After allegations of plagiarism levied against Vice President Harris, the New York Times quoted an expert who insisted Republicans were “mak[ing] a big deal” out of minor violations that were “an error and not an intent to defraud.” Meanwhile, speaking to the Washington Post, the same expert blamed Harris’ plagiarism on technical difficulties.

Despite the benign reaction to the revelations of Harris’ plagiarism from her 2009 book about prosecuting crime, the reaction to plagiarism accusations against Joe Biden during his 1987-1988 run for president was much more aggressive, and many, such as the Washington Post, have credited the scandal with derailing his then-campaign.

“Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., fighting to salvage his Presidential campaign,” the New York Times wrote in 1987 after reports he lifted excerpts from other politicians’ speeches to use as his own and plagiarized a paper in law school. They also called the revelations “damaging,” while independent columnist Lewis Grizzard described Biden’s plagiarism as “thievery and disinformation.”

NY TIMES ENDORSES KAMALA HARRIS, CHOOSES DEMOCRAT IN 17TH STRAIGHT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 

The public was concerned enough about Biden’s alleged plagiarism that he was forced to withdraw from his regular duties in Congress, which, at the time, included the Senate confirmation of Supreme Court Justice nominee Robert Bork, to hold an impromptu press conference to answer questions about the ordeal. Roughly a week later, Biden withdrew from the race amid the backlash.

When asked during the press conference if he thought the plagiarism accusations would affect his run for the presidency, Biden said he didn’t think so but conceded it would come down to how the press portrayed it to the American people: “You all will make the judgment about that. It will all depend on how you write it. I don’t mean that – I’m not being smart. It will all depend on how the American people look at me. They’re going to look at me and say, ‘Is Joe Biden being honest with me? Or is Joe Biden not being honest with me?” 

The New York Times’ reporting on Harris’ plagiarism was slammed by Republican critic Christopher Rufo, who was the force behind the Harris account of plagiarism. Rufo, alongside an Austrian plagiarism expert, said they found dozens of violations in Harris’ 2009 book, “Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer.” These reportedly included verbatim passages lifted from news reports at NBC and the Associated Press, as well as sections taken from Wikipedia, all without any citation or quotes indicating it was not her language. Harris also plagiarized excerpts from a Bureau of Justice Assistance report, a report from the Urban Institute and a press release from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for her book, according to Rufo.

NY TIMES ADVICE COLUMN PONDERS APPROPRIATENESS OF FLEEING THE COUNTRY IF ‘WRONG CANDIDATE’ GETS ELECTED

After the New York Times came out with its reporting on the matter, Rufo criticized the paper for “lying.” The Times, which spoke to plagiarism expert Jonathan Bailey, said Rufo only found “five sections” of “about 500 words” that amounted to something problematic. Bailey referred to the alleged plagiarism as an “error and not an intent to defraud,” adding that Rufo was trying to “make a big deal of [something minor].” 

The paper added that “none of the passages in question took the ideas or thoughts of another writer.” Meanwhile, in 1987, the Times slammed claims from Biden that the ideas he reportedly plagiarized came to him spontaneously: “Mr. Biden’s borrowing raises questions about how much a candidate can adapt someone else’s language and thoughts, whether he remembers to give credit or not,” the outlet posited at the time.

Rufo also blasted the Washington Post’s coverage for downplaying the Harris plagiarism allegations. The paper, which spoke to Bailey as well, blamed the “errors” on technical difficulties.

“Bailey said such errors are not uncommon in material written from the late 1990s to around 2010, a period when electronic research became more common, but plagiarism detection had not yet emerged,” wrote the Post.

Rufo also drew a contrast between how the Post criticized first lady Melania Trump for what he described as “lifting a few turns of phrase” during a 2016 speech.

“When Kamala Harris did this more than a dozen times, the paper explained that it was OK because Kamala didn’t know how to use a computer,” he said.

In addition to alleging plagiarism by Harris, Rufo was also the force behind alleging plagiarism by the former president of Harvard, Claudine Gay. The revelations that Gay had reportedly copied numerous academics over the course of her own academic career subsequently led to her removal as Harvard’s president.

Fox News Digital reached out to the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Harris campaign for comment but did not hear back by press time.

FIRST ON FOX: A controversial nonprofit watchdog organization with a history of anti-Israel rhetoric and ties to vulnerable Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is working to close one of the largest power plants in the United States in a move that could cost hundreds of jobs and raise energy costs for Ohioans.

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) recently sent a joint letter, along with the Sierra Club, to Blackstone urging the group to shut down the Gavin Power Plant in Ohio due to environmental concerns and arguing that the plant is the “largest and dirtiest” in the United States.

The coal plant is the largest coal-burning power plant in Ohio and the 9th largest in the country, employing nearly 300 people. The Institute for Energy Research has estimated that closing the plant could “negatively impact the stability of the electric grid and power markets” given that it produces 11% of the electricity in the state of Ohio. 

Other experts warn that residents of Gallia County, Ohio, the county where the plant is located, already have higher average electric bills than other areas in Ohio and 24% higher than the national average suggesting that closing the plant would send those costs up even higher.

OHIO GOP SENATE CHALLENGER REACTS TO POLLS SHOWING DEAD HEAT IN CRITICAL SENATE RACE: ‘RADICAL LIBERAL’

In recent weeks, the Sierra Club has been running ads targeting Blackstone’s leadership in an attempt to put pressure on the group to retire the plant. 

Brown, who benefitted from a virtual phone bank event hosted by the Sierra Club in late September and has been endorsed by their PAC, has a long history of working with PESP.

Brown participated in a PESP press conference in June and cited PESP in a letter to the Federal National Mortgage Association in 2020.

“NPR reports that Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, is seeking answers from a corporate landlord after a report by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project found the firm has been filing for evictions much more over in predominantly Black neighborhoods during the pandemic,” The National Low Income Housing Coalition wrote about Brown and his promotion of PESP In 2021.

Brown also cited PESP’s work in a 2024 letter to the Department of Labor. 

A previous FOX Business review found that several staff members at PESP, which has been funded by the Soros-backed Foundation to Promote an Open Society, the Ford Foundation, and Surdna Foundation, among other left-leaning groups, took part in anti-Israel protests or promoted radical claims related to the conflict.

On the day of the Hamas attack on Israel, where over 1,200 people were murdered and hundreds more taken hostage, PESP senior research coordinator and self-proclaimed “Marxist” Abhilasha Bhola liked a post on X that included the phrase “from the river to the sea” which is widely understood as a call for the elimination of the state of Israel.

Community organizer K Agbebiyi, a senior housing campaign coordinator with PESP, attended a November 2023 rally in Washington, D.C. “demanding an end to the genocide in Palestine” and in December of that year she posted a photo of a mural titled “Liberation looks like terrorism in the eyes of the oppressor.” 

NRA TARGETS SEN SHERROD BROWN IN 7-FIGURE AD BUY IN OHIO: ‘VOTE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT’

Additionally, Agbebiyi signed a letter with other alumni of the University of Michigan slamming the school for “anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim animus” and demanding the university “discontinue exchange programs and strategic partnerships with Israeli universities.”

In 2022, Agbebiyi posted on X that she is “becoming more principled of a Marxist” and described her political views as “communist.”

A spokesperson for the Brown campaign told Fox News Digital that Brown “will always fight to protect Ohio jobs and will continue to work with the company, workers, and community leaders to keep the plant open, keep energy costs affordable, and make sure local residents stay healthy and safe.” However, the campaign did not address Fox News Digital’s question about PESP’s anti-Israel rhetoric.

Many experts believe the Ohio Senate race will play a critical role in determining which party controls the Senate next year and the Cook Political Report ranks the race between Brown and Republican businessman Bernie Moreno as a “toss up.”

Energy has been a key issue in Ohio, a state where coal energy production and fracking are top issues with voters.

The Brown campaign told Fox News Digital that Brown “believes in an all of the above approach to American energy independence” and pointed to examples of where he “stood up to his own party” to block Biden energy regulations, including voting against Biden’s “clean” power plant rules.

“Sherrod Brown is a Green New Deal radical who wants to shut down Ohio energy production,” Moreno campaign spokesperson Reagan McCarthy told Fox News Digital. “While Sherrod claims there is ‘no war on coal,’ he is actively campaigning with radical groups who want to shut down Ohio coal plants. Unlike Sherrod, Bernie will always stand with Ohio’s energy industry.”

Matt Parr, the communications director for PESP, defended the group’s push to close the power plant, calling it “one of the highest emitting, dirtiest, and deadliest coal-fired power plants in the United States.”

“The Gavin coal plant, owned by private equity giant Blackstone, is one of the highest emitting, dirtiest, and deadliest coal-fired power plants in the United States, emitting 14.7 million tons of CO2 last year,” Parr told Fox News Digital. “The plume of toxins emitted by Blackstone’s 50-year-old Gavin plant have major public health impacts for Ohio and other states because it is upwind of major metropolitan areas across the eastern U.S. such as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Modeling has found Blackstone’s Gavin plant to be the nation’s deadliest coal plant, causing an estimated 244 premature deaths each year from particulate emissions.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Sierra Club for comment but did not receive a response.

Kamala Harris’ first interview on Fox News was a contentious affair, and at times she and Bret Baier wound up talking over each other. 

But while the vice president repeatedly ducked some questions, she also had several moments when she appeared to be standing up to her least favorite network–undoubtedly something she hoped to achieve.

WHY TRUMP, BATTLING MEDIA HOSTILITY, IS DECLARING WAR ON FACT-CHECKERS

She showed passion, even anger, raising her voice, on a question about most of the country believing we’re on the wrong track, saying that Donald Trump was “unfit to serve” and “unstable.” Turning questions into broadsides against the former president was her signature move.

But what about half the country that supports him, Baier asked. “Are they stupid?”

No, but “he’s the one who tends to demean and belittle and diminish,” Harris said. Trump is the one talking about “an enemy within,” and using the military against Americans. “He’s talking about locking people up because they disagree with him.”

Several times she told Baier “you and I both know” before lobbing a grenade at Trump, trying to project an image of standing up to both Fox and her opponent. She wanted this fight.

AS A CAUTIOUS KAMALA LOSES MOMENTUM, DEMOCRATS ARE PANICKING OVER A TRUMP WIN

Among the questions Harris didn’t want to answer:

Does she support taxpayer-funded transgender surgery for federal inmates, as she did in 2019? “I will follow the law,” she said flatly, insisting Trump had done the same. (The Trump camp shot back that the first such surgery took place in 2022, during her tenure.)

Didn’t she know that Joe Biden had been diminished? She danced around that one.

Why hasn’t she made progress on these issues during her time as vice president?

“My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency,” she said, pointing out that she hasn’t spent most of her life in Washington. That was a cleanup of her disastrous response on “The View” that she couldn’t think of a single thing where she differed from the president.

TRUMP COUNTERS HARRIS MEDIA BLITZ BY RIPPING BOB WOODWARD, HOWARD STERN AND HER HURRICANE BRIEFING

The Fox anchor spent the first chunk of the interview on immigration, following up again and again to pin her down. 

At first Harris conceded the obvious: “We have a broken immigration system that needs to be repaired.”

Why didn’t you fix it? Trump killed their most recent attempt at a bipartisan bill, though nothing was accomplished when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress.

Had she changed her position since her 2019 campaign, when she said border crossings should be made legal?

“I do not believe in decriminalizing border crossings,” Harris responded, without explaining the change.

Asked about crimes committed by illegal immigrants, such as the murder of Laken Riley, Harris called them “tragic cases” and said her heart went out to their families.

There were times when her answers seemed thin, and other times when she slipped in a litany of her proposals.

The confrontational session was Harris’ first of this short campaign, after a series of softball sitdowns with people openly supporting her candidacy.

Fox News got the exclusive, and Harris got what she wanted: A defiant half hour in which she could try to change minds among the largest audience by far in cable news. 

She should abandon her friends like Howard Stern and Stephen Colbert and do more tough interviews, because that’s how you show voters you can take the heat.

Former President Donald Trump ripped the Biden-Harris administration for the nation’s illegal immigration crisis during a town hall event with undecided Hispanic voters, arguing that Hispanic voters “are most against” illegal migration across the border. 

“We have to have a lot of people come into our country. We just want them to come in legally through a system, because [the Biden-Harris administration] released hundreds of thousands of people that are murderers, drug dealers, terrorists. They’re coming in totally, nobody knows who they are, where they come from, and the people that are most against it are the Hispanic people,” Trump said in the event that aired Wednesday evening. 

“They are totally against it,” he added, after he was asked by a Spanish-speaking voter who would occupy farm and produce jobs if illegal immigrants are deported under his administration. 

“Noticias Univision Presenta: Los Latinos Preguntan … Donald Trump Responde” aired at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, spotlighting immigration, the economy, and Trump defending his previous administration in the hour-long pre-recorded event. The town hall, which was hosted by Televisa anchor Enrique Acevedo, is the second held by Univision this election cycle, after hosting Vice President Kamala Harris last week. 

HISPANIC VOTERS RAIL AGAINST ‘DISHONEST’ BIDEN-HARRIS BORDER RECORD AS POLL SHOWS TRUMP GAINING IN KEY STATES

Trump’s appearance on Univison comes as he works to earn Hispanic voters’ support, with recent polling showing he’s making gains with the voting bloc. 

One Republican voter who resides in the battleground state of Arizona questioned Trump about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, asking the 45th president if he believes the migrants are eating cats and dogs, as he has previously cited on the campaign trail and during his presidential debate against Harris. 

Trump said he will travel to Springfield and provide “a full report” after his visit. 

INEFFECTIVE PLANNING, LACK OF CONNECTIONS HAS DEMS ON EDGE IN ‘KEY’ BATTLEGROUND: REPORT

“I was just saying what was reported, that’s been reported. And eating other things, too, that they’re not supposed to be. But this is, all I do is report. … I was there, I’m going to be there and we’re going to take a look and I’ll give you a full report when I do. But that’s been in the newspapers and reported pretty broadly,” Trump responded. 

CNN DATA REPORTER PREDICTS TRUMP WILL WIN ‘HISTORIC’ NUMBER OF BLACK AND HISPANIC VOTERS

“I will say this, as far as Springfield is concerned, because I do know that situation. You have a city of 52,000 people, and they’ve added almost 30,000 migrants into the city. If you were a person that lived there, if you lived in Springfield, Ohio, and all of a sudden you couldn’t get into a hospital, you couldn’t get your children into a school, you wouldn’t be able to buy groceries. You can no longer pay the rent because the government’s paying rent,” he continued. “….If any of that happened, it would be a disaster for you.”

Polling published this month found Vice President Kamala Harris has an edge over Trump among self-identified Hispanic voters in two key battleground states, Arizona and Nevada, but Trump has made gains among younger male Hispanic voters compared to four years ago, according to a pair of Suffolk University/USA Today polls. 

A Fox News poll published Wednesday found that Harris received majority support among Hispanics, at 52%, and voters under age 30, at 54%, however, those stats trail President Biden’s support in 2020, according to the Fox News Voter Analysis election survey. That poll overall found Trump has a two-point average over Harris overall, which is a reversal from last month, when Harris had a narrow advantage. 

While in Florida, various recent polling found Trump leading Harris among Hispanic voters, the Miami Herald reported on Wednesday. 

Trump continued fielding various questions from audience members, including one female full-time student in Florida who asked how he plans to tackle the spiraling national debt, which is worrying her. 

“We have record national debt. We’ve never had anything like it before. We were getting ready to start paying down debt, and then we got hit with a thing called COVID, or the China virus,” he responded. 

“What’s going to solve the problem is growth. It’s a thing called growth that nobody even talks about from the Democrat standpoint, because they don’t know about growth. But we’re going to bring companies in. We’re going to bring tremendous business to our country, and that’s going to solve that. Also, waste, fraud and abuse. And we have Elon Musk, who’s a fantastic guy and a fantastic genius. He’s a genius at a lot of things, but he’s a great business person,” he explained, citing his plan to make tech billionaire Elon Musk the “secretary of cost-cutting” if he’s re-elected. 

TRUMP OUTPERFORMING 2020 SUPPORT AMONG HISPANICS, WHO PREFER HIM ON IMMIGRATION, POLL SHOWS

A stay-at-home mom from North Carolina asked Trump if he agreed with his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, on her pro-choice abortion stance in her new memoir that suggested a woman’s right to choose an abortion is a “fundamental right of individual liberty.”

NEW POLL SHOWS WHO HISPANICS ARE BACKING IN SOUTHWEST SWING STATES

“First of all, I told Melania that she has to go with her heart and she has to do what she has to do. She has to support what she wants to support. And she wrote a great book. It was just, it’s the number one bestseller. I hope you all go out and buy it, but it’s really a great book. But I want her to do what she wants to do. I wouldn’t be one to oppose what I think,” he responded. 

“They wanted to get rid of Roe v. Wade and let it come back to the States. And I’ve done that,” he added on abortion. “And now the people are voting on it, and you’re going to see it’s going to heal. It will never heal. It would have never healed if it stayed in Congress, if it stayed in the federal government. It’s now in the states. The people are voting as we speak. The people are voting. Some states have completed – like Kansas, Ohio, and a lot of others. But,, it’s going to settle a problem that was only going to get more divisive, divisive and worse. It was a big, big dispute for a long period of time.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The town hall was originally scheduled for Oct. 8, but was postponed due to Hurricane Milton. 

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

A Georgia judge struck down several rules recently passed by the State Elections Board (SEB) on Wednesday, measures that were a subject of fierce debate between Trump and Harris surrogates in the key battleground.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Cox ruled the new provisions “illegal, unconstitutional and void” in an opinion released Wednesday evening, according to multiple outlets.

It comes hours after he weighed two lawsuits on the rules – one led by the Georgia Democratic Party, and a second by civil rights groups which also included current and former GOP state officials.

One of the measures – a requirement for all ballots to be hand counted by three county election officials after they had been machine tabulated to ensure the totals match – has become a political lightening rod in recent weeks.

GEORGIA GOP CHAIR SHARES 2-PRONGED ELECTION STRATEGY AS TRUMP WORKS TO WIN BACK PEACH STATE

That rule was temporarily blocked in a separate ruling made Tuesday night challenging the SEB’s new measures. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney did not take issue with the rule’s intent but argued it would be untenable to implement at this late stage. 

Cox’s ruling invalidates that measure, while also invalidating a rule directing county officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying election results, and giving them the ability “to examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections.”

TRUMP VS HARRIS ROUND 2? VOTERS IN KEY GA COUNTY REVEAL IF THEY WANT SECOND DEBATE

Cox also blocked new signature and photo ID requirements for people dropping off absentee ballots for others.

The rules were passed last month in a 3-2 vote by the Republican majority on the elections board.

Democrats had accused the GOP officials of trying to sow doubt and chaos in the elections process, while supporters of the rule changes said they were necessary guardrails to ensure voter confidence.

In the wider-ranging of the two cases on Wednesday, led by Eternal Vigilance Action, a group founded by former GOP state legislator Scot Turner, the plaintiffs argued the SEB was out of its scope of authority in levying the new rules.

“Three members of the state election board, kind of like Napoleon, they put a crown on their head and say, ‘We are the emperors of election,’” the plaintiffs’ lawyer said. “No, that is not the way our system of government works.”

GEORGIA DEMS CHAIR REVEALS MESSAGE TO UNDECIDED GOP VOTERS AS HARRIS WORKS TO BUILD BROAD BASE

But the defendants and supporting groups, including attorneys for the Georgia Republican Party, argued the state’s General Assembly gave the SEB the scope to craft such rules.

“They don’t say which one of those statutes should be found unconstitutional because, remember, to rule in favor of the plaintiffs here, you’re going to have to find that the General Assembly’s grant of authority to the agency was unconstitutional,” said a lawyer for the GOP.

“They don’t say which one of the three powers we have that they violated, could be all three of them, could be one of the three. And if it’s a constitutional challenge, you can’t have something that’s that vague to bring into a court to ask you to declare it to be unconstitutional.”

Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaigns have dedicated significant time and resources to Georgia, which President Biden won by less than 1% in 2020.

Harris’ campaign lauded the Tuesday ruling that blocked the hand-counting ballots rule, declaring, “Our democracy is stronger thanks to this decision.”

Fox News Digital reached out to both the Trump and Harris campaigns for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A flurry of U.S. election-related lawsuits are playing out in courts nationwide with more than 160 cases already on the books, and experts say that’s just par for the course during a modern presidential contest.

At least 165 election-related lawsuits have already been filed, the majority focusing on issues such as who should be eligible to vote, how ballots are cast and counted, and how to ensure election security and protect against alleged voter fraud.

But several legal analysts say they doubt that any of these lawsuits will have a protracted impact on the 2024 election and describe the nature of the claims as fairly standard fare, especially during the more than two decades since George W. Bush fended off Al Gore and a mountain of legal challenges to win the 2020 presidential election.

“I think we’re going to have a lot of litigation, but I would be surprised if we have any jugular hints,” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News Digital.

TEXAS CAN PROBE ‘VOTE HARVESTING’ THROUGH ELECTION DAY, APPEALS COURT RULES

The most high-profile lawsuits to date have been filed in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which are the seven battleground states that carry a combined total of 93 electoral votes and which are widely expected to help decide the election in favor of either Democrat Vice President Harris or Republican former President Trump.

The close race and wave of recent court cases have led some observers to fear that the lawsuits will either disenfranchise would-be voters, keep one or the other candidate’s supporters from participating in the election, or generate doubts over voting results after the race is decided.

But such concerns are likely unfounded, Turley notes.

“In the five presidential elections I’ve covered, I don’t think any pre-election challenge had a huge impact,” he said.

Turley added that preliminary lawsuits are increasingly used by both parties as a “placeholder” of sorts, both to fuel their own respective narratives about the election and to create a pre-existing record of problems in swing states, which they can then revisit after the election.

And it’s not as if this is a new strategy.

 CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION

The U.S. saw a “similar ramping up in 2016 and 2020. I think the closest before then was Bush v. Gore,” Turley said. 

The standard then was to “ramp up [cases] after the election,” he added. “Now it’s become standardized to line up hundreds of attorneys [beforehand], and we’re seeing the same trajectory.”

In the wake of the 2020 election, Trump’s campaign filed 60 lawsuits attempting to challenge the election results in key swing states. And while the number of lawsuits was unusual, experts note that the practice itself is actually quite standard.

In fact, the early wave of court filings is actually better for lawyers and judges, given the tight time frame between the elections, state election certifications and Inauguration Day, according to Andrew McCarthy, a former U.S. assistant attorney general for the Southern District of New York. 

That’s part of the driver behind the early filings in many states, he told Fox News, adding that most of the lawsuits had been filed months earlier and are just now making their way before judges and appellate courts in affected states.

From there, judges prefer to deal with them as quickly as possible, he said.

“Courts don’t mind getting involved in this area if it’s to be a referee on what the rules ought to be” for an election, McCarthy told Fox News Digital. “But they never want to be in a position of looking like they’re deciding the election.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

In other words, the more they can rule on ahead of the election to avoid the appearance of bias or political sway, the better, he said.

“If you’re going to do this right and competently in a way that is representative of the way the legal system is supposed to work, you have to litigate these issues before the election,” McCarthy said. “Because the time frame after the election is just too compressed to do anything in the way of a meaningful election investigation, especially if the issue is fraud.”

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

The Border Patrol is facing a large-scale outage of security cameras at the southern border with a memo reportedly warning it is having “significant impacts” on operations in apprehending migrants, although officials note there are other layers of security in place as well.

NBC News reported that an October memo said nearly one-third of cameras, roughly 150 of 500 cameras on surveillance towers, were out due to technical issues. 

“The nationwide issue is having significant impacts on [Border Patrol] operations,” the memo said.

CHOPPERS, DOGS AND TOWERS: INSIDE THE FED’S FIGHT AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT INTRUDERS

The Remote Video Surveillance Systems are nearly 15 years old and are used to monitor areas of the border without the need for regular on the ground patrols. Agents will rely on a variety of detection and surveillance, including AI-powered towers, helicopters, K-9s, the border wall and the agents themselves.

In response to a Fox News Digital query on the report, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it uses a multilayered approach that includes various technological advantages to enhance capabilities.

“While older technology like the Remote Video Surveillance Systems (RVSS) have been helpful operational tools for more than 15 years, they require significant maintenance and upgrades as they pass the end of their planned lifecycle. As systems go down, CBP works to resolve the issue by refreshing systems with new camera optics or replaces them entirely with a combination of mobile tower systems, aerial platforms, relocatable tower systems, and fixed observation posts to provide coverage in critical areas,” a spokesperson said.

Agents have noted the helpfulness of Automated Surveillance Towers, which are more advanced and use AI to track migrants and help agents locate them. CBP has deployed more than 300 of those towers.

Officials say that RVSS is an old, costly system requiring regular maintenance and dedicated staff to monitor the cameras. That is opposed to the newer systems that use AI and provide alerts to agents in real time.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES ‘OPERATION AURORA’ TO TARGET ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT GANG MEMBERS IN COLORADO

“CBP continues to install newer, more advanced technology that embrace artificial intelligence and machine learning to replace outdated systems, reducing the need to have agents working non-interdiction functions within a local command center.”

However, the National Border Patrol Council’s branch in Laredo, Texas, recently highlighted the issues and told agents that it “shares your concerns that inoperable camera towers along the border are causing serious Officer Safety and Border Security concerns.”

“We hope this issue is resolved soon, as the problem has been ongoing for quite some time!” they said in a Facebook post. “The American Taxpayer has made significant investments in technology along the border, and they expect that this technology is operational.”

The report comes as border security remains a top issue ahead of the 2024 election. Both presidential candidates, Republican former President Trump and Democrat Vice President Harris, have pledged to provide more funding to the border and have been attempting to show voters that they are the stronger candidate for securing the border.

Polls show that Trump is generally the more trusted candidate on the issue among voters.

Welcome to the Fox News’ Politics newsletter, with the latest political news from Washington, D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

Here’s what’s happening…

-New poll shows Harris, Trump splitting two key states

–North Carolina prepares to launch in-person early voting with mountain areas still recovering from Helene

-FBI says ISIS was behind foiled mass shooting plot on Election Day

A former Las Vegas-area Democratic politician convicted of killing an investigative journalist who had written critical stories about him was told by a judge Wednesday that he must spend at least 28 years behind bars before he is eligible for parole. 

The judge invoked sentencing enhancements to add eight years to the minimum 20 years to life sentence that a jury set in August after finding Robert Telles guilty of killing Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German outside German’s home during Labor Day weekend in 2022.

German, 69, spent 44 years covering crime, courts and corruption in Las Vegas. At the time of German’s death, Telles, 47, was the elected administrator of a Clark County office that handles unclaimed estate and probate property cases…Read more

‘SHOCKING’: FBI quietly updates violent crime data to show increase, not decrease, under Biden-Harris…Read more

‘CUT HER OWN PATH’?: White House: Biden is not holding Harris back, has been ‘really clear about passing the torch’…Read more

‘60 MINUTES’ IN THE HOT SEAT: CBS accused of ‘significant and intentional news distortion’ in FCC complaint over ’60 Minutes’ edit…Read more

‘HARD TO BELIEVE’: Secret Service trained at mock White House that Hollywood producer Tyler Perry built as stage…Read more

‘SHAM CHARITY’: Biden admin outlaws Palestinian organization for funding terrorism: ‘Sham charity’…Read more

‘BETRAYED’ TAXPAYERS: Sen. Cotton says Biden-Harris likely prolonged Gaza war, let aid go to terrorists: ‘Betrayed’ taxpayers…Read more

BURSTING THE BUBBLE: ‘China is our enemy’: GOP lawmaker shoots down Chinese spy balloon in new ad…Read more

‘THREAT TO DEMOCRACY’: Cruz, Allred trade barbs in heated Texas Senate debate: ‘Extreme,’ ‘threat to democracy’…Read more

KEYSTONE FIREWORKS: Chinese investments, rebukes for ‘preaching’ take center stage at contentious Casey v. McCormick rematch…Read more

WHO’S MORE ACCESSIBLE?: Trump-Vance ticket has done a combined 79 interviews since August compared to 43 for Harris-Walz…Read more

CLIMATE ON THE BALLOT: Voters to face climate-related ballot initiatives, such as repealing law to reduce emissions by 95% by 2050…Read more

‘SOLID’ GROUND GAME: From Christmas City to the coal mines: An inside look at the Dems’ ground game in PA’s crucial Lehigh Valley…Read more

COURTING REPUBLICANS: Harris teaming up with top anti-Trump Republican ahead of Bret Baier Fox News interview…Read more

FALLING SHORT: Senate Dems target Black voters with new ad as Harris’ support falls short…Read more

‘CONSCIOUS CHOICE’: Laken Riley Act sponsor blasts Bill Clinton’s claim about Georgia student’s death…Read more

‘OUT OF TOUCH’: Michigan community leader tells CBS ‘a lot of Black men are not into the Harris campaign’…Read more

ENEMY WITHIN: Accused Afghan terrorist radicalized two years after entering US, officials say …Read more

NOT SO FAST: Violent convict’s taxpayer-funded sex change challenged by state AG after judge’s approval…Read more

MOVING FORWARD: Texas can probe ‘vote harvesting’ through Election Day, appeals court rules…Read more

‘WE ARE IN SHOCK’: Photojournalist killed in stabbing, son arrested…Read more

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

A top Senate Democrat was booed by striking Boeing workers in Seattle Tuesday after she disparaged former President Trump and blamed him for housing shortages. 

“Housing everywhere in the United States of America is expensive as all get out. We haven’t built enough supply,” Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told striking members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District 751. 

“I was in a key negotiation five years ago to get a bipartisan bill that would have built millions, hundreds of thousands, up to a million units by now, but Donald Trump came in and squashed that deal.”

LAKEN RILEY ACT SPONSOR BLASTS BILL CLINTON’S CLAIM ABOUT GEORGIA STUDENT’S DEATH

She was drowned out by booing from the crowd in addition to some inaudible remarks. 

“My point is this,” the senator began again after being unable to speak over the disruption. “Everywhere in America we need more affordable housing.”

“When you first hear that audio clip, it appears that they’re booing whatever Donald Trump had done. The exact opposite is true,” IAM 751 union member Dan Zahlman said in an interview Tuesday with “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH Seattle. 

SENATE DEMS TARGET BLACK VOTERS WITH NEW AD AS HARRIS’ SUPPORT FALLS SHORT

“She was trying to interject some left-wing radical politics into what is a very rare labor opportunity for IAM members to be able to try to make real gains in their retirement benefits. And that’s not what we were there for. She did not have a friendly audience to spew that at.

“I don’t think she realizes … but there is a tremendous amount of Donald Trump support from union membership,” he added. “All anybody has to do is go through a union parking lot at a Boeing plant, and you’ll see a lot of Trump stickers on bumpers.” 

‘A LOT OF TRUMP SIGNS’: RESIDENTS IN BLUE STRONGHOLD MILWAUKEE BREAK DOWN 2024 ELECTION

The senator is up for re-election in blue Washington next month. Democrats are heavily favored to hold onto the seat in the state. 

Cantwell’s office and campaign did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital. 

The union voted last month to begin striking, rejecting a contract that would have raised pay for members 25% over a period of four years. The IAM 751 union has about 33,000 members. 

‘I WAS MUCH BETTER OFF’: THESE VOTERS BACK TRUMP IN TOP BATTLEGROUND COUNTY

“This is about respect, this is about the past and this is about fighting for our future,” IAM District 751 President Jon Holden said at the time. 

In its own statement on the strike announcement, Boeing said, “The message was clear that the tentative agreement we reached with IAM leadership was not acceptable to the members. We remain committed to resetting our relationship with our employees and the union, and we are ready to get back to the table to reach a new agreement.”

The company indicated in a regulatory filing this week it expects to use a stock and debt offering to raise about $25 billion, while also beginning a $10 billion credit agreement to offset losses from the strike as debt payments loom. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced Wednesday that it will provide Ukraine with an additional $425 million worth of supplies and weapons as it continues to defend itself against Russian forces.

According to a press release from the DoD, this is the 67th tranche of equipment from DoD inventories being sent to Ukraine from the Biden administration since August 2021.

The Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) package is estimated to hold a value of about $425 million and will provide Ukraine with the ability to meet its most urgent needs in terms of air defense, air-to-ground weapons, rocket systems and artillery munitions, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons.

Particularly, the capabilities being provided to Ukraine by the U.S. included additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS); RIM-7 missiles and support for air defense; Stinger anti-aircraft missiles; ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS); air-to-ground munitions; 150mm and 105mm artillery ammunition; tube-launched, optically-tracked, wire-guided (TOW) missiles; Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems; High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs); small arms and ammunition; grenades, thermals and training equipment; demolitions equipment and munitions; and spare parts, ancillary equipment, services, training and transportation.

PUTIN WARNS US, NATO RISK WAR WITH RUSSIA IF LONG-RANGE STRIKE BANS LIFTED FOR UKRAINE

“The United States is committed to supporting Ukraine with the equipment it needs to strengthen its position on the battlefield, defend its territory and people from the Kremlin’s brutal aggression, and secure a just and lasting peace,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. “As President Biden has made clear, the United States and the international coalition we have assembled will continue to stand with Ukraine.”

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2025, and both sides have made little gains on the battlefield.

As the winter fighting season begins soon, the Ukrainian government needs to step up its efforts to recruit new soldiers, train them and provide the necessary military equipment to win the war, the country said. 

ZELENSKYY DOWNPLAYS COMMENT THAT TRUMP DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO END RUSSIA’S WAR WITH UKRAINE

With no end in sight, mobilization is proceeding according to plans laid out by the Ukrainian government.

In April, Ukraine passed a mobilization law to reform the military recruitment process as the war continues and casualties stack up.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told Fox News Digital the aim of the law is to make recruitment more efficient and transparent.

PUTIN LOWERS THRESHOLD FOR NUCLEAR RESPONSE AS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PLEDGES NEW FUNDING TO UKRAINE

Umerov said that the positive numbers show that Ukrainians are ready to “defend their land with weapons in their hands.”

Still, he said Ukraine needs help from its international partners.

“We have enough troops. However, we need support from international partners in weapons and equipment, and we require it fast.”

Umerov said Ukraine desperately needs modern Western-made air defense systems and a sufficient supply of ammunition for these systems. Ukraine needs a multi-layered air defense system to protect critical infrastructure and long-range capability to strike airfields and other military facilities deep inside Russia. 

So far, the Biden administration has been hesitant to consent to the need for long-range systems for fear of antagonizing Russian President Vladimir Putin and escalating a possible confrontation with Russia.

Official data on Ukrainian battlefield casualties are unreliable, but the U.S. estimates that some 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and between 100,000 and 120,000 wounded. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the goal is to mobilize up to 500,000 additional conscripts for future war efforts. 

Fox News’ Chris Massaro contributed to this report.