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A firearms instructor condemned Washington lawmakers for voting to ban the sale, manufacture and import of a wide array of guns in the state.

"Both sides, I think, want the same thing," Jane Milhans, a Washington State Rifle and Pistol Association board member, told Fox News. "We both want to stop crime. We don't like seeing people killed. But they're targeting the wrong people."

DOMESTIC EXTREMISM BILL WOULD CRIMINALIZE FREE SPEECH, CREATE 'MINISTRY OF TRUTH,' ADVOCACY GROUP WARNS

House Bill 1240 bans so-called "assault weapons" — primarily semiautomatic rifles — with exceptions for law enforcement and the military. The bill passed the Senate Saturday and will return to the House for a second vote because it was amended. The bill will take effect immediately upon Gov. Jay Inslee's signature. 

Washington will become the tenth state to adopt a ban on such weapons.

"Assault weapons are civilian versions of weapons created for the military and are designed to kill humans quickly and efficiently," the bill states.

It bans more than 60 specific firearms, most of them semiautomatic long guns such as AR-15s and AK-47s. Semiautomatic pistols and shotguns with certain features outlined in the bill may also be banned, but the specific guns are not listed.

"The bill takes away the personal protection option that may work the best for some people," Milhans said.

One of her students, a woman in her 70s, recently bought her first rifle for home defense. "I feel for people like her, that her option is also taken away," Milhans said.

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Milhans said most crimes are committed with pistols, not rifles, and that guns used in crime are often gained illegally to begin with.

"Black market, drug deals, theft, straw purchases," Milhans said. "So these bills will not stop that because none of those illegal firearm owners get background checks, go through safety training or do any of that."

About 25% of mass shooters used "assault weapons" to commit their crimes, according to The Violence Project, a database supported by the National Institute of Justice. The project chronicles mass shootings in which four or more victims were murdered with firearms in a public location.

Washington has had eight such shootings since 1966, according to The Violence Project, the majority of which involved handguns.

But semiautomatic rifles have been used in other murders in the state, including the 2016 shooting at a Mukilteo house party, which spurred Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson to advocate for an "assault weapon" ban.

"The devastation of mass shootings extends far beyond the casualties and injuries," Ferguson said in a statement after HB 1240's Senate passage. "Mass shootings traumatize entire communities. We must stop selling these weapons of war in Washington."

People who already own semiautomatic rifles will be able to keep them when the law takes effect. But the bill also bans conversion kits and parts that can be used to assemble an "assault weapon," which Milhans said will make it impossible for competitive shooters to repair their firearms.

"There's just a lot of misinformation," Milhans said of the gun control debate. "People have the assumption that these rifles are military rifles and they just aren't."

Milhans advocated for increased gun safety training, particularly in schools, and procedures to make soft targets safer.

"Because none of these laws will stop any crime," she said.

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Billionaire tech tycoon Elon Musk caused intense consternation among the political class and the legacy media last year when he revealed his intention to buy Twitter. 

Musk was once widely embraced by liberals particularly for his innovation in electric vehicles. He was adored by the left so much so that he was invited to host "Saturday Night Live" in 2021.

However, attitudes changed toward the business icon when he began teasing the notion of buying Twitter and floating idea of what he would do if he were in charge, like reinstating former President Trump's account, something Democrats and the press decried. 

Musk, who proudly described himself as a "free speech absolutist," repeatedly vocalized that his north star for Twitter is treating the platform as a public square and upholding freedom of expression, something conservatives celebrated as puncturing a hole in an industry dominated by the progressive left. 

TWITTER FILES JOURNO MATT TAIBBI DUMPS PLATFORM AFTER ELON MUSK RESTRICTS SUBSTACK CONTENT

One of his boldest actions as the Twitter boss was restoring the accounts of many users who were stuck in "Twitter Jail." In addition to Trump, Musk allowed back a slew of political and cultural personalities including popular Canadian psychologist and author Jordan Peterson, far-right activist Laura Loomer, pro-Trump meme creator Carpe Donktum, the liberal Krassenstein Brothers as well as the conservative satirical outlet The Babylon Bee, whose suspension allegedly inspired Musk to take over Twitter in the first place. 

Musk also attempted to show transparency by granting a select group of journalists access to what was dubbed the "Twitter Files," which were company archives that shed light on controversial decisions that were made behind the scenes like suspending Trump's account to suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 election. The Twitter Files also exposed the company's cozy relationship with the federal government and its effort to moderate content as well as the shadowbanning of prominent conservatives, something Twitter's former CEO Jack Dorsey denied to Congress under oath.

But his record as a "free speech absolutist" came into question in December when a group of Twitter users, many of them journalists, were suspended for allegedly violating a newly-implemented "doxxing" policy that was created in response to an account called "@ElonJet" that exclusively tracked Musk's private jet usage based on public data that's on a time delay, which he blamed for an alleged stalking incident that occurred. Journalists who reported on the account's suspension were suspended themselves. Musk initially defended the ban but reinstated their accounts following tense backlash. 

"Elon had previously said, ‘Look how pro-free speech I am! I allow this troll to use the platform to monitor me.’ And then he completely did a 180 and banned the guy and said, 'It's not free speech, it's doxxing,'" BASEDPolitics editor-in-chief Brad Polumbo told Fox News Digital. "And so to see him do a complete 180 on something like that in such a short period of time was a real red flag for me."

Polumbo was among many libertarian and conservative commentators who cheered on Musk's takeover of Twitter when he first revealed his ambition to control the company in April 2022 when he became its largest shareholder. 

WHAT ELON MUSK'S TWITTER FILES HAVE UNCOVERED ABOUT THE TECH GIANT SO FAR

"I thought the idea of him buying Twitter was really exciting," Polumbo said. "Somebody would take over one of these platforms and actually allow free speech and show them how it's done. And that's why I feel a little betrayed by Elon because he got our hopes up that he would be different. And then he's doing a lot of the same stuff that the other big tech companies do, censoring and colluding with governments and enacting personal bias in the decision-making of content moderation, all the same stuff we wanted him to change."

"The previous regime had been heavily censorious with a very clear liberal bent. And I'm somebody who believes that social media companies should be robust platforms for all viewpoints and free flow of information. I very much believe in the free marketplace of ideas. But Elon, while he talked the talk, he has not walked the walk," he added. 

Polumbo seemed to exhaust his hope in Musk with a tweet from Monday that read "I will openly admit that I got Elon Musk wrong. I fell for his spin and empty promises. He has turned out to be a tremendous disappointment."

It was in reaction to Musk's drastic suppression of content from the popular newsletter subscription service Substack, not allowing users to like, retweet, or reply to links of articles from the platform he considered a "competitor," even pushing an "unsafe" warning label for those who click the links. He had accused Substack of using Twitter's code to develop a similar program called Substack Notes (Substack denied such charges). 

"The fact that he would even do something like that- I mean, you're talking about a massive journalism platform, and you're blocking it from your free speech platform that is all over a business dispute you have with the company—you don't like a new product they're launching because you think it's a competitor that is totally anathema to the spirit of free speech," Polumbo said. 

Following a firestorm of criticism, Musk reversed those actions though it will not promote Substack content in its "For You" feed unless it's with paid advertising.

Polumbo knocked Musk for permanently banning Kanye West, who Musk alleged violated Twitter's policy on inciting violence for posting an image of Nazi swastika inside a Jewish star (that post came weeks after the rapper was locked out of his account for his "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE" tweet). Polumbo called the swastika tweet "horrible" but argued "hate speech is free speech" and that Musk's claim that the tweet incited violence was a "made up pretense" to ban the controversial artist.

He also swiped the billionaire after Twitter complied with Indian government earlier this year to removed content from a BBC documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, something Musk claimed was "not aware" of what had transpired. 

Sean Davis, the CEO and co-founder of The Federalist, had longstanding issues with Twitter, particularly since his account was shadowbanned in the pre-Musk era and was only restored after fellow conservative Robby Starbuck vouched for him in an appeal to the billionaire owner, though he told Fox News Digital he believes his account is still being impacted based on the lack of visibility his tweets currently receive compared to before. 

But his frustration with Twitter reached a boiling point following last month's mass shooting in Nashville, where a trans shooter murdered six people at a private Christian school, including three children. Davis tweeted an article published days prior about a scheduled "Trans Day of Vengeance" event being held that weekend, suggesting a potential motive for the massacre. 

Days later, he was locked out of his account for allegedly "violating [Twitter's] rules against violent speech." Other journalists including Polumbo and prominent conservatives like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., were similarly punished for sounding the alarm on the viral poster for the upcoming event (it was later canceled).

TWITTER REMOVES OVER 5,000 TWEETS ABOUT RADICAL GROUP'S ‘TRANS DAY OF VENGEANCE’

Both Davis and Polumbo told Fox News Digital their appeals to Twitter were immediately denied. Polumbo ultimately deleted the tweet to get back on the platform while Davis's account was later unlocked after Starbuck called out Twitter for its blanket ban on conservative users. 

Davis and Polumbo also said this was the first time either of them were locked out of their accounts, something they never experienced in the pre-Musk Twitter. 

It was then when Davis declared in a headline published in The Federalist "Twitter Cannot Be Saved. It’s Time For Free Speech Proponents To Let It Die." 

"I never glorify violence. I don't incite violence. I reported an obvious fact that unfortunately, it was really, really inconvenient for the entire trans movement," Davis told Fox News Digital.

Davis compared the indiscriminate punishing of accounts decrying the "Trans Day of Vengeance" to Twitter banning the New York Post's reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop during the 2020 presidential election, telling Fox News Digital, "It's Hunter Biden all over again." 

"I actually like Elon a lot. I think he's probably one of the most impressive businessmen in history… But, I mean, at some point you have to judge a tree by its fruit. It's 2023. And the exact same thing that happened to conservatives has happened during the New York Post-Hunter Biden laptop debacle," Davis said. 

Davis recalled a tweet from Musk in November when he announced Twitter's new policy was "freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach," telling users "negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized" and that "You won't find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out."

"Any time you get into that, it's totalitarianism. You can dress it up however you like… it's tyranny," Davis said. 

The Federalist CEO also called out Ella Irwin, Twitter's vice president in trust and safety who was outspoken in defending its actions in cracking down on users who shared the "Trans Day of Vengeance" poster regardless of the context from various users.

"I know [Musk has] fired a ton of people, but he clearly hasn't fired nearly enough," Davis said. "People like her and people who I'm sure are still crawling all over that place just waiting for [Musk] to leave so they can get back to business as usual- they all have to go."

"But even if that happens, as long as he is endorsing this 'speech, not reach' concept and Twitter has no value because if the company can just arbitrarily shut off people's reach and access whenever they have in someone's political sensibilities, that is not a platform that I think anyone on the right will have any interest in participating in," Davis added. 

MEDIA CRITICS SOUND ALARM ON 'VERY STRANGE' IRS VISIT TO MATT TAIBBI'S HOME DURING TWITTER FILES TESTIMONY

Ford Fischer, an independent journalist and documentarian who runs the YouTube channel News2Share, had similar problems with pre-Musk Twitter when his account was shadowbanned after he shared footage he captured from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot on the platform. 

Fischer told Fox News Digital he was "cautiously optimistic" at first about Musk's takeover of Twitter and while he "has improved certain elements of the platform," he saw other actions as being "totally contradictory" to the free speech stance Musk once touted. Fischer pointed to Musk's decision in December to ban promotional posts from other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon.

That, Fischer says, was a sign that if content was seen as impacting the profitability of Twitter, Musk was willing to drop free speech absolutism. 

"I think I’ve seen Elon instead change censorship so that certain categories like hate speech are more liberalized for sure, but some enforcement actions like banning journalists who link to sources with public info and calling that ‘doxxing’ actually feel a lot more arbitrary and inequitable," Fischer continued. "The solution to censorship of one side isn’t to censor the other side; it’s just to be a truly public square." 

Fischer also took issue with Musk's Twitter polls which have left it up to users to decide whether certain accounts are allowed back like the one he conducted for Trump, telling Fox News Digital "The problem is the implication that censorship would be justified if most people favored it."

Much like his conservative and libertarian fan base, Musk has an adversarial relationship with the legacy media. And has pulled the levers of power as the owner of Twitter to essentially "troll" certain news organizations.

Earlier this month, Musk removed The New York Times' verified check mark, calling the paper "propaganda." Days later, he slapped NPR with a "US state-affiliated media" label since it receives government funding. The label had traditionally been applied to state-run media outlets in foreign autocracies, like Russia’s RT and China’s Xinhua. Following criticism from the left, Musk changed NPR's label to "Government-funded Media." NPR announced Tuesday it was quitting Twitter as a result. 

Twitter's official press email address now responds to inquiries with an autoreply of the poop emoji, which was sent to Fox News Digital when asked to comment on this story. 

But it's not just establish press he has clashed with since his takeover of Twitter. 

MUSK BLASTS BBC REPORTER WHO CLAIMS TWITTER HAS RISE IN HATE SPEECH: ‘YOU CAN’T NAME A SINGLE EXAMPLE'

In targeting Substack, Musk fueled a riff with independent journalist Matt Taibbi, one of the Twitter Files reporters he tapped to uncover the skeletons in Twitter's closet. Before Musk's reversal, Taibbi had told his followers he was dumping Twitter since his livelihood came from subscriptions to his Substack newsletter. In doing so, Taibbi acknowledged his future reporting on the Twitter Files could be in doubt for taking such a stance.

Musk further escalated tensions when he leaked his private conversation with Taibbi on Twitter. The screenshots showed Taibbi questioning Musk if he was being personally targeted on the platform and Musk pressing Taibbi whether he was "employed" by Substack (Taibbi was formerly a Substack Pro contributor and receives money from individual Substack subscribers but was never a Substack employee). Musk later deleted the tweet but not before others preserved their heated exchange. 

He had a similar falling out with Bari Weiss, another independent journalist he tapped to report on the Twitter Files. Her sin was speaking out against Musk's decision to ban journalists covering the "ElonJet" saga in December. Musk took a swipe at Weiss in response, tweeting "Rather than rigorously pursuing truth, you are virtue-signaling to show that you are ‘good’ in the eyes of media elite to keep one foot in both worlds." He then unfollowed her Twitter account and according to Weiss restricted her access to the Twitter Files.

In other words, the "free speech absolutist" turned on Taibbi and Weiss for advocating for free speech principles.

Fourth Watch media critic Steve Krakauer told Fox News Digital, "Like many people who spend too much time on Twitter, Elon isn't immune to being thin-skinned and putting far too much weight in the bubble that is Twitter."

"He's easily provoked, and he makes rash decisions that are more personal than business," Krakauer said. "And much of the way he's dealt with those who criticize him show that his promise of free speech principles has left him conflicted - whether to stand by his principles that he touts or to deviate from them in order to serve other agendas, often petty fights that he's in at the time."

Krakauer, author of the book "Uncovered: How the Media Got Cozy with Power, Abandoned Its Principles, and Lost the People," said he had "high hopes" for Musk's takeover of Twitter and that he's "still overall bullish" on Twitter's future with Musk at the helm despite some "clear speed bumps."

"I still think Twitter is better off with him leading the way than the regime that was there before, and it could be vastly worse," Krakauer said. "Twitter isn't led by easily impressionable, suppression-loving anti-speech activists like it was before. And that's a good thing in the long run, even if the path isn't always smooth."

Polumbo disagreed, telling Fox News Digital that Twitter has gotten "worse" under Musk's watch, citing frequent "technical glitches" he believes are the result of the mass layoffs that transpired at its San Francisco headquarters in addition to the "chaotic" actions he has taken. 

"I think on net, Twitter is worse now under Elon Musk than it was before," Polumbo said. "[I'm] not saying it can't get better in the future, but right now I would say it is worse."

Fischer told Fox News Digital "it's really hard to say" whether things on Twitter have gotten better or worse under Musk.

"I think it is better that Elon seems fundamentally interested in improving transparency around the algorithm, for example… I also am very excited by Elon’s promise to add monetization ad-sharing features for content creators. That hasn’t happened yet, but would be a huge benefit to creators like me," Fischer explained. "I do think the element that’s worse is that Elon has introduced a few new and sometimes unpredictable censorship measures such as punishing some outgoing links, and penalizing publicly available flight data."

When asked whether Twitter has gotten better or worse under Musk, Davis cited his own engagement numbers, which have not seen an improvement since he took over despite no longer technically being shadowbanned and the fact that he had never been locked out of his account until last month. 

"And when the entire value of your platform is your ability to reach large numbers of people and that's your whole value, you simply cannot exist as a free speech forum by limiting people's reach. It's nonsensical," Davis told Fox News Digital. 

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Religious nonprofits who spoke to Fox News Digital warned of increasing cultural and government hostility toward Catholics and other Christians under the Biden administration.

Their warnings come amid skyrocketing rates of church vandalism, legislation targeting church sacraments and the alleged weaponization of federal law enforcement against people of faith.

‘Secular dogmas’

"I think it's just a rise in secularism in the United States," Arielle Del Turco, assistant director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council (FRC), told Fox News Digital.

Del Turco is the primary author of "Hostility Against Churches Is on the Rise in the United States," the FRC's report documenting the increasing rate of church vandalism in the U.S. during recent years. In an update published this month, the report noted that 2023 is already on track to log the highest number of church vandalism incidents within the six years FRC has been tracking them.

According to the report, 69 acts of hostility against churches in 29 states have already occurred during the first quarter of the year, including 53 acts of vandalism, 10 arson attacks or attempts, three gun-related incidents, three bomb threats and two other incidents such as assault. The statistics represent approximately three times the number of hostile acts that FRC recorded in the same time frame last year.

BIDEN DOJ RECOMMENDS NO JAIL TIME FOR TRANS VANDAL OF CATHOLIC CHURCH: ‘F--- CATHOLICS’

"As secularism increases, people just understand religion less [and] less, they have less of the respect for religion that they might have had decades ago," said Del Turco of what might drive someone to vandalize a church. She also pinpointed a conflict between Christianity and "secular dogmas" rooted in the Sexual Revolution, such as abortion, same-sex marriage and other LGBT issues.

"All of these are increasingly in conflict with core Christian teachings and core Christian beliefs. So, the left is getting increasingly intolerant of Christianity for this reason, and I think we're seeing that even being represented physically with these physical attacks on churches."

Noting that while churches across multiple denominations of Christianity have been attacked, Del Turco said Roman Catholic churches especially tend to be the primary targets.

ATTACKS AGAINST US CHURCHES SPIKED FOLLOWING ROE V WADE REVERSAL: REPORT

"I think that's because they are just a beautiful outward representation of Christianity," she said of Catholic churches. "They have these beautiful buildings, they have statues outside, but also they are expressly pro-life. So, they do bear the brunt of most of these attacks."

Del Turco also said she believes the Biden administration has made evident by its actions that religious freedom and pursuing the violent offenders against it are "not a priority."

"I think even the public discourse — the way that President Biden talks about Christians or people who might oppose some of these secular dogmas — creates a really dangerous environment where people feel increasingly comfortable lashing out against churches," she said.

‘New and dangerous territory’

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, told Fox News Digital that activist secularists have grown militant and have seized the reins of power in recent decades. He said the source of hostility has shifted in the 30 years since he has headed up the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization.

DIOCESE CONDEMNS DELAWARE BILL REQUIRING PRIESTS TO BREAK SEAL OF CONFESSION: ‘A CLEAR VIOLATION’

"When I first started out, most of the anti-Catholicism was coming from the media, the entertainment industry, the arts, education, primarily there," he said. "It's changed. It's coming now more from the Corporate 500, from the United States government, as well as from some state and local governments."

Donohue mentioned bills proposed in multiple states that would require priests to break the seal of confession and the proposed Equality Act, which he said would pull public funding from Catholic hospitals that refuse to perform abortions or sex reassignment surgeries.

"When the government comes after you with their powers, it's serious," he said, noting how the FBI sent a SWAT team to the home pro-life father Mark Houck and has reportedly targeted "Radical-Traditionalist Catholics."

Donohue fired off a letter Tuesday to Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, demanding answers amid internal documents that showed an attempt by the FBI to develop sources in Catholic churches to combat domestic terrorism, which he wrote "is taking the FBI into new and dangerous territory."

FBI Director Christopher Wray said during a recent congressional hearing that he was "aghast" when he saw reports about the FBI targeting Catholics, and assured that such "does not reflect FBI standards."

FBI SOUGHT TO DEVELOP SOURCES IN CATHOLIC CHURCHES TO COMBAT DOMESTIC TERRORISM

"The church is not encroaching on the government, it's the government encroaching on the churches, and it's coming most viciously from the Biden administration," Donohue told Fox News Digital. "I've never seen a more anti-Catholic administration in my life."

‘Woke idol’

Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org, told Fox News Digital that the rise of anti-Catholic sentiment across the country, particularly from federal and state governments, is "exceptionally worrisome."

"In many ways, what we're seeing is unprecedented and poses serious threats to the ability of Catholics to freely practice their faith — free from threats of vandalism, violence or even coercion from governmental actors," he said.

Burch said his organization endeavors to "awaken Catholics to the threats that are now real and present," but he noted that many Catholics — including many in positions of leadership in the Church — remain unaware of the gravity of the growing cultural hostility they face.

WALTER REED ‘CEASE AND DESIST’ ORDER FOR CATHOLIC PRIESTS VIOLATES FIRST AMENDMENT, GOP LAWMAKERS SAY

Burch attributed the escalation to those who fundamentally misunderstand what religion represents and instead adhere to "a radical left-wing ideology that believes organized religion poses a threat to their vision of what America ought to be and should become."

He said that ideology maintains that religion is oppressive amid mankind's technological and scientific progress and has managed to seep into the highest levels of government and corporate America.

The cultural battle has been simmering for decades, Burch said, but has intensified under the Biden administration, which he said "has staffed itself up and down the executive branch — and now increasingly inside the judicial branch — with people who share this ideology."

Burch said the anti-Catholic hostility fanning out across the country poses a threat not just to Catholics but to "all people of good will who still believe in and hold traditional moral beliefs about human sexuality, biological science on gender, the institution of marriage, the foundational unit of the family, the critical role of religion in society."

Such beliefs "are deemed out of bounds and antithetical to the kind of ‘woke idol’ that they all now worship," he added.

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The George Soros-bankrolled prosecutor in St. Louis who's facing a legal effort by Missouri's attorney general to fire her for allegedly neglecting her duties now has another hurdle to overcome: A challenger for next year's election who similarly claims the incumbent isn't doing her job.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner is in a legal fight to hold onto her position as Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey seeks to fire her, claiming the prosecutor isn't enforcing the law and protecting public safety.

With Gardner under mounting pressure, criminal defense attorney David Mueller announced this week that he'll run for St. Louis circuit attorney, making him the first person to challenge the Soros-backed incumbent.

Mueller, 37, is a St. Louis native and political novice but thinks his city is at an inflection point and needs immediate change.

SOROS-BACKED PROSECUTOR MIRED IN SCANDAL FACING NEW COMPLAINTS OF NEGLIGENCE, MISCONDUCT

"We're losing 7,000 residents a year," he told the Riverfront Times, a local newspaper. "We're going to go from the 20th largest [metro region] in the country to the 30th in a decade. If we don't change it now, the next Busch Stadium is going to be built in Pacific."

"We have to keep people; we have to attract people," continued Mueller. "We've got the new NGA going in. It's an opportunity. People are excited about the city. They're excited about Cortex. But if we fail in this moment, I really believe that the city is in danger."

Mueller, who previously worked as a public defender in the St. Louis County trial office, said he voted for Gardner, whom he said hasn't lived up to the promises of the racial justice platform on which she campaigned. He cited the case of Levi Henning, a client of his who was prosecuted by Gardner's office, as what ultimately motivated him to run for circuit attorney.

In March 2021, Henning, 21, was charged with murder. Five months later, police processed DNA evidence collected from the scene that suggested someone else was there. According to Mueller, however, the Circuit Attorney's Office waited six months to disclose that evidence to him and still didn't drop the charges. He also said prosecutors had ballistics evidence tying the killing to a murder committed by another man but sat on it for over a year.

Last month, Gardner's office dropped the charges against Henning.

SOROS-BACKED PROSECUTOR PUSHED BY MISSOURI AG TO RESIGN HAS HISTORY OF SCANDALS, ALLEGED MISCONDUCT

"When I think about systemic problems in [Gardner's] office, I think about my clients, the young men sitting in the Justice Center without any hope of resolution in a timely fashion," said Mueller. "It's not justice to hold somebody for a year before you can get a case for the grand jury."

Gardner is one of the first prosecutors whom Soros, a liberal billionaire and Democrat mega-donor, bankrolled in 2016 and again for her reelection in 2020. She announced last month that she'll seek a third term.

The Henning case echoes a recent wave of bad headlines for the circuit attorney. Last week, for example, a St. Louis judge sanctioned Gardner's office for withholding evidence in a double-homicide case and for allowing the suspect out on bond.

"The court finds that there have been repeated delays by the state in obtaining discovery and providing it to the defense," the judge wrote. "There has been a lack of diligence on the part of the state in following up and providing discovery to the defendant in a timely fashion. As a result of the state's actions and lack of diligence, the court grants defendant's second motion for sanctions."

In a separate case, St. Louis prosecutors dismissed and refiled charges against two men accused of killing a father and his 7-year-old daughter, likely pushing back the trial by months. According to an investigation by local CBS affiliate KMOV, the reason for the dismissal and refiling is that "the prosecutors weren't ready for trial," which was set to take place in a matter of days.

ST LOUIS HOMICIDE DETECTIVE BLOWS WHISTLE ON SOROS-BACKED DA'S 'CONCERTED EFFORT TO BREAK DOWN THE SYSTEM'

Dismissing and refiling cases has become increasingly common as Gardner's understaffed office, which has lost several lawyers in recent years, has struggled to prepare for trials, according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch analysis.

On Thursday, Gardner's office seemed to blame police for having to dismiss and refile the double-murder case: "In this case, the CAO was not provided evidence in a timely manner due to acknowledged staffing challenges at the police department," Gardner spokeswoman Allison Hawk said in a statement.

The St. Louis Police Officers' Association responded by lambasting Gardner's office for trying to shift the blame: "Police officers shouldn't be made scapegoats for an overworked, backlogged and mismanaged Circuit Attorney's Office," the union said in a statement.

On Friday, meanwhile, the attorney for a man accused of striking teenage volleyball player Janae Edmonson with his car and causing her to lose her legs entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his client, but a judge had to print a copy of the indictment for him in court. That's because Daniel Riley's attorney told the presiding judge that he never got a copy of the indictment for his client from Gardner's Office, so the judge printed one for him while he was in the courtroom, according to local reports.

Edmonson lost her legs in the incident while visiting St. Louis with her volleyball team. Riley, the man charged with assault, armed criminal action and operating a motor vehicle without a valid license, was out on bail awaiting trial for an armed robbery from 2020 and had violated the terms of his bond at least 50 times, according to local reports.

ST. LOUIS DA SHOVED 'AGGRESSIVE' RACIAL EQUITY AGENDAS INTO DAILY PROSECUTION DECISIONS USING SOROS-LINKED ORG

However, there's no record of Gardner's office, which is responsible for monitoring compliance with bond conditions and revoking them when those terms are violated, asking for Riley's bond to be revoked.

In February, following the Edmonson matter, Bailey filed a petition quo warranto, the legal mechanism under state statute that allows the attorney general to remove a prosecutor who neglects her duties. 

"This is about a quantum of evidence that demonstrates her failure to prosecute cases, failure to inform and confer with victims in cases and failure to file new cases that are referred by law enforcement agencies," Bailey told Fox News Digital at the time of the filing.

He separately said in a statement that Gardner is "creating" victims instead of "protecting" them.

Bailey claims nearly 12,000 criminal cases have been dismissed to what he calls Gardner's failures. He also says more than 9,000 cases were thrown out as they were about to go to trial, forcing judges to dismiss more than 2,000 cases due to what Bailey described as a failure to provide defendants with evidence and speedy trials.

DEM ATTORNEY KIM GARDNER HIT WITH SUBPOENA AMID LEGAL BATTLE TO REMOVE HER FROM OFFICE

On Tuesday, Gardner responded to Bailey's allegations in a legal filing.

"His amended petition is a gross power grab, an affront to the liberties of all Missourians and the democratic process," said Gardner. "If the attorney general or the political interests behind his petition were truly concerned about crime in St. Louis, they would seek to assist with resources."

Gardner, who's refused to leave office amid Bailey's probe, has called his efforts a political witch hunt and a form of "voter suppression," suggesting racism and sexism are behind some of the criticism against her.

Mueller agreed that Gardner has been the victim of racist and sexist attacks for years: "But unfortunately, what's also true is that for six years, she has blamed everyone else for everything that was happening," he told the Riverfront Times.

"The problem is that she's fighting everybody all the time," he added. "Not just the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, not just the Ethical Society of Police, she's fighting every single one of the judges. She's fighting the mayor's office, she's fighting the Board of Aldermen, she's fighting the treasurer and the comptroller. And now she's fighting with the attorney general's office."

SOROS-BACKED KIM GARDNER NEEDS TO BE IMPEACHED 'YESTERDAY': LEO TERRELL

Mueller was adamant that he doesn't support Bailey's efforts to fire Gardner, calling it "not appropriate." At the same time, however, he hit the incumbent for building up a backlog of cases without ever actually prosecuting any of them herself.

"Miss Gardner does not have a caseload. I don't know of any case she's first chaired since her time in the Circuit Attorney's Office," he says. "You have to address the backlog first. For me, that means doing it yourself. You need a lot of help. But I'm willing to lead from the front." 

Gardner's campaign website boasts that she's "made jail and prison a last resort, reserved for those who pose a true public safety risk" while limiting "the arrest and detention of people accused of misdemeanors and low-level felonies."

During Gardner's tenure, crime spiked in St. Louis, with the city experiencing near-record murder rates. Amid high homicide figures, Gardner has declined more cases, issued fewer arrest warrants, charged fewer felonies and prosecuted thousands of fewer cases overall than her predecessor. She has also deferred prison sentences for misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies as part of her reform initiatives.

MISSOURI AG SUBPOENAS ST LOUIS MAYOR AMID QUEST TO REMOVE DEMOCRAT PROSECUTOR KIM GARDNER FROM OFFICE

Gardner says all this is part of her "platform to reduce the number of cases unnecessarily charged in order to focus on the more difficult cases for trial."

In 2021, though, Gardner came under fire after three murder cases under her purview were dismissed in one week due to prosecutors in her office not showing up for hearings or being unprepared.

Three years earlier, the Missouri Supreme Court later publicly reprimanded Gardner for her alleged misconduct in prosecuting former Gov. Eric Greitens for felony invasion of privacy. The Soros-funded prosecutor had to drop the case after admitting she didn't have evidence to sustain the charges.

Fox News Digital reached out to both Mueller and Gardner's office for comment for this story.

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The Biden administration unveiled the most aggressive tailpipe emissions ever crafted as part of its sweeping climate agenda and efforts to push Americans to buy electric vehicles (EV).

The vehicle pollution standards, proposed Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and announced by the White House, will impact car model years 2027 through 2032. The White House said the regulations would "protect public health" by achieving carbon emission reductions of nearly 10 billion tons by 2055 and would save consumers an average of $12,000 over the lifetime of vehicles.

"Cars and truck manufacturers have made clear that the future of transportation is electric," the White House stated in a fact sheet. "The market is moving."

"As a car enthusiast and self-proclaimed car guy, President Biden is seizing the moment," it continued. "His Investing in America agenda is expanding domestic manufacturing and accelerating adoption of zero-emission vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and fuel cell electric vehicles."

BIDEN'S EPA HAS COORDINATED WITH LEFT-WING ECO GROUPS TIED TO LIBERAL DARK MONEY NETWORK

The administration also projected the sweeping measures would "accelerate the clean vehicle transition" and reduce oil imports by 20 billion barrels. Critics have argued tougher tailpipe emissions standards for traditional gas-powered cars mainly serve to increase prices to ensure they are cost competitive with expensive electric alternatives.

Overall, if the regulations are finalized, a staggering 67% of new sedan, crossover, SUV and light truck purchases could be electric by 2032, the White House projected. In addition, up to 50% of bus and garbage truck, 35% of short-haul freight tractor and 25% of long-haul freight tractor purchases could be electric by then.

JOE MANCHIN BLASTS BIDEN ADMIN FOR CEDING CONTROL TO CCP ON GREEN ENERGY: 'PATHETIC'

Biden previously set a goal of ensuring 50% of car purchases are electric by 2030. The White House said the rules Wednesday would provide a "clear pathway for a continued rise in EV sales."

"The Biden administration is trying to bend every federal rule they can find to force people into buying EVs," said Myron Ebell, the director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Center for Energy and Environment. "There is still a market that allows drivers to buy the vehicles of their choice, but government coercion is rapidly limiting those choices." 

"If Biden policies are successful, we will soon have a choice between buying an EV and not being able to afford a vehicle at all," Ebell added.

Gas-powered cars represented 93% of all new car sales in 2022, according to a recent report from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. And EVs remain far more expensive and less efficient than alternatives.

Overall, the average cost of an EV was $64,338 while the average cost of a compact gas-powered car was $26,101 as of last year, according to Kelley Blue Book. In addition, the Department of Energy reported that the average range of model year 2021 gasoline vehicles was 403 miles compared to the median 234-mile range of model year 2021 EVs.

And Republican lawmakers also blasted the rule after it was first reported by various news outlets last week.

"Yet another draconian rule from the Biden Admin," Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., said. "From gas stoves to vehicles, their anti-American energy policies put our nation on a dangerous path. It's time for the government to stop over-regulating our lives and protect our energy independence."

"Biden's radical EPA is trying to regulate your car's engine into OBLIVION. Enough energy fantasies," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, tweeted. "[The House GOP] MUST use the power of the purse to END the weaponization of the federal bureaucracy. Slashing EPA's funding should be at the top of the list.

In August 2021, President Biden signed an executive order, requiring the EPA to introduce fuel efficiency and emissions standards to "tackle the climate crisis." Months later, in a move reversing a Trump administration rule, the EPA finalized greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles made between 2023 and 2026, regulations the agency billed at the time as the "most ambitious" rules of their kind.

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President Biden's Justice Department offered what critics are calling a sweetheart plea deal to a vandal who admitted to defacing a Catholic church with profane graffiti, destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary, assaulting a church worker, and resisting arrest. 

A plea agreement reviewed by Fox News Digital shows that the DOJ recommends zero jail time for the perp, Maeve Nota, a 31-year-old transgender individual who vandalized the St. Louise Catholic Church in Bellevue, Washington, following Roe v. Wade's overturning last June.

Nota sharply contrasts with the Biden administration's earlier approach of throwing the book at pro-life protesters outside abortion clinics.

"It is very clear that the Biden Justice Department has politicized and weaponized the FACE Act to go after pro-life Christians praying outside of abortion clinics like Mark Houck while turning a blind eye to violent felons terrorizing and badly damaging Catholic churches like Maeve Nota," Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project, told Fox News Digital.

WASHINGTON STATE CATHOLIC CHURCH VANDALIZED WITH GRAFFITI IN SUSPECTED HATE CRIME: 'WOMEN HATERS'

"The Biden Justice Department tried to put Houck in prison for 11 years for defending his son while recommending no jail time for Nota after this deranged trans terrorist badly damaged a Catholic church, fought with the police, assaulted a church employee, and scared the hell out of a little old lady praying," Davis said.

Nota smashed two glass doors with rocks and spray-painted the church's outside walls with messages that read, "rot in your fake hell," "kid groomers," and "woman haters," among several other messages.

A church staff member was spray-painted across their face while attempting to chase Nota away.

When officers located Nota, police said he used a backpack full of spray paint cans to smash the police vehicle before turning himself in. 

Nota appeared intoxicated during the arrest and was said to be angry about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe. v. Wade the week before the incident, investigators previously told KOMO News.

PRO-LIFE ACTIVIST MARK HOUCK DETAILS SHOCKING PLANNED PARENTHOOD ENCOUNTER FOLLOWING ACQUITTAL

Shortly following the event, Police Capt. Darryl McKinney told FOX13 Seattle that the $10,000 in damages fall under a hate crime statute.

According to filings from early March, Biden's Justice Department hit Nota with destruction of religious property, a misdemeanor that can carry up to one year in prison and $100,000 in fines.

A week later, however, a previously unreported plea agreement between the Justice Department, Nota, and his attorney shows that they will recommend no jail time and three years of probation at the time of his sentencing on June 2.

SUPREME COURT ALLOWS 12-YEAR-OLD TRANSGENDER GIRL TO RUN GIRLS' TRACK IN WEST VIRGINIA 

The Justice Department did not respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry on the recommendation. 

Nota's situation sharply contrasts with pro-life activist Mark Houck, whose encounter with a Planned Parenthood escort led to the Federal Bureau of Investigation raiding his home and the Biden administration wanting him to face 11 years in prison. 

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A jury acquitted Houck after he allegedly pushed a Planned Parenthood escort during an encounter outside an abortion clinic. 

The Biden administration alleged Houck violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which criminalizes using force with the intent to injure, intimidate and interfere with clinic workers.

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Foreign policy seems a depressing mess these days.

China has again blockaded Taiwan in a military exercise designed to intimidate not just the democratic country but western powers as well. The supposed cause was Kevin McCarthy meeting with the Taiwanese president. And while the U.S. has pledged to defend Taiwan, it’s hard not to wonder what would happen if American troops were sent to a group of islands just off China’s coast.

The Biden team tried to bury a report before Easter weekend that said it should have begun the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan much sooner. Administration officials, inexplicably, denied that the exit was chaotic, but one thing we know is that it was deadly, with 13 U.S. service members killed by a deadly bomb.

And now the secret American intelligence floating around social media raises a series of alarms – including how it got there – that we’re just beginning to grasp.

UKRAINE WAR PLANNING DOCUMENTS LEAKED ONLINE, PENTAGON INVESTIGATING

The intel paints a much darker picture of Ukraine’s ability to fight off the Russians. This directly contradicts the president’s reassurances that the war is going well. 

Which brings to mind the phrase "credibility gap," popularized during the Vietnam War. With LBJ, Robert McNamara and Gen. William Westmoreland reassuring the press and public that the war was going well, it was all the more shocking to learn that the jungle war was a disaster. Their light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel rhetoric was a pack of lies, as was clear not just from the Pentagon papers but from the desperate U.S. evacuation from Saigon in 1975.

The leaked intel documents reveal, as the Washington Post put it, "Ukraine’s challenges in massing troops, ammunition and equipment could cause its military to fall ‘well short’ of Kyiv’s original goals for an anticipated counteroffensive aimed at retaking Russian-occupied areas this spring." This shines a light on "Washington’s misgivings about the state of the war."

Even more worrisome, Volodymyr Zelensky could soon run out of ammunition for their anti-missile systems, which date to the Soviet era. How is this possible, with all the weaponry the U.S. and NATO countries have provided? Or is it just too hard to keep up with the Russian military machine?

Ukraine wants to cut off the Kremlin’s access to Crimea, which was illegally annexed in 2014, but its deficiencies in training and weapons "probably will strain progress and exacerbate casualties during the offensive."

LEAKED PENTAGON DOCUMENTS PAINT GRIM PICTURE OF UKRAINIAN AIR DEFENSE SUPPLIES, MAY ONLY LAST A MONTH

Fortunately, the leaked intel also says that Russia suffers from bad morale and poorly equipped soldiers.

What’s grabbing headlines now is the revelation that the U.S. spied on Ukraine, South Korea and Israel, as well as adversaries. This should come as a shock to no one, as word has dribbled out over the years that even friendly countries spy on each other. A source close to Zelenskyy told CNN that Ukraine has changed some of its military plans because of the documents becoming public.
 

As for the origins of the leak, the New York Times reports "a surprisingly large number of people potentially had access to the Pentagon intelligence documents." We’re talking about hundreds of people. That sounds like an abject failure, since these are among the nation’s most sensitive military secrets.

"We don’t know who is behind this, we don’t know what the motive is," national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

Kirby also said the leaked material "has no business, if you don’t mind me saying, on the front pages of newspapers, or on television. It is not intended for public consumption, and it should not be out there."

That horse is already out of the barn, with major news outlets carrying a series of stories about the documents.
 

They first popped up last month on the social media site Discord, and went unnoticed for awhile. Discord says it is cooperating with a DOJ leak investigation.

In the old days – a few short years ago – leakers would give secret material to one or more news organizations. Those outlets would have to weigh whether some of the material would jeopardize American soldiers or operatives, and often there would be conversations with the White House.

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What’s more, people could hold the news outlet responsible for its decisions.

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But now, "top secret" information just oozes on to social media. No one is responsible and everyone is responsible. That’s the unsettling world we live in.

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