National Security communications adviser John Kirby shot down multiple questions Wednesday about possible U.S. involvement in the explosion of hundreds of electronic devices used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon.

‘We were not involved in [Tuesday’s] incidents or [Wednesday’s] in any way. And I don’t have anything more to share,’ Kirby said when asked to respond to the attacks. 

Kirby’s comments came hours after several blasts were heard around Lebanon’s capital of Beirut and other parts of the country. Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV reported the explosions were the result of walkie-talkies detonating. 

At least nine people were killed and another 300 were wounded in Wednesday’s attack, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. 

The explosions came just a day after pagers used by hundreds of Hezbollah members exploded throughout Lebanon and parts of Syria, killing at least 12 people – including two children – and wounding thousands more. 

Both attacks are widely believed to have been the work of Israel, which has been fighting with Hezbollah almost daily since Oct. 8, the day after a deadly Hamas-led assault in southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza. 

Since then, hundreds have been killed in strikes in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, while tens of thousands on each side of the border have been displaced. Hezbollah said its strikes are in support of its ally, Hamas.

Reporters repeatedly pressed Kirby on Wednesday to say whether the U.S. was involved in the back-to-back attacks targeting members of Hezbollah or had been informed beforehand.  

Kirby reiterated that he did not ‘have anything more to share today.’ 

‘We want to see the war end. And everything we’ve been doing since the beginning has been designed to prevent the conflict from escalating,’ Kirby said. ‘We still believe that there is a diplomatic path forward, particularly up near Lebanon.’ 

The attacks have heightened fears that what has been intermittent fighting between Israel and Hezbollah could escalate into an all-out war. 

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Israeli troops Wednesday: ‘We are at the start of a new phase in the war — it requires courage, determination and perseverance.’ 

Gallant made no mention of the exploding devices but praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, saying ‘the results are very impressive.’ 

Hezbollah announced three strikes on parts of northern Israel Wednesday, at least one of which took place after the latest round of explosions in Lebanon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to avert a partial government shutdown failed on Wednesday. 

It was voted down 202 to 220, with two Republicans – Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky. – voting ‘present.’

At least nine Republicans voted against House GOP leadership’s bill, a six-month extension of the current year’s federal funding levels coupled with a measure to require proof of citizenship in the voter registration process.

Three Democrats voted in support of the measure – Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., and Don Davis, D-N.C.

The bill began hemorrhaging support soon after Johnson rolled it out during a conference call with House Republicans earlier this month – to the frustration of the majority of the House GOP.

A significant number of Republicans object to a stop-gap spending patch called a continuing resolution (CR) on principle – believing it to be an unnecessary extension of government bloat.

National security hawks expressed concern about the impact of a six-month funding extension on military readiness without added funds to keep up with rising costs.

The discord has caused tensions to run high within the House GOP.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a vocal supporter of the bill and author of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, said of fellow Republicans: ‘I would dare any one of my colleagues who are against this plan, come forward with a better plan that we will actually be able to move, pass, and unite the Republican Party to go beat Democrats.’

‘Don’t predict failure and then be the reason why we fail – and that’s what some of my friends are doing, unfortunately,’ Roy said on Steve Bannon’s ‘War Room’ program. 

Johnson allies have also pointed out that this plan would be a strong opening salvo in a negotiation with the Democrat-controlled Senate on government funding – the speaker himself has repeatedly said the SAVE Act is worth fighting for.

Both Republican and Democratic leaders have conceded a CR is necessary to give congressional negotiators more time past the Oct. 1 deadline to hash out fiscal year 2025’s priorities.

Democrats, however, have called for a ‘clean’ CR free from conservative policy riders. And senior lawmakers in both parties argued that a CR through December is the best course of action to allow Congress to reevaluate after the election.

Johnson has repeatedly insisted he had no ‘plan B’ beyond Wednesday’s vote. He said as much to GOP lawmakers in a closed-door Wednesday morning meeting, two sources told Fox News Digital.

But with his initial plan defeated, Johnson is now caught between two warring Republican factions – one that wants him to leverage a partial government shutdown, and one that is reluctantly conceding that the House GOP could be left with no choice but to pass a ‘clean’ CR into December.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, who initially backed the six-month CR plus SAVE Act plan, more recently advocated for congressional Republicans to shut down the government if they did not get ‘absolute assurances on election security.’

A majority of Republicans, however, are publicly and privately conceding that they would bear the brunt of public anger over a government shutdown weeks before Election Day.

Vulnerable Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., insisted to reporters on Wednesday morning that ‘there’s not going to be a shutdown.’

When asked directly about Trump’s insistence, Lawler answered, ‘I’m not shutting the government down. My colleagues aren’t shutting the government down.’

More than 100 former Republican officials, mostly those who worked in national security or previously in various GOP presidential administrations, have penned a letter endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris and warning about the dangers of a potential second Trump administration.

‘We appreciate that many Republicans prefer Donald Trump to Kamala Harris, for a variety of reasons. We recognize and do not disparage their potential concerns,’ the letter released Wednesday reads. ‘But any potential concerns pale in comparison to Donald Trump’s demonstrated chaotic and unethical behavior and disregard for our Republic’s time-tested principles of constitutional governance.’

The signatories insisted in their letter that when it comes to diplomacy, the former president’s ‘unpredictable nature is not the negotiating virtue he extols.’ It added that Trump’s demeanor ‘invites equally erratic behavior from our adversaries, which irresponsibly threatens reckless and dangerous global consequences.’

The Wednesday letter comes roughly three weeks after more than 200 former GOP officials, including people who worked for former President George W. Bush, the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, also came out in favor of a Harris presidency. The letter also comes shortly after former Vice President Cheney and his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, both indicated they would be voting for Harris as well.

The letter on Wednesday was primarily signed by officials who had previously worked in either one of the Bush administrations or under former President Reagan. However, some former Republican members of Congress, including Illinois’ Adam Kinzinger and Virginia’s Barbara Comstock, also signed the Wednesday letter.

In total, it boasted 111 signatures but did include at least two repeats from the August letter endorsing Harris. Another name appeared to be a third repeat from the August letter, but Fox News Digital could not confirm if it was the same person ahead of publication time. Meanwhile, there were also two signatories on the Wednesday letter who also signed the infamous October 2020 letter from dozens of intelligence community officials asserting that the Hunter Biden laptop story broken by the New York Post was ‘disinformation pushed by Russia.’

A Trump campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, slammed the Wednesday letter’s signatories, arguing they are ‘the same people who got our country into endless foreign wars and profited off of them while the American people suffered.’

‘President Trump is the only president in the modern era not to get our country into any new wars,’ Cheung said.

The letter on Wednesday pointed to several reasons why its signatories are supporting Harris for president. Among them were that Harris has ‘consistently championed the rule of law, democracy, and our constitutional principles.’ The letter also said Harris has ‘pledged’ to ensure the U.S. military will continue to be the most lethal fighting force in the world, and it highlighted her support for NATO, Israel and the bipartisan border security act that failed this year. The letter noted that Harris has pledged she will appoint a Republican to her Cabinet ‘in order to encourage a diversity of views and restore a measure of bipartisanship and comity to our domestic politics.’

On national security, the letter lauded Harris for what it described as her ability to ‘engage in orderly national security decision-making.’ It added that a Harris presidency would likely be absent ‘the constant drama and Cabinet turnover of the Trump administration.’ 

However, during Harris’ tenure as vice president, she has come under scrutiny for creating a poor office culture and having a nearly 92% staff turnover rate.

Meanwhile, the letter blasted Trump for cozying up to U.S. adversaries: ‘Donald Trump’s susceptibility to flattery and manipulation by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, unusual affinity for other authoritarian leaders, contempt for the norms of decent, ethical and lawful behavior, and chaotic national security decision-making are dangerous qualities.’

On Monday, Trump surrogate Tulsi Gabbard praised Trump for the ‘tough work’ he has done engaging with U.S. adversaries, which she insisted was a critical part of successful U.S. diplomacy.

‘President Trump did in his last administration what President Obama refused to do, what President Biden refused to do, what Kamala Harris has made clear she refuses to do, which is to go out and do that tough work that a president and commander in chief has to do in diplomacy,’ Gabbard said. ‘Not just hanging out with your friends and your allies and your partners, but actually going out and talking to your adversaries.’

The Wednesday letter concluded by saying Trump could not be entrusted ‘to support and defend the Constitution’ against foreign and domestic enemies alike. ‘We believe that Kamala Harris can, and we urge other Americans to join us in supporting her,’ the letter said. It also said Trump should never be able to hold political office of any kind in the future.

Currently, the Harris campaign is making a concerted effort to target vulnerable Republican voters, including through paid media and grassroots-driven digital efforts. Harris campaign spokesperson Ian Sams recently told Fox News Digital that Harris ‘has Republican momentum right now.’

‘We are proud of the bipartisan groundswell behind Vice President Harris,’ Sams said. ‘And we will continue working every day to earn the support of Republican voters who want a president like her who still believes in patriotism, freedom, and our Constitution.’

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is warning that ‘thousands’ of people residing in the U.S. illegally could shift the tides in the upcoming U.S. elections.

While speaking to reporters at his weekly press conference on Wednesday, Johnson pointed out that several members of the House GOP won their elections by just a few hundred votes – or less, as in the case of Rep. Marianette Miller Meeks, R-Iowa, who won her first election by just six votes.

‘If you have a small percentage of the millions and billions of illegals who came over the border in the last four years under border czar Kamala Harris’ policies, they can throw an election, they can throw the majority of the House,’ Johnson said.

‘It could affect a presidential race. It’s very, very serious stuff.’

It comes hours before the House is set to vote on a measure extending the current fiscal year’s federal funding for another six months to avert a partial government shutdown on Oct. 1, coupled with a bill to mandate proof of citizenship in the voter registration process.

That bill, the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, was deemed a nonstarter by the Democrat-controlled Senate and White House, and President Biden has threatened to veto Johnson’s government funding plan.

Nevertheless, Johnson insisted the House would ‘do the right thing’ in pressing ahead with the vote, despite a significant number of Republicans being already opposed to the federal funding aspect of the legislation.

‘We’re going to responsibly fund the government, and we’re going to stop the noncitizens voting in elections,’ Johnson said.

Opponents of the SAVE Act have argued it is grounded in xenophobia and is needlessly duplicative, given it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.

However, Johnson and other Republicans have countered that years of progressive policies have made it easier for illegal immigrants to gain access to voter registration forms, and they have positioned the SAVE Act as an enhanced security measure to prevent illegal voting.

‘It is against federal law for non-U.S. citizens to vote in U.S. elections. But we have no mechanism right now to ensure that in the states, because they’re not allowed to ask for proof of verification of citizenship when someone registers to vote,’ Johnson said.

‘We’ve had a number of states already do audits. They found thousands of illegals already on the rolls. This is a serious problem because some of our elections are decided by razor-thin margins, as everyone in this room and the whole press corps knows.’

Currently, 14 states plus Washington, D.C., do not require any documentation to vote at the polls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was interrupted during a congressional hearing dedicated to discussing ‘hate’ on Tuesday by an anti-Israel agitator who stood up shouting ‘F—ing Jews.’ 

During the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled, ‘A Threat to Justice Everywhere: Stemming the Tide of Hate Crimes in America,’ Cruz discussed soaring antisemitism on college campuses in the wake of Oct. 7. 

‘Antisemitism is a unique, historic form of evil, and over millennia, it is manifested in violence, mass murder and genocide,’ Cruz said. ‘October 7th was one of the darkest days in human history when terrorists murdered over 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostages. Women and girls were raped. It was the single largest mass murder of Jews in a day since the Holocaust. In the wake of October 7th, we have seen antisemitism explode across the United States and across the world, but especially on college campuses.’ 

After listing examples of antisemitic and pro-Hamas messages hurled toward Jewish students, Cruz called out the Biden-Harris administration. 

‘Throughout all of this, the Biden-Harris administration has been utterly absent. Does anyone doubt if the Klan were on college campuses terrorizing African American students, threatening African American students, that we would see the FBI there, that we would see prosecutors there, that we would see federal funding cut off to universities? Of course we would. And we should,’ Cruz said. ‘But when it comes to antisemitism, the Democrats have a problem. I would note this is occurring in blue states with blue governors, because the Democrat Party is terrified of the pro-Hamas wing of their party.’

‘In states like Texas and Florida, we don’t allow this. At the University of Texas, when violent protests threatened Jewish students, police officers arrived and arrested them. That’s what happened when you enforce the law,’ Cruz continued. ‘Every Republican member of this committee asked the chairman to hold a hearing on antisemitism in February. And yet we don’t get a hearing on antisemitism. We get a hearing generically on hate.’

Cruz was about to explain why he believes the Biden administration is to blame for this, when a man in the audience stood up and interjected, shouting profanities including ‘F—ing Jews,’ according to video on social media. The anti-Israel agitator was then escorted out. 

‘And this is the kind of anger and hate that is encouraged. You’re now seeing the hate manifesting right here,’ Cruz said, referencing the protester. 

‘So we now have a demonstration of antisemitism. We have a demonstration of the hate,’ he added. 

Cruz proceeded to ask one of the witnesses, Mark Goldfeder, director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, ‘Has the Biden administration cut off the funding of any of the colleges that have allowed this hate? Have they indicted anyone for funding these violent protests? Have they indicted the people paying for the matching tents, or have they sat there silently and have the universities, sat there silently while their students are terrified to go to class?’ 

Goldfeder responded, ‘They have not indicted anyone.’ 

‘Has any university had their funding cut off for allowing this sort of violent intimidation?’ Cruz asked. 

‘Not a single university,’ Goldfeder said. 

The senator earlier referenced how the Anti-Defamation League has illustrated how the number of antisemitic incidents in the United States more than doubled from 2022 to 2023. 

Cruz said that ‘college campuses in particular have become vile incubators of hatred of Jews,’ citing examples of how one Cornell University student made threats after Oct. 7, including statements such as ‘if I see a pig, male Jew, I will stab you and slit your throat. If I see another pig female Jew, I will drag you away and rape you and throw you off a cliff.’ 

The Republican senator displayed a flier circulated by a student organization at California State University, Long Beach, calling for a ‘Day of Resistance’ celebrating Oct. 7, noting how the flier included an image of a person parachuting with a fan attached, ‘a direct reference to and a glorification of Hamas terrorists that used gliders to descend upon a music festival and murder 260 innocent people and take many more hostages.’ 

Cruz recalled that in the days after now-former Columbia University President Minouche Shafik was confronted about soaring antisemitism on campus before the House Education and the Workforce Committee in April, Rabbi Elie Buechler issued a warning to Jewish students that Columbia ‘cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy,’ and that he ‘would strongly recommend’ that Jewish students leave campus and go back to their homes.

Cruz said the rabbi ‘had every reason to be concerned,’ as at Columbia’s campus, individuals yelled, ‘We’re all Hamas! Long live Hamas!’ 

The senator continued to list examples of antisemitism on campuses across the U.S., including the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor who was told to ‘go back to the gas chambers,’ and displayed a photo of a student at Columbia University holding a sign reading ‘al-Qassam’s next targets,’ in front of a group of students holding American and Israeli flags in counter-protest. 

‘Al-Qassam is the military arm of Hamas. According to social media, this particular student is a wealthy student from Georgia. She’s not Palestinian, but she has been taught lies and hatred, and she feels perfectly comfortable advocating the murder of her fellow students at Columbia,’ Cruz said. 

FBI Director Christopher Wray says he is devoting the ‘full force’ of his department toward the investigation of the assassination attempts against former President Trump.

Wray made the assurance during his remarks at the Aspen Cyber Summit in the nation’s capital. The FBI is one of several federal and state groups that have launched investigations into Sunday’s attempt on Trump’s life.

‘I want to just take a moment to talk about what happened over the weekend in West Palm Beach,’ Wray said. ‘For the second time in just over two months, we’ve witnessed what appears to be an attempt to attack our democracy and our democratic process.’

‘I’m relieved that former President Trump is safe, and I want the American people to know the men and women of the FBI are working tirelessly to get to the bottom of what happened. Our work is very much ongoing, and we’re just a few days into the investigation, so we’re limited in what we can say at this point,’ he added.

‘What I can say is that we have dedicated the full force of the FBI to this investigation, and that runs the gamut from criminal to national security resources … from tactical support to evidence response teams … from forensic scientists to operational technology personnel. Together, we’re working around the clock to investigate this,’ he said.

Wray’s comments come as multiple federal and state law enforcement are looking into Sunday’s incident. Suspect Ryan Wesley Routh is accused of attempting to assassinate Trump, lying in wait on a golf course for nearly 12 hours before being discovered by the Secret Service.

Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe traveled to West Palm Beach immediately following the incident. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has also ordered his attorney general, Ashley Moody, to conduct a state-level investigation.

Routh remains in custody and has been charged with federal gun crimes. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 1.

Meanwhile, Trump and his allies have lashed out at Democrats, arguing their extreme rhetoric is encouraging violence against the former president.

A fourth U.S. citizen has been arrested in Venezuela in connection with an alleged plot to kill President Nicolás Maduro, according to the country’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello.

The citizen, who has not been named, was detained Tuesday in the capital, Caracas, while taking photos of electrical and oil-industry infrastructure as well as military units, Cabello said during a speech before the National Assembly, whose members applauded the detention.

‘Those who try to mess with Venezuela, we will screw them, regardless of their name,’ Cabello said. ‘It is not the first time he has come to Venezuela.’  

A State Department spokesperson tells Fox News Digital that it is aware of unconfirmed reports of an additional arrest in Venezuela but is unable to make further comment.

The State Department says its ability to provide assistance to U.S. citizens in Venezuela is severely constrained and it is working diligently for additional information. 

Relations between the U.S. and Venezuela have been frosty in recent times, with the Biden Administration easing sanctions on its oil industry and other sectors in late 2023, but by April 2024 the administration had rolled back most sanctions relief due to Maduro officials’ antidemocratic actions, including barring opposition primary winner Maria Corina Machado from running. Earlier this year, Venezuela stopped accepting flights of migrants deported from the U.S. and Mexico.

The arrest comes just days after Cabello said three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech had been detained for trying to assassinate Maduro and overthrow the Venezuelan government, Reuters reported.

The Associated Press identified the American service member as Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez, a member of the Navy.  

Cabello is accusing the CIA, Spain’s intelligence agency, organized crime groups, sex workers and members of the opposition of being behind the plot to take out Maduro following his disputed election win in July which was marred by allegations of fraud.

During a press conference on Saturday, Cabello said the detainees were allegedly linked to plans to assassinate Maduro and other officials. 

‘These groups seek to seize the country’s wealth, and we as a government will respond firmly to any destabilization attempt,’ Cabello said, adding that officials seized about 400 rifles originating in the U.S.

The State Department denies the allegations with a spokesperson telling Fox News Digital that ‘any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false.’ 

‘The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela,’ the spokesperson said.

While Maduro was declared the winner in July by Venezuelan officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month there was ‘overwhelming evidence’ Maduro’s opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez secured the most votes.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, said Maduro won a third six-year term, but it did not provide a detailed breakdown of the results.

Members of the opposition, however, surprised the government by collecting tally sheets from 80% of the nation’s electronic voting machines and publishing them online. The tally sheets, they said, indicate that former diplomat Edmundo González won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.

According to the Congressional Research Service, a public policy research institute of Congress, Maduro officials have enforced the election results they claim through harsh postelection repression of protesters, activists, and opposition leaders. 

After the attorney general issued an arrest warrant accusing González of terrorism, he fled into exile. In response, on Sept. 12, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed financial sanctions on 16 Maduro officials for their role in either electoral fraud or repression.

‘These officials impeded a transparent electoral process and the release of accurate election results,’ Blinken said in a statement. 

‘Rather than respecting the will of the Venezuelan people as expressed at the ballot box, Maduro and his representatives have falsely claimed victory while repressing and intimidating the democratic opposition in an illegitimate attempt to cling to power by force.’

Earlier this month, the U.S. seized a plane owned by Maduro in the Dominican Republic, after it was purchased through a straw company in violation of sanctions laws and export controls, officials said. 

Fox News’ Landon Mion and the Associated Press contributed to this report.