The first Republican presidential primary debate is less than a month away, and seven of the candidates seeking the GOP nomination for the White House have met the required polling and fundraising criteria to earn a spot on stage.

Last month, the Republican National Committee (RNC) revealed the polling and fundraising criteria that GOP presidential candidates must reach in order to make the stage at the first primary debate, which Fox News will host on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The debate starts at 9 p.m. ET.

To make the stage, candidates are required to reach 1% in three national polls, or 1% in two national polls and two state-specific polls from the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. The polls must also be recognized by the RNC and must be conducted on or after July 1.

Additionally, to reach the debate stage, candidates must have 40,000 unique donors to their campaign committee (or exploratory committee), with ‘at least 200 unique donors per state or territory in 20+ states and/or territories,’ according to the RNC criteria.

The Republican candidates who have reached both the polling and fundraising threshold are, in alphabetical order: 

North Dakota Gov. Doug BurgumFormer New Jersey Gov. Chris ChristieFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantisFormer South Carolina Gov. Nikki HaleyEntrepreneur Vivek RamaswamySouth Carolina Sen. Tim ScottFormer President Donald Trump

Other GOP candidates, as of Wednesday, have not yet met the fundraising threshold required by the RNC to take a spot on stage.

The candidates who have met polling requirements – but not fundraising requirements – include: 

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa HutchinsonFormer Vice President Mike Pence

The RNC says candidates must present their fundraising figures at least 48 hours prior to the first debate.

The candidates also must sign a pledge agreeing to support the eventual Republican presidential nominee; agreeing not to participate in any non-RNC-sanctioned debates for the rest of the 2024 election cycle; and agreeing to data-sharing with the national party committee, the RNC noted last month.

The first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle will air on Fox News, and Rumble is the online live-streaming partner. Young America’s Foundation is also a partner in the first debate.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

In a move that has outraged police, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office issued guidelines calling for fewer White men and veterans to be featured in Seattle Police Department (SPD) recruitment materials, according to a memo obtained by ‘The Jason Rantz Show’ on KTTH and shared with Fox News Digital. 

The March 2023 memo, titled ‘SPD Marketing More and Less,’ was written by Ben Dalgetty, a Digital Strategy Lead from the mayor’s office who is in charge of SPD recruitment efforts. In the document, first reported by Rantz, Dalgetty calls for more photos and videos of ‘officers of color’ who are ‘younger’ and of ‘different genders’ to be featured in the department’s marketing materials. 

Conversely, Dalgetty instructed there should be ‘less’ images and videos of ‘officers who are white, male’ and ‘officers with military bearing,’ a directive critics have called ‘flat-out discrimination.’  

‘This doesn’t mean no officers who are white or male or only young officers of color, but guidelines to shift the proportions of our photo/video collateral to more of some things and less of others,’ the March 2023 memo to SPD human resources staff emphasized. 

However, the guidance infuriated Officer Mike Solan, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild.

Sloan told Seattle radio host Jason Rantz that the police union fully supports ‘95% of what is listed in this recruiting document,’ but cannot abide by ‘discrimination.’ 

‘What I condemn and will forever continue to push back on is the verbiage within the recruitment document that calls for less of white male officers. Less of people in leadership positions, and less of humans with military backgrounds. This is flat-out discrimination. Period. It is an affront to decency, reasonableness and further divides our communities,’ Sloan wrote in a statement to ‘The Jason Rantz Show’ on KTTH. ‘When politics is intentionally inserted into the public safety policing conversation, we all lose. It is embarrassing, shameful, and detrimental to a healthy functioning society.’

Harrell’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

The memo appears to be part of a diversity, equity and inclusion strategy that Harrell promised to implement as police recruitment lags. The mayor’s Comprehensive Police Recruitment and Retention Plan passed by the Seattle City Council last year, prioritizes applicants with ‘diverse racial and immigration backgrounds.’ 

Emails obtained by Fox News show the mayor’s office planned an ad campaign targeting minority communities for police recruitment. In March 2023, Dalgetty worked with SPD human resources staff to create promotional materials for the planned recruitment drive in April. The campaign would advertise with the Seattle Medium and Urban Contemporary station KYIZ, which are promoted toward Seattle’s Black community, classical regional Mexican radio station El Rey and the International Examiner, a newspaper focused on the Asian American community. 

Police sources who spoke to ‘The Jason Rantz Show’ expressed shock that the mayor’s office would put their racial preferences for the recruitment campaign in writing.

‘I thought, ‘Are you kidding me? You put this in writing?” one SPD source reportedly said. ‘It shows not only a lack of respect for officers, but a lack of respect for the military. They have no understanding of someone willing to put their lives on the line for their fellow man. They don’t have respect.’

An editing history on the document file shows the mayor’s office attempted to change the memo after learning it was a source of controversy. ‘The Jason Rantz Show’ reported several officials within SPD were ‘livid’ with the memo. After receiving complaints from SPD, Dalgetty made several edits to the document.

In one edit, Dalgetty removed language requesting fewer photos and videos of White men. In another edit, he removed the reference to officers with ‘military bearing.’ Dalgetty also removed the line, ‘This doesn’t mean no officers who are White or male or only young officers of color, but guidelines to shift the proportions of our photo/video collateral to more of some things and less of others.’

The mayor’s office did not respond when asked about the edits. 

‘The Jason Rantz Show’ reported a public records request for the original memo went unanswered for months before the mayor’s office provided the updated version. In answering the request, a public disclosure officer wrongly claimed the original version of the document could not be recovered after the edits had been made.

‘After speaking with Ben [Dalgetty], my understanding is that the record you’ve referred to was shared as a ‘live’ OneDrive link and was not attached to an e-mail,’ the officer told ‘The Jason Rantz Show’ on July 10, three months after the initial document request. OneDrive is a cloud-based service for document sharing, editing and storage, similar to DropBox or Google Drive. 

‘As with OneDrive documents shared out for collaboration, edits were made to the ‘live’ OneDrive link that was still in draft form on March 22, 2023 and March 23, 2023. The only version that we have of that record is the version that has already been provided to you,’ the officer said.

However, ‘The Jason Rantz Show’ pointed out that OneDrive’s history feature records and saves documents before editing, and this was the case for the recruitment memo, which was ‘belatedly turned over.’ 

Ann Carlson, President Biden’s former pick to lead the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), still runs the agency and shapes key policies despite failing the Senate confirmation process.

In May, the White House announced it had withdrawn Carlson’s nomination to serve as NHTSA’s administrator amid criticism from lawmakers and industry groups over her past climate activism. However, as of Tuesday, Carlson remains the agency’s acting administrator and last week helped roll out aggressive federal fuel efficiency standards automakers argued would cost more than $100 billion.

‘The new standards we’re proposing today would advance our energy security, reduce harmful emissions and save families and business owners money at the pump. That’s good news for everyone,’ Carlson said in a statement Friday as part of a Department of Transportation press release that identified her as NHTSA’s top official.

The so-called Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards require passenger cars and light trucks to improve fuel efficiency by 2% and 4%, respectively, beginning in 2027. By 2032, according to NHTSA, the average U.S. fleet fuel economy could reach 58 miles per gallon, up more than 100% compared to the current average.

NHTSA said the standards would curb carbon emissions by more than 900 million tons through 2050 and reduce oil dependence by lowering gasoline consumption by 88 billion gallons over that span.

Overall, the standards could increase car prices enough to make electric vehicles cost competitive with traditional gas-powered vehicles. The Biden administration has repeatedly aimed to push greater nationwide electric vehicle adoption even as they remain far more expensive than gas cars.

‘It is outrageous that despite the fact that the American people’s representatives in the Senate did not consent to Ann Carlson leading her agency, Biden is still keeping this radical in power,’ American Accountability Foundation President Tom Jones, a vocal opponent of Carlson’s nomination, told Fox News Digital Tuesday.

‘It appears that she intends to use that power to impose the most Draconian climate agenda ever, even though it is regular Americans who will end up paying the price.’

In January 2021, the Biden-Harris transition team hired Carlson, then an environmental law professor at UCLA, to serve as NHTSA’s chief counsel. While the position didn’t require Senate confirmation, Carlson oversaw key agency initiatives in that role and has served as acting administrator since September.

Biden nominated Carlson to lead NHTSA in February. In the months that followed, she faced heavy opposition for her past work in the private sector advising plaintiffs in climate litigation and comments she made via email about her role with the Biden administration.

According to the emails reviewed in April by Fox News Digital, Carlson told her colleagues at UCLA she had been selected to serve at NHTSA in a climate-focused role. She even said in one email that her selection was ‘evidence that the Biden Administration is truly committed to a ‘whole of government’ approach to addressing climate change.’

‘NHTSA has authority over fuel economy for cars and trucks and has been at the center of the standards to reduce [greenhouse gas emissions] from the transport sector,’ she wrote in one of the emails from Jan. 19, 2021. ‘I’m being appointed along with the deputy administrator as the first NHTSA appointees ever with serious climate expertise.’

NHTSA, though, states its mission is to ‘save lives, prevent injuries and reduce economic costs due to road traffic crashes, through education, research, safety standards and enforcement activity.’ 

The agency was established by Congress in 1970 to improve the safety of passenger cars amid a surge in traffic accidents and deaths.

In 2017 and 2018, Carlson helped coordinate high-profile climate nuisance lawsuits filed by a dark money-fueled law firm against fossil fuel companies. The firm, California-based Sher Edling, has filed more than a dozen such lawsuits on behalf of cities, counties and several states.

‘Ann Carlson’s withdrawal is a powerful blow to radical environmentalists who are attempting to enlist NHTSA into an outrageous attempt at banning gas-powered vehicles,’ Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who led GOP opposition to Carlson, said in May. ‘I am proud of our work at the Commerce Committee to stop another extremist nominee from imposing a climate-alarmist agenda on the American people.’

In May, 43 influential oil and gas industry groups, including the Western Energy Alliance, American Petroleum Institute and National Ocean Industries Association, called on Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Cruz to block Carlson’s nomination. 

And the American Farm Bureau, National Corn Growers Association and several other major agriculture groups similarly announced their opposition to her nomination weeks later.

The White House and NHTSA didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Chinese electric vehicle battery company Gotion announced Tuesday it purchased 270 acres of land in Green Charter Township, Michigan, as part of its plan to build a ‘state-of-the-art battery components facility.’

Gotion — a subsidiary of the Hefei, China-based Gotion High-Tech — first unveiled its plans to construct the battery plant months ago with the support of Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but has since faced local opposition over its ties to the Chinese government. 

‘Completion of the land acquisition process is a step forward for Gotion Inc. and the region as a whole,’ Chuck Thelen, Gotion’s vice president of North American operations, said in a statement.

‘We’ve listened to the concerns of local residents and decided not to purchase two large parcels of land zoned for agriculture use at this time,’ Thelen continued. ‘Gotion Inc. will continue to work with members of the community, and our municipal, county and state partners, throughout this entire process.’ 

According to Thelen, the company’s land acquisition mainly consists of land zoned for industrial use. However, some of the land acquired is currently designated for residential or agricultural use and Thelen added Gotion would work with local officials to rezone that property for industrial use.

In October, Whitmer announced that Gotion would invest $2.4 billion to construct two 550,000 square-foot production plants along with other supporting facilities spanning 260 acres Green Charter Township. She applauded the proposal, saying it would shore up Michigan’s status as the ‘global hub of mobility and electrification.’

However, Republican lawmakers, national security experts, residents and local leaders have scrutinized Gotion’s proposal, pointing to its Chinese ownership and ties to the Chinese Communist Party. The corporate bylaws of Gotion High-Tech requires the company to ‘carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China.’

‘I will continue to do everything I can to bring to light the risks of this project,’ said Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., who represents the district where Gotion’s land purchase took place and who serves on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. 

‘Mecosta County residents have overwhelmingly spoken out against this deal while being bullied and kept in the dark by Gotion and local officials who signed non-disclosure agreements that go against the public’s right to know,’ he added. ‘The simple facts are that Gotion is a subsidiary of a company that pledges allegiance to the CCP and it should not be receiving taxpayer money to build in Michigan.’

In addition to criticism over its ties to China, lawmakers including Moolenaar have expressed concern about the proximity of Gotion’s proposed plant to U.S. military bases. The facility would be located within 60 miles of military armories and within 100 miles from Camp Grayling, the largest U.S. National Guard training facility in the country.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that the Michigan National Guard trains Taiwanese soldiers during annual military exercises at Camp Grayling.

‘For our state to welcome CCP investment in Michigan 100 miles from the same facility where the Michigan National Guard has worked with military officials from Taiwan is a dangerous double standard that puts national security at risk,’ Moolenaar said. ‘This land purchase in Green Township is a step backwards for Michigan and our communities.’

And in a 10-9 vote in April, the Michigan state Senate Appropriations Committee gave the final stamp of approval for granting Gotion $175 million in direct taxpayer funding to help build the facility. 

‘I’m angry. I’m angry that this vote was slipped into the agenda today with as little information as possible so that people like me wouldn’t know it was happening,’ Marjorie Steele, a local resident, said during the hearing. ‘I’m angry that you, our elected officials, have ignored my community’s pleas to table this vote until some small semblance of due diligence can be performed.’

‘I can promise you that we will not stop at the local level,’ she added. ‘We are tired of being abused and we are not alone. This is not just a Mecosta County issue. Townships and counties across the state are uniting, sharing resources, manpower and grassroots activism. Your votes today, senators, are lines drawn in the sand.’

FIRST ON FOX: Former President Trump was indicted Tuesday on charges stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump was indicted on four federal charges out of the probe, including conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.

Trump has been ordered to appear in federal court in Washington D.C. for his arraignment on Thursday, Aug. 3, at 4:00 p.m. 

This is the second federal indictment the former president faces out of Smith’s investigation. Trump, who leads the 2024 GOP presidential primary field, has already pleaded not guilty to 37 counts related to his alleged improper retention of classified records from his presidency.

Those charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements. Trump was charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of that probe last week.

This is the second time in U.S. history that a former president has faced federal criminal charges.

‘The Defendant, Donald J. Trump, was the forty-fifth President of the United States and a candidate for re-election in 2020. The Defendant lost the 2020 presidential election,’ Smith’s indictment states. ‘Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power.’

Smith alleged that ‘for more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020,’ Trump ‘spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won.’ It lists various claims Trump’s team made during post-election state challenges in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

‘These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false,’ Smith alleged. ‘But the Defendant repeated and widely disseminated them anyway — to make his knowingly false claims appear legitimate, create an intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger, and erode public faith in the administration of the election.’

Smith alleged that Trump, between Nov. 14, 2020 and Jan. 20, 2021, ‘did knowingly combine conspire, confederate, and agree with co-conspirators, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to defraud the United States by using dishonest, fraud and deceit to impair, obstruct and defeat the lawful federal government function by which the results of the presidential election are collected, counted, and certified by the federal government.’

There are six unnamed co-conspirators in the indictment.

Reacting to the charges, a Trump campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital that ‘this is nothing more than the latest corrupt chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election, in which President Trump is the undisputed frontrunner, and leading by substantial margins.’

‘But why did they wait two and a half years to bring these fake charges, right in the middle of President Trump’s winning campaign for 2024? Why was it announced the day after the big Crooked Joe Biden scandal broke out from the Halls of Congress?’ the spokesperson asked.

‘The answer is, election interference!’ the spokesperson continued. ‘The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes.’

‘President Trump has always followed the law and the Constitution, with advice from many highly accomplished attorneys,’ the spokesperson said. ‘These un-American witch hunts will fail and President Trump will be re-elected to the White House so he can save our Country from the abuse, incompetence, and corruption that is running through the veins of our Country at levels never seen before.’

The spokesperson added: ‘Three years ago we had strong borders, energy independence, no inflation, and a great economy. Today, we are a nation in decline. President Trump will not be deterred by disgraceful and unprecedented political targeting!’

The indictment comes after Trump had announced he received a target letter from the Justice Department, which also asked that he report to the federal grand jury. Trump said he anticipated ‘an arrest and indictment.’

Smith was investigating whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021.

On Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol during a joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College results in favor of President Biden.

The House of Representatives drafted articles of impeachment against him again and ultimately voted to impeach him on a charge of inciting an insurrection for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — making him the first and only president in history to be impeached, and ultimately acquitted, twice.

The Senate voted to acquit, but had Trump been convicted, the Senate would have moved to bar the 45th president from holding federal office ever again, preventing a 2024 White House run.

Trump has also pleaded not guilty to 34 counts in New York in April stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation. Trump is accused of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign.

Elsewhere, prosecutors in Fulton County, Ga. are looking to wrap up their criminal investigation into Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state.

A special grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, released portions of a report detailing findings from the investigation earlier this year, which indicated a majority of the grand jury believes one or more witnesses may have committed perjury in their testimony and recommends that prosecutors pursue indictments against them, if the district attorney finds the evidence compelling.

The special grand jury spent about seven months hearing testimony from witnesses, including high-profile Trump allies, such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and high-ranking Georgia officials, including Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Former President Trump said he expects to be indicted out of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Jan. 6 on Tuesday evening, and slammed the looming charges as election interference.

‘I hear that Deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favorite President, me, at 5:00 P.M.’ Trump posted on his Truth Social. ‘Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long?’

He added: ‘Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign. Prosecutorial Misconduct!’

This would be the second federal indictment the former president faces out of Smith’s investigation. Trump, who leads the 2024 GOP presidential primary field, has already pleaded not guilty to 37 counts related to his alleged improper retention of classified records from his presidency.

Those charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements. Trump was charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of that probe last week.

This would be the second time in U.S. history that a former president has faced federal criminal charges.

Trump had announced he received a target letter from the Justice Department, which also asked that he report to the federal grand jury. Trump said he anticipated ‘an arrest and indictment.’

Smith was investigating whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021.

On Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol during a joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College results in favor of President Biden.

The House of Representatives drafted articles of impeachment against him again and ultimately voted to impeach him on a charge of inciting an insurrection for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — making him the first and only president in history to be impeached, and ultimately acquitted, twice.

The Senate voted to acquit, but had Trump been convicted, the Senate would have moved to bar the 45th president from holding federal office ever again, preventing a 2024 White House run.

Trump has also pleaded not guilty to 34 counts in New York in April stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation. Trump is accused of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign.

Elsewhere, prosecutors in Fulton County, Ga. are looking to wrap up their criminal investigation into Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state.

The Biden administration appears to be scrambling for research on the conflict between wind turbines and a highly endangered whale species on the East Coast following reports of ‘unprecedented’ whale deaths.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), a regulatory body from the Department of Interior that leases offshore areas for energy development, posted a grant notice in May targeted at ‘addressing key information gaps in acoustic ecology of the North Atlantic Right Whales,’ one of the most endangered whale species in the world.

The problem is the government has already approved offshore wind projects, and some experts are saying the attention to the whales is too little too late.

Fisherman in the region are calling the government ‘hypocritical’ after the same federal agencies almost ‘regulated [them] completely out of business’ in an effort to protect the endangered species without any data showing fishermem bring any harm to the right whale.

BOEM’s grant notice states, ‘In support of the rapid development of offshore wind (OSW) on the Atlantic OCS, the Environmental Studies Program (ESP) has identified a priority need to address knowledge gaps in the acoustic behavior of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales (NARW).

‘The overall goal of this cooperative agreement is to observe and describe acoustic behavior of NARW where significant data gaps in call rates exist and convey information about the context in which the acoustic behaviors are observed.’ 

Acoustics are critical in tracking and monitoring movement and behaviors of the whales.

Annie Hawkins, executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, which aims to improve compatibility of new offshore development with the fishing industry, said its ‘very late’ for the Biden administration to be soliciting such research. 

‘One of the problems is that, at least in the last few years, there’s been some conversations about what kind of research needs to be done. But, up till now, there’s been no funding. Congress hasn’t appropriated anything, nothing’s been getting done. And it’s a bit late, it’s very late to be starting to look at this stuff,’ Hawkins said.

Production on at least one major wind farm project is already underway. The first phase of Vineyard Wind 1, the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the United States, was completed at the end of last month.

The project consists of 62 turbines, each up to 850 feet high (taller than any building in Boston) with blades roughly 350 feet long, planted 15 miles off Martha’s Vineyard. Project benefactors boast that the wind farm will ultimately power 400,000 homes and businesses across Massachusetts while reducing carbon emissions by over 1.6 million tons per year.

Hawkins says that instead of analyzing the cumulative data on whale impacts from surveys for wind projects, the National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) and BOEM assess possible impact project by project.

‘They really don’t assess the impacts to right whales and manage for it. Surveys are almost unregulated,’ Hawkins said.

‘I do believe that the reason the way the government approaches these projects overall is to minimize what the effects would be. 

‘I think it does absolutely mask real-world impacts and the cumulative effects scenario, which is the only credible way to do this. Because, obviously, you know, this is the ocean. Water moves, fish move, whales move. And, so, to look at them in isolation is pretty ridiculous.’

Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, testified in March before a House Committee on Capitol Hill that ‘[w]hile some offshore wind may hold promise, federal and state levels have moved forward without transparency, robust and sound science or good governance.’ 

Zipf testified that NMFS previously found that offshore wind can increase ocean noise, which can affect behaviors of whales; introduce electromagnetic fields that impact their navigation, predator detection and communication; and change species composition and survival rates, among other things.

‘The NMFS concludes with, ‘Offshore wind is the new use of our marine waters, requiring substation scientific and regulatory review,’’ Zipf testified. ‘So, where is the substantial review? Where is the commitment to the precautionary principle?’

Clean Ocean Action noted in February following the ninth whale death in the northeast that the ‘alarming number of [whale] deaths is unprecedented in the last half century.’ The only unique factor from previous years is the excessive scope, scale and magnitude of offshore wind power plant activity in the region, the group noted.

Zipf emphasized that ‘climate change is real’ and ‘living resources on the planet are in crisis.’ But offshore wind projects should only be approved after pilot scale projects are proven to be successful and that the science supports industrial scale plants.

‘In seems our government is, as best, putting the cart before the horse and wants to see offshore wind while wearing only ‘green-colored’ glasses,’ she said. 

Dustin Delano, chief operating officer of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) said the government cutting corners to cater to offshore wind is ‘incredibly hypocritical.’

‘One right whale death is too many. I don’t think you’d find any fishermen that would disagree … one is too many. And for the government to be holding offshore wind to a different standard is blasphemy, in my mind. Incredibly hypocritical.’

Dustin is a fourth-generation lobsterman from Maine. For years, he says, NMFS and other federal agencies mandated stringent rules that forced his industry to make major modifications and changes to avoid entanglements with a right whale. 

To date, no right whale deaths have been associated with his industry’s fishing gear. And the one entanglement that occurred over 20 years ago did not result in a right whale death.

When NMFS imposed a rule last year that would cut in half the number of traps that could be deployed and threatened to kill their livelihood, Maine lobstermen sued the Biden administration.

In June, the lobstermen won in court, with a judge calling the NMFS legal reasoning ‘egregiously wrong.’

But Delano says it’s still ‘really frustrating’ that his industry is ‘constantly held to a different standard than something else that the government might really want, such as offshore wind.’

‘There’s just a huge political-driven agenda right now to push it through as fast as possible,’ Delano said.

Donald Trump’s rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination are weighing in on Tuesday’s blockbuster announcement that the former president’s been indicted in the probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

One of the first to release a statement was former CIA spy and former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, a long-shot for the nomination and a very vocal GOP Trump critic.

‘Let me be crystal clear: Trump’s presidential bid is driven by an attempt to stay out of prison and scam his supporters into footing his legal bills. Furthermore, his denial of the 2020 election results and actions on Jan. 6 show he’s unfit for office,’ Hurd wrote.

It was a very different reaction from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who’s a distant second to Trump in the latest GOP presidential nomination polls but ahead of the rest of the large field of Republican contenders.

‘As President, I will end the weaponization of government, replace the FBI Director, and ensure a single standard of justice for all Americans,’ DeSantis stated.

The former president was indicted on four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. Trump’s been ordered to appear on Thursday at 4 p.m. ET before a federal magistrate judge in the nation’s capital.

Trump was informed two weeks ago by the office of Jack Smith, the Justice Department special counsel in the case, that he was a target of their probe into his actions and state of mind on Jan. 6, 2021, and in the lead-up to that infamous day – when hundreds stormed the U.S. Capitol. The attack temporarily disrupted congressional certification of then-President-elect Biden’s 2020 Electoral College victory over Trump.

The indictment alleges that Trump pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the 2020 presidential election results through three criminal conspiracies, and it alleges that the then-president also corruptly obstructed and impeded the certification of the electoral vote.

Hurd, who drew plenty of boos from the crowd last weekend at the Iowa GOP’s annual Lincoln Dinner when he criticized Trump, emphasized in his statement on Tuesday that ‘the 2020 election wasn’t stolen, rigged, or fraudulent. It was lost by Donald Trump because he was incapable of uniting the country. Now, we’ve got to ask ourselves if we really want a president who’s willing to violate his oath to the Constitution just to cling to power?’

‘The Trump of 2016 is a far cry from the desperate figure we see in 2024,’ Hurd argued. ‘It’s about time our party, including the 2024 candidates, wake up to the fact that this guy only cares about himself, not our country’s future.’

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, another vocal Trump critic who’s challenging the former president for the nomination, called this ‘another sad day for America with a former President being charged criminally for obstructing the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next.’

‘I have always said that Donald Trump is morally responsible for the attack on our democracy,’ Hutchinson wrote. ‘Now, our system of Justice will determine whether he is criminally responsible. The latest indictment reaffirms my earlier call that Donald Trump should step away from the campaign for the good of the country. If not, the voters must choose a different path.’

DeSantis, in his statement, stressed that he believes ‘we need to enact reforms so that Americans have the right to remove cases from Washington, DC to their home districts. Washington, DC is a ‘swamp’ and it is unfair to have to stand trial before a jury that is reflective of the swamp mentality. One of the reasons our country is in decline is the politicization of the rule of law. No more excuses—I will end the weaponization of the federal government.’

Vivek Ramaswamy, another rival for the nomination, charged in his statement that ‘the corrupt federal police just won’t stop until they’ve achieved their mission: eliminate Trump. This is un-American & I commit to pardoning Trump for this indictment.’

Ramaswamy, a multimillionaire entrepreneur, best-selling author and crusader in the culture wars, argued that ‘Donald Trump isn’t the cause of what happened on Jan 6. The real cause was systematic & pervasive censorship of citizens in the year leading up to it.’

Trump, who’s the commanding front-runner in the GOP nomination race as he makes his third straight White House run, earlier this year became the first sitting or former president in U.S. history to be charged with a crime.

Trump pleaded not guilty in early April in New York City to charges brought by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. The former president was indicted for allegedly giving hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016 to keep her quiet ahead of that year’s presidential election over her claims she had sexual encounters years earlier with Trump.

The former president denies sleeping with Daniels and denies falsifying business records to keep the payment concealed.

Trump was indicted and arraigned in early June for his alleged improper retention of classified records. He pleaded not guilty in federal court in Miami to criminal charges that he illegally retained national security records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, following the end of his term as president and that he obstructed federal efforts to recover the documents. In total, Trump faces 37 felony charges in the documents case.

But the indictments have only strengthened Trump’s standing among his base of devoted supporters. And his lead over the rest of the field of GOP rivals has increased in the wake of the multiple indictments.

The Trump campaign, in a statement to Fox News, accused the Biden administration and the Justice Department of ‘election interference’ and charged that ‘the lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes.’

And the Trump-aligned super PAC MAGA Inc. argued that the former president ‘is undeterred and his unprecedented America First movement will carry him back to the White House, where he will dismantle the Deep State and bring the Biden Crime Family to justice.’

This is a developing story. Check back for updates on FoxNews.com.

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Special Counsel Jack Smith said Tuesday that the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot was ‘fueled by lies’ from former President Donald Trump, who he charged today with ‘conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to disenfranchise voters and conspiring and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding.’

Smith made a public statement shortly after the federal indictment against Trump was unsealed Tuesday afternoon and encouraged ‘everyone to read it in full.’

‘The attack on our nation’s Capitol on January 6th, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,’ Smith said Tuesday. ‘Described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies — lies by the defendant — targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government: the nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election.’

Smith added, though, that the indictment ‘is only an allegation and that the defendant must be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.’

The indictment names only the former president but lists six unnamed co-conspirators. Smith said the investigation into ‘other individuals continues in this case.’

Smith said the ‘men and women of law enforcement who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6th are heroes.’

‘They are patriots, and they are the very best of us. They did not just defend a building or the people sheltering in it,’ Smith said. ‘They put their lives on the line to defend who we are as a country and as a people. They defended the very institutions and principles that defined the United States.’

Smith said that ‘since the attack on our Capitol, the Department of Justice has remained committed to ensuring accountability for those criminally responsible for what happened that day.’

‘This case is brought consistent with that commitment and our investigation of other individuals continues in this case,’ Smith said. ‘My office will seek a speedy trial so that our evidence can be tested in court and judged by a jury of citizens.’

Smith thanked members of the FBI working on the investigation with his office, as well as career prosecutors and law enforcement agents ‘from around the country who have worked on previous January 6th investigations.’

Smith’s comments came after Trump was indicted on four federal charges out of the probe, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

Trump has been ordered to appear in federal court in Washington, D.C., for his arraignment on Thursday, Aug. 3, at 4 p.m.

This is the second federal indictment the former president faces out of Smith’s investigation. Trump, who leads the 2024 GOP presidential primary field, has already pleaded not guilty to 37 counts related to his alleged improper retention of classified records from his presidency.

A Trump campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement that ‘this is nothing more than the latest corrupt chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election, in which President Trump is the undisputed frontrunner, and leading by substantial margins.’

‘But why did they wait two and a half years to bring these fake charges, right in the middle of President Trump’s winning campaign for 2024? Why was it announced the day after the big Crooked Joe Biden scandal broke out from the Halls of Congress?’ the spokesperson wrote.

‘The answer is, election interference!’ the spokesperson continued. ‘The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes.’

‘President Trump has always followed the law and the Constitution, with advice from many highly accomplished attorneys,’ the spokesperson said. ‘These un-American witch hunts will fail and President Trump will be re-elected to the White House so he can save our Country from the abuse, incompetence, and corruption that is running through the veins of our Country at levels never seen before.’

Indiana’s six remaining abortion clinics ceased performing the procedure as a law heavily restricting it went into effect Tuesday.The law bans all abortions, but leaves a 10-week window for rape and incest cases, and a 20-week window for threats to maternal health and grave fetal anomalies.One of the clinics called Tuesday ‘a dark day for Indiana,’ and regional Planned Parenthood CEO Rebecca Gibron castigated the outlined exceptions for being ‘really very, very limited.’

Indiana’s six abortion clinics have stopped providing abortions ahead of the state’s near-total abortion ban officially taking effect and as a petition is pending before the state’s high court asking it to keep the ban on hold while legal action continues, clinic officials said Tuesday.

Planned Parenthood’s four Indiana abortion clinics stopped performing abortions Monday in accordance with state guidance that providers received in July alerting them that on or around Tuesday abortion would become illegal in Indiana in clinic settings ‘with really very, very limited exceptions,’ said Rebecca Gibron, CEO of the Planned Parenthood division that includes Indiana.

Indiana’s two other abortion clinics have also stopped providing abortions, with one calling it ‘a dark day for Indiana.’

Indiana’s Republican-backed ban will end most abortions in the state, even in the earliest stages of a pregnancy. Indiana became the first state to enact tighter abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court ended nearly a half-century of federal abortion protections by overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

Although Planned Parenthood’s four Indiana abortion clinics have stopped providing abortions, Gibron said its 11 health centers across the state continue offering a wide range of services, including emergency contraception and birth control, even as the group works to help Hoosiers obtain out-of-state abortions.

‘Planned Parenthood will not be intimidated and bullied and we will not be silenced,’ she said at a news conference outside one of the group’s clinics that provided abortions in Indianapolis.

Indiana’s ban will eliminate the licenses for all seven abortion clinics in the state — one of which closed in June — and ban most abortions, even in the earliest stages of a pregnancy. It includes exceptions allowing abortions at hospitals in cases of rape or incest before 10 weeks post-fertilization. It also allows abortions up to 20 weeks to protect the life and physical health of the mother or if a fetus is diagnosed with a lethal anomaly.

Before Indiana’s ban was passed, the state’s laws generally prohibited abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy and tightly restricted them after the 13th week.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, representing Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinic operators, challenged the ban’s constitutionality. But in a June 30 ruling, the Indiana Supreme Court found that the ban doesn’t violate the state constitution. Its ruling struck down a preliminary injunction that had kept the ban on hold, although that ruling has yet to be certified to officially take effect.

On Monday — the last day for it to do so — the ACLU of Indiana filed a petition for a rehearing with the high court asking it to keep the ban on hold while it pursues a narrower preliminary injunction in a trial court to address the scope of the ban’s exemption allowing women facing serious health risks to obtain abortions.

That filing delays the certification of the court’s ruling while it considers whether to grant or deny that petition, said court spokesperson Kathryn Dolan. It’s unclear how long it may take the high court to decide the matter, but after rehearing petitions are filed, the opposing party — in this case the state’s attorneys — have 15 days to file a response.

Gibron said Planned Parenthood ended abortion services Monday in light of the state’s guidance and the uncertainty over when the court will certify its abortion ban ruling.

‘The reality is that it can happen at any point. The Supreme Court could certify it this afternoon,’ she said.

Gibron said Indiana’s abortion ban will ‘target Hoosiers of color, indigenous communities and those already marginalized by our health care system.’

Indiana’s two other abortion clinics, which are not operated by Planned Parenthood and are both located in Indianapolis, have also stopped providing abortion care.

In a statement, Clinic for Women owner LaDonna Prince said the clinic ended abortions on Monday, calling it ‘a dark day for Indiana and for the country.’

Spokeswoman Katlyn Milligan of the Indiana Attorney Generals’ Office issued a statement Tuesday saying, ‘On the eve of Indiana’s pro-life law going into effect, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood made a desperate attempt to prevent Indiana from enforcing our own law.’

‘We responded to this filing immediately and are now waiting for the Court to rule. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood have made their intentions clear — this is just another grab for fundraising dollars,’ Milligan’s statement said.

The state’s other abortion clinic, Women’s Med, stopped providing abortions on Friday, a representative said Tuesday.

Although Planned Parenthood’s Indiana abortion clinics are no longer performing abortions, Gibron said a ‘patient navigation team’ is working to help patients get out-of-state abortions. That includes helping schedule appointments and finding ways to help them pay the costs of traveling out of state.

Adjacent Illinois and Michigan — states where abortion remains legal — will most likely become the destinations for many Indiana residents seeking out-of-state abortion care, said Gibron, who is CEO for Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois had prepared for years for the possibility of Roe v. Wade falling, and it opened clinics near the Indiana and Wisconsin borders in 2018 and 2020 in anticipation of those states restricting access to abortion, said Kristen Schultz, the affiliate’s chief strategy and operations officer.

She said patients from Indiana nearly doubled after the state’s ban briefly went into effect last September and that traffic is expected to rise again starting this week. Schultz said more doctors, advanced nurse practitioners and medical assistants have been hired to accommodate the expected surge.

‘The demand has increased, the challenges have increased when patients show up at our doors having traveled eight or ten or 12 hours. That’s an increased burden on the patient. And our staff really feel that,’ she said.

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