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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Biden administration’s Justice Department (DOJ) on Friday, demanding that it provide records relating to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s corruption investigation into President-elect Trump.

In a release, the Republican AG alleged that former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who led a team investigating Trump regarding a false Trump-Russia election collaboration, “destroyed records.”

“Past Special Counsels, including — notoriously — Robert Mueller, destroyed records at the end of their investigations to avoid accountability,” Paxton said in a release.

“It is not clear why nobody was prosecuted for doing so,” he added. “This request is part of my Office’s efforts to ensure that Americans are not cheated out of accountability or information again. This pattern of weaponizing the justice system for partisan retribution must end.”

JORDAN DEMANDS SMITH RETAIN ALL RECORDS RELATED TO TRUMP PROSECUTIONS AS SPECIAL COUNSEL’S OFFICE WINDS DOWN

In Paxton’s request, he argued that past special counselors “appear to have intentionally destroyed documents” during their tenure.

“Our office would consider any destruction of the documents requested herein to be a crime under 18 U.S.C. § 1361, and would refer the matter for prosecution in the event destruction occurs,” the letter said.

PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP ALREADY MEETING WITH TRANSITION TEAM, STRATEGIZING HOW TO FILL ADMINISTRATION

According to the DOJ, 18 U.S.C. § 1361 “protects “any property” of the United States or an agency or department thereof.”

The FOIA request from Paxton follows the House Judiciary Committee sharing its concern that Smith and prosecutors involved in the Trump investigations will “purge” records to skirt oversight.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., penned a letter to Smith on Friday, demanding that he produce to Congress all documents related to the probes before the end of the month.

“The Committee on the Judiciary is continuing its oversight of the Department of Justice and the Office of Special Counsel. According to recent public reports, prosecutors in your office have been ‘gaming out legal options’ in the event that President Donald Trump won the election,” they wrote. “With President Trump’s decisive victory this week, we are concerned that the Office of Special Counsel may attempt to purge relevant records, communications, and documents responsive to our numerous requests for information.” 

Following Trump’s decisive victory, the DOJ is looking to wind down two federal criminal cases against Trump as he prepares to be sworn in for a second term in the White House.

Its decision to do so upholds a long-standing policy that prevents DOJ attorneys from prosecuting a sitting president.

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

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump transition, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.

Here’s what’s happening…

-Where do Trump’s legal cases stand after massive election win?

-Shutdown standoff looms in Congress’ final weeks before Trump’s return to White House

– Special Counsel Jack Smith moves to drop Trump election interference case

– What does President-elect Trump’s win mean for US regarding the Israel-Hamas war?

Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Maura Healey says that her state police will “absolutely not” be cooperating with the expected mass deportation effort by the incoming Trump administration, warning that she will use “every tool in the toolbox” to “protect” residents in the blue state.

Healey was asked on MSNBC on Wednesday whether the Massachusetts State Police would assist the federal government in the mass deportation of illegal immigrants. President-elect Trump has pledged to launch the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history” to deport millions of illegal immigrants.

“Following the Eisenhower Model, we will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” Trump said during the campaign…Read more

‘CREATED A CRISIS’: Federal judge throws out Biden admin program to legalize illegal immigrant spouses of US citizens…Read more

‘NOT MESSING AROUND’: Trump ally floated as possible AG has harsh warning for Letitia James: ‘We will put your fat a– in prison’…Read more

ANSWER STANDS: White House says President Biden still has no plans to pardon Hunter Biden…Read more

TRUMP TRANSITION: Trump’s former Education Secretary says she is ‘very open’ to discussion about returning to previous post…Read more

‘NOT STAYING HERE’: Trump says mass deportations ‘not a question of a price tag’…Read more

‘GARBAGE’: 4 key times Biden undermined Harris’ campaign against Trump…Read more

TRUMP’S FIX-IT WOMAN: Who is Susie Wiles, Trump’s White House chief of staff? 5 things to know…Read more

LAWFARE: Former White House lawyer says Trump will not use DOJ ‘for political purposes,’ but to implement ‘his agenda’…Read more

ROUND ONE: Highlights from President-elect Donald Trump’s first term as President of the United States…Read more

‘RAPID PACE’: Former Trump official makes prediction about incoming admin’s aggressive border plan…Read more

PLAYING THE COURT: Justice Sonia Sotomayor faces pressure to retire ahead of Trump taking office: report…Read more

CLOSE CALL: Toss-up Maine House race moves to ranked-choice tabulation…Read more

SEEING RED: Trio of longtime Dem senators elected same year were voted out in 2024…Read more

‘HISTORIC MANDATE’: Newly elected swing state GOP rep previews first 100 day plan under Trump’s ‘historic mandate’…Read more

‘UNPRECEDENTED’: Cornyn touts lifetime fundraising prowess for GOP in final case to succeed McConnell…Read more

KEYSTONE ‘GRATITUDE’: PA Sen-elect McCormick thanks Casey family for decades of service, as Democrat declines to concede…Read more

NO MERCY: Republican senator says Trump should not pardon Hunter Biden…Read more

‘LET’S DO THIS!’: Tim Scott launches NRSC chair bid as GOP seeks to capitalize on new minority gains…Read more

THE FATAL 5: 5 mistakes that doomed Kamala Harris’ campaign against Trump…Read more

FIRST ON FOX: Jordan demands Smith retain all records related to Trump prosecutions as special counsel’s office winds down…Read more

TRIM THE FAT: Trump administration could lead to budget cuts, leadership shakeup at the United Nations…Read more

MOVING ON UP?: Stefanik in contention for Trump administration role…Read more

VOTER BREAKDOWN: Trump clinched a higher percentage of Muslim voters compared to Jewish voters in recent election…Read more

RED THREAT: Chinese spies hacked Trump attorney Todd Blanche’s phone: source…Read more

US VS. ‘THEY/THEM’: Trump’s ‘they/them’ ads combined culture war, economic worries to make effective pitch: expert…Read more

‘READY FOR CHANGE’: Incumbent San Francisco mayor concedes to opponent amid concerns over homeless, drug overdoses…Read more

WANTED: Masked attackers who attacked Jewish students near Chicago’s DePaul University seen in new photo…Read more

‘POWERFUL REPELLANT’: New York Dem warns ‘vilifying voters of color as white supremacists’ pushes ‘them further into Trump’s camp’…Read more

WARRIOR’ WARNING: Dem governor issues stark warning to Trump: ‘You come for my people, you come through me’…Read more

NO MORE: NYC ends taxpayer-funded prepaid debit card program for illegal immigrants…Read more

‘WARRIOR’ WARNING: Dem governor issues stark warning to Trump: ‘You come for my people, you come through me’…Read more

‘FAILED EXPERIMENT’: Experts reveal why Soros-backed policies took beating in deep blue state…Read more

OPEN BORDER CONSEQUENCES: Illegal migrant charged with killing mother of 4 in AOC’s district…Read more

BLUE STATE RESISTANCE: Dem governor threatens to use ‘every tool’ to fight back against Trump-era deportations…Read more

CLIMATE ON THE BALLOT: Voters decide on climate measures, reject initiative to tax natural gas powered buildings in California city…Read more

DEM MAYOR INDICTED: Capital city Democratic mayor, prosecutor indicted in undercover bribery sting…Read more

Get the latest updates on the Trump presidential transition, incoming Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

Democratic governors and attorneys general alike have vowed resistance to the incoming Trump administration’s policies, just days after the election was called for the former president.

President-elect Trump has already begun his transition back into the White House, with one of his first major moves being the announcement of Susie Wiles as his chief of staff. 

Just recently, Trump also signaled to NBC News that mass deportations are not out of the question as one of his top priorities upon starting his term in January. 

In response, governors and attorneys general in Democratic states have also voiced their priorities in being on defense during Trump’s second term.

NEW YORK DEM WARNS ‘VILIFYING VOTERS OF COLOR AS WHITE SUPREMACISTS’ PUSHES THEM ‘FURTHER INTO TRUMP’S CAMP’

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James — who has notably been vocal about her attempts to prosecute Trump — said Wednesday during a press conference that while they would honor the election results and would “work with anyone who wants to be a partner in achieving the goals of our administration in our state, that does not mean we’ll accept an agenda from Washington that strips away the rights that New Yorkers have long enjoyed.”

“The safety and wellbeing of New Yorkers are my top priorities,” Hochul said in a statement released shortly after. “I’m committed to working with anyone on policies that make our state stronger, safer and more livable — but my administration will also be prepared to protect New Yorkers’ fundamental freedoms from any potential threats.”

James echoed those same sentiments in the statement, saying she and her team had “been preparing for a potential second Trump Administration, and I am ready to do everything in my power to ensure our state and nation do not go backwards.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul and James’ offices for comment. 

HOUSE DEMOCRAT SAYS THE PARTY NEEDS TO GET PAST ‘TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME’

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement released Wednesday that “our most vulnerable communities woke up to new uncertainty about their future, scared that their rights will no longer be protected.” Pritzker said he would continue to uphold Illinois’ values, stating, “When that means working with the next presidential administration that is what I will do, and when that means standing up to it, I believe my record is clear on where I’ll be.”

Pritzker reiterated these same points during a press conference on Thursday, where he said that anyone who comes “for my people, you come through me.” 

Fox News Digital reached out to Pritzker’s office for comment. 

Washington State Attorney General and incoming Gov. Bob Ferguson held a press conference on Thursday alongside incoming Attorney General Nick Brown, where Ferguson said his team had been preparing for a potential Trump presidency for months in advance. Ferguson said during the press conference that his team had reviewed Trump’s policies and the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, the latest iteration of a longstanding Heritage Foundation initiative to establish a conservative governing blueprint. 

DEMOCRATS LOOKING TO POINT FINGERS AFTER ‘HUMILIATING’ ELECTION DEFEAT SHOULD START WITH MEDIA: WSJ COLUMNIST

Trump has repeatedly denied any involvement with the agenda, saying, “I disagree with some of the things they’re saying, and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.”

“The president has significant authority. That is the way our system works,” Brionna Aho, Ferguson Communications Director, told Fox News Digital. “However, no one is above the law. Our office has successfully litigated against the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations. When a president exceeds his authority and harms Washingtonians, the Washington State Attorney General’s Office is prepared to hold him accountable to the rule of law.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday announced the state legislature would convene a special session “to safeguard California values and fundamental rights in the face of an incoming Trump administration.” The session is expected to focus on “bolstering California legal resources to protect civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate action, and immigrant families” ahead of Trump taking office, the statement read. 

“We’ve been through this before, and we stand ready to defend your rights and protect California values,” Bonta said in the statement. “We’re working closely with the Governor and the Legislature to shore up our defenses and ensure we have the resources we need to take on each fight as it comes.”

“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “He will deliver.”

Fresh off Tuesday’s red sweep, House Republicans have begun to renew the idea of ending China’s preferential trade status. 

They have begun to promote the idea of ending China’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR). With Republicans seizing control of the White House and Senate, and being on track for a likely win in the House, the idea that was once considered a longshot now now become a likelihood. 

“For too long, the Chinese Communist Party has taken advantage of America’s open hand with predatory economic practices that target the American economy, our workers, businesses, and our national security. We believe in free trade with free nations, but as the Committee recommended on a bipartisan basis, it is now time to reset our relationship with China by moving past PNTR to a trade relationship that reflects the threat we face from the CCP,” a spokesperson for the House China Committee told Fox News Digital. 

In 2000, Congress voted to grant China permanent normal trade relations. The designation fundamentally changed China-U.S. trade relations: U.S. consumers gained access to low-priced Chinese imports, and between 2001 and 2021, the value of goods imported from China quadrupled to $500 billion.

Critics of PNTR say it allowed companies to outsource their manufacturing to China – and that renewed tensions with Beijing could lead to supply chain issues. 

REPUBLICANS PROPOSE BILL THAT WOULD DOUBLE TARIFFS ON CHINESE IMPORTS AND END FAVORED TRADE STATUS

Proponents of PNTR say that removing that status would cause inflation, allowing further tariffs on billions’ worth of Chinese goods. 

President-elect Donald Trump has already proposed an across-the-board 60% tariff on all Chinese goods and end China’s favored trade status. 

Repealing PNTR would automatically reset the tariffs on Chinese goods to higher levels. 

Trump could enact much of his trade agenda on goods he deems to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to national security or the U.S. economy. 

The GOP’s platform unveiled in July called for an ending of PNTR. In September, Fox News Digital first reported that a group of Republican senators put forth a bill to end China’s PNTR and increase tariffs on many of its goods up to 100%. 

GOP SENATORS EYE COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY TO CURB CCP INFLUENCE 

Over five years, the bill would increase tariffs by 100% on imports deemed “strategic” to national security by the Biden administration in an effort to force the growth of the domestic market for national security-related goods. 

It would boost tariffs on non-strategic goods by a minimum of 35%. 

China is widely expected to respond with tariffs on U.S.-imported goods. China buys tens of billions of dollars’ worth of agricultural products, primarily soybeans, each year. 

The bill, led by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and cosponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., would also grant the president the authority to institute further tariffs, quotas and bans on specific Chinese goods. It would end “de minimis treatment” for China, or the value threshold below which imports are not subject to customs duties. 

The revenue generated, according to the bill, would go toward farmers and manufacturers injured by potential Chinese retaliation, the purchase of key munitions important to a Pacific conflict, and paying down the debt.

Fox News’ Liz Elkind contributed to this report. 

On Friday, U.S. Department of Justice unsealed new charges detailing a thwarted murder-for-hire plot that the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ordered against Donald Trump in the weeks leading up to the election, adding new pressure for the Biden administration to act.

According to a newly unsealed criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, the IRGC ordered an Iranian asset in September to focus on “surveilling” and putting together a plan to assassinate Trump before the Nov. 5 elections. 

Trump was briefed by U.S intelligence officials in September about threats from Iran to assassinate him, campaign officials confirmed.

Both President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Fox News in October that they considered any Iranian threats against Trump to be a “top-tier” national security issue, and said any attempt by the IRGC to actually harm Trump would be met with kinetic military action equal to “an act of war.”

SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH MOVES TO DROP TRUMP ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE

Neither the White House nor the State Department immediately responded to Fox News’s request for comment on the nature of the threat from the IRGC, or how they planned to respond.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps., or IRGC, is a military and counterintelligence agency that was designated as a terrorist organization during Trump’s first term. 

Trump has been a target of the IRGC since January 2020, when as president he ordered the drone strike that killed the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani.

News of the thwarted attack on Trump comes after he survived two earlier and unrelated assassination attempts earlier this year while campaigning for a second term as president: The first, in July at a Pennsylvania campaign rally, and then in September, while golfing at one of his properties in Florida. 

The threats from Iran, detailed in the now-public criminal filings, prompted the Secret Service to beef up their security presence around the Trump campaign in recent months.

It is unclear whether, or how, Trump plans to further clamp down on security at his residences in the months before his inauguration.

IRAN ‘TERRIFIED’ OF TRUMP PRESIDENCY AS IRANIAN CURRENCY FALLS TO AN ALL-TIME LOW

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Friday that there “are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran.”

“We will not stand for the Iranian regime’s attempts to endanger the American people and America’s national security,” he added.

In the criminal complaint, U.S. prosecutors said an unnamed official in the IRGC had asked the asset, Farhad Shakeri, to “focus on surveilling, and, ultimately, assassinating, former President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.”

The Department of Justice said that Shakeri, who remains at large and is believed to be living in Iran, “immigrated to the United States as a child and was deported in or about 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction.” Trump is referred to the filings as “Victim-4.”

“According to Shakeri, during his meeting with IRGC Official-I on or about October 7, 2024, IRGC Official-I directed Shakeri to provide a plan within seven days to kill Victim-4. If Shakeri was unable to put forth a plan within that timeframe, IRGC Official-I continued, the IRGC would pause its plan to kill Victim-4 until after the U.S. Presidential elections, because IRGC Official-I assessed that Victim-4 would lose the election and, afterward, it would be easier to assassinate Victim-4,” the documents said.

Federal prosecutors have also charged and arrested Carlisle Rivera, 49, of Brooklyn, New York, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, of Staten Island, New York, “in connection with their alleged involvement” in a plot to murder a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin in New York. 

The Department of Justice declined to respond to comment on the threats or the investigation. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was spotted on his daughter’s Instagram page this week shortly after he and Vice President Kamala Harris were defeated by President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance in Tuesday’s election.

“The Earth keeps spinning and we live to fight another day,’ Walz’s daughter Hope posted on her Instagram story along with a photo of a somber Walz, wearing a sweatshirt and cargo pants, holding and petting his cat.

The video is the first sighting of Walz since he appeared at Harris’ concession speech on Wednesday at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

“Thank you Vice President @KamalaHarris for putting your faith in me, and selecting me as your running mate,” Walz posted on X this week. “Campaigning at your side was the honor and privilege of my life.”

‘SHOULD HAVE BEEN JOSH SHAPIRO’: HARRIS’ VP CONTENDERS PASSED OVER FOR WALZ DODGE MASSIVE CAMPAIGN LOSS

Harris faced scrutiny even from some in her own party over her decision to name Walz, who many view as further to the left than she is, rather than a more moderate choice. Prominent Democrat Josh Shapiro, governor of the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania that Trump carried on Tuesday night, was viewed by some as a more practical choice.

“One of the things that are top of mind is the choice of Tim Walz as vice presidential candidate,” Harris-Walz surrogate Lindy Li told Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich at Howard University. “A lot of people are saying tonight that it should have been Josh Shapiro. Frankly, people have been saying that for months.”

Rob Bluey, president and executive editor of The Daily Signal, told Fox News Digital that Walz being added to the ticket was a significant error in judgment.

“Historically, vice presidents have little impact on a presidential candidate’s fate,” Bluey said. “But in the case of Tim Walz, it proved to be a disastrous decision that doomed Kamala Harris from the moment she made it. Not only was Walz ill-prepared for the national spotlight and media scrutiny, but Harris passed over several better options. Given how little Americans knew about Harris or her policy positions, they were right to question her judgment on this big decision.”

HARRIS WORLD BLAME GAME BEGINS AFTER CRUSHING LOSS TO TRUMP

Walz was heavily criticized on the campaign trail over questions about his honesty regarding his military service, ties to China, response to the George Floyd riots in 2020, and policy agenda as governor that several Minnesotans who spoke to Fox News Digital described as radical.

“The choice of Walz was only one of many disastrous mistakes but symptomatic of one larger problem — the Democratic Party leadership is too scared to say no to the hard-left progressive wing of the party,” Julian Epstein, longtime Democratic operative and former chief counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News Digital.

“This hard left opposes commonsense solutions that Gov. Shapiro supports — charter schools, for example. Or defeating terrorists rather than aping their talking points and positions, which allow them to stay in power and rearm for the next genocidal attack,” Epstein continued. “It’s the hard-left progressive wing that looks first to welfare and redistribution rather than economic growth, and to cultural extremism on migration and gender deeply out of touch with the American electorate. Walz was a really bad choice for sure, but their choice was part of a deeper problem.”

A House Democrat says, following Kamala Harris’ election loss, that the vice president once “walked away from me” and that “There was kind of an eye roll” during a past interaction she had with her in Washington, D.C. 

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez recounted her experience to the New York Times as the race for her seat in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District remains too close to call. As of Friday, with around 87% of the vote in, Gluesenkamp Perez leads her Republican challenger Joe Kent by nearly 11,000 votes. 

“When Harris first came out, I was open to talking with her. I know she called a lot of my colleagues; she never called me,” Gluesenkamp Perez said to the newspaper when asked for her thoughts on Harris’ presidential campaign. “I’ve had one interaction with Harris, at her Naval Observatory Christmas party.”

“I’m not super comfortable at that kind of thing. I’d had a couple of beers, and I noticed that almost all of the garlands were plastic. My district grows a hell of a lot of Christmas trees. I was strong-armed into taking a picture. I said, “Madam Vice President, we grow those where I live,’” Gluesenkamp Perez continued. “She just walked away from me. There was kind of an eye roll, maybe. My thinking was, it does matter to people where I live. It’s the respect, the cultural regard for farmers. I didn’t feel like she understood what I was trying to say.” 

DEMOCRATS LOOKING TO POINT FINGERS AFTER ‘HUMILIATING’ ELECTION DEFEAT SHOULD START WITH MEDIA: WSJ COLUMNIST 

Harris’ office did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Heading into Election Day, Gluesenkamp Perez’s campaign told Fox News Digital that she had “no plans” to endorse Harris. 

In July, Gluesenkamp Perez also had called for President Biden not only to drop out of the presidential race, but also to resign from his position as commander in chief. 

4 KEY TIMES BIDEN UNDERMINED HARRIS’ CAMPAIGN AGAINST TRUMP 

“Americans deserve to feel their president is fit enough to do the job. The crisis of confidence in the President’s leadership needs to come to an end. The President should do what he knows is right for the country and put the national interest first,” she said at the time. 

When asked by the New York Times this week how Democrats should respond to Harris’ election loss, Gluesenkamp Perez, she said, “It’s a lot easier to look outward, to blame and demonize other people, instead of looking in the mirror and seeing what we can do. It is not fun to feel accountability. It requires a mental flexibility that’s painful. So, who knows?” 

Three days after Election Day on Nov. 5, the U.S. Senate races in the western states of Arizona and Nevada remain undecided.

Democratic candidates in both races have maintained a slight lead, offering hope for Democratic leader Chuck Schumer that his incoming minority might not shrink further. Republicans have flipped four senate seats so far and are set to start next year in the majority. 

As of Friday morning, incumbent Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., leads her Republican challenger Ret. Army Capt. Sam Brown by more than 17,500 votes, or 1.2 percentage points. The deadline for mail-in ballots to arrive and be counted in Nevada is Saturday. With tens of thousands of ballots potentially outstanding, The Associated Press said on Thursday that the race is still too close to call.

So far, Rosen has 665,840 votes, or 47.76%. Brown has earned 648,292 votes, or 46.50%. Nearly 96% of Nevada precincts have reported their results. 

PA SEN-ELECT MCCORMICK THANKS CASEY FAMILY FOR DECADES OF SERVICE AS DEMOCRAT DECLINES TO CONCEDE

“There are still tens of thousands of uncounted ballots in the race for U.S. Senate, and the candidates are separated by less than one percent,” the Brown campaign said on Thursday. “There are also thousands of ballots which need to be cured. Sam Brown is committed to ensuring every legally cast, valid vote is counted.”

On Wednesday, Rosen said, “We feel good about the results we’re seeing, but there are still thousands of votes to be counted. Our democracy takes time, and I’m confident that we will win as more votes come in.” 

REPUBLICANS WITHIN STRIKING DISTANCE OF HOUSE MAJORITY AS KEY RACES REMAIN TOO CLOSE TO CALL 

In neighboring Arizona, only 76.05% of precincts are reporting. Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Marine, currently leads Republican Kari Lake, a former TV news anchor, by more than 43,000 votes. The winner of this contest will succeed retiring Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent who formerly was a Democrat. She left the party after clashing with its far-left element and decided against running for re-election as an independent when it became clear there was no path for her to do so.

The Arizona results are pouring in slowly, mostly because of how the state counts votes and the complexity of this year’s ballot. The delays were expected to be most pronounced in Maricopa County, the state’s largest county. 

TOSS-UP MAINE HOUSE RACE MOVES TO RANKED-CHOICE TABULATION WITH GOLDEN, THERIAULT SEPARATED BY 1,414 VOTES

“For the first time since 2006 here in Maricopa County, we have a two-page ballot, and we have races on both sides of those,” Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates told Fox 10 Phoenix last month. “We’re talking about four different sides of contests, seventy-nine contests on average. We anticipate that it will take people a little bit longer.”

Officials said a GOP-backed state law that adds extra steps to verify ballots might also cause delays. 

The law requires poll workers to wait for the polls to close before counting begins. Then, all green envelope ballots that were dropped off need to be hand counted before they are delivered to the elections center, where the signatures are verified, and the votes are counted. 

If the election office finds an error on a voter’s ballot, the voter is permitted five days to fix it. Election workers say it could take up to two weeks for every ballot to be cured and counted.

Mail ballots also need to be scanned, sorted and signature-verified before they can be counted. And voters may return mail ballots at any time before polls close on Election Day. 

“The most important thing you can be doing for the next few days is helping [Turning Point Action] cure these ballots and make sure every vote counts in Arizona,” Lake posted on X on Thursday. 

The AP reported there are still hundred of thousands of ballots left to count in Arizona, including nearly half a million in Maricopa County. Officials are currently counting early votes that arrived in October. Until more ballots are counted, the race remains too early to call. 

The Trump administration’s border security efforts will hit the ground running in 2025, having defeated “lawfare” in the courts and Republican opposition in Trump’s first term, a former top official predicts while telling Fox News Digital that he is “willing and ready” to be part of the effort to secure the border.

Mark Morgan was the acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner in the Trump administration and was a critical official in the construction of hundreds of miles of border wall and the implementation of policies like “Remain-in-Mexico.”

He said that the Trump administration would likely repeat the same strategies at the border that pushed a combination of consequences for illegal entry and deterrence from entering.

‘LIBERATION DAY’: WHAT TO EXPECT FROM PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP ON BORDER SECURITY, IMMIGRATION

“More importantly, we’re not going to be just reactive. We want to actually try to prevent the flow of illegal immigration, we want to go after the cartels to prevent the drugs from, you know, making it to our border. The border should be our last line of defense. That’s the same methodology, same strategy that we used in the first Trump administration that led to the most secure border in our lifetime,” he said.

But Morgan believes that this time, it will be more efficient. Trump struggled in his first term to overcome opposition in Congress to border wall construction, and he had to put structures and procedures in place. His policies saw a number of lawsuits in the courts. 

“We already had a series, really a network of tools, authorities and policies in place that were already tested. We knew they worked,” Morgan said. “And equally important is they’d already gone through the continuum of lawfare.”

He pointed to Safe Third Country agreements and the Remain-in-Mexico policy as examples. He also noted that mass deportations had been conducted under the Trump administration, as well as administrations before that.

“So the statutory authority is already there. The foundation is already there. We’re just going to have to use it with a kind of a a good dose of whole-of-government steroids and just increase the magnitude of those operations,” he said.

Similarly, on border wall construction, there were over 450 miles built during the administration, and the foundations are there for more construction.

HOW HARRIS WAS DOGGED BY ‘BORDER CZAR’ LABEL, PAST RADICAL IMMIGRATION VIEWS DURING FAILED CAMPAIGN

“I’m hoping that there will be a national emergency declared, so that’s going to give and open up the opportunity to get funding from other resources that will help us get that started right away. We won’t have to wait for Congress. But in addition to that, we’ve already been there, right?” he said. “So we’ve already had the contracts before. We already have the design. We’ve already had the systems in place . . . the materials already sitting in there. Everything is going to be put in place at a much more exponentially rapid pace.”

He also said that he believes that with the strong victory of Trump in the election, and control of both chambers of Congress, that there will be more action in D.C.

“I think with the overwhelming victory and the degree of chaos, the lawlessness at our border that we’ve had over the past four years, I think those Republicans that have been resistant to strong border security action that have remained in the shadows, I think they’re going to be forced from those shadows,” he said. “And I think we have a really good shot at a permanent legislative reform and not just having to rely on executive orders.“

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

He said that legislation in Congress could look like the House border security bill, known as HR2, but it could end up packaged differently to avoid Democratic resistance.

As for whether Morgan will be returning to government, he said that it would be inappropriate to speculate, but he said that “if the president calls, there’s only one answer.”

“There’s only one person that’s going to select his cabinet and that’s going to be President Trump. So to presume that any of us know exactly what those names are going to be, I think is misleading, we don’t. But look, if he asks, I’m able, willing and ready, and I’d be absolutely thrilled to be part of the next administration to get this country back on track and specifically secure our borders.”

In the final days of President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, he honed in on a culture war issue that may have locked in more swing votes and with it the election, a conservative activist instrumental in the ad campaign argues.

“Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you,” the narrator of Trump’s advertisement said.

The ad, which focused on men in women’s sports and Vice President Kamala Harris’ track record of ushering in sex change procedures for incarcerated people in California, was in part due to the influence of American Principles Project’s president, Terry Schilling, who began pushing out these ads in 2019.

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Schilling said back then, the issue was “too premature” to make waves in the conservative movement. But over the course of the Biden-Harris administration, as the gender ideology wars began to make it into the mainstream spotlight, Schilling believed it would be a winning issue for conservatives.

The American Principles Project spent tens of millions on ads highlighting the transgender issue in states across the country, and Schilling went to Mar-a-Lago a few months ago to personally encourage Trump to lean in on the opportunity.

“The cue of giving sex change procedures to inmates is so radical, it’s so extreme, and it’s one of those issues that touches on not just the culture war, but the economy, too,” Schilling told Fox News Digital. 

“You have a lot of families that are hurting, they’re struggling to put food on the table,” Schilling said. “They’re struggling to be able to afford to send their kids to a decent school where they can learn to read and write properly, and they’re scrapping all their pains together, and then they see that their government is paying to give people that committed very serious crimes that are in federal prisons, sex change procedures that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

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“When you go to prison, you have to lose some rights, and it was an issue that really resonated,” he continued. “Trump gets so much credit. I have heard from several people that that maniac-madman-genius actually came up with that closing line of, ‘Kamala Harris is for they/them, Donald Trump’s for you.’ He’s so good at the branding.”

Schilling said there was record-breaking fundraising for his organization this year, noting a 50% increase from the previous year, growing from $12 million to $18 million. He highlighted that this funding has driven extensive research, ad production, and messaging guidance, which has reportedly influenced Republicans to focus on transgender issues in campaign ads. 

According to Schilling, Republicans spent over $215 million on ads targeting transgender issues.

Last year, Schilling’s organization produced an ad featuring women’s activist Riley Gaines advocating for candidate Daniel Cameron against Democrat Andy Beshear for governor in Kentucky. 

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In August 2023, APP released a post-2022 election report, titled, “The Failed Red Wave: Lessons from the GOP Letdown,” arguing that Republicans performed poorly in part because they failed to take advantage of Democrats’ cultural extremism on transgender issues.

This summer, APP announced an $18 million ad campaign exposing Kamala Harris and other Democrats’ stances on transgender issues.

“We spent over seven figures on polling and focus groups and message testing, and we’ve been passing it out, beating our heads against the wall with candidates up and down the ballot. And 2024 was the year that it finally broke through,” Schilling said. 

The ads came during a time during the election cycle where several actions by the Biden-Harris administration gave the messaging a boost. 

In June, health officials in the Biden administration urged international transgender health nonprofit, World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), to omit the age limit in its guidelines for transgender surgical procedures for adolescents – and succeeded – according to unsealed court documents.

More than a dozen states in the U.S. have enacted bans on surgical procedures and hormonal prescriptions for transgender youth. 

Idaho, North Dakota, Florida, Oklahoma and Alabama have passed laws making it a felony to perform sex changes on children. Several blue states, meanwhile, have enacted “sanctuary state” laws in recent years shielding medical providers from facing penalties for conducting transgender procedures on adolescents. 

Trump’s success in reaching people in this issue hasn’t come without its opposition. The executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union pledged “to combat” the forthcoming Trump administration’s proposed policies on critical issues such as abortion, border security and LGBTQ rights.

The left-wing civil liberties organization launched 434 legal challenges against President Trump during his first term, and will continue during his second term, according to Romero’s open letter. They plan, for example, to use the courts to “invalidate Trump administration policies” impacting the gay and transgender communities, such as actions that keep biological males out of women’s bathrooms or that prevent them from playing on women’s sports teams.

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