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Trump fires labor official over weak jobs number, orders criminal probes of past opponents

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Donald Trump didn’t like the slight gain in jobs that the government reported for July. So he fired the commissioner for labor statistics, who nobody had heard of until 10 minutes ago. 

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Problem solved?

Well, not exactly. 

Erika McEntarfer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, didn’t unilaterally make the decision that the economy added just 73,000 jobs in July. That figure was produced by hundreds of Labor Department analysts, following established rules, before it reached her level. 

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TRUMP ECONOMIC ADVISER FIRES BACK AT NBC HOST OVER ‘SHOOTING THE MESSENGER’ CLAIM ABOUT BLS FIRING

For the president to claim, without proof, that this was «rigged»—to make him, and Republicans look bad–doesn’t change the underlying reality. The number was disappointing. That hasn’t changed. 

The same goes for the downward revision of 258,000 jobs in the previous two months. 

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That is incredibly common. It happened during the Biden administration, in one case a downward revision of an earlier jobs estimate. It’s a standard adjustment made once more information has become available. 

But the economy is what it is. Dumping the Biden appointee doesn’t change that. 

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on August 1, 2025 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Maybe there’s a problem with the constant revisions, but that’s been going on for years. McEntarfer should have put out a more detailed statement.

There has been an avalanche of media criticism for the president undermining confidence in the reliability of the numbers we all depend on. 

Kevin O’Leary, the «Shark Tank» investor, told CNN: «I did not agree on whacking the commissioner. I don’t like that. Whacking statisticians makes no sense whatsoever. You don’t shoot the messenger.»

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Trump’s BLS chief in the first term, Bill Beach, said «the commissioner doesn’t do anything to collect the numbers. The commissioner doesn’t see the numbers until Wednesday before they’re published. By the time the commissioner sees the numbers, they’re all prepared…

«When I was commissioner, we had a 500,000 job revision during President Trump’s first term,» he told CNN. «And why do we do that? Because firms are created or firms go out of business, and we don’t really know that during the course of the year, until we reconcile against a real full count of all the businesses.»

TRUMP VOWS TO REPLACE LABOR STATISTICS CHIEF WITH SOMEONE ‘COMPETENT AND QUALIFIED’

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Democrats, of course, are going haywire. Janet Yellen, Biden’s Treasury secretary and Fed chief, said it reeked of a «banana republic.»

So once the president names his own person, will the markets and the public have confidence that future jobs numbers are real? Or will that appointee cook the books in his favor?

Trump’s case: «Last weeks [sic] Job’s Report was RIGGED, just like the numbers prior to the Presidential Election were Rigged. That’s why, in both cases, there was massive, record setting revisions, in favor of the Radical Left Democrats. Those big adjustments were made to cover up, and level out, the FAKE political numbers that were CONCOCTED in order to make a great Republican Success look less stellar!!! I will pick an exceptional replacement.»  

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Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen talks to reporters during a news conference at the Treasury Department on Oct. 22, 2024 in Washington, D.C.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Millions of business decisions are made based on the jobs number being a fair and reasonable estimate, based on Labor’s survey of participating companies.

But let’s pull back and look at some other recent Trump actions.

The Office of Special Counsel is now investigating Jack Smith, who brought two criminal cases against Trump, for violating the Hatch Act. That’s the law that bars government officials from making blatantly partisan comments. But it’s usually ignored: When Kellyanne Conway was accused of violating the act and recommended for dismissal, Trump just blew it off.

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Ex-CIA director John Brennan and fired FBI chief James Comey are under criminal investigation for allegedly politicizing intelligence in 2016.

DOJ CRIMINALLY INVESTIGATING FORMER OBAMA OFFICIALS FOR HANDLING OF RUSSIA PROBE

Trump has also ordered a criminal probe of Barack Obama for his actions in 2016 and declared him guilty of «treason.»

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I’d just offer a reminder that Trump’s special counsel in the first term, John Durham, investigated all this and brought no charges against these men.

I know that his files have recently been declassified, but Durham wrote: 

«The office’s best assessment is that the July 25 and July 27 emails that purport to be from Benardo,» a man funded by George Soros, «were ultimately a composite of several emails that were obtained through Russian intelligence hacking of the U.S.-based thinktanks.» Durham indicted only three minor officials.

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Jack Smith

Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to members of the media at the US Department of Justice building in Washington, DC, on August 1, 2023.  (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump is extremely aggressive, of course, whether it’s suing the media (winning $16-million settlements from ABC and CBS); targeting Ivy League universities (Columbia agreeing to pay a $200-million penalty); ordering an investigation of first-term cybersecurity official Miles Taylor (better known as Anonymous); ordering federal agencies to cut ties with WilmerHale (and saying it was because Robert Mueller worked there), along with defunding NPR and PBS.

Oh, and did I mention that the current president has also ordered an investigation of pardons and other actions by Joe Biden, aimed at showing he was too mentally impaired to do the job? The former president, who is being treated for prostate cancer, dismissed the idea as «ridiculous.»

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All this projects an image of strength, enabling Trump to drive the news agenda. But it also reveals a president preoccupied by past grievances and determined to settle scores with opponents he believes unfairly targeted him.

And that’s why Erika McEntarfer is suddenly out of a job.

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Ex-Bush attorney general faces House Oversight questions on controversial Epstein deal

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A former attorney general under George W. Bush’s administration is testifying to House Oversight Committee investigators on Tuesday.

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Alberto Gonzales, who led the Department of Justice (DOJ) from February 2005 until mid-September 2007, is the second witness being called in the bipartisan House probe into Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

It’s not immediately clear how many lawmakers will appear at the closed-door deposition, which is expected to largely be staff-led. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., is likely to attend, however.

Gonzales notably led the DOJ during early talks with Florida federal prosecutors for Epstein’s infamous non-prosecution agreement, which was formed in 2007 and finalized in 2008. 

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GOP GOVERNOR NOMINEE PUSHES REDISTRICTING TO OUST STATE’S LONE HOUSE DEM

Epstein, pictured here in New York City on Feb. 23, 2011, is the subject of a bipartisan House Oversight Committee investigation. (David McGlynn)

He left shortly before it was signed, however – something Comer noted in a subpoena cover letter to Gonzales earlier this month.

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«Your tenure as U.S. Attorney General, from 2005 to late 2007, coincided with a time period when the FBI investigated Jeffrey Epstein for sex crimes, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida prepared a draft 60-count indictment of Mr. Epstein, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida offered a plea bargain to Mr. Epstein, leading to the signing of Mr. Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement only one week after you left office,» Comer wrote.

The House Oversight Committee sent a flurry of subpoenas regarding Epstein earlier this month, kicking off a bipartisan investigation into the late pedophile.

In addition to Gonzales, subpoenas were also issued seeking depositions from former FBI directors Robert Mueller and James Comey, ex-attorneys general Bill Barr and Jeff Sessions, as well as former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

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Notably excluded from the list is Alex Acosta, the former Trump Labor Secretary who approved the non-prosecution agreement with Epstein while serving as a U.S. attorney in Florida.

GOP LAWMAKERS CLASH OVER STRATEGY TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CRISIS

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

Alberto Gonzales, pictured here in April 2013, served as attorney general from 2005 to 2007. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The subpoenas were directed via a bipartisan vote during an unrelated House Oversight subcommittee hearing on illegal immigrant children in late July.

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Renewed interest in Epstein’s case has gripped Capitol Hill after the DOJ’s handling of the matter spurred a GOP revolt by far-right figures.

The DOJ effectively declared the case closed after an «exhaustive review,» revealing Epstein had no «client list,» did not blackmail «prominent individuals,» and confirmed he did die by suicide in a New York City jail while awaiting prosecution.

Democrats seized on the discord with newfound calls for transparency in Epstein’s case – spurring accusations of hypocrisy from their Republican colleagues.

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Indeed, the bipartisan unity that the investigation was kicked off with quickly disintegrated after the first witness, Barr, was deposed last week.

Reps. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., and Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, who attended part of Barr’s deposition, left the room roughly halfway through the sit-down and accused Republicans of insufficiently probing questions during their allotted time to depose Barr.

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Comer, in response, implored Democrats not to politicize a bipartisan investigation.

Divisions deepened after Comer said Barr had no knowledge of, nor did he believe, any implications of wrongdoing on President Donald Trump’s part related to Epstein.

House Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who was not in the room, released a statement after the deposition, claiming Barr did not clear Trump.

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In addition to Gonzales’ deposition Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee is also expected to hear this week from former Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

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Trump embiste contra la Fed y echa a una de sus gobernadoras, en una inusual medida y grave presión contra el Banco Central de EE.UU.

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El presidente Donald Trump anunció el lunes por la noche que destituye a una de las gobernadoras de la Reserva Federal de Estados Unidos (Fed), Lisa Cook, por acusaciones no probadas de fraude hipotecario, una controvertida e inusual iniciativa que intensifica la presión contra el banco central estadounidense para que siga la política que promueve de la Casa Blanca. Ella ya dijo que resistirá la decisión.

La Reserva Federal está configurada por ley para operar independientemente de la Casa Blanca. Pero últimamente la entidad ha sufrido fuertes embestidas por parte del presidente Trump, que considera que la Fed se resiste a bajar las tasas de interés y que eso perjudica a la economía estadounidense. El organismo ha insistido hasta ahora que la situación aún no se encuentra como para bajar los tipos.

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El despido de Cook, si tiene éxito, podría darle a Trump una mayoría de aliados en la junta de la Fed y así permitirle cumplir su objetivo de reducir las tasas de interés, incluso cuando la Corte Suprema ha rechazado que el presidente ejerza un control directo sobre el organismo independiente.

Expertos legales expresaron a The New York Times serias preocupaciones por la destitución de Cook y la justificación del presidente para hacerlo, ya que advirtieron que la intervención de Trump podría comprometer una institución clave para la economía, con resultados dañinos.

Lisa Cook. Foto: Reuters

En una carta a Cook que publicó en las redes sociales el lunes por la noche, Trump dijo que buscaría despedirla de inmediato, citando su autoridad para destituir a los gobernadores de la Fed por causa justificada, es decir, malversación o alguna forma de incumplimiento del deber.

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El mandatario, que ya reclamó la dimisión de Cook la semana pasada argumentando que «ha hecho algo malo», citó la recomendación de investigación penal del director de la Agencia Federal de Financiamiento de la Vivienda, Bill Pulte, a la fiscal general de EE.UU., Pam Bondi. «Como se establece en la recomendación penal (…), hay suficiente razón para creer que usted puede haber hecho declaraciones falsas sobre uno o más acuerdos hipotecarios», escribe Trump, que argumenta que Cook firmó dos hipotecas para una «residencia primaria» en dos estados diferentes en dos semanas.

Las acusaciones de fraude hipotecario son “suficientes para destituirla de su puesto», dijo Trump a Cook en su carta. El despido se basa entonces en una recomendación de un funcionario y no en una decisión judicial.

Cook: «Trump no tiene autoridad para echarme»

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Horas después, cerca de la medianoche de Washington, Cook rechazó la medida, dijo que Trump no tiene la autoridad para despedirla y que no renunciará. «El presidente Trump pretendió despedirme ‘por causa’ cuando no existe ninguna causa bajo la ley, y no tiene autoridad para hacerlo«, dijo a través de una portavoz, quien confirmó que Cook había contratado a un abogado externo para pelear el caso.

«Continuaré cumpliendo con mis deberes para ayudar a la economía estadounidense como lo he estado haciendo desde 2022″, agregó.

Las acusaciones se derivan de hipotecas que obtuvo antes de unirse a la Fed hace unos tres años. Cook es la primera mujer negra en formar parte de la junta de siete miembros de la Fed, que está presidida por Jerome Powell.

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Trump ha pasado meses presionando a Powell para que baje las tasas de interés, burlándose de él con el apodo de «demasiado tarde» y planteando varias veces la posibilidad de destituirlo. Más allá de las embestidas, sus asesores le aconsejaron no echarlo porque sería una señal muy negativa para los mercados financieros y porque el mandato de Powell como presidente de la Fed vence en mayo.

Como todo banco central independiente, la credibilidad de la Fed depende precisamente de su capacidad de actuar sin presiones políticas del gobierno de turno y los inversionistas miran con atención las decisiones sobre las tasas, que subieron drásticamente por la inflación que se desató tras la pandemia y que comenzaron a bajar suavemente al final del gobierno de Joe Biden dado que los precios se habían estabilizado.

Pero la política arancelaria de Trump hizo que la Fed decidiera frenar el descenso de las tasas porque percibe que los precios sentirán el impacto de las tarifas y no quiere que una baja de los tipos de interés caliente aún más la economía.

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Trump está en contra de esta política. Ya ha dicho que quiere un jefe de la Fed que esté dispuesto a cortar drásticamente las tasas (dos o tres puntos porcentuales) para impulsar la economía en el corto plazo y aliviar el costo de financiar los crecientes déficits.

«El presidente no ha ocultado el hecho de que esto no tiene nada que ver con las solicitudes de hipotecas de Lisa Cook», dijo Peter Conti-Brown, historiador de la Fed en de la Universidad de Pennsylvania a The Washington Post. «Esta es la escalada de un asalto prolongado y continuo a la legitimidad de la Fed y la independencia de la Fed. Es por un propósito y solo un propósito: intimidar a la Fed para que baje drásticamente las tasas de interés».

En un encuentro el viernes, Powell pareció abrir la puerta a la reducción, pero no dio pistas sobre el momento de un movimiento, que se especula que podría ser a mediados de septiembre. «El cambiante equilibrio de riesgos puede justificar un ajuste de nuestra postura política», dijo, una referencia a sus preocupaciones sobre ganancias de empleo más débiles.

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Al apuntar a Cook, Trump busca abrir más vacantes en el directorio de la Fed, y se acerca a tener una mayoría de gobernadores alineados con sus políticas. Una vacante antes de lo esperado surgió este mes cuando una de las gobernadoras, Adriana Kugler, anuncio su renuncia. Trump dijo que estaba «muy contento» con la apertura y rápidamente nombró a Stephen Miran, jefe del Consejo de Asesores Económicos de la Casa Blanca, como reemplazo hasta fines de enero, cuando expiraba el mandato de Kugler.

Si Cook es reemplazada y Miran es confirmado en las próximas semanas, le daría a Trump una probable mayoría de gobernadores que piden recortes a las tasas de interés.

Donald Trump,Reserva Federal

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Unity tested: Democrats face off over Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, dark money in politics, during DNC summer meeting

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Democrats opened their summer meeting in Minnesota on Monday with calls for unity against President Donald Trump, even as internal divisions on a host of issues threaten to erupt. 

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«We are unified towards one single goal: to stop Donald Trump and put this country back on track,» DNC Chair Ken Martin declared when he addressed the more than 400 elected party officials from all 50 states and seven territories, as the summer meeting kicked off in his home state of Minnesota.

While Democrats appeared united in their drive to counter the sweeping and controversial moves by Trump during his first seven months back in the White House, divisions among the committee members may flare on Tuesday.

DNC CHAIR DEMANDS DEMOCRATS ‘STOP BRINGING A PENCIL TO A KNIFE FIGHT’

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Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin addresses party members at the DNC’s summer meeting on Aug. 25, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News )

That’s when the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, and limiting dark money in presidential politics, will both be in the spotlight as the DNC’s Resolutions Committee meets.

Competing symbolic resolutions over the war in Gaza – which was sparked by the horrific Oct. 7, 2023, sneak attack by Hamas on Israel – will be voted on by the panel.

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CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR 

Nearly 1,200 people in Israel were killed during the initial surprise attack by Hamas, with over 250 people taken hostage. In the nearly two years since the attack, over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s ongoing military response.

The showdown over the resolutions comes as the Democratic Party’s once nearly unshakable support for Israel has fractured amid the bloodshed. And concerns over the growing death toll among Palestinians by many in the party’s progressive base have soared this spring and summer, amid famine in Gaza.

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Palestinians carrying pans, gather to receive hot meals, on July 23, 2025.

Residents in Gaza line up for food amid worsening famine on July 23, 2025. (Khames Alrefi/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Recent polling indicates support for Israel’s continued military actions in Gaza is plummeting among Democrats.

One resolution, which is supported by Martin, calls for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

The competing resolution calls for an arms embargo and suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel, which has long been the top American ally in the Middle East.

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The other resolution that’s bound to generate spirited debate and grab headlines on Tuesday is Martin’s push for the DNC to affirm its commitment to «eliminating unlimited corporate and dark money in our presidential nominating process beginning in the current 2028 cycle.»

While Democrats have long railed against the role of big money in politics, the resolution, which was first reported by the New York Times, calls for the creation of a new panel to propose by next summer «real, enforceable steps the D.N.C. can take to eliminate unlimited corporate and dark money in its 2028 presidential primary process.»

Outside groups such as super PACs, which are allowed to haul in unlimited contributions but are mandated to disclose their donors, have seen their influence in campaign politics multiply in recent election cycles.

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DNC CHAIR TELLS FOX NEWS PARTY HAS HIT ‘ROCK BOTTOM’

Democratic leaders and officials are gathering as the party tries to escape the political wilderness after last year’s elections, when Democrats lost control of the White House and Senate and fell short in their bid to win back the House majority. And Republicans made gains in voter demographics that previously made up key parts of the Democratic Party’s base.

The situation has only worsened for Democrats in the 10 months since last year’s election setbacks.

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The Democrats’ brand is deeply unpopular, especially with younger voters, as the party’s poll numbers continue to drop to all-time lows in national surveys. 

The DNC faces a massive fundraising deficit at the hands of the rival Republican National Committee (RNC) and voter data indicated Democratic Party registration was plunging while GOP sign-ups were on the rise in the 30 states that register voters by party.

AMID PLUNGING POLLS, ANEMIC FUNDRAISING, DEMOCRATS LOOK TO REBOUND AT PARTY’S SUMMER MEETING

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On Monday, amid talk that Democrats remain divided over a slew of policy and political issue, Martin wasn’t the only one preaching unity and downplaying any discord.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in an address to the committee members, said «there’s a division in my damn house, and we’re still married, and things are good. That’s life… We are strong because we challenge each other.»

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at DNC summer meeting

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting, on Aug. 25, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News)

And longtime Democratic strategist and DNC committee member Maria Cardona told Fox News, «I’m so sick of people focusing on the infighting and the circular firing squad. All of that is crap, when we have real issues, existential threats that we need to fight about, and we are all united on that front and that’s all that matters.»

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Martin, who was elected DNC chair in February, has weathered turmoil during his tenure so far, including a controversy sparked by now-former vice chair David Hogg’s backing of primary challengers against older House Democrats in safe blue districts.

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RNC communications director Zach Parkinson, responding to Monday’s DNC session, told Fox News that «under Ken Martin’s leadership, Democrats have sunk to their lowest approval rating in 35 years.»

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Pointing to Martin, Parkinson said «as Republicans, we think he is doing a fantastic job, and we fully endorse him to stay on as DNC Chair.»

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