleging the state removed voters who had been issued noncitizen identification numbers from its election rolls too close to Election Day. The agency argued that officials violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which requires states to complete any changes to the voter registration lists no later than 90 days before federal elections.

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

It was civil. It was cordial. It was substantive.

And there’s no question that JD Vance easily won the vice presidential debate. Tim Walz did better than anticipated – perhaps those expectations were deliberately set low – but despite some strong counterpunching, he frequently stumbled.

Each man had a mission: to defend his running mate and rough up the opposing presidential candidate.

But Vance had a second goal beyond talking up Donald Trump, and that was softening his own image. He made a concerted effort to project empathy, to appear reasonable, to be open to opposing viewpoints.

VOTERS REACT TO GOV TIM WALZ DODGING TIANANMEN SQUARE QUESTION: ‘I’M A KNUCKLEHEAD AT TIMES’

There is a caricature of the Ohio senator as a hard-right ideologue with little sympathy for women, as reflected by the famous childless cat ladies comment. But when the subject of abortion came up, he went out of his way to sound sympathetic to the pro-choice side:

“I know a lot of Americans don’t agree with everything that I’ve ever said on this topic. And, you know, I grew up in a working-class family in a neighborhood where I knew a lot of young women who had unplanned pregnancies and decided to terminate those pregnancies because they feel like they didn’t have any other options. And, you know, one of them is actually very dear to me. And I know she’s watching tonight and I love you. 

“And she told me something a couple of years ago that she felt like if she hadn’t had that abortion, that it would have destroyed her life because she was in an abusive relationship. And I think that what I take from that as a Republican who proudly wants to protect innocent life in this country, who proudly wants to protect the vulnerable, is that my party? We’ve got to do so much better of a job at earning the American people’s trust back on this issue, where they frankly just don’t trust us.”

(Vance’s website describes him as “100 percent pro-life.”)

Walz countered with specific stories of women who died or whose health was damaged because they lived in states that tightly restrict abortion.

The Minnesota governor hit his talking points, but regularly took a long time to get to his main argument. A question about Kamala Harris’ plan to build 3 million housing units produced a detour about how Walz has only bought one home. 

WATCH: VOTERS REACT IN REAL TIME TO KEY VANCE-WALZ DEBATE MOMENTS ON IMMIGRATION, DEMOCRACY, ABORTION

Walz often spoke in a clipped shorthand – the ACA, Springfield, Vance creating stories – without explaining, for instance, that he meant the false tale of Haitian migrants eating pets.

The CBS moderators, Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan, edged into ABC territory by fact-checking only Vance, despite saying they would try to avoid that. After the senator referred to illegal immigrants in the Ohio town, Brennan said Springfield “does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected.” That’s a point Walz should have made, but didn’t.

Many questions were framed from the left. “Senator Vance,” said Brennan, “you oppose most gun legislation that Democrats claim would curb gun violence. You oppose red flag gun laws and legislation to ban certain semi-automatic rifles, including AR-15s.”

Walz’s worst moment was one he should have anticipated, a story in the New York Times and elsewhere saying he was not in China for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests as he had claimed, but got to Hong Kong months later. The governor began with a word-salad answer about growing up in Nebraska before retreating to “I’ve not been perfect. And I’m a knucklehead at times.”

Pressed again, he said he had misspoken.

Vance’s worst moment was about Jan. 6. O’Donnell began, “You have said you would not have certified the last presidential election and would have asked the states to submit alternative electors that has been called unconstitutional and illegal.”

POLITICS HIJACKS HURRICANE DEVASTATION IN THE SOUTH, BIDEN CALLS TRUMP A LIAR

The senator countered that Trump “said that on January the 6th, the protesters ought to protest peacefully. And on January the 20th, what happened? Joe Biden became the president. Donald Trump left the White House.”

This time Walz was ready. Trump “lost this election and he said he did. 140 police officers were beaten at the Capitol that day, some with the American flag. Several later died.”

He turned to Vance and said: “Did he lose the 2020 election?”

When Vance tried the “focused on the future” line again, Walz called that “a damning non-answer.”

But Vance largely came off as a Bush-style compassionate conservative. He must figure that win or lose, he’ll be running for president in 2028 and needed to combat all the negative coverage.

Walz looked like a man who was happy to survive his turn on the national stage. The debate would have looked very different if Harris had picked Josh Shapiro, given that she’s tied with Trump in Pennsylvania.

The Harris campaign has bubble-wrapped Tim Walz, not allowing him to do a single solo interview. JD Vance is constantly doing interviews, podcasts and press conferences, the best kind of preparation for a big debate. And that, in the end, may have been the difference.

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a California bill that outlaws AI-generated “deepfake” content and required the removal of “deceptive content” from social media. 

The preliminary injunction comes just two weeks after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the controversial measure into law, igniting a spat with X owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. It also comes roughly a month before Election Day. 

800-PLUS BILLS LEFT ON NEWSOM’S DESK ILLUSTRATE CALIFORNIA’S OVERREGULATION PROBLEM: EXPERTS

A spokesperson for Newsom’s office warned that deepfakes “threaten the integrity of our elections, and these new laws protect our democracy while preserving free speech — in a manner no more stringent than those in other states, including deep-red Alabama.”

“We’re confident the courts will uphold the state’s ability to regulate these types of dangerous and misleading deepfakes,” the governor’s office said in a statement to Fox News Digital, noting that “Satire remains alive and well in California — even for those who miss the punchline.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 

President Biden said Wednesday that he would not support an attack by Israel on Iranian nuclear sites in retaliation for Iran’s firing of 181 missiles at Israel amid fears that a lethal regional war is around the corner.

On Wednesday, a day after the massive attack and after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Iran would pay for the attack, Biden briefly spoke with reporters before boarding Air Force One.

He said all the leaders on a recent call – France, Canada, Japan, Britain, Italy and Germany – agreed that Israel had the right to “proportionally” respond to Iran’s military strike.

“We’ll be discussing with the Israelis what they’re going to do, but all seven of us [G7 nations] agree that they have a right to respond, but they should respond proportionally,” he said.

ISRAEL URGES UN TO CONDEMN IRAN AFTER LATEST ATTACKS

But when asked whether he would back Israel striking Iranian nuclear sites as it has long threatened, Biden told reporters, “The answer is no.”

ISRAEL STRIKES HEZBOLLAH TARGETS IN LEBANON

Biden said more sanctions would be imposed on Iran and that he would speak with Netanyahu soon.

“Obviously, Iran is way off course,” he said.

Iran’s missile attack escalated tensions in the region, where the Biden administration has for months led negotiations on a cease-fire in the nearly year-old Israel-Hamas war.

ISRAEL’S ‘SWORN ENEMY’ HEZBOLLAH TELLS IRAN IT WOULD FIGHT ALONE IF CONFLICT ESCALATES

The recent assault on Israel follows the Biden administration souring on the prospects of an end to the war between Israel and Hamas. 

“We aren’t any closer to that now than we were even a week ago,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby previously told reporters. He called the prospects of a completed deal “daunting.” 

“No deal is imminent,” one U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal. “I’m not sure it ever gets done.”

During Tuesday’s vice presidential debate with Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Democrat nominee Vice President Harris’ “steady leadership” in the region is necessary.

“What we’ve seen out of Vice President Harris is we’ve seen steady leadership. We’ve seen a calmness that is able to be able to draw on the coalitions, to bring them together, understanding that our allies matter. When our allies see Donald Trump turn towards Vladimir Putin, turn towards North Korea, when we start to see that type of fickleness around holding the coalitions together, we will stay committed,” he said.

“And as the vice president said today, we will protect our forces and our allied forces, and there will be consequences,” he said.

Vance voiced support for GOP nominee former President Trump’s “peace through strength” policy toward Israel.

“Donald Trump recognized that for people to fear the United States, you need peace through strength,” Vance said. “They needed to recognize that if they got out of line, the United States’ global leadership would put stability and peace back in the world.”

Vance said it is “up to Israel” how they choose to respond.

“Now, you asked about a preemptive strike, Margaret, and I want to answer the question,” he said during the debate. “Look, it is up to Israel what they think they need to do to keep their country safe,” he said. “And we should support our allies wherever they are when they’re fighting the bad guys. I think that’s the right approach to take with the Israel question.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department and the White House for comment.

Former President Trump blasted the Justice Department Wednesday for having “disobeyed their own rule in favor of complete and total election interference” after a key filing from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election case against him was unsealed with just weeks before Americans cast their ballots. 

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Tanya Chutkan unsealed Smith’s 165-page filing Wednesday afternoon. The filing lays out his case and the alleged evidence he intends to use in an eventual trial against Trump. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges brought by Smith. 

JUDGE UNSEALS KEY FILING IN SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S ELECTION CASE

But Trump blasted the Justice Department Wednesday evening. 

“For 60 days prior to an election, the Department of Injustice is supposed to do absolutely nothing that would taint or interfere with a case,” Trump posted in all capital letters to his Truth Social. “They disobeyed their own rule in favor of complete and total election interference.”

“I did nothing wrong, they did!” he continued. 

DOJ practice during an election year has often been to hold off on major actions in cases that could impact elections during the 60 days leading up to Election Day, an unwritten policy commonly referred to as the “60-day rule.” The “rule,” which is really more of a tradition because it is not an actual rule, has been cited many times in recent years.

“The case is a scam, just like all of the others, including the documents case, which was dismissed!” 

Trump was pointing to the other case Smith brought against him related to classified records. The case was tossed out by a federal judge in Florida who ruled that Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel. 

The former president further blasted Democrats, saying they are “weaponizing the Justice Department against me because they I know I am WINNING, and they are desperate to prop up their failing candidate, Kamala Harris.” 

Trump said the unsealing of the Smith filing, which he called the “latest ‘hit job,’” happened because his running mate, Sen. JD Vance “humiliated” Harris’ running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate. 

Trump said the Justice Department “has become nothing more than an extension of Joe’s, and now Kamala’s, campaign.” 

TRUMP TRIAL STEMMING FROM JACK SMITH’S PROBE DELAYED PAST ELECTION DAY

“This is egregious PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT, and should not have been released right before the Election,” Trump said. “The Democrat Party is turning America into a Third World Country that tries to censor, harass, and intimidate their Political Opponents. What they have done to our Justice System is one of the Great, All Time, Tragedies.” 

The former president added that the Democrat Party “is guilty of the Worst Election Interference in American History.” 

“They are trying to DESTROY OUR DEMOCRACY, allowing millions of people to enter our Country illegally. They are determined to stop us from winning back the White House, sealing the Border, and MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. BUT THEY WILL FAIL, AND WE WILL SAVE OUR NATION!” Trump posted. 

Trump also blasted Smith as “deranged,” and said that he, the “Harris-Biden DOJ, and Washington, D.C. based Radical Left Democrats, are “HELL BENT on continuing to Weaponize the Justice Department in an attempt to cling to power.” 

“‘TRUMP’ is dominating the Election cycle, leading in the Polls, and the Radical Democrats throughout the Deep State are totally ‘freaking out.’ This entire case is a Partisan, Unconstitutional, Witch Hunt, that should be dismissed, entirely, just like the Florida case was dismissed!” Trump said. 

Trump’s comments came in response to Smith’s newly-unsealed filing, in which he alleges Trump “resorted to crimes to try to stay in office” after losing the 2020 presidential election.

“With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin,” Smith wrote. 

“His efforts included lying to state officials in order to induce them to ignore true vote counts; manufacturing fraudulent electoral votes in the targeted states; attempting to enlist Vice President Michael R. Pence, in his role as President of the Senate, to obstruct Congress’s certification of the election by using the defendant’s fraudulent electoral votes; and when all else had failed, on January 6, 2021, directing an angry crowd of supporters to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification.” 

Smith claims that the “throughline of these efforts was deceit,” claiming Trump and co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy to interfere with the federal government function by which the nation collects and counts election results, which is set forth in the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act (ECA); a conspiracy to obstruct the official proceeding in which Congress certifies the legitimate results of the presidential election; and a conspiracy against the rights of millions of Americans to vote and have their votes counted.” 

The Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that a president is immune from prosecution for official acts. 

TRUMP INDICTED A SECOND TIME IN ELECTION SUBVERSION CASE BROUGHT BY SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH

Smith was then required to file another indictment against Trump, revising the charges in an effort to navigate the Supreme Court ruling. The new indictment kept the prior criminal charges but narrowed and reframed allegations against Trump after the high court’s ruling that gave broad immunity to former presidents. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in the new indictment as well. 

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital the release of the “falsehood-ridden, unconstitutional J6 brief immediately following Tim Walz’s disastrous debate performance is another obvious attempt by the Harris-Biden regime to undermine American Democracy and interfere in this election.” 

“Deranged Jack Smith and Washington DC Radical Democrats are hell-bent on weaponizing the Justice Department in an attempt to cling to power,” Cheung said. “President Trump is dominating, and the Radical Democrats throughout the Deep State are freaking out.

“This entire case is a partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt that should be dismissed entirely, together with ALL of the remaining Democrat hoaxes.” 

Last month, Chutkan said she would not hold the trial for Trump on charges stemming from Smith’s Jan. 6 investigation until after the 2024 presidential election. She set deadlines for replies and paperwork from federal prosecutors and Trump’s legal team for Nov. 7 — after Election Day. 

Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this report.