U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi faced a torrent of criticism online Tuesday after she suggested in two separate interviews that the Justice Department would ‘absolutely target’ hate speech in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s shooting death — sparking intense backlash from Republicans and other conservatives and prompting her to further clarify her remarks.

Bondi attempted to bridge the divide between her remarks and what she called hate speech that leads to threats in a lengthy social media post Tuesday.

‘Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment,’ Bondi said, citing three U.S. laws that criminalize threats of direct violence, such as threats of kidnapping or injury. ‘It’s a crime.’ 

‘For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over,’ she said, adding that ‘free speech protects ideas, debate, even dissent but it does NOT and will NEVER protect violence.’

Bondi’s remarks, made during a ‘The Katie Miller Podcast’ interview and in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity during conversations about the fatal shooting of Kirk, prompted backlash across the aisle, though it was conservative voices who were the loudest. Many noted that Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder and subject of the interviews, was himself a vociferous defender of free speech protections under the First Amendment, which protects most forms of speech in the U.S., including offensive and hateful speech.

Many also appeared to view the new statement as insufficient cover for Bondi’s previous remarks. 

‘This isn’t a correction or a retraction or a retreat; it’s a post hoc attempt to bend the term ‘hate speech’ to mean something that it never has,’ Charles C.W. Cooke, a senior editor at the National Review, said on social media.

Nearly 24 hours after Bondi’s remarks, the criticism has continued — nearly all of it from Republicans and other notable conservative voices.

Bondi came under fire for the two interviews Monday, neither of which distinguished the type of speech that threatened imminent violence from hate speech.

 ‘There’s free speech and then there’s hate speech,’ Bondi said Monday in an interview with former Trump administration aide and podcast host Katie Miller.

.’We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech,’ Bondi said.

In a separate interview on Fox News, Bondi reiterated a similar sentiment, suggesting that the government could prosecute Office Depot after an employee reportedly refused to print posters with Kirk’s face on them.

She said further that the department was ‘looking at’ the Office Depot case in question.

‘Businesses cannot discriminate,’ Bondi said on Fox News. ‘If you want to go in and print posters with Charlie’s pictures on them for a vigil, you have to let them do that. We can prosecute you for that.’

‘I have Harmeet Dhillon right now in our Civil Rights unit looking at that immediately, that Office Depot had done that,’ she said of the Office Depot employee in question. ‘We’re looking it up,’ she said.

Most of the criticism that poured in Tuesday was from Republicans, who noted that Bondi’s remarks are a flagrant violation of free speech protections guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.

They are also, some noted, directly at odds with the views famously espoused by Kirk.

‘Hate speech’ is a hopelessly subjective term, and even if it weren’t, there is no hate-speech exception to the First Amendment,’ said Ed Whelan, a conservative legal expert who formerly clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

‘I’m sorry, but this is the sort of leftwing progressivism that conservatives, including Charlie Kirk, abhorred,’ Erick Erickson said on X. ‘We stand with Jack Philips, not against him.’

Asked by ABC News’s Jon Karl to respond to Bondi’s remarks on Tuesday, Trump declined to clarify, and instead floated the idea of going after Karl’s outlet, albeit in a joking tone.

‘We’ll probably go after people like you, because you treat me so unfairly,’ Trump said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., shared just a brief four-word response when a reporter asked him on Tuesday why he missed a congressional vigil for Charlie Kirk.

‘I had a meeting,’ Jeffries said when the matter was broached during his afternoon press conference.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced on Monday that Congress would hold a vigil later that evening to honor the conservative activist.

Kirk was assassinated last week when a gunman opened fire on him during a college campus speaking event in Utah.

Fox News Digital witnessed just a handful of House Democrats at the vigil, side by side with dozens of Republican lawmakers.

When asked why more Democrats did not attend, Jeffries said Tuesday, ‘I don’t know.’

‘I guess you’d have to talk to the individual Democrats as to what else was going on and why they were present or why they weren’t present,’ he said.

The vigil was held in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall in the 6 p.m. hour on Monday evening.

Democratic lawmakers who attended include Reps. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., John Larson, D-Conn., Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., Chris Pappas, D-N.H., and Don Davis, D-N.C.

Notably absent were the top four House Democrats in senior leadership, including Jeffries.

Johnson, however, downplayed the lack of Democratic attendance in comments to reporters on Monday.

‘I honestly did not even see the composition of the group,’ he said when asked if he was disappointed in the number of Democrats who showed up.

‘I’m glad it was bipartisan, and I wish more had participated, and I’m not sure why they didn’t. So I don’t know what else we can do other than offer an all-member bipartisan vigil. And we’ve done that routinely for other things.’

Fox News’ Kelly Phares and Fox News Radio’s Ryan Schmelz contributed to this report.

The federal trial of Ryan Routh, accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump as he played golf in September 2024, resumes Tuesday with more FBI forensic experts scheduled to testify.

On Monday, jurors heard FBI Firearms and Toolmarks Examiner Erich Smith, who alleged the rifle found near the sixth hole of Trump International Golf Club was a Chinese-made Norinco SKS. Smith said the weapon was ‘in working condition’ when recovered, test-fired successfully at the FBI lab and was configured with a round in the chamber and the safety off — meaning it was ‘prepared to fire.’ 

He also testified the rifle’s serial number had been ‘obliterated in several places’ but could be partially restored.

Smith showed jurors the 7.62×39 mm full metal jacket rounds loaded in the rifle. 

‘Bullets are designed to put holes in things,’ he said. ‘It would have put a hole in something if it had hit the target.’

Routh, representing himself, cross-examined Smith about whether all SKS rifles are semi-automatic, whether test-firings were videotaped and whether the gun could have changed hands at a gun show before he obtained it. 

‘So, we’re just supposed to take your word for it?‘ Routh asked Smith. 

Smith replied: ‘That’s what happened.’ 

Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon sustained prosecution objections when Routh strayed beyond the scope of testimony. 

The court also heard from FBI biologist Curtis Gaul, who testified about collecting potential DNA samples from the rifle grip, a glove, zip ties and other items found. Routh cross-examined briefly, asking where the glove was found and whether Gaul knew who removed the rifle’s scope.

Cannon cut off questioning several times, urging both prosecutors and Routh to keep examinations moving. 

Jurors appeared confused during parts of Gaul’s testimony, as prosecutors referenced exhibit numbers without always displaying them. Meanwhile, Routh was seen leaning forward, taking notes and staring intently when fingerprints reportedly matching his own were displayed on a screen.

When court resumes Tuesday morning, prosecutors are expected to call FBI biologist Kara Gregor, followed by additional FBI specialists in digital forensics and supervisory roles as they continue building their case against Routh.

Democrat Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii clashed with FBI Director Kash Patel during a heated Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, questioning agency firing and counterterrorism priorities and even calling the bureau’s physical fitness requirements ‘harsh’ for applicants.

In an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital, Patel said, ‘Americans expect their FBI agents to be capable, resilient and ready to protect them.

‘That’s why, under my watch, every field office is receiving more trained agents, more boots on the ground and a renewed commitment to getting out from behind the desks and back onto the streets where they’re needed most. We’re rebuilding a bureau that earns the public’s confidence by being present, prepared and physically ready to do the job.’

The most viral clash came when Hirono pressed Patel on fitness standards.

‘One question I had is that you are now requiring applicants to be able to do a certain kind of pull-ups, which a lot of women cannot because of physiological differences. Are you requiring these kinds of pull-ups?’ Hirono asked.

Patel didn’t budge.

‘We are requiring everybody to pass the 1811 standards at BFTC. If you want to chase down a bad guy, excuse me, and put him in handcuffs, you had better be able to do a pull-up.’

Hirono replied, ‘There are concerns about whether or not being able to do these kinds of harsh pull-ups is really required of FBI agents.’

Patel interjected, ‘Doing one pull-up is not harsh, and there are always medical exemptions to that.’

According to the FBI recruitment website, ‘Starting in November 2025, pull-ups will be a required event for all candidates.’ For male recruits, 2-3 pull-ups are now a required minimum alongside the traditional Physical Fitness Test (PFT). For female candidates, one pull-up is the required minimum. 

Any additional pull-ups count to a recruit’s overall PFT score, with the maximum points received for 20 or more pull-ups capped at 10.

The White House’s official X account, @RapidResponse47, shared the exchange in a now-viral clip on X.

Beyond fitness standards, Hirono accused Patel of being loyal to Trump rather than the FBI.

‘Your most significant qualification … was your 100% loyalty to President Trump. And I fear that continues to be the motivating factor in your position as FBI director.’

Patel rejected that claim. 

‘That is an entire falsehood. You can delete my 16 years of government service to multiple administrations all you want. … There was no loyalty then. There’s no loyalty now to anything but the Constitution.’

Patel also used the hearing to share the bureau’s wins under his leadership. He pointed to 409 cyber arrests this year and 169 convictions, a 42% increase from the same time last year.

The FBI and the office of Sen. Mazie Hirono did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Social Security Administration is pushing back against Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., after she accused the agency of removing key data and covering up dysfunction.

In a Sept. 16, 2025 letter and data report shared exclusively with Fox News Digital, SSA Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano claimed Warren’s analysis was inaccurate. 

He said the agency is more transparent and performing better under the Trump administration than it did under the prior administration. The documents reflect SSA’s position and have not been independently verified.

‘SSA currently reports nearly three times the number of data elements on the performance webpage under the Trump Administration (30) than it did under the Biden Administration (11),’ Bisignano wrote.

‘These facts conclusively demonstrate that you are wrong in alleging a lack of transparency.’

He also pushed back on Warren’s charge of a cover-up, saying SSA has made improvements in customer service, including ‘shorter wait times on the phones and in offices, as well as reduced backlogs.’ Bisignano said 81 percent of performance measures are better than before, with the rest about the same.

According to SSA’s data, average phone wait times dropped from 29 minutes in 2024 to 16 minutes in 2025, with August down to just 9 minutes.

Pending disability determinations fell from nearly 1.2 million in August 2024 to about 907,000 a year later. Disability claim processing sped up from 231 days to 217 days. SSA reports retirement and survivor claims were processed on time 87% of the time in August 2025.

Bisignano wrote that the agency’s goal is to become a ‘digital-first’ operation that runs efficiently and serves people whether they call, visit an office or use the website. He said constant monitoring of key performance indicators is part of that effort.

He also urged Warren to work with SSA instead of spreading what he called ‘fearmongering and reckless lies that Social Security is going away.’

‘The time has come to stop weaponizing Social Security,’ he wrote. ‘The American people do not want a Social Security War Room. They want their leaders to protect and preserve Social Security, just as President Trump has promised.’

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump will receive a full royal welcome from King Charles III following their arrival to Windsor Castle on Tuesday night.

Wednesday’s festivities will kick off with Trump, the first lady and several top U.S. officials participating in a carriage procession with the king, queen and other members of the royal family. Ahead of the couple’s arrival, hundreds of staff worked through the halls and grounds of the nearly 1,000-year-old castle to ensure the monarch welcomed the couple in true royal fashion.

Trump is set to ride in the foremost carriage along with King Charles, while Melania will ride in a following carriage with the queen. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and special envoy Steve Witkoff will also ride in follow-up carriages.

Ahead of his visit, Trump hailed the ‘great honor’ of being hosted by his ‘friend’ at ‘the ultimate’ Windsor Castle for his second state visit, the U.K.’s Standard reported.

‘My relationship is very good with the U.K., and Charles, as you know, who’s now king, is my friend,’ Trump told reporters, quoted by the outlet. ‘It’s the first time this has ever happened where somebody was honored twice. So, it’s a great honor.’

‘And this one’s at Windsor,’ Trump added. ‘And I don’t want to say one’s better than the other, but they say Windsor Castle is the ultimate, right? So, it’s going to be nice.’

‘Primarily it’s to be with Charles and Camilla,’ he continued. ‘They’ve been friends of mine for a long time, long before he was king, and it’s an honor to have this king.’

The centerpiece of Trump’s visit is set to be the banquet in St. George’s Hall. The Waterloo Table, about half the length of a football field, can seat up to 160 guests. The Associated Press reported it takes five full days to set the table, which is laid with more than 4,000 pieces, including 200-year-old silver.

The visit comes as the U.S. and U.K. continue trade negotiations, though the White House has not indicated that any deals will be announced during the event.

Trump is the first U.S. president to be invited for two state visits by a British monarch. The late queen hosted him and Melania in 2019 during his first administration.

Fox News’ Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report

A House Republican is demanding that Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., be stripped of her committee assignments, accusing her of making disparaging comments toward Charlie Kirk after his assassination last week.

Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., is introducing a resolution on Monday to remove Omar from her two current committees: the House Budget Committee and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

She is the top Democrat on the latter panel’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.

It’s part of the continued fallout from Kirk’s killing in Utah during a college speaking event.

Republicans have responded forcefully to Democrats who they view as taking Kirk’s death lightly or dismissing it as a product of his conservative activism.

Omar, in particular, has faced backlash from the right over an interview with progressive news outlet Zeteo, where she criticized Kirk’s past commentary and Republicans’ reaction to the shooting. She accused Republicans of taking her words out of context, however, and she called Kirk’s death ‘mortifying.’

She told the outlet days after Kirk’s assassination that he previously ‘downplayed slavery and what Black people have gone through in this country by saying Juneteenth shouldn’t exist.’

‘There are a lot of people who are out there talking about him just wanting to have a civil debate,’ the ‘Squad’ member said. ‘There is nothing more effed up, you know, like, than to completely pretend that, you know, his words and actions have not been recorded and in existence for the last decade or so.’

She criticized Republican figures who have been going after Democrats for their rhetoric, adding, ‘These people are full of s—. And it’s important for us to call them out while we feel anger and sadness, and have, you know, empathy, which Charlie said, ‘No, it shouldn’t exist,’ because that’s a newly created word or something.’

‘Like, I have empathy for his kids and his wife and what they’re going through,’ Omar continued.

She later posted on X amid the backlash, ‘While I disagreed with Charlie Kirk vehemently about his rhetoric, my heart breaks for his wife and children. I don’t wish violence on anyone. My faith teaches me the power of peace, empathy, and compassion. Right-wing accounts trying to spin a false story when I condemned his murder multiple times is fitting for their agenda to villainize the left to hide from the fact that Donald Trump gins up hate on a daily basis.’

Carter told Fox News Digital, however, ‘Disparaging Charlie Kirk’s legacy, a God-fearing, honorable man, for boldly sharing his conservative beliefs is disgusting. The radical left has normalized meeting free speech with violence, and it must stop.’

‘No one who justifies the assassination of someone with different political views than them deserves to sit on a committee, and Ilhan Omar openly used language that incites violence toward her political opponents. Committees are for serious lawmakers, not hate-spewing politicians,’ he said.

Carter, who is currently running for U.S. Senate, sits on the House Budget Committee alongside Omar.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Minnesota progressive’s office for comment but did not hear back by press time.

Maurene Comey, a longtime U.S. prosecutor who helped bring criminal cases against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, sued the Trump administration Monday over her abrupt firing from the Justice Department. 

Comey had served at the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York since 2015 before her ousting earlier this year. She called her termination unlawful, ‘politically motivated,’ and argued it stemmed largely from the fact that her father is former FBI Director James Comey.

In Monday’s lawsuit, Comey’s lawyers said her firing violated ‘multiple provisions’ of the Civil Service Reform Act — a law designed to protect government employees, including career federal prosecutors — as well as the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

‘The politically motivated termination of Ms. Comey — ostensibly under ‘Article II of the Constitution’ — upends bedrock principles of our democracy and justice system,’ her lawyers argued, describing her removal as both ‘unlawful and unconstitutional.’

‘Defendants have not provided any explanation whatsoever for terminating Ms. Comey,’ her lawyers argued. ‘In truth, there is no legitimate explanation. Rather, defendants fired Ms. Comey solely or substantially because her father is former FBI Director James B. Comey, or because of her perceived political affiliation and beliefs, or both.’

The lawsuit asks that Comey be reinstated to the Southern District of New York, where lawyers noted her work earned multiple awards, promotions and internal recognition, including a recent performance review calling her work ‘outstanding.’

It also cites protections afforded to career federal prosecutors, including prior notification and the ability to challenge a removal.

In the years since Comey joined SDNY in 2015, her lawyers said, she had been assigned to prosecute some of the department’s most high-profile cases — including the criminal cases against Epstein, Maxwell, and others. Most recently, in May, she led the prosecution against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. 

Comey had been asked by the U.S. attorney’s office to lead a ‘major’ public corruption case just one day before she was fired, the lawsuit said, underscoring what her lawyers call the abrupt nature of her removal.

She was notified of her termination the next day in an emailed memo. The email did not list a cause or reason for removal, according to the lawsuit, though it made mention of ‘Article II,’ or the powers of the commander-in-chief.  

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton did not answer Comey when she pressed him for information on her firing, the lawsuit alleges. Instead, he told her, ‘All I can say is it came from Washington. I can’t tell you anything else.’

‘No other explanation was ever provided to Ms. Comey regarding the reason for her termination,’ her lawyers said. ‘Defendants had no lawful authority to terminate [the] plaintiff from federal service without adhering to the statutory protections afforded to her.’ 

They argued that this distinction should be taken to mean that Comey’s termination is ‘ultra vires,’ or beyond the scope of one’s authority — thus ‘without force or effect.’

‘The executive branch cannot use Article II to overrule Congress and remove career civil servants for perceived disloyalty,’ they added. ‘Such an act violates the Constitution’s fundamental Separation of Powers. It also violates the Bill of Rights, depriving Ms. Comey of protection under the First and Fifth Amendments.’

The Justice Department declined to comment on the lawsuit, which names the department, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, OPM, and the Executive Office of the President as defendants, among others. 

It comes amid a years-long, high-profile dispute between President Donald Trump and former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired during his first White House term in 2017, roughly five years into his 10-year tenure. 

In the years since Comey’s departure, the two have continued to be sharply at odds. Comey has emerged as an outspoken Trump critic, both in public and in his memoir, ‘A Higher Loyalty.’ Comey came into the president’s crosshairs again earlier this year after he posted what was viewed by Trump allies as a cryptic social media post online; he has denied knowledge of its true meaning.

Trump, for his part, has continued to assail Comey and probe his tenure at the FBI. Earlier this year, the FBI confirmed it had launched criminal investigations into Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan for allegedly making false statements to Congress. 

Details of the investigation were not immediately clear, and in the months since the FBI’s July announcement, there has been little information shared with the public about the nature or status of the probes.

The younger Comey was terminated about a week after the investigations were announced — a detail her lawyers highlighted in the lawsuit, which seeks her reinstatement and back pay.

In a farewell email sent to colleagues, Maurene Comey wrote, ‘If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain.’

 ‘Do not let that happen,’ she said.

Israel’s top military chief, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, is opposing a full military takeover of Gaza and urging adoption of the Witkoff plan, three senior sources told Fox News Digital amid mounting debate over the country’s next steps.

‘The chief of staff is standing by his professional judgment, based on the experience of this war,’ one former senior IDF official said. ‘In recent days he told the cabinet that while the IDF is prepared for a ground maneuver, the correct path is to reach a deal to save all the hostages and to enter negotiations. A maneuver now could endanger the hostages, as we saw in Tel Sultan.’

The Tel Sultan incident in Rafah in 2024 remains a turning point in Israeli decision-making. During that operation, Hamas executed six hostages, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, as Israeli forces closed in, underscoring the risks of a large-scale ground maneuver before negotiations are exhausted.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly claimed that Israel’s goal ‘is not to occupy Gaza. Our goal is to free Gaza, free it from Hamas terrorists,’ arguing that seizing Gaza City is necessary because Hamas refuses to lay down arms. He has said this is the only way to secure the release of the roughly 48 hostages still held in Gaza.

But the former senior official told Fox News that military pressure has already brought Hamas back to the Witkoff framework of July 29. ‘The framework should be accepted, and Washington should understand the chief’s position as it was presented to the cabinet. Hamas is ready to stand by those conditions now. The chief of staff opposes military rule in Gaza and believes Israel should look ahead to the day after and draw a political solution accordingly. If necessary, the IDF can continue fighting after such an agreement.’

A spokesperson from the Prime Minister’s Office told Fox News Digital in response: ‘The Israeli cabinet decided to move forward with the operation plan presented by the chief of staff himself.’

A recent Politico report quoted a source described as ‘close to the president’s national security team,’ saying the Tuesday strike against Hamas’s leadership in Doha may have been an intentional move to hinder negotiations. ‘Every time they’re making progress, it seems like he [Netanyahu] bombs someone,’ the source said in the report.

The officials confirmed to Fox News Digital that both the IDF chief of staff and the Mossad director opposed the timing of the Qatar operation. ‘The plan was long in the works, but there was no reason to choose this specific timing instead of waiting to get Hamas’s response in the negotiations,’ one said, adding that ‘that decision, as well as the decision to continue the Gaza operation, go against professional echelon advice.’

A second source familiar with cabinet deliberations confirmed the chief of staff reiterated his position last Friday and again yesterday in both the Security Cabinet and the Foreign Affairs and Defense subcommittee. ‘He has made clear that the Witkoff plan is a good one,’ the source said, pointing to its terms: a 60-day Israeli withdrawal in exchange for the release of 10 live hostages and 15 bodies, with Israel free to resume fighting if Hamas violates the deal.