Three pro-lifers who protested at, and blocked access to a Washington, D.C. reproductive health care services clinic in October 2020 were found guilty of federal charges by a jury on Monday.

The Department of Justice said in a press release that 41-year-old Jonathan Darnel of Arlington, Virginia; 73-year-old Jean Marshall of Kingston, Massachusetts; and 74-year-old Joan Bell of Montague, New Jersey were each convicted of federal civil rights conspiracy and freedom of access to clinic entrances (FACE) act offenses.

The DOJ said Marshall and Bell traveled to D.C. to meet with Darnel and to participate in a clinic blockade that was coordinated and streamed live by another co-conspirator on Facebook.

During the blockade on Oct. 22, 2020, the defendants are accused of creating a blockade at the clinic, which prevented the clinic from providing reproductive health services.

Marshall and Bell were part of a group that forcefully entered the clinic and blockaded two doors using furniture, chains, ropes and their bodies, according to the prosecution.

Darnell, who remained outside the clinic, streamed the activities to social media.

In doing so, all three defendants violated the FACE Act after using physical obstruction to injure, intimidate and interfere with the employees at the clinic, as well as a patient who was obtaining reproductive health services.

U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who presided over the trial of Marshall, Bell and Darnel, ordered all three defendants immediately detained as required by statute.

Sentencing for the trio will be scheduled at a later date, and each faces up to 11 years in prison, three years of probation and a fine of up to $350,000.

In August, five co-conspirators – Lauren Handy, 28, of Alexandria, Virginia.; John Hinshaw, 67, of Levittown, New York; Heather Idoni, 61, of Linden, Michigan; William Goodman, 52, of the Bronx, New York; and Herb Geraghty, 25, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – were convicted on the same charges, and another co-defendant, Jay Smith, pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 10 months in prison plus three years of probation.

Prosecutors argued in all the cases that the pro-life activists violated the 1994 FACE Act, a federal law implemented under former President Clinton that prohibits physical force, threats of force or intentionally damaging property to prevent someone from obtaining or providing abortion services. 

Prior to the trial, Darnell, said he would plead not guilty.

‘I am definitely not guilty of the charges leveled against me, which is rather ironic that I should find myself in this position,’ Darnel, a professed Christian, told Fox News Digital in an interview. ‘Nevertheless, if a jury finds me guilty of FACE even erroneously, it would be an honor because the kids are worthy of protection.’

Hunter Biden is battling federal prosecutors in trying to have his initial court appearance on federal firearm charges held via video conference, according to an order filed by a federal judge on Monday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher J. Burke issued the order asking Hunter’s lawyers to explain no later than Tuesday why they want his arraignment held via video conference – a request prosecutors have opposed, Burke wrote.

The judge gave prosecutors until Wednesday to provide a reason why the arraignment should happen in person.

Biden could face up to 25 years in prison for federal firearm charges announced last week, including making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm, which carries a maximum of up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.

The second count, a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer, can garner up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.

The third count, possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance, can land up to a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release, according to the documents. 

The counts combine to carry a maximum of 25 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. Special counsel David Weiss, a Donald Trump appointee, has overlooked the investigation.

Meanwhile, Biden’s attorneys filed a lawsuit against the IRS on Monday, alleging that agents have ‘targeted and sought to embarrass’ the president’s son.

Biden’s Monday morning filing cites two major examples in IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, two whistleblowers who claimed the IRS mishandled aspects of its investigation into Biden.

Shapley and Zielger testified before the House Oversight Committee earlier this year, saying they faced various limitations when tasked with investigating the president’s son.

Biden’s lawsuit argues the pair’s status as whistleblowers ‘cannot and does not shield them from their wrongful conduct in making unauthorized public disclosures that are not permitted by the whistleblower process.’

Shapley’s legal team responded to Biden’s lawsuit in a statement Monday morning, dismissing the move as a stalling tactic.

‘This suit against the IRS is just another frivolous smear by Biden family attorneys trying to turn people’s attention away from Hunter Biden’s own legal problems and intimidate any current and future whistleblower,’ Shapley’s attorneys wrote. 

‘The federal judge in Delaware who oversaw the aborted plea deal shot down similar claims against the whistleblowers after they exposed the secret backroom deal between Hunter Biden and the Department of Justice. Neither IRS SSA Gary Shapley nor his attorneys have ever released any confidential taxpayer information except through whistleblower disclosures authorized by statute. Once Congress released that testimony, like every American citizen, he has a right to discuss that public information.’

Hunter’s lawyer did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment. The Justice Department declined to comment.

Fox News’ Joe Schoffstall, David Spunt, Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fired back at Speaker Kevin McCarthy after the Republican lawmaker said he is not at the ‘same level’ as former President Donald Trump and that Trump would be the GOP nominee. 

‘I think if you look at what’s happened with D.C. Republicans, they worked very closely. Look, Donald Trump, he supported Kevin McCarthy very strongly for speaker. I don’t think he would have won the speaker vote. Donald Trump was instrumental in him earning that speaker’s gavel,’ DeSantis told a reporter on Monday.

He added that Trump and McCarthy were on the ‘same team’ on ‘every major spending bill’ that added $7.8 trillion to the national debt.

‘Never in a four-year period has that much been added than what they did together. And so he (McCarthy) said we’re different. We are different, because in Florida, we run budget surpluses, We’ve paid down nearly 25% of our state’s debt just since I’ve been governor,’ said DeSantis.

‘I am not somebody who the D.C. establishment wants to see up there,’ he continued. ‘There’s no question about that because they know that a lot of things will be changing if I’m there.’

‘It’s understandable that the DC Establishment doesn’t want me to be president — and I wear that as a badge of honor,’ DeSantis posted on social media with a clip of his remarks.

DeSantis’ comments follow Sunday remarks from McCarthy on Fox News’ ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ with host Maria Bartiromo, where the Republican leader said that Trump will be the GOP nominee and said DeSantis is ‘not at the same level’ as Trump. 

‘President Trump is beating Biden right now in the polls. He is stronger than he has ever been in this process, and, look, I served with Ron DeSantis — he’s not at the same level as President Trump by any shape or form,’ McCarthy said. ‘He would not have gotten elected without President Trump’s endorsement.’

The Trump campaign and McCarthy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

The trolling of former Vice President Mike Pence by Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramswamy’s campaign was called out by X on Monday after the social media giant added a ‘community note’ to the latter’s claim that the former was ‘copying’ one of his ‘revolutionary ideas.’

‘Hey [Mike Pence]. You get an ‘F’ for copying [Vivek Ramaswamy’s] homework. While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, it’s not cool to rip off his revolutionary ideas and pawn them off as your own. Don’t blame you. Vivek is super smart. [Harvard] and [Yale Law School] degrees,’ the Ramaswamy campaign’s war room wrote over the weekend in response to Pence vowing to ‘shut down the Department of Education.’

However, the X note pointed to former President Ronald Reagan as the one who originally called for the shutting down of the Education Department during his 1982 State of the Union speech. According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, cited by X in its note, Reagan said he believed ‘decisions about education should be made at the local level and that the federal government should play only a minor role in the nation’s schools.’

In its post roasting Pence, the Ramaswamy campaign pointed to a separate X post by Ramaswamy from Feb. 28 with a promise to shut down the Education Department, well before Pence began pushing the policy as part of his own presidential campaign, which he didn’t launch until June.

Pence made the policy promise just days after Ramaswamy had given a speech to the America First Policy Institute detailing his own plan for shutting down the Education Department in what his campaign told Fox News Digital was given with ‘unprecedented detail.’

A spokesperson for the Ramaswamy campaign told Fox that Republican calls to end federal agencies, such as the Education Department, weren’t new, but that the level of detail Ramaswamy has been offering on the campaign trail was something that was so far unseen.

Fox has reached out to the Pence campaign for comment.

Former President Donald Trump sparked backlash from conservatives after he criticized the six-week abortion ban of his Republican opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

During an interview on MSNBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ over the weekend, Trump was pressed on his abortion stance as voters turn their attention toward the 2024 presidential election.

Trump, the frontrunner of the GOP primary, said that he would work with Democrats to pass abortion legislation before taking aim at his presidential race rival DeSantis’ six-week ban in the Sunshine State.

‘I think they’re all going to like me, I think both sides are going to like me,’ Trump said. ‘…What’s going to happen is: you’re going to come up with a number of weeks or months, you’re going to come up with a number that’s going to make people happy.’

‘Because 92 percent of the Democrats don’t want to see abortion after a certain period of time,’ the former president added.

Trump was pressed on whether he would sign a 15-week federal abortion ban if it came across his desk.

‘Well, people are starting to think of 15 weeks, that seems to be a number that people are talking about right now,’ he responded, being asked again if he would sign it.

‘I would sit down with both sides and I’d negotiate something, and we’ll end up with peace on that issue for the first time in 52 years,’ the former president said. ‘I’m not going to say I would or I wouldn’t.’

‘I mean, ‘DeSanctus’ [DeSantis] is willing to sign a five-week and six-week ban,’ Trump said in response to whether he would support that level of ban and if he thought it goes too far.

‘I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,’ the former president responded.

Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Users online blasted Trump over his comments, with conservatives saying the abortion issue may hurt him going into 2024.

‘Huh. That’s odd. I remember being in the crowd when Trump spoke at the March for Life,’ pro-life activist Nicholas Sandmann tweeted.

‘I commended the President for an amazing speech. He said: ‘We cannot know what our citizens yet unborn will achieve. The dreams they will imagine. The masterpieces they will create…’ he continued.

‘Pathetic and unacceptable. Trump is actively attacking the very pro-life laws made possible by Roe’s overturning,’ pro-life activist Lila Rose wrote.

‘Heartbeat Laws have saved thousands of babies. But Trump wants to compromise on babies’ lives so pro-abort Dems ‘like him,’’ she continued. ‘Trump should not be the GOP nominee.’

‘Trump should fire whatever idiot advisor told him to go squishy on abortion. Dumb move. Abortion zealots are never gonna vote Trump just because he’s willing to ‘compromise.’ And innocent babies will be killed in the process,’ ‘The Liz Wheeler Show’ host Liz Wheeler posted. ‘Lose lose. Trump isn’t a centrist. His best move is and always will be to stay based and savage. Hate to see this garbage from him.’

SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser responded to Trump’s comments by saying, ‘We thank Gov. Ron DeSantis for following the science and the will of the people by signing the Heartbeat Protection Act into law’

The former president’s comments come as he seeks a third candidacy for the Oval Office against his onetime protégé DeSantis and a multitude of GOP and Democratic presidential hopefuls.

DeSantis has been fighting to close the gap with Trump from his number two position in the GOP primary as former Vice President Mike Pence competes for the GOP presidential nomination as well.

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are also fighting for the GOP nod and met DeSantis on the debate stage last month.

FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation late Monday that would allow the Department of Education to fund elementary and secondary school hunting or archery programs.

The lawmakers — Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz. — introduced the Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act in an effort to clarify language in existing law that the Biden administration has interpreted to crack down on extracurricular programs including hunting, archery, other shooting sports and even culinary arts.

‘The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act made historic investments in mental health and school hardening while preserving law-abiding Americans’ Second Amendment rights, and the Biden administration’s misinterpretation of the law is unacceptable,’ Cornyn said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

‘Educational enrichment programs like hunting and archery are critical to our next generation’s development and well-being, and this legislation would ensure they remain available in schools across the nation,’ he continued.

Fox News Digital reported in July that the Education Department shared federal guidance to hunting education groups highlighting that hunting and archery programs in schools would be stripped of funding. The guidance explained that the administration interpreted the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) to mean such programs can no longer receive taxpayer funds.

In the guidance, obtained first by Fox News Digital, senior agency official Sarah Martinez wrote that archery, hunter education and wilderness safety courses use weapons that are ‘technically dangerous weapons’ and therefore ‘may not be funded under’ the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which is the primary source of federal aid for elementary and secondary education across the country.

According to advocates, many schools that offer such courses have already nixed them from curriculums due to the federal guidance.

However, Cornyn, Tillis and Sinema are three of the BSCA’s four lead sponsors and have raised the alarm that the Department of Education is misinterpreting their bill. Cornyn and Tillis first raised the issue in a July 10 letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in which they called for the agency to resume funding shooting sports activities.

‘School-based archery and hunting safety courses help Arizona students learn and grow while enjoying the outdoors,’ Sinema said on Monday. ‘We’re ensuring the Administration follows the law we wrote so Arizonans can continue to benefit from these educational courses.’

‘The Biden Administration’s partisan interpretation of BSCA to eliminate hunting education in schools is a slap in the face to millions of Americans, particularly in rural areas, and discourages bipartisan cooperation in Congress,’ Tillis added. ‘Hunting education programs have wide bipartisan support in Congress, and I encourage my colleagues to quickly pass this legislation to ensure gun-grabbing Biden officials have no room for misinterpretation.’

In addition, Democratic Sens. Jon Tester of Montana, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Sherrod Brown of Ohio have joined dozens of Republicans in expressing concern about the Biden administration’s actions.

The BSCA — a bill that was criticized as a ‘gun control’ bill but touted by proponents as an effort to promote ‘safer, more inclusive and positive’ schools — was passed overwhelmingly by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in June 2022 after mass shootings at a grocery market in Buffalo, New York, and a school in Uvalde, Texas.

The law included an amendment to a subsection in the ESEA listing prohibited uses for federal school funding. That amendment prohibits ESEA funds from helping provide any person with a dangerous weapon or to provide ‘training in the use of a dangerous weapon,’ but, according to Cornyn, was included to prevent ESEA funding for school resource officer training.

Companion legislation to the bill introduced Monday by Cornyn, Tillis and Sinema was introduced in August by Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., and recently passed out of the House Education and Workforce Committee.

‘This is a win for our nation’s students who choose to participate in shooting sports. Defunding shooting sports in schools would be a disservice to students,’ Green said last week.

Cornyn, joined by six Republicans and 11 Democrats, also sent a letter to leaders on key appropriations committees earlier this month, calling on them to include language in the upcoming FY24 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill to reject the Education Department’s interpretation of BSCA.

That letter was signed by Tillis, Sinema and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the other BSCA sponsor.

The Biden administration proposed to block of thousands of acres from future oil drilling or mining in northern New Mexico in an effort to protect Native American lands.

According to the Department of the Interior (DOI), the proposal would ban new mining claims and oil and gas development across more than 4,200 acres in Sandoval County, New Mexico, located north of Albuquerque. If finalized and implemented, the action would remain in place for up to 50 years.

‘Today we’re responding to call from Tribes, elected leaders, and community members who want to see these public lands protected,’ Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. ‘We look forward to hearing more from the public to inform decisions about how activities, like gravel mining, may impact these lands, including the important cultural and natural resources.’

‘We recognize the importance of the Placitas area, both for Tribal Nations and for the local community who visit and recreate in this area,’ added Melanie Barnes, the state director of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) New Mexico office.

In its proposal, the BLM stated that the action was designed to ‘protect, preserve, and promote the scenic integrity, cultural importance, recreational values, and wildlife habitat connectivity’ in the region. 

The DOI said the Pueblo tribes of San Felipe and Santa Ana have previously advocated for protections in the area which contains archeological resources from hundreds of years ago. The area is also popular for hiking, camping, sightseeing and hunting.  

In 2019, Haaland, who at the time served in Congress and as vice chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, introduced the Buffalo Tract Protection Act which would mimic the actions taken Monday. At the time, Haaland said residents and tribal citizens in the region bear the brunt of pollution produced from the area’s many mines.

Earlier this year, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., reintroduced the legislation. The pair have also repeatedly called on the DOI to take action blocking mineral development in Sandoval County.

‘It is time we put an end to this years-long debate and withdraw these parcels from future mineral development,’ Heinrich said during a March event in Albuquerque alongside Stansbury.

Using information available from the BLM, the Congressional Budget Office issued a report on the Buffalo Tract Protection Act in August concluding that the area impacted by the mineral ban has high potential for sand and gravel extraction and minimal potential for development of other minerals. Sand and gravel extraction is key for various infrastructure projects like roads.

The report projected the land withdrawal would result in a decrease of $2 million in federal revenue.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., attacked a journalist who defended how he dresses, baffling social media users.

The senator took a shot at Nate Silver, the founder of the data news site FiveThirtyEight, after Silver posted a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, defending Fetterman against people who criticize him over his outfits, which regularly consists of hoodies and gym shorts.

‘Starting a new political party for people who don’t give a s— either about how John Fetterman dresses or what Lauren Boebert does in a theater,’ Silver wrote.

Fetterman, however, responded to the message by insulting him. ‘I dress like you predict,’ Fetterman said to Silver, who is an election and political statistician.

Fetterman’s insult confused social media users, given Silver’s message supported the Democrat.

‘So Fetterman’s handlers decided to insult a guy who defended him by admitting that their boss dresses like s—???’ Greg Price wrote.

‘John Fetterman finds it hilarious that he’s turned the senate into a coddling daycare for an emotionally stunted man-child with severely arrested development,’ former President Donald Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller said. 

‘In which [John Fetterman] attacks [Nate Silver] for arguing that the controversy over his wardrobe is driven by partisans,’ Mediaite staff writer Isaac Schorr wrote. ‘Oh, and in which he ‘dunks’ on him by asserting that Silver’s work is as shoddy as his attire? Bizarre all the way around.’

The U.S. Senate recently dropped its dress code requirement, sparking criticism from many conservatives both online and in Congress who suggested the move was made to appease Fetterman.

Fox News Digital on Sunday confirmed that the Senate will no longer enforce a dress code for members of Congress’ upper chamber. Senators will now be allowed to wear whatever they want, but others entering the chamber must comply with the dress code: coats and ties for men and business attire for women. 

Conservatives also responded on X criticizing Fetterman, who has regularly worn casual attire in the building and found a workaround to the legislative body’s dress code rules by voting from the doorway of the Democrat cloakroom or the side entrance, making sure his vote is recorded before leaving.

‘The Senate no longer enforcing a dress code for Senators to appease Fetterman is disgraceful,’ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., posted on X. ‘Dress code is one of society’s standards that set etiquette and respect for our institutions. Stop lowering the bar!’

‘If my interns can put on a suit so can a U.S. Senator,’ Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., wrote.

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, joked Monday that she would ‘wear a bikini’ on the floor of the Senate following Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s, D-N.Y., directive that the body would no longer enforce a dress code for its members.

Her comments were first reported by an NBC News reporter, but were confirmed by Fox News Digital. Collins made the comments while slamming the dress code directive, arguing it ‘debases the institution,’ which still requires others entering the chamber to comply with the dress code, including coats and ties for men, and business attire for women.

‘Obviously, I’m not going to wear a bikini,’ Collins said. ‘But the fact is, as I understand it, I could!’

Fox News Digital confirmed the dress code changes on Sunday after Schumer secretly sent the directive to the Senate’s sergeant at arms.

The change will allow Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., to continue wearing his trademark hoodies and gym shorts he is often seen wearing around Capitol Hill after returning from a six-week hospitalization for depression earlier this year.

He had previously found a workaround to the legislative body’s dress code rules by voting from the doorway of the Democrat cloakroom or the side entrance, making sure his vote is recorded before ducking out.

Fetterman was blasted by conservatives following the change, with some suggesting the move was made to appease him. 

Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Timothy H.J. Nerozzi and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.