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EXCLUSIVE: Trump officials told Fox News Digital that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case is “effectively over” after Bragg requested a stay until 2029, celebrating the development as a “major victory” for President-elect Trump.

Bragg on Tuesday requested a stay in New York v. Trump until 2029, as the president’s attorneys motion to dismiss the case entirely. 

PROSECUTORS REQUEST STAY IN TRUMP NY CASE UNTIL 2029 AS DEFENSE PLANS MOTION FOR DISMISSAL ‘ONCE AND FOR ALL’

New York prosecutors said Tuesday that, while they are likely to oppose the argument, they are open to being briefed on Trump defense attorneys’ case for complete dismissal. 

“Prosecutors are trying to save face,” a Trump official told Fox News Digital. “They know this case will soon be thrown out.” 

Another official told Fox News Digital that New York prosecutors’ “fallback” is a “five-year delay.” 

“No serious person believes this case will withstand that,” the official said. 

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung also told Fox News Digital that Bragg’s request for a stay is “a total and definitive victory for President Trump and the American People who elected him in a landslide.” 

“The Manhattan DA has conceded that this Witch Hunt cannot continue,” Cheung, who was tapped to serve as White House communications director, said. “The lawless case is now stayed, and President Trump’s legal team is moving to get it dismissed once and for all.”

TRUMP REQUESTS NY JUDGE OVERTURN GUILTY VERDICT, INDICTMENT AFTER SCOTUS IMMUNITY RULING

Another source close to Trump and his legal team told Fox News Digital that Bragg’s move “represents a total failure of the prosecution.” 

“Their case is in shambles and now everyone knows it is on its way to the ash heap of history,” the source told Fox News Digital. “This thing is not coming back in five years — no one would argue it is.” 

“This case is effectively over,” the source said. “It is a major victory for President Trump.”

Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree stemming from the years-long investigation related to alleged hush money payments run by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Former Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance initiated the investigation and Bragg prosecuted Trump. 

After an unprecedented six-week trial in New York City, a jury found the president guilty on all counts. 

Judge Juan Merchan last week granted a stay on all deadlines associated with conviction proceedings against Trump in the final weeks before he is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States – including the Nov. 26 sentencing date. 

But Trump attorneys have requested that Merchan overturn the guilty verdict altogether, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that former presidents have substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office.

Trump’s legal team argued that certain evidence presented by Bragg and New York prosecutors during the trial should not have been admitted, as they were “official acts.” 

WHERE DOES TRUMP’S NEW YORK SENTENCING STAND AFTER MASSIVE ELECTION WIN?

Specifically, Trump attorney Todd Blanche, who the president nominated to serve as deputy attorney general at the Justice Department, argued that testimony from former White House communications director Hope Hicks; former special assistant to the president Madeleine Westerhout; testimony regarding the Special Counsel’s Office and congressional investigations and the pardon power; testimony regarding President Trump’s response to FEC Inquiries; his presidential Twitter posts and other related testimony was impermissably admitted during trial. 

Trump attorneys also pointed to Trump’s disclosures to the Office of Government Ethics as president. 

Blanche said “official-acts evidence” that Bragg presented to the grand jury “contravened the holding in Trump because Presidents ‘cannot be indicted based on conduct for which they are immune from prosecution,'” the motion read. “The Presidential immunity doctrine recognized in Trump pertains to all ‘criminal proceedings,’ including grand jury proceedings when a prosecutor ‘seeks to charge’ a former President using evidence of official acts.”

Blanche argued that Bragg “violated the Presidential immunity doctrine by using similar official-acts evidence in the grand jury proceedings that gave rise to the politically motivated charges in this case.” 

“Because an Indictment so tainted cannot stand, the charges must be dismissed,” Blanche argued. 

Blanche also explained that the Supreme Court’s decision does not allow for an “overwhelming evidence” or “harmless error” exception to “the profound institutional interests at stake.” 

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on presidential immunity came from a question that stemmed from charges brought against Trump in a separate, federal case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith related to the events on Jan. 6, 2021 and any alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in that case. 

Smith is winding down his cases against Trump following his election as the 47th president. 

Smith’s classified records case against Trump was dismissed earlier this year by a federal judge in Florida who ruled that the special counsel was unlawfully appointed. 

Merchan has not yet ruled on the immunity argument, which prosecutors anticipate being included in the coming dismissal motion from the defense. 

Discouraging Americans from being vaccinated is “very disturbing” and would result in “more severe illness and death in children,” a top U.S. health official told lawmakers Tuesday following President-elect Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

National Institutes of Health Director Monica Bertagnolli made the comments after Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., told her that she’s concerned “there’s been some talk by some who might have leadership positions in next administration of discouraging vaccination. 

“Could you tell me what would be the downside if our children specifically were not vaccinated?” Frankel asked Bertagnolli. 

“If you go back 100 years ago, the leading cause of death – and it was dramatic – was infectious disease. And why did that change? Vaccination, that is the single reason,” Bertagnolli told the House Appropriations Committee. 

DEM REP. ROBERT GARCIA SAYS RFK. JR. NOMINATION FOR HEALTH SECRETARY IS ‘F—— INSANE,’ WILL ‘COST LIVES’ 

“And it’s been even in my career, my lifetime that I have also seen individuals who unfortunately were in the womb when their mother got rubella – terrible congenital malformations that happened. So it’s not just the consequences even for the individual – it can be mother to child and then finally across society when we see the spread of infectious disease,” Bertagnolli continued. 

“What we will see immediately if all vaccination suddenly stops, we will see much more severe illness and death in children,” she also said. 

OPINION: RFK. JR. WANTS TO DISRUPT OUR POWERFUL HEALTH CARE COMPLEX AND IT IS TERRIFIED 

Kennedy rose to prominence as a skeptic of vaccines, voicing concerns about their impact. 

“Look around the world because there are other places in the world that have this, that do not have widespread vaccination of their populations, and look at the tragedies that we see there. I think it would be very disturbing,” Bertagnolli added Tuesday. 

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., has called the choice of RFK Jr. to lead HHS “f—— insane.” 

“The RFK as Health Secretary appointment is f—— insane,” he wrote on X. “He’s a vaccine denier and a tin foil hat conspiracy theorist. He will destroy our public health infrastructure and our vaccine distribution systems. This is going to cost lives.” 

Kennedy aligned with Trump after ending his own independent run for president, and Trump added the promise “make America healthy again” to his campaign.

Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX: South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham sent a letter to each of the 51 former intelligence officials who signed a memo suggesting the Hunter Biden laptop had the hallmarks of Russian disinformation. 

“In your letter, you claimed that the laptop story was ‘Russia trying to influence how Americans vote,’” Graham’s letter read to former CIA directors Leon Panetta and Michael Hayden, former Director of National Intelligence [DNI] James Clapper and 48 others. 

“I ask you to respond publicly to one simple question: if you knew then what you know now about the laptop, would you still have signed the October 19, 2020 letter?” 

Graham, a Republican, has previously suggested yanking the security clearances of officials who signed the letter. 

Vice President-elect JD Vance pledged during the campaign that the incoming Trump administration would strip the clearances of all 51 signatories. 

REPUBLICAN SENATOR SAYS TRUMP SHOULD NOT PARDON HUNTER BIDEN

Over the summer, Fox News Digital asked all 51 officials whether they regretted signing on to the now-debunked letter. 

“No,” Obama-era DNI James Clapper responded. 

Mark Zaid, an attorney representing seven of the signatories, said it was “patriotic” for his clients to sign on to the letter. 

“There continues to be by many a calculated or woefully ignorant interpretation of the October 2020 letter signed by fifty-one former intelligence officials concerning Hunter Biden’s laptop,” Zaid said. 

Greg Treverton, a signatory who previously served as chair of the National Intelligence Council, defended the letter in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

BIDEN COMMITTED ‘IMPEACHABLE CONDUCT,’ DEFRAUDED UNITED STATES TO ENRICH HIS FAMILY’: HOUSE GOP REPORT

“This is very old news,” Treverton said. “What we said was true, we were inferring from our experience, and it did look like a Russian operation. We didn’t, and couldn’t, of course, say it was a Russian operation. Enough said.”

The now-infamous letter had said their national security experience had made them “deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case.”

“If we are right,” they added, “this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this.”

Despite claims from former officials that the laptop had the hallmarks of Russian disinformation, Fox News Digital reported that federal investigators with the Department of Justice knew in December 2019 that Hunter Biden’s laptop was “not manipulated in any way” and contained “reliable evidence,” but were “obstructed” from seeing all available information, according to an IRS whistleblower involved in the probe – nearly a year before the former intelligence officials and President Joe Biden declared it was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

The laptop was introduced into evidence in a Delaware courtroom last week by prosecutor Derek Hines and handed to FBI agent Erika Jensen, who had earlier explained how the FBI authenticated the laptop and extracted data. In the gun trial, she testified about dozens of text messages, metadata, photos and short videos found on phones and iCloud accounts belonging to Hunter Biden. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis must appoint a replacement for outgoing Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who was tapped by President-elect Trump to serve as secretary of state in his new administration. 

The Republican governor, who once ran against Trump in the 2024 election, is reportedly mulling several options. Among contenders being floated by party members, according to The Associated Press, is the president-elect’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who serves as co-chair of the Republican National Committee. Lara Trump previously considered running for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, where she grew up, but made way for her father-in-law to ultimately back Sen. Tedd Budd’s successful 2022 bid for the upper chamber. 

Other names being mentioned by Republicans include Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, Florida’s Attorney General Ashley Moody, former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, DeSantis’s chief of staff James Uthmeier, and former state House Speaker Jose Oliva. 

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is among those who voiced his support for Lara Trump on social media. 

DESANTIS SETS TIMETABLE FOR NAMING RUBIO SENATE SUCCESSOR AMID CALLS FOR A TRUMP TO FILL THE SEAT

“We need more Republicans in Washington who actually represent the Republican Party back home and will be steadfast in their commitment to fulfill the mandate from this election – to Make America Great Again. @LaraLeaTrump is that person,” Scott, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate majority leader last week, wrote on X. 

Lara Trump lives in Palm Beach County with her husband, Eric Trump.

Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Katie Britt of Alabama, as well as Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, have also voiced support for Lara Trump as Rubio’s replacement in recent days. 

“If I am tapped to serve in another capacity, it truly would be my honor,” Lara Trump told Fox News over the weekend. “I have not been asked yet, but I certainly would strongly consider it if it is presented to me.”

Some Republican politicos say appointing a member of the president-elect’s family to the Senate is a way for DeSantis to curry favor with his onetime rival for the GOP’s presidential nomination, and score a win with Trump’s dedicated supporters as the governor considers his own political future, according to The Associated Press. The pick could also give Florida another direct line to the Trump White House.

TRUMP NOMINATES MARCO RUBIO TO SERVE AS SECRETARY OF STATE

DeSantis, a one-time Trump ally who clashed with the former president last year and early this year during a very contentious 2024 GOP presidential nomination race, mended relations a bit with the former president after the primary season. He endorsed Trump and helped raise money for the Republican nominee’s general election campaign.

DeSantis said on Monday that he was vetting several prospects and would likely make a decision on Rubio’s replacement by early January. 

“Senator Marco Rubio is expected to resign from the Senate to assume duties as Secretary of State when the Trump administration takes power on January 20th, creating a vacancy roughly two months from today,” DeSantis wrote on X on Monday. “We have already received strong interest from several possible candidates, and we continue to gather names of additional candidates and conduct preliminary vetting.”

“More extensive vetting and candidate interviews will be conducted over the next few weeks, with a selection likely made by the beginning of January,” he wrote. “Florida deserves a Senator who will help President Trump deliver on his election mandate, be strong on immigration and border security, take on the entrenched bureaucracy and administrative state, reverse the nation’s fiscal decline, be animated by conservative principles, and has a proven record of results.” 

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who President-elect Trump announced as his selection to be attorney general during his second term, is making calls to Senate Republicans ahead of his confirmation hearing next year. 

Several GOP senators told reporters this week that they spoke with Gaetz by phone since Trump picked him to lead the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

A source familiar told Fox News Digital that the former congressman “is dedicated to winning the support of senators for his nomination for the attorney general,” noting that “he has been working the phones.”

SENATE GOP INITIATES THUNE-ENGINEERED SLOW DOWN AS SCHUMER LOOKS TO STACK JUDICIAL VOTES

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said Monday night that he spoke with Gaetz days prior. “He called me,” he said. “Very brief conversation.”

The senator would not divulge any additional information about their call. Mullin and Gaetz have had a tense relationship in the past, and the senator slammed him in an interview at the time, bringing up allegations that he had slept with an underage girl. 

“There’s a reason why no one in the conference came and defended him because we had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor… of the girls that he had slept with. He’d brag about how he would crush [erectile dysfunction] medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night,” he said at the time. 

GOP CRIES FOUL ON DEM BORDER SPENDING BILL THEY SAY WOULD DRAG OUT MIGRANT CRISIS

Gaetz denied Mullin’s claim when he made it. Gaetz has not been convicted of charges related to these allegations. He was previously under a yearlong investigation by the DOJ that was prompted by allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a minor. However, the DOJ ultimately decided against pressing any charges. 

The comments came amid former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s removal, which Gaetz was partially credited with. 

Mullin recently said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” the Senate should “absolutely” have access to the House Ethics report that probed allegations into Gaetz, including sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and accepting improper gifts. 

Not every Republican senator has been willing to go as far, with many being vague about whether senators should see it or will ultimately see the report during a confirmation hearing. 

SPENDING BILL TROUBLE BREWS AS SEN MIKE LEE WARNS OF CHRISTMAS ‘SWAMPBUS’

Mullin, a close ally of Trump in the Senate, said he hasn’t spoken to the president-elect about the selection of Gaetz.  

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., also said he spoke to Gaetz. “Had a nice chat with Matt Gaetz over the weekend,” he revealed on Monday. “He wants to have the chance to clear his name in a hearing. And I think that’s a great idea.”

“And I think we ought to have a hearing. I think we ought to move to it as quickly as we can in the new Congress.”

“The other night, before I left for the weekend, I don’t know about 10:30 or 11, I got a phone call from Congressman Gaetz, and I congratulated him, and he said, ‘Will I get a fair shake in the Senate?’” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said. 

“And I said, ‘Absolutely. Just come on over, answer all the questionnaires, tell us the truth, tell us what your plans are for the agency, and I’m looking forward to it, and I hope you are too.'”

THUNE ‘ADAMANT’ ABOUT TRUMP SUPPORT, DRIVING MAGA AGENDA DESPITE TENSE PAST RELATIONSHIP

Kennedy said the conversation was quick and that the two don’t have plans for an in-person meeting yet. 

A source familiar told Fox News Digital that Vice President-elect JD Vance is planning to make the rounds on Capitol Hill this week, scheduling meetings with key Republican senators and Trump Cabinet nominees Gaetz and Pete Hegseth, who was selected by the preisdent-elect to run the Department of Defense (DOD.)

“President Trump’s incoming administration is moving at an accelerated schedule in order to make good on getting key nominees confirmed in order to start delivering for the American people. Rep. Collins (VA), Rep. Gaetz (DOJ), Pete Hegseth (DOD), and Rep. Stefanik (UN) will all begin their meetings this week with additional Hill visits to continue after the Thanksgiving recess,” Brian Hughes, a Trump-Vance Transition spokesman, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Gaetz faces an uphill battle when it comes to a potential confirmation in the Senate, as it would take just a handful of Republican votes to deny him. The Senate GOP will only have a 53-person majority next year and several GOP senators have already expressed concerns about Gaetz. 

“He will never get confirmed,” a Republican senator, granted anonymity to speak freely, told Fox News Digital after Trump’s selection was revealed.

One Senate Republican source simply said, “Ain’t gonna happen,” about the prospect of Gaetz’s confirmation. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson declined to answer whether transgender Rep-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., is a man or a woman, vowing to “treat all persons with dignity and respect.” 

At the House GOP weekly press conference on Tuesday, a reporter asked Johnson, “Is freshman elect Sarah McBride a man or a woman?” 

“Look, I’m not going to get into this. We welcome all new members with open arms who are duly elected representatives of the people,” Johnson responded. “I believe it’s a… command that we treat all persons with dignity and respect, and we will. And I’m not going to engage in… silly debates about this. There’s a concern about uses of restroom facilities and locker rooms and all that. This is an issue that Congress has never had to address before. And we’re going to do that in a deliberate fashion, with member consensus on it. And we will accommodate the needs of every single person.” 

Fox News Radio Capitol Hill and White House correspondent Ryan Schmelz posed a follow-up question to Johnson, asking if he plans on bringing up a resolution brought by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., to ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms at the U.S. Capitol “and putting that into the rules package”? 

REP MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE WANTS MEN BANNED FROM WOMEN’S SPACES IN ‘ALL TAXPAYER-FUNDED FACILITIES’

“I’m not going to address the plans on any of that,” Johnson said. “I just told you what I’m going to say about the issue. I’m not going to engage in this. We don’t look down upon anyone. We treat everybody with dignity and respect. That’s a principle that I’ve pursued my whole life. And we will take care of this, you know, issue – a first impression for Congress – as we will any other thing. We will provide the appropriate accommodation for every member of Congress.” 

Mace introduced a resolution on Monday that moves to prohibit members, officers and employees of the House from using “single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.” It asserts that “allowing biological males into single-sex facilities, such as restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms designed for women jeopardizes the safety and dignity of Members, officers, and employees of the House who are female.” 

In X posts on Monday, McBride derided the resolution as “a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing.” 

“Every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different than their own and engage with them respectfully, I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness,” McBride wrote.

TRANSGENDER WOMEN TO BE BANNED FROM CAPITOL HILL FEMALE BATHROOMS UNDER NEW HOUSE GOP PROPOSAL

“The radical left is calling me an extremist for being a feminist fighting to protect the rights of women and girls,” Mace said in a follow-up video message shared to X on Tuesday. “If being a feminist makes me an extremist or bigot or a monster, I am totally here for it because I am going to fight like hell for every woman and every little girl across this country to protect you and to keep you safe.” 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said Tuesday that she asked the men in the House Republican Conference what they were going to do to prevent biological males from using spaces reserved for biological females at the U.S. Capitol. 

“You know, Sarah McBride, as he calls himself, formerly Tim McBride, is a biological man, and he should not be using any of our restrooms in the Capitol, and that in our office buildings. But Nancy Mace’s resolution doesn’t go far enough,” Greene told reporters. “America gave a mandate at this election and said, not only are they sick of the open borders, the invasion, the out of control inflation, foreign wars, but they’re sick of the trans ideology being shoved down our throats. And it’s an attack on women and children all over the country.” 

Meanwhile, Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., told reporters that the Democratic caucus supports McBride “100%,” and condemned the resolution brought by Mace. 

“It’s just disgusting,” Garcia told reporters. “I was actually sick to my stomach when I read that yesterday. And I think it’s really unfortunate that someone is being attacked. She just got to Congress. She is going to use whatever restroom that she needs to use. This is just sick that we’re having to have this conversationn… I’ve heard disgust, to be honest, on both sides of the aisle. And so I hope that this just moves forward and let’s let her legislate and move on.” 

A Connecticut university is roiled in controversy after a report revealed that the school was attempting to find “creative ideas” to offer undocumented students payment for their internships.

“They’re prioritizing citizens over noncitizens, and that’s the problem,” Connecticut GOP Chairman Ben Proto told Fox News Digital.

The comments come after a Connecticut Inside Investigator report revealed that Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) officials searched for ways to pay undocumented students “in a way that doesn’t mention ‘employment’ or require a social security number,” according to emails obtained by the outlet through a Freedom of Information Act request.

“The President’s Undocumented Student Committee is looking for creative ideas for helping undocumented (or underdocumented) students find paid internships/experiential learning opportunities,” CCSU career coach Audra Mika wrote in one email, dated Sept. 13, 2024. “Other universities have set up grants, scholarships, fellowships, and stipends to pay these students in a way that doesn’t mention ‘employment’ or require a social security number.”

HAITIAN MIGRANTS REPORTEDLY FLEE SPRINGFIELD, OHIO

“PJ and I want to see what is possible,” the email, which was sent to the university’s grants department, continued. “Thank you for any suggestions you might have for helping our undocumented students find paid jobs.”

That email was replied to by Kathleen Moore of the CCSU’s Office of Post-Award Grants with a warning that the idea would be “morally wrong” and “illegal” and also noted that grants were awarded via competitive application process and require anyone paid with grant money to be a U.S. citizen.

“If you were told that other universities are using grants ‘to pay these students’ you were misled, or those individuals are doing something illegally and, in my opinion, have no morals,” Moore’s reply read.

Moore’s email was later forwarded to CCSU Associate Vice President Carmen Veloria by Director of the Career Development Office Paul Rossitto, who wrote, “FYI, we have some people that work at the university that don’t believe we should help all students.”

Meanwhile, the initial request garnered responses from officials at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), who noted that there is a scholarship fund for “Dream Scholars,” though that scholarship only covers “Dreamers” under the controversial Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and not for all undocumented migrants.

TRUMP SELECTS SOUTH DAKOTA GOV KRISTI NOEM TO RUN DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

SCSU officials also noted that they offer the Monarch Scholarship and funds “for undoc [sic] students who work on campus doing an academic internship,” while officials from another state school, Eastern Connecticut State University, suggested the institution encourage students to get Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN), but warned doing so “does not provide work authorization or legal status” to the migrant.

CCSU officials ran with that idea, encouraging undocumented students to obtain ITINs and then approach local businesses in order to gauge if they would be interested in “hiring/supporting undocumented students as interns” or work with the school’s Student Affairs Department, “to create fellowships, funding opps, stipends for undoc student workers (on and off campus); and to find and teach ‘allies’ what these measures could mean for CCSU.”

To Proto, the story is just the latest example of government officials, employees and lawmakers in the state prioritizing the needs of migrants over the legal citizens of Connecticut.

“Where is the state focusing its energy? Should it be focusing its energy on the citizens of the state of Connecticut, or should it be focusing its energy on those people who are here illegally in violation of our laws,” Proto said. “When you have the attorney general running around since election day telling everyone that he’s going to protect illegal immigrants… it seems like his priorities are in the wrong place.”

In a statement to Connecticut Inside Investigator, CCSU spokeswoman Jodi Latina said that there had been “no intent to mislead or circumvent any laws.”

“This email message was misinterpreted by the receiver. The committee member was exploring avenues to support students within the confines of what is permissible under the law,” Latina told the outlet. “The requester was inquiring as to whether there are any avenues we aren’t already exploring that exist legally for undocumented students.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Latina said that the university “has not and will not ever condone any activities that circumvent the law, and this committee was implemented only to coalesce legal means to support these students, as we endeavor to do for our entire Central Family.”

Latina also shared a letter sent by university President Zulma Toro, who stressed that the school’s efforts were limited to lawful programs.

“Our undocumented students are eligible for various sources of aid from private donors and/or the state of Connecticut. They are not, however, entitled to federal financial assistance, to participate in federal work study grants, become employed, and are prohibited from participating in many programs and experiential learning opportunities that require background checks and social security numbers,” read the letter that was sent out to members of the CCSU community. 

“This University has not and will not ever condone any activities that circumvent the law, and this committee was implemented only to coalesce legal means to support these students, as we endeavor to do for our entire Central Family.”

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin endorsed Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears for governor ahead of the state’s November 2025 gubernatorial contest. Youngkin and Sears are both Republicans.

The governor took office in early 2022, but the state constitution blocks governors from serving two consecutive terms, so he cannot run for re-election in 2025. The race will be one of the first significant races since President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 victory.

Merle Rutledge is also running for governor as a Republican, while Rep. Abigail Spanberger is a candidate on the Democratic side.

“Winsome has been an outstanding Lt. Governor, and she will be a great Governor,” Youngkin said in social media posts. 

WINSOME EARLE-SEARS ANNOUNCES VA GOV BID TO BUILD ON YOUNGKIN RECORD: IT’S ‘ALL ABOUT BUSINESS’

“She has been an outspoken advocate for commonsense conservative principles and policies, a passionate voice for our military and veterans, and a relentless advocate for educational freedom and economic opportunity. She brings the fighting spirit of a Marine to the office every single day,” he declared.

Sears noted that she is “deeply grateful” for Youngkin’s endorsement. 

GOV. GLENN YOUNGKIN TOUTS SUPREME COURT RULING: ‘VICTORY FOR COMMON SENSE’

Spanberger blasted former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard after President-elect Donald Trump tapped her to serve as director of national intelligence. 

“As a former CIA case officer, I saw the men and women of the U.S. intelligence community put their lives on the line every day for this country — and I am appalled at the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to lead DNI,” Spanberger declared in a post on X.

Gabbard, who served in the House of Representatives as a Democrat, announced last month that she was joining the GOP.

DEMOCRATS TRASH TULSI GABBARD AFTER TRUMP TAPS HER FOR DNI POST

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Youngkin also endorsed Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares for re-election.

“As Attorney General, Jason vigorously defends the laws of the Commonwealth, stands with law enforcement every single day while leading our shared fight to end the free flow of opioids and fentanyl into our communities, and has been a constant advocate for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence,” Youngkin said in his social media posts.

President-elect Donald Trump’s first Department of Education (DOE) secretary, Betsy DeVos, has been floated as one of the potential candidates for the position again. However, if she does not get the job, DeVos has some ideas about who would be a good fit to carry the mantle Trump started in 2017.

“There’s a whole host of Republican governors who have led on issues around at K-12 education, in particular, and in other cases, higher education,” DeVos told Fox News Digital in an interview.

“They have great backgrounds and could do a great, great job in carrying out the policies of a second Trump administration. Which I believe, as President Trump has said, should definitely include every effort to depower the federal agency and turn control and power back over to states, local, districts and parents.”

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GOP-dominated legislatures in Florida, Iowa, Arkansas and elsewhere passed bills significantly expanding school vouchers last year. 

On the campaign trail, Trump said one of the first things he’ll do is “closing up the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., and sending all education and education work it needs back to the states.”

DeVos said the budget and investments in education would not change, but through “block granting.”

“Let’s talk about eliminating the bureaucracy, not the budget, and ways in which that can be done,” DeVos said. “Very simply, block granting the money back to the states, so that it goes to states and ideally directly it to families who need it most.”

TRUMP’S FORMER EDUCATION SECRETARY SAYS SHE IS ‘VERY OPEN’ TO DISCUSSION ABOUT RETURNING TO PREVIOUS POST

During Trump’s first term, DeVos strongly advocated for school choice policies and expanding school voucher programs and tax credit scholarships to allow public funding to be used for private and religious school tuition.

She also rescinded federal guidance on the use of bathrooms by transgender students in schools, arguing it should be a state and local decision. 

DeVos scaled back federal oversight and programs in K-12 education, including the scope of civil rights investigations conducted by the DOE.

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“This is unfinished business from the first term, when we introduced with President Trump’s support and urged a freedom, a tax credit freedom bill to establish a pool of funds that individuals could designate money to at the federal level, but it would go alongside what states are already doing,” DeVos said. 

“Many states have passed education freedom policies to support families making those choices in that state, and other states have not yet done that, but this would allow for kids in every state through scholarship granting organizations to experience more education, freedom and choices and options, and that is a really important piece that should be addressed. And I believe this new Congress is ready to jump into it,” she added.

On the contrary, President Biden increased funding for public schools, particularly in low-income areas, through the American Rescue Plan during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Throughout his presidency, Biden pushed for college student debt relief, despite being blocked by the Supreme Court.

Biden’s Education Department is trying to push through a new federal rule in the final weeks before President-elect Trump takes over to provide additional student loan forgiveness for 8 million borrowers who face financial hardships. 

If finalized, the new rule would authorize student debt forgiveness on a one-time basis for people who the department considers to have at least an 80% chance of defaulting on loans based on a “predictive assessment using existing borrower data.”

The rule would also allow people, including potential “future borrowers,” to apply for relief that will be awarded based on “a holistic assessment of the borrower’s hardship.”

“There is every argument for if the taxpayers are going to be funding student lending, there better be ways to oversee it and actually do it effectively and efficiently,” DeVos said. “And it has not been happening. It is a huge mess, and it needs to be rethought and re-examined, and frankly, the private sector, private sector lending needs to come back into it and be an option.”

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.

New York prosecutors are requesting a stay until at least 2029 in New York v. Trump, as the president’s defense attorneys prepare to move to dismiss the case entirely.  

Prosecutors wrote a letter to Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday, who agreed last week to grant a stay on all deadlines associated with the conviction proceedings against Trump in the final months before he takes office. 

Merchan granted the request, which issues a stay on all deadlines, including the Nov. 26 sentencing date, to consider the effect of his election as president.

Prosecutors had asked for the pause in proceedings, which they said would allow them to better evaluate the impact of Trump’s new status as president-elect.

“As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, Defendant’s inauguration as President will occur on January 20, 2025,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wrote to Merchan on Tuesday. 

“Given the need to balance competing constitutional interests, consideration must be given to various non-dismissal options that may address any concerns raised by the pendency of a post-trial criminal proceeding during the presidency, such as deferral of all remaining criminal proceedings until after the end of Defendant’s upcoming presidential term,” Bragg wrote. 

Trump, who will be sworn into office as the 47th President of the United States on Jan. 20, 2025, will be the commander-in-chief until 2029. 

Bragg said his team would not oppose Trump’s request to stay further proceedings pending his attorneys’ motion to dismiss. 

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital that “this is a total and definitive victory for President Trump and the American People who elected him in a landslide.” 

“The Manhattan DA has conceded that this Witch Hunt cannot continue,” Cheung, who was tapped to serve as White House communications director, said. “The lawless case is now stayed, and President Trump’s legal team is moving to get it dismissed once and for all.”

Bragg noted that New York prosecutors plan to oppose Trump defense attorneys’ motion to dismiss entirely, 

WHERE DOES TRUMP’S NEW YORK SENTENCING STAND AFTER MASSIVE ELECTION WIN?

Trump’s attorneys, who had filed a motion to vacate the charges completely, also backed the stay. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree but was found guilty in May after a six-week-long unprecedented criminal trial in New York. 

Trump’s attorneys have requested that Merchan overturn the guilty verdict, citing the United States Supreme Court’s decision that former presidents have substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office. Trump’s legal team argued that certain evidence presented by Bragg and New York prosecutors during the trial should not have been admitted, as they were “official acts.” 

Specifically, Trump attorney Todd Blanche argued that testimony from former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks; former Special Assistant to the President Madeleine Westerhout; testimony regarding The Special Counsel’s Office and Congressional Investigations and the pardon power; testimony regarding President Trump’s response to FEC Inquiries; his presidential Twitter posts and other related testimony was impermissably admitted during trial. 

Trump attorneys also pointed to Trump’s disclosures to the Office of Government Ethics as president. 

TRUMP REQUESTS NY JUDGE OVERTURN GUILTY VERDICT, INDICTMENT AFTER SCOTUS IMMUNITY RULING

Blanche said that “official-acts evidence” that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg presented to the grand jury “contravened the holding in Trump because Presidents ‘cannot be indicted based on conduct for which they are immune from prosecution,'” the motion read. “The Presidential immunity doctrine recognized in Trump pertains to all ‘criminal proceedings,’ including grand jury proceedings when a prosecutor ‘seeks to charge’ a former President using evidence of official acts.”

Blanche argued that Bragg “violated the Presidential immunity doctrine by using similar official-acts evidence in the grand jury proceedings that gave rise to the politically motivated charges in this case.” 

“Because an Indictment so tainted cannot stand, the charges must be dismissed,” Blanche argued. 

Blanche also explained that the Supreme Court’s decision does not allow for an “overwhelming evidence” or “harmless error” exception to “the profound institutional interests at stake.” 

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on presidential immunity came from a question that stemmed from charges brought against Trump in a separate, federal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith related to the events on Jan. 6, 2021 and any alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in that case. 

Smith is winding down his cases against Trump following his election as the 47th President of the United States. 

Smith’s classified records case against Trump was dismissed by a federal judge in Florida earlier this year, who ruled that the special counsel was unlawfully appointed.