When Joan Bell, 76, was given the news she was one of the pro-life activists pardoned by President Donald Trump Thursday afternoon, she was in disbelief.

‘I didn’t know if that meant we would get out in a few weeks or a few months, or what. I didn’t really know, but I knew we got pardoned,’ Bell, a grandmother of eight, told Fox News Digital Friday. ‘Well, then I ran upstairs because I had a rosary every evening.’

After finishing her prayers and Bible study with other inmates, Bell, a lifelong pro-life advocate, was told by several other inmates that her husband, Christopher Bell, was on Laura Ingraham’s Fox News show saying she was indeed one of the 23 others pardoned.

‘That was overwhelmingly beautiful,’ Bell recalled. ‘Everyone was clapping.’ She was then told by a guard to pack up her things for her release later that evening. 

‘We are so grateful to Trump. And to just feel the fresh air, God’s beautiful air, just wonderful,’ Bell said. ‘Just being out and being with my husband, my son, just glorious. There are no words to describe that kind of freedom.’ 

She added that she and her husband will take a ‘second honeymoon’ soon. 

Bell, who lives in New Jersey, was sentenced to more than two years in prison in November 2023 for participating in a ‘blockade,’ conspiring with other activists at a Washington D.C. abortion clinic in October 2020, according to President Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ). 

Prosecutors from the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia argued the pro-life activists violated the 1994 FACE Act, a federal law that prohibits physical force, threats of force or intentionally damaging property to prevent someone from obtaining or providing abortion services.

The activists were sentenced by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, a Clinton appointee, and immediately detained.

While signing the pardons Thursday, just a day before Friday’s annual March for Life rally, Trump said, ‘They should not have been prosecuted.’ 

‘Many, many of them are elderly people,’ Trump said in the Oval Office. ‘They should not have been prosecuted. This is a great honor to sign this. They’ll be very happy.’

Bell, along with Paula Paulette Harlow, Jean Marshall and John Hinshaw, were all around 70 years old when they were imprisoned.

‘That he personally knew our case is so touching,’ Bell said of Trump. ‘I want to give him a hug.’

Attorneys from the Thomas More Society formally requested pardons from the Trump administration earlier this month for the 21 pro-life advocates the law firm was representing. 

‘The heroic peaceful pro-lifers unjustly imprisoned by Biden’s Justice Department will now be freed and able to return home to their families, eat a family meal and enjoy the freedom that should have never been taken from them in the first place,’ Steve Crampton, senior counsel of the Thomas More Society, said in a statement. 

‘These heroic peaceful pro-lifers were treated shamefully by Biden’s DOJ, with many of them branded felons and losing many rights that we take for granted as American citizens.’

In a previous interview with Fox News Digital, Crampton said it was hard to find a ‘fair jury’ and that most of the jurors were either Planned Parenthood donors or pro-choice advocates in the cases. He called Washington, D.C., the ‘most pro-abortion city in America.’ 

‘She can say her pro-death words, but we weren’t allowed to say pro-life words,’ Bell said of the judge in the trial. Nonetheless, she said it was more ‘heartbreaking’ to be prosecuted for her religious beliefs.

This week, Trump also took action to pardon over 1,000 Jan. 6 rioters who were imprisoned, along with numerous other executive orders related to immigration and cryptocurrency and orders to declassify the MLK and JFK files.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division for comment. 

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin expressed confidence that Pete Hegseth would be confirmed as Defense secretary, despite opposition from GOP moderates.

Hegseth cleared a procedural hurdle in the Senate on Thursday, setting up a final confirmation vote expected Friday evening. However, Republican Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, both publicly declared their opposition to his nomination, meaning the GOP can only afford one more defection before Hegseth’s confirmation is lost.

Mullin, in an interview on the ‘Guy Benson Show’ with guest host Jason Rantz, said there are 50 ‘hard yes’ votes for Hegseth to be confirmed and estimated he will receive as many as 52 votes, with all Democrats and the moderate Republicans from Alaska and Maine voting against.

‘He’s definitely being confirmed tomorrow,’ Mullin told Rantz. ‘I don’t know what the White House schedule is, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was sworn into office on Saturday.’

The Senate voted 51-49 to advance Hegseth’s nomination on Thursday, which triggered up to 30 hours of debate before a final vote. President Donald Trump’s embattled Defense nominee has faced intense grilling from Democrats on his qualifications for the position, as well as personal questions about his drinking habits and alleged sexual misconduct, which he has vigorously denied. Hegseth has said he would abstain from alcohol if confirmed. 

Hegseth’s nomination faced another hurdle this week when reports emerged that his ex-sister-in-law alleged that Hegseth had abused his second wife. 

Two sources told CNN Hegseth’s ex-wife, Samantha Hegseth, gave a statement to the FBI about Hegseth’s alleged alcohol use. The outlet said one of the sources said Samantha Hegseth told the FBI, ‘He drinks more often than he doesn’t.’

On Tuesday, Fox News obtained an affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, which alleges he has an alcohol abuse problem and at times made his ex-wife, Samantha, fear for her safety. Danielle Hegseth was previously married to Pete Hegseth’s brother and has no relation to Samantha.

However, Danielle Hegseth added that she never witnessed any abuse herself, physical or sexual, by Pete against Samantha. 

Samantha Hegseth has also denied any physical abuse in a statement to NBC News.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., slammed Hegseth at a news conference on Thursday and urged Republicans to join Democrats in opposition to the former Fox News host and Army National Guardsman.

‘Hegseth is so utterly unqualified, he ranks up there [as] … one of the very worst nominees that could be put forward,’ Schumer said.

‘People’s lives depend on it — civilians and, of course, the men and women in the armed services — and Pete Hegseth has shown himself not only incapable of running a large organization, he often shows himself incapable of showing up or showing up in a way where he could get anything done. He is so out of the mainstream and so unqualified for DOD that I am hopeful we will get our Republican colleagues to join us.’

Mullin predicted that once Hegseth is confirmed, Democrats will turn their attention to another of Trump’s nominees, Tulsi Gabbard, who is the president’s choice to be director of national intelligence.

‘I think they’re going to turn their attention from Pete straight to Tulsi Gabbad,’ Mullin said, noting that Gabbard’s confirmation hearing is scheduled for next week. ‘They went from Matt Gaetz to Pete Hegseth. Now they’re going to go to Tulsi, and then after that I’m sure they’ll probably move on to [health secretary nominee] Bobby Kennedy.’

The Oklahoma Republican also suggested that Democratic senators who may harbor presidential ambitions stand to gain from making a show of opposition to Trump’s nominees.

‘You have all these Democrat senators now that are jumping up and down wanting attention so they can be the champion of the Democrat Party. What they don’t realize is the position they took underneath Biden and when Trump was in office is exactly why they got kicked out of office.’

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Chinese Foreign Minister and Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi that the Trump administration will put the ‘American people first’ and advance U.S. interests in its relationship with China, according to a readout of the call from spokesperson Tammy Bruce. 

The meeting was the first between Rubio and Wang since the former Florida senator was unanimously approved by the Senate this week to become President Donald Trump’s first Cabinet official following Monday’s inauguration. 

‘The Secretary also stressed the United States’ commitment to our allies in the region and serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan and in the South China Sea,’ Bruce said. ‘The Secretary also discussed other issues of bilateral, regional, and global importance with his Chinese counterpart.’ 

Wang told Rubio during the call that he hoped he would ‘conduct’ himself well and ‘play a constructive role in the future of the Chinese and American people and in world peace and stability.’ 

He added that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had already set the tone for U.S.-Chinese relations. 

‘The teams of both sides should implement the important consensus of the two heads of state, maintain communication, manage differences, expand cooperation, promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations, and find the right way for China and the United States to get along in the new era,’ Wang said.

Trump has threatened China with 10% tariffs on imports over its role in fentanyl trafficking, starting as early as Feb. 1, and Rubio called the country the gravest threat to the U.S. during his confirmation hearing. 

Trump n Thursday told the World Economic Forum virtually that he and Xi have ‘always had a great relationship,’ and all his administration wants is ‘fairness. We just want a level playing field.’

Some of President Donald Trump’s most controversial executive branch nominees are set to appear before Congressional committees next week. The commander-in-chief promises that they will shake up their respective departments if they are approved by the Senate. 

Kashyap ‘Kash’ Patel has been nominated to be the FBI’s next director and will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee, while Director of National Intelligence (DNI) pick Tulsi Gabbard has a hearing scheduled on the same day before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., tapped to become director of the Department of Health and Human Services, will face questions on Wednesday from members of the Senate Finance Committee, which directly oversees the department. He’ll also appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee on Thursday for a courtesy hearing. 

The Senate’s ‘advice and consent’ role allows the body to review the president’s appointments and provide oversight on key positions. The picks require a majority vote in the Senate with Republicans holding a 53-47 vote advantage over Democrats. 

But all face tough battles to get over the line. The Senate advanced the nomination of Pete Hegseth as Trump’s defense secretary on Thursday with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, R-Alaska, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, breaking ranks.

Patel has called for radical changes at the FBI and was a fierce and vocal critic of the bureau’s work as it investigated ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

He held numerous national security roles during the first Trump administration and was the chief investigator in the congressional probe into alleged Trump-Russia collusion, uncovering government surveillance abuse that led to the appointment of two special counsels: one who determined that there had been no such collusion and another who determined the entire premise of the FBI’s original investigation was bogus.

Patel was an integral part of the creation of a memo released by then-Chair Devin Nunes in February 2018, which detailed the DOJ’s and FBI’s surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

He’s been a loyal ally to Trump for years, finding common cause over their shared skepticism of government surveillance and the ‘deep state’ — a catchall used by Trump to refer to unelected members of government bureaucracy.

Meanwhile, Trump has argued that Gabbard will bring a ‘fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights and securing Peace through Strength.’ The director of national intelligence leads the U.S. intelligence community, which includes overseeing the National Intelligence Program and advising the president on security matters. 

Gabbard has served as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves since 2021, after previously serving in the Hawaii Army National Guard for about 17 years. She was elected to the U.S. House representing Hawaii during the 2012 election cycle, serving as a Democrat until 2021. She did not seek re-election to that office after she entered the 2020 White House race. 

Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022, registering as an independent, before becoming a member of the GOP last year and offering her full endorsement of Trump amid his presidential campaign. 

Critics have attempted to paint Gabbard as a national security risk who is sympathetic to U.S. adversaries.

However, more than 250 veterans signed a letter last month endorsing her nomination, including high-profile and nationally known names such as retired Gen. Michael Flynn and former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller.

Kennedy Jr. is also a contentious pick, and he could face opposition, even from Republicans. In particular, Kennedy’s views and past statements about vaccines have been scrutinized by both GOP and Democratic lawmakers. 

GOP lawmakers have been concerned about Kennedy’s pro-abortion views that he has espoused in the past and his potential impact on the agriculture sector.

In what was a blockbuster move by the former Democrat, Kennedy dropped out of the 2024 presidential race as an Independent and endorsed Trump, vowing to ‘Make America Healthy Again,’ should he be part of the new administration.

Fox News’ Emma Colton and Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

The Senate voted to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee, Pete Hegseth, as defense secretary on Friday night after a high-tempered battle to sway lawmakers in his favor that was almost derailed by accusations about his behavior. 

The final vote came down to the wire: three Republicans opposed, making for a 50 to 50 vote. Vice President JD Vance was needed to break the tie in the upper chamber, putting the final tally at 51-50.

‘Congratulations to Pete Hegseth. He will make a great Secretary of Defense!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social after Hegseth’s confirmation.

The Senate’s two moderate Republican women: Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted no. As did Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the former GOP leader. 

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis’ support was not a given, and he did not reveal his stance until the vote was already underway. He ultimately said he would back Trump’s pick, giving him enough support to be confirmed with Vance’s tie-breaking vote. 

In her reasoning, Murkowski cited infidelity, ‘allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking’ and Hegseth’s previous comments on women serving in the military. 

The behaviors he has admitted to alone, she said, show ‘a lack of judgment that is unbecoming of someone who would lead our armed forces.’

Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), the nonprofit advocacy group at the center of many of the accusations brought up during Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, praised his confirmation in a statement. 

‘The confirmation of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense presents a real opportunity to prioritize the security and prosperity of our citizens, champion prudence and effectiveness in our defense strategy, and focus our Department of Defense on America’s most vital interests,’ the statement read. 

The New Yorker reported in December that Hegseth was forced out of CVA, the group he once ran, over allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety and personal misconduct. 

All Democrats opposed the confirmation, a far cry from an earlier vote this week, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio was confirmed unanimously, 99-0.

Hegseth will now lead the government’s largest agency, having long promised to root out Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) measures across each branch. 

The Pentagon under Trump, however, has not waited for a confirmed secretary. 

This week, the commander of the Air Force‘s 613th Air Operations Center in Hawaii, who had advocated for more women in roles like her own, was removed from her position. Gen. Kevin Schneider, commander of Pacific Air Forces, relieved Col. Julie Sposito-Salceies from the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, ‘due to loss of confidence in her ability to command the organization.’

Shortly after Trump took office, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan, the first uniformed woman to lead any military branch, was removed from her position. 

Trump this week also nominated former Space Force Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier and former Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller to top Defense Department posts – both men who were deeply critical of the Biden administration’s policies at the Pentagon. 

Lohmeier, who had been nominated to serve as undersecretary of the Air Force, was fired as commander of the 11th Space Warning Squadron at Buckley Air Force base, after he wrote a book and appeared on podcasts claiming Marxism had infiltrated the armed forces and criticizing diversity policies.

Scheller made headlines for posting videos in uniform criticizing senior military leaders over the Afghanistan withdrawal. Scheller, the new senior advisor to the Department of Defense Under Secretary for personnel and readiness, was sent to the brig and court-martialed over the clips. 

Hegseth’s nomination was dealt a last-minute hurdle earlier this week when reports emerged that his ex-sister-in-law alleged he had abused his second wife. 

On Tuesday, Fox News obtained an affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, which alleged he had an alcohol abuse problem and at times made his ex-wife, Samantha, fear for her safety. Danielle Hegseth was previously married to Pete Hegseth’s brother and has no relation to Samantha.

But Danielle Hegseth added that she never witnessed any abuse herself, physical or sexual, by Pete against Samantha. 

Samantha Hegseth has also denied any physical abuse in a statement to NBC News.

Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker said in a statement Wednesday night that reports ‘regarding a confidential briefing on the FBI background investigation of Pete Hegseth that I received last week are starkly and factually inaccurate,’ and that he stands by Hegseth’s nomination.

Earlier Thursday, Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., urged Republicans to join him in opposing the former Fox News host and Army national guardsman. 

‘Hegseth is so utterly unqualified, he ranks up there [as] … one of the very worst nominees that could be put forward,’ Schumer said.

Hegseth, who has been married three times, has admitted he was a ‘serial cheater’ before he became a Christian and married his current wife, Jenny. 

The 44-year-old Army National Guard veteran, who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, is relatively young and inexperienced, compared to defense secretaries in the past, retiring as a major. But Republicans say they don’t want someone who made it to the top brass who’s become entrenched in the Pentagon establishment. 

The nomination of Gov. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., to be the next Homeland Security secretary defeated a key hurdle in the confirmation process on Friday night, advancing to a final vote later this weekend. 

Her confirmation vote is expected to take place early Sunday morning. 

If confirmed, Noem will become the fourth of President Donald Trump’s picks to be advanced out of the Senate, behind Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and incoming Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. 

Votes that are expected soon after Noem’s are those for Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent, followed by Transportation Secretary pick Sean Duffy. 

The South Dakota governor is expected to receive bipartisan support for her confirmation to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Her nomination advanced out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) by a vote of 13-2. Only two Democrats voted against her. 

‘I was the first Governor to send National Guard troops to Texas when they were being overwhelmed by an unprecedented border crisis,’ Noem told the committee during her confirmation hearing last week. 

‘If confirmed as Secretary, I will ensure that our exceptional, extraordinary border patrol agents have all the tools and resources and support they need to carry out their mission effectively.’

The terrorist group Hamas released four additional hostages from Gaza on Saturday after a ceasefire deal with Israel took effect nearly a week ago.

Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag — all of whom are members of the Israeli Defense Forces —were freed on Saturday in the second round of hostage releases.

In exchange, Israel was expected to free 200 Palestinian prisoners or detainees, including 120 militants serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks.

The first round of hostage releases on Sunday freed Romi Gonen, Emily Demari, and Doron Steinbrecher.

Video from Palestine Square in Gaza shows the four newly released women hostages being taken from the cars. They are alive and walking, wearing uniforms.

‘The Red Cross has communicated that four Israeli hostages were transferred to them and are on their way toward IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip,’ the IDF and Israeli Securities Authority said in a joint statement.

The four female soldiers were believed to have been, at least at one time, held all together.

Under the ceasefire deal, a total of 33 hostages are to be set free over the course of six weeks, including those already released, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Hamas agreed to release three female hostages on the first day of the deal, four on the seventh day and the remaining 26 over the next five weeks.

This is the second cease-fire achieved during the war that began more than a year ago.

The 15-month-long war in Gaza started when Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, prompting military retaliation from Israeli forces. Nearly 100 hostages remain captive in Gaza.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 

President Donald Trump is back in the White House and moving at warp speed to push through his long-awaited agenda with dozens of executive orders, surveying damaged areas in North Carolina and California, and rallying behind his Cabinet nominees to get confirmed.

In his inauguration address on Monday, the new president vowed that things across the country would ‘change starting today, and it will change very quickly.’ And moments later, White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich took to social media to tease, ‘Now, comes SHOCK AND AWE.’

Trump signed an avalanche of executive orders and actions in his first eight hours in office, which not only fulfilled major campaign trail promises, but also allowed the returning president to flex his executive muscles as well as settle some longstanding grievances.

The president immediately cracked down on immigration; moved towards a trade war with top allies and adversaries; and reversed many policies implemented by former President Joe Biden, including scrapping much of the previous administration’s federal diversity actions and energy and climate provisions.

He also sparked a major controversy by pardoning or commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 supporters who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to upend congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory. Among those whose sentences were commuted included some who violently assaulted police officers on one of America’s darkest days.

Trump also fired some top government officials; made a high-profile, half-trillion dollar tech investment announcement; held unscripted and wide-ranging, informal and impromptu news conferences during his first two days back at the White House; and even renamed the Gulf of Mexico the ‘Gulf of America.’

The frenetic pace kept up throughout the week, with more executive orders signed and actions taken by Trump and his new administration during the first 100 hours in office.

Amid the fast-paced environment of the first week of the Trump White House, Senate Republicans and the president’s allies are rallying behind his Cabinet nominees and pushing them to get confirmed. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Radcliffe were confirmed by the Senate earlier this week, and several other nominees are expected to be confirmed between the weekend and next week. 

On Friday, the president took to the skies, flying to hurricane-ravaged western North Carolina and then on to Los Angeles, where horrific wildfires this month have left a wide path of destruction.

‘I think it’s brilliant how they’ve been handling it, to immediately meet the moment with action. It’s exactly what he needs to do and it’s exactly what the people voted for,’ veteran Republican strategist Kristin Davison told Fox News.

‘Americans vote for decisive, fast action, and true leadership. And Trump understands that more than anyone. I think he and his team knew how important it was out of the gate to show that they heard what the people wanted and are answering with leadership,’ she argued.

Longtime Republican consultant Alex Castellanos agreed.

‘He’s flooding the zone. He’s making a case for action. He’s demonstrating action. He is rallying a wave of American support for a massive transformation of government,’ Castellanos, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, told Fox News. 

Seasoned Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo didn’t dispute Trump’s frenetic actions.

‘The pace of this shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. Trump made it abundantly clear he was going to act quickly, he was going to act boldly, and he was going to do exactly what he told voters he would do,’ he said.

But Caiazzo argued that ‘the things he is doing is going to directly negatively impact working families from coast to coast. It’s also a signal he has no respect for the rule of law.’ 

Asked if Trump’s actions were what Americans voted for this past autumn, Caiazzo replied, ‘Of course not. What Americans voted for was cheaper groceries. What Donald Trump is going to give us is a litany of policies that work to deteriorate our institutions, that work to enrich the wealthy and solidify his standing among the oligarchy in this country.’

There’s another reason for Trump’s fast pace — even though he’s the new president, he’s also a term-limited and lame-duck president. And by Labor Day, much of the political world will start looking ahead to the 2026 midterm elections.

‘This is his second term. He’s got to move quickly,’ Davison emphasized.

Trump’s show of force in the opening days of his second administration is also in contrast to eight years ago, when he first entered the White House.

The president and his team are much more seasoned the second time around, and the supporting cast is intensely loyal to Trump.

‘In the past administration, there would be logjams and bottlenecks because there were people who didn’t agree with him,’ a senior White House source told Fox News. ‘Now we have a whole infrastructure and staff that’s built around him, in support of him. When he says something, it’s getting done. It’s testament to him and the team that he built.’

Credit is also being given to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who, as co-campaign manager of Trump’s 2024 presidential bid, kept the trains on the tracks.

‘What Susie has done is look at the totality of Trump and found the best players and put them in the best positions to support the president. Trump is surrounded by Trump people who’ve all proven themselves over the years not just to be loyal but ultra-competent operators,’ added an adviser, who asked for anonymity to speak more freely.

More than 200,000 children have been abducted by Russia since the start of its invasion of Ukraine, Chairman Emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said, citing U.S. estimates.

‘If a foreign adversary took 260,000 of our kids, and they were in indoctrination camps, I mean, how would we feel about that?’ McCaul asked Fox News Digital.

The Texas Republican was recently term-limited in his time as chairman of the foreign affairs panel, but he is continuing to work on the world stage, in part by raising awareness about Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine. Among the most egregious is the relocation of thousands of Ukrainian children into Russia, the vast majority of whom have not been returned.

Some parents would be coerced into giving up their children because Russian forces were threatening to bomb their city, McCaul said, while other times ‘they just invade and capture the children.’

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in February 2023 for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, ‘for the war crime of unlawful deportation of [children] and that of unlawful transfer of [children] from occupied areas of Ukraine.’

Lvova-Belova was sanctioned last year by the U.S. over her part in the scheme, which has been widely condemned by western governments.

However, the Kremlin has denied war crime allegations and maintained it is doing humanitarian work facilitating homes for Ukrainian children, NPR reported.

Existing accounts from returned children and elsewhere paint a picture of forced indoctrination within Russia’s borders, however. Some of those children are given military training, according to the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, likely in preparation to fight on Russia’s front lines.

Estimates on how many children have been taken to Russia vary between 20,000 to upwards of 250,000.

Part of McCaul’s work raising awareness about Russia’s treatment of Ukrainian children will include a screening of a documentary titled, ‘Children in the Fire: Ukraine’s War Through the Children’s Eyes’ by filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky, at the Munich Security Conference next month.

He has also worked with the nonprofit Save Ukraine, which is working to return children.

‘In the documentary, the child’s brought into this prison where it looks like adults are being— basically they’re using electrodes to shock them, you know, under their fingernails and their genitals, and it’s just very, very barbaric,’ McCaul said.

He also held a hearing last year on the issue while leading the foreign affairs committee.

McCaul said Russia’s abduction of children is among the most vile of its alleged violations of the Geneva Conventions. He compared it to infamous Nazi physician Josef Mengele’s experiments on Jewish children and adults.

‘It’s just evil. I mean, any civilization that would capture— I mean, it’s one thing if you’re on the battlefield killing the enemy, from their point of view,’ McCaul said. ‘But to capture the children to re-indoctrinate them is sort of reminiscent of, you know, Mengele’s experiments on kids…And I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this in recent society.’

The House passed a resolution last year condemning Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children in a bipartisan 390 to 9 vote.

‘It’s just horrific. I can’t imagine, as a father, my children being, you know, taken away by the Russian Federation and then not knowing where they are or what’s happening to them,’ McCaul said. ‘But this is all part of Putin’s game, is to try to indoctrinate the children in Ukraine to go against their own country and belief system.’