A Virginia prosecutor who has received significant boosts from billionaire George Soros is facing accusations of accepting thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from an alleged foreign national, which a spokesperson for the donor denies.

Virginians for Safe Communities wrote to the state’s attorney general, Jason Miyares, and its board of elections, calling for an investigation into a $5,000 May donation from an individual named Merck Mercuriadis to Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s campaign.

Within its letter, Virginians for Safe Communities says that Mercuriadis, who founded Hipgnosis Songs Fund and has managed famous musicians ranging from Guns N’ Roses to Beyoncé, is a music executive ‘who has had his personal and business life publicly detailed in profiles in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and other publications’ and that his ‘legal residency and citizenship are repeatedly referenced as British and/or Canadian.’

Mercuriadis’ donation to Descano, which came shortly before his reelection in June, reports his address as being in London within filings.  

‘Mr. Mercuriadis is known to be a Canadian-born resident of the United Kingdom, listing a London UK address for himself and his employer,’ the group wrote in its letter. ‘His income is derived from his principal business which is a registered corporation in Britain.’

‘Further, Mr. Mercuriadis (or Mr. Descano’s treasurer) listed his address as ‘VA 99999’ potentially circumventing a software block on receipt of a foreign-sourced contribution,’ the group continued. ‘It is highly likely, based on Mr. Mercuriadis’ residency and business registration, that the contribution was drawn on a foreign bank account as well.’

Foreign nationals cannot donate to federal, state or local elections. However, a spokesperson for Mercuriadis said he holds joint citizenship and lawfully contributed to the campaign.

‘Mr Mercuriadis has joint US – UK Citizenship and is fully entitled to make political donations,’ his spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement. ‘He is a strong believer in civic responsibility and regularly donates to a variety of good causes both political and non-political.’

Virginians for Safe Communities also sent its letter to the Department of Justice and Federal Election Commission.

Descano is among the dozens of prosecutors nationwide who have received substantial boosts from George Soros’ money. In recent years, the Justice and Public Safety PAC, which Soros funds, has put hundreds of thousands of dollars behind his candidacy.

Descano’s campaign did not respond to an inquiry on the Mercuriadis donation by publication.

A group of House Democrats penned a letter Thursday to several top Biden administration and White House officials, demanding the immediate continuance of uninterrupted offshore oil and gas leasing.

The Democrats — led by Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas — called for the Department of the Interior (DOI) to immediately issue its legally mandated plan for offshore fossil fuel lease sales, which the agency has delayed for more than 12 months. The lawmakers noted that the Inflation Reduction Act tethers new wind leases to oil and gas leases, meaning the former could be threatened without consistent fossil fuel leasing.

‘As members of Congress representing Americans across six districts in three states, we write to urge the U.S. Department of the Interior to take immediate action necessary to hold uninterrupted offshore oil and gas lease sales under the pending 2023-2028 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program to avoid the now expected offshore wind leasing cliff,’ they wrote in the letter.

‘Limiting oil and gas sales to one per year eliminates much needed flexibility and opens the possibility for unforeseen circumstances that would delay or cancel lease sales, including the possibility of future administrations holding offshore wind leasing hostage,’ the Democrats continued.

Under the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the federal government is required to issue plans every five years laying out prospective offshore oil and gas lease sales. The most recent plan, which was implemented in 2017, expired in June 2022.

On July 1, 2022, the DOI published a draft proposal for a replacement five-year plan, which laid out multiple options for leasing between 2023 and 2028. The plan included an option with no lease sales during the time span and a maximum option of 11 lease sales. The plan ruled out any lease sales in the Atlantic or Pacific, mainly proposing Gulf of Mexico sales.

‘We urge the Department to quickly release a full five-year oil and gas leasing program that includes all eleven proposed sales and promptly take action to hold these sales without interruption,’ Gonzalez and the other lawmakers wrote. 

‘Following through on its Congressionally mandated obligations as passed in the IRA is the only way to ensure offshore wind energy has a clear path to leasing, permitting, development, and production,’ they added. ‘This means holding oil and gas lease sales under a robust, timely, and functioning five-year program as well.’

The delay in issuing a finalized plan represents a departure from precedent set by both Republican and Democratic administrations, which have historically finalized replacements immediately after previous plans expired. The option to hold no lease sales over the course of five years also represents an unprecedented departure. 

The most recent two plans, both formulated under the Obama administration, included more than 10 offshore oil and gas lease sales each. The Trump administration sought to hold a total of 47 lease sales across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska’s coasts between 2022 and 2027.

‘NOIA expresses our gratitude towards Congressman Gonzalez and his fellow Members of Congress for pushing for the timely completion of the next federal offshore oil and gas leasing program,’ National Ocean Industries Association President Erik Milito said in a statement Thursday.

‘The reinstatement of consistent and predictable offshore oil and gas lease sales is paramount, safeguarding against potential disruptions to future offshore wind opportunities during this pivotal juncture for the industry,’ Milito continued. ‘Sound energy policy stands as a cornerstone of our nation’s prosperity and should always serve as a unifying issue.’

The DOI is expected to propose its five-year offshore leasing plan in the coming weeks and finalize it either later this year or early next year.

In addition to Gonzalez, Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Lizzie Fletcher, D-Texas, Jim Costa, D-Calif., Marc Veasey, D-Texas, and Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, signed the letter. The letter was sent to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and copied to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and White House Deputy Chief of Staff John Podesta among others.

The House voted Thursday afternoon in favor of legislation striking down environmental regulations in California mandating electric vehicle (EV) purchases.

In a 222-190 vote, the House approved the Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act with 214 Republicans and eight Democrats voting in favor. A group several Republican lawmakers led by Rep. John Joyce, R-Pa., first introduced the bill, which has been endorsed by the energy industry, in March, arguing EV mandates would hurt the economy and violate consumer choice.

‘The simple fact is that electric vehicles cannot meet the demands of my constituents,’ Joyce told Fox News Digital in an interview earlier this week. ‘Coupling the mountains with the harsh winters and the intense heat of summers makes driving an electric vehicle both unreliable and ultimately unrealistic for many of my constituents.’

‘This legislation, H.R. 1435, is an option. It is not an anti-electric vehicle legislation,’ he added. ‘For those who would like an electric vehicle, they should have the option of buying one. But it doesn’t help my constituents — it doesn’t help in any district to require an individual to buy an EV regardless of what they want and regardless of the demands of the market.’

The Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act, if enacted, would block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from issuing waivers to states seeking to ban or limit internal combustion engine vehicles. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is currently empowered to grant California a waiver to implement stricter emissions standards than the federal government.

In March 2022, the EPA reinstated California’s authority under the Clean Air Act to implement its own emission standards and EV sales mandates, and allowed other states to adopt California’s rules. The move came after the Trump administration revoked the state’s authority to pursue standards that run counter to federal rules.

Months later, on Aug. 25, 2022, the California Air Resources Board, a state environmental agency, announced new regulations banning gas-powered cars, and mandating electric cars, by 2035. California Gov. Gavin Newsom celebrated the regulations, saying the state would continue to ‘lead the revolution towards our zero-emission transportation future.’

In addition, another 17 states have laws in place that tether their vehicle emissions standards to those set in California, meaning the electric vehicle mandate would impact tens of millions of Americans nationwide. Overall, it is estimated that the states adopting California’s 2035 rule represent more than 40% of total U.S. car purchases.

‘This legislation is about ensuring Americans can continue choosing the vehicles that best suit their lives. It’s about making sure people have the option of driving practical, functional, and affordable cars,’ House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said in support of the bill. ‘And it’s about embracing the legacy of the American auto industry.’

‘The answer is not through restrictive government mandates,’ she continued. ‘Yet that is exactly what President Biden’s EPA, California, and others allies are trying to do.’

However, several Democratic lawmakers blasted the legislation ahead of the vote Thursday. The Democrats lauded California’s EV mandate, saying it would reduce pollution and help combat climate change.

‘The transportation sector is the single-largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions and other dangerous air pollution,’ Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said in a floor speech. ‘But once again, Republicans want to bury their heads in the sand and ignore reality, even while more than 100 million Americans are right now living in counties with unhealthy levels of air pollution.’

‘We should focus on supporting these policies, not weakening them. Sadly, H.R. 1435 would toss aside decades of legal precedent, upending the California waiver process and threatening innovation already underway,’ Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee’s environment subcommittee, added in separate remarks.

The legislation was ultimately passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee in late July, teeing up the floor vote Thursday. Companion legislation in the Senate was introduced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., a month prior and is still making its way through the chamber.

In a statement of administration policy issued this week, though, the White House hinted that President Biden would veto the legislation if it made it to his desk.

‘The Administration strongly opposes passage of H.R. 1435, which would amend the Clean Air Act to preclude EPA from issuing federal preemption waivers for California pollution standards that directly or indirectly limit the sale or use of new motor vehicles with internal combustion engines,’ the White House said.

In his first speech since the indictment of his son, Hunter Biden, on federal firearms charges, President Biden addressed a crowd in Largo, Maryland to make the case for ‘Bidenomics.’ 

Biden devoted much of the speech to bashing Republicans’ economic agenda, which he pejoratively referred to as ‘MAGAnomics,’ after former President Donald Trump’s 2016 slogan: ‘Make America Great Again.’  

‘This is not your father’s Republican Party. This is a different deal,’ Biden said, before arguing that the Old Guard cared more about Democratic institutions than ‘MAGA’ Republicans. 

‘Their plan, MAGAnomics, is more extreme than anything America has ever seen before,’ the president said before bashing Republicans for threatening to default on the debt and doubling down on ‘trickle-down’ economics. 

‘Under their plan, the top 1% … of households that make over $4 million a year are going to get another tax cut worth more than two times what the typical American family makes in a single year,’ Biden said. 

At another point in the speech, Biden touted post-pandemic job recovery and appeared to fumble when pointing to record-low unemployment for African Americans and Hispanics. 

‘We’ve seen record lows in unemployment, particularly – and I’ve focused on this my whole career – for American Americans and Hispanics, and veterans. You know, workers without high school diplomas,’ he said. 

The president’s speech made no mention of his son’s legal woes. 

Just hours earlier, Hunter Biden was indicted on federal gun charges for allegedly lying about his drug use when he bought a firearm in October 2018. The indictment came weeks after the collapse of a plea deal that would have averted a criminal trial. 

The younger Biden’s attorneys argued that he didn’t violate the law and remains protected by an immunity provision that was part of the deal. 

He’s facing two counts of making false statements by checking a box falsely saying he was not addicted to drugs and giving it to the shop for their federally required records. A third count alleges he possessed the gun for about 11 days despite knowing he was a drug user. The counts are punishable by up to 25 years in prison. 

During the time of his purchase, the younger Biden has acknowledged struggling with an addiction to crack cocaine. 

Hunter Biden has been under investigation for his business dealings in Ukraine and China, and the special counsel has indicated that tax charges could be filed at some point in the future in Washington or in California, where he lives. 

The indictment comes after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday announced a formal impeachment inquiry against the president, seeking to tie the elder Biden to his son’s business dealings. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is declaring the new felony indictment against Hunter Biden a ‘smokescreen’ for the ‘real problem’ plaguing the Biden family. 

Special Counsel David Weiss charged President Biden’s son with federal gun crimes including making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm; making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer; and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. 

But Ramaswamy is urging Americans to not ‘fall for it.’

‘Today’s indictment of Hunter Biden is a smokescreen. Don’t fall for it,’ Ramaswamy wrote Thursday. ‘This is a fig leaf designed to deflect attention away from the real problem: the Biden family is selling out U.S. foreign policy for their own family’s private financial gain. That’s really what’s wrong, and we must hold politicians in both major political parties when they use our foreign policy to enrich their family members.’ 

The GOP hopeful called House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s launch of an impeachment inquiry into President Biden ‘a step in the right direction,’ but reiterated ‘the public shouldn’t fall for the trick of diverting attention away from the true problem.’

‘It’s also no accident that today’s indictment comes at a moment when President Biden’s own popularity within the Democratic Party is cratering,’ Ramaswamy said. ‘I predict this is the first step for the Democrat Party managerial class to pressure Joe Biden out of the race. Biden will become a sacrificial pawn in service to the deep state that wants to keep power at all costs.’

According to the indictment, ‘on or about October 12, 2018, in the District of Delaware, the defendant, Robert Hunter Biden, in connection with the acquisition of a firearm, that is, a Colt Cobra 38SPL Revolver with serial number RA 551363…knowingly made a false and fictitious written statement, intended and likely to deceive that dealer with respect to a fact material to the lawfulness of the sale of the firearm…in that the defendant, Robert Hunter Biden, provided a written statement on Form 4473 certifying he was not an unlawful user of, and addicted to, any stimulant, narcotic drug, and any other controlled substance, when in fact, as he knew, that statement was false and fictitious.’ 

The indictment also states that ‘on or about October 12, 2018, through on or about October 23, 2018, in the District of Delaware, the defendant Robert Hunter Biden, knowing that he was an unlawful user of and addicted to any stimulant, narcotic drug, and any other controlled substance…did knowingly possess a firearm, that is, a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver with serial number RA 551363, said firearm having been shipped and transported in interstate commerce.’ 

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Weiss as special counsel last month after IRS whistleblowers came forward alleging that Weiss was blocked by the DOJ to bring more serious charges as U.S. Attorney, a claim both Weiss and Garland denied. 

The gun crimes were previously involved in what was dubbed by critics as a ‘sweetheart deal’ between Hunter Biden and the DOJ that ultimately fell apart in court upon scrutiny. 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

Former President Donald Trump is taking aim at the Justice Department over its indictment of President Biden’s son Hunter Biden on federal firearms charges.

The former president claimed in a Truth Social post that the gun charge was ‘the only crime that Hunter Biden committed that does not implicate Crooked Joe Biden.’ 

Hunter Biden, in an indictment filed Thursday in federal court in Delaware by a special counsel overseeing the case, is accused of lying about his drug use when he purchased a weapon in 2018, during a time when he’s acknowledged struggling with a crack cocaine addiction.  

The charges, which come weeks after a plea deal collapsed, are the latest twist in a long-running investigation into the president’s son which could result in a high-profile trial ahead of a likely rematch between the elder Biden and Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

Trump, taking to social media moments after the news broke of the Hunter Biden indictment, reiterated his unproven claims that the Justice Department is working to undermine him in the 2024 election.

GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced on Wednesday that he was directing a committee to open an impeachment inquiry into the president. House Republicans allege that the president — when he was serving as vice president in the Obama administration — profited off his son’s foreign business deals. 

Trump also slammed the Justice Department, and Democrats, for what he claimed are the ‘horrible, very unfair, and mostly illegal Witch Hunts,’ as he referred to his own federal indictments related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House.

The former president concluded his post: ‘They have opened the proverbial Pandora’s Box, and it is possible that the USA will never be the same again. SO SAD!!!’

Trump wasn’t the only Republican presidential candidate to react to the bombshell Hunter Biden developments.

Multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who’s Trump’s biggest supporter in the large field of contenders vying for the GOP presidential nomination, argued in a social medial posting that ‘Today’s indictment of Hunter Biden is a smokescreen. Don’t fall for it.’

‘This is a fig leaf designed to deflect attention away from the real problem: the Biden family is selling out U.S. foreign policy for their own family’s private financial gain,’ Ramaswamy charged. ‘That’s really what’s wrong, and we must hold politicians in both major political parties when they use our foreign policy to enrich their family members.’

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who’s also campaigning for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, said in an interview on Fox News’ ‘Your World with Neil Cavuto’ that ‘I think is just the tip of the iceberg with these indictments.’

‘The bigger issue is influence peddling and the fact that the United States could be compromised on foreign policy with countries because of illegal payments, you know, channeled through these shell companies. But I think it’s good the inquiry is going on. I think it’s good that they’re continuing to pursue,’ Burgum added. 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

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GOP lawmakers sent a letter this week to CIA Director William Burns after a whistleblower claimed that analysts probing COVID-19 origins were offered money to alter their stance that the virus likely came from a Wuhan lab leak.

Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., joined their House counterparts in demanding answers from Burns, such as all of the ‘documents and communications between or among the members of all iterations of the COVID Discovery Team(s) regarding the origins of COVID-19.’

Paul told Fox News Digital in a statement Thursday, ‘This is one of the biggest cover-ups in our nation’s history, and we deserve answers.’

‘Department of Energy scientists concluded COVID-19 came from a lab,’ Paul wrote. ‘FBI scientists concluded COVID-19 came from a lab. We’ve been told six of seven CIA scientists also concluded COVID-19 came from a lab but were paid to change their minds.’

In Tuesday’s letter, the senators wrote that the whistleblower allegations ‘are deeply concerning and raise serious questions about the Agency’s investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.’

They also demanded to know all ‘communications regarding the pay history, to include the awarding of any type of financial or performance-based incentive/financial bonus to members of all iterations of the COVID Discovery Team.’

The request seeks documents and communications related to the origins of COVID-19 among members of the COVID Discovery Teams as well as exchanges with employees or contractors of various federal agencies, including the State Department, FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services (including NIH and NIAID) and the Department of Energy.

Lawmakers set a Sept. 25 deadline for a response.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified report on COVID-19 origins in June, which analyzed the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s role in the lab leak theory.

The intelligence community remains undecided on whether the pandemic resulted from a lab leak or natural animal exposure. Different agencies hold varying opinions, with the National Intelligence Council favoring natural origin while the Energy Department and FBI lean toward a lab leak.

The CIA and other intelligence agencies have not reached a conclusion due to conflicting evidence and assumptions.

Fox News Digital previously obtained letters that the House Coronavirus Subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, sent to the CIA and a former official with regard to the whistleblower claims.

‘The Select Committee on the Coronavirus Pandemic and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence have received new and concerning whistleblower testimony regarding the Agency’s investigation into the origins of COVID-19,’ Wenstrup and Turner wrote to CIA Director William Burns on Tuesday.

‘A multi-decade, senior-level, current Agency officer has come forward to provide information to the Committees regarding the Agency’s analysis into the origins of COVID-19,’ they wrote.

The CIA purportedly assigned seven officers to a COVID Discovery Team, the whistleblower said, which included ‘multi-disciplinary and experienced officers with significant scientific expertise.’

‘According to the whistleblower, at the end of its review, six of the seven members of the Team believed that intelligence and science were sufficient to make a low confidence assessment that COVID-19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China,’ the House pair wrote.

‘The seventh member of the Team, who also happened to be the most senior, was the one officer to believe COVID-19 originated through zoonosis,’ or an animal origin.

Fox News’ Digital reached out to the CIA for comment. In a previous statement, spokesperson Tammy Kupperman Thorp said, ‘At CIA we are committed to the highest standards of analytic rigor, integrity, and objectivity. We do not pay analysts to reach specific conclusions. We take these allegations extremely seriously and are looking into them. We will keep our Congressional oversight committees appropriately informed.’

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Rich Edson contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: House Democrats acknowledged Wednesday that Hunter Biden’s then-business partner, Eric Schwerin, handled President Biden’s finances for the duration of his vice presidency.

A spokesperson for the Democrat minority of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability told Fox News Digital that Schwerin, the former president of Hunter’s Rosemont Seneca Advisors and a frequent visitor to the Obama-Biden White House, served as then-Vice President Biden’s ‘bookkeeper’ from 2009 to 2017.

‘Notably, Mr. Schwerin, who served as then-Vice President Biden’s bookkeeper from 2009 to 2017, explained that he was not aware of any transactions into or out of the then-Vice President’s bank account related to business conducted by any Biden family member,’ the spokesperson said in a statement.

The statement came after Fox News Digital inquired about a section of the White House’s lengthy memo to the media on Wednesday as it scrambles to respond to House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

The White House issued a memo that urged news outlets to ramp up scrutiny of the impeachment inquiry announced Tuesday by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who said House Republicans have ‘uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct.’

The White House memo included a 14-page fact-check of Republicans’ claims made throughout the Biden investigation with regard to the president’s purported role in his son’s foreign business dealings and whether the Biden family used the former vice president’s public office for personal profit.

‘Republicans’ own witnesses such as Eric Schwerin, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, said President Biden was not involved in their business dealings,’ the White House said on page 13 of the memo.

‘’In a March 2023 interview with Republican and Democratic Committee staff, Mr. Schwerin told Committee staff he was not aware of any involvement by President Biden in the financial conduct of the President’s relatives’ businesses, much less any transactions into or out of the then-Vice President’s bank account related to business conducted by any Biden family member,’’ the White House continued, citing a paragraph from the Oversight Democrats’ memo in May.

A person familiar with Schwerin’s role in handling then-Vice President Biden’s finances told Fox News Digital that Schwerin worked on Biden’s personal budget and helped coordinate with his tax preparers.

The individual also pointed to the frequency of Schwerin’s communications with Biden and his top aides and said it was ‘inevitable’ Rosemont Seneca business came up in conversations.

A House Oversight spokesperson for the Republican majority told Fox News Digital that the committee ‘never interviewed Schwerin’ as claimed by committee Democrats and later by the White House.

‘This is false,’ the spokesperson said. ‘The Committee never interviewed Schwerin. There was a meeting but it was about document production. There has never been a transcribed interview or deposition.’

The committee Democrats spokesperson fired back in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying Schwerin, who Hunter previously admitted was a ‘close confidant and counsel’ of then-Vice President Biden, was indeed interviewed by committee staff for multiple hours on March 31, 2023, following a request from Comer.

‘In written correspondence to the Committee, Mr. Schwerin’s counsel described this as a ‘non-transcribed interview,’’ the statement continued. ‘Majority and Minority staff had equal time and switched off asking Mr. Schwerin questions about his relationship with Hunter Biden, as well as the history, structure, and activities of Hunter Biden’s business entities, to which Mr. Schwerin responded.’

Schwerin’s lawyer, however, told Fox News Digital that Schwerin was not technically a ‘bookkeeper’ to the then-VP but rather he simply assisted the then-VP with his finances.

Fox News Digital has previously reported on Schwerin’s extensive ties to the Biden family, both personal and professional, and how he was instrumental in Hunter expanding his enterprise in China.

Peter Schweizer, the president of Government Accountability Institute and an expert on Hunter’s business dealings, told ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ host Maria Bartiromo last month that ‘Eric Schwerin was the money guy’ in Hunter’s business ventures.

Schwerin, who visited the Obama White House and then-Vice President Biden’s residence at least 36 times between 2009 and 2016, was also a founding partner and managing director of Hunter’s now-dissolved firm Rosemont Seneca Partners. He was working with Hunter’s firms when he was appointed in early 2015 by then-President Obama to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, an independent U.S. government agency.

Hunter’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, who was married to the president’s son from 1993 to 2017, revealed in a memoir in June 2022 that Schwerin ‘managed almost every aspect of our financial life.’

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: The National Rifle Association hit Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham with a lawsuit Thursday in the state’s Supreme Court over an ‘unconstitutional’ rule temporarily suspending open and concealed carry across Albuquerque and the surrounding county. 

‘Please rescind your unlawful and blatantly unconstitutional orders and uphold your oath to defend the constitutional rights of those in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. Until then, we’ll see you in court,’ NRA-ILA Executive Director Randy Kozuch wrote to Lujan Grisham on Thursday, according to a letter exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital. 

The suit, filed Thursday in the New Mexico Supreme Court, names Lujan Grisham, Chief of New Mexico State Police Troy Weisler and New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Patrick Allen. 

The NRA was joined by every single GOP state House and Senate member, along with retired law enforcement, the Republican Party of New Mexico and the Libertarian Party of New Mexico as petitioners. 

The lawsuit argues Lujan Grisham’s gun order is unconstitutional and unlawful, and called on the state’s highest court to ‘issue an extraordinary writ invalidating’ the order. 

Lujan Grisham temporarily suspended open and concealed carry laws in Bernalillo County, where Albuquerque is located, for at least 30 days in a public health order announced Friday. The governor cited the fatal shootings of a 13-year-old girl in July, a 5-year-old girl in August and an 11-year-old boy this month as motivation behind the rule. 

The governor has been hit with at least four other lawsuits over the order, all of which argue the rule defies the U.S. Constitution. On Wednesday, a federal judge appointed by President Biden blocked part of the public health order that suspended carrying firearms in public. 

Lujan Grisham argued following the judge’s ruling that she will ‘stand up to protect families and children’ from crimes involving guns. 

‘I refuse to be resigned to the status quo. As governor, I see the pain of families who lost their loved ones to gun violence every single day, and I will never stop fighting to prevent other families from enduring these tragedies,’ she said. 

Lujan Grisham said when she announced the order that she anticipated legal challenges and raised some eyebrows over her remarks on the Constitution. 

‘No constitutional right, in my view, including my oath, is intended to be absolute,’ Lujan Grisham told a reporter who asked whether it’s ‘unconstitutional’ to order Americans not to exercise their right to bear arms.

Kozuch, the director of the NRA’s lobbying arm, hit back in his letter to Lujan Grisham Thursday that the NRA ‘strongly disagrees’ with her comment that her oath is not ‘absolute.’

‘You claim that your oath to uphold the rights covered by these amendments is ‘not absolute.’ The National Rifle Association strongly disagrees. New Mexicans and other law-abiding Americans visiting or travelling through Albuquerque and Bernalillo County have an absolute right to carry the firearm of their choosing to defend themselves and their families,’ he wrote. 

The NRA pointed to the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article II, Section 6 of the New Mexico state Constitution as both ‘clearly’ protecting ‘the right of peaceable people to carry firearms for self-defense.’ 

Article II, Section 6 of the New Mexico Constitution states: ‘[n]o law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for other lawful purposes, but nothing herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons. No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms.’

Quickly following the announcement last week, Second Amendment groups, New Mexico residents, Democrats and even gun control activist David Hogg spoke out that the rule was unconstitutional. 

‘In a shocking move, Governor Lujan Grisham is suspending Second Amendment rights by administrative fiat, ignoring the U.S. Constitution and the New Mexico Constitution,’ Kozuch told Fox News Digital earlier this week. 

‘Instead of undermining the fundamental rights of law-abiding New Mexicans, she should address the soft-on-criminal policies which truly endanger its citizens,’ he added. 

Kozuch again stressed in his letter Thursday that the governor should ‘hold criminals responsible’ for spreading violence, and highlighted that even the governor admitted in her press conference last week that criminals would not follow the 30-day gun ban. 

‘When announcing these orders, you claimed that they are meant to deal with the very real problem of violent crime in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. Yet, in the very press conference where you made that claim, you admitted that the criminals responsible for that rising violence will not follow these orders,’ he wrote. 

‘The NRA urges you to hold criminals responsible for the damage they inflict, but we will not stand by as you attempt to blame and restrict the rights of peaceful Americans who simply want to protect themselves, their families, and their community.’

The governor’s press secretary Caroline Sweeney told Fox News Digital on Sunday that the ‘order does not suspend the Constitution but instead state laws over which the governor has jurisdiction.’ Sweeney added that the governor ‘was elected to serve the people of New Mexico, and not a day goes by that she doesn’t hear from a constituent asking for more to be done to curb this horrific violence.’

Before the lawsuits against the order grew larger Thursday, New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez distanced himself from the governor, telling her he would not defend her administration in court. 

‘Though I recognize my statutory obligation as New Mexico’s chief legal officer to defend state officials when they are sued in their official capacity, my duty to uphold and defend the constitutional rights of every citizen takes precedence. Simply put, I do not believe that the Emergency Order will have any meaningful impact on public safety but, more importantly, I do not believe it passes constitutional muster,’ Torrez wrote in his letter to Lujan Grisham this week. 

The governor also does not have support from the Bernalillo County Sheriff, who called the order ‘unconstitutional,’ while Bernalillo County district attorney, the Albuquerque police chief, and Albuquerque mayor have all said they won’t enforce the order. Lujan Grisham said the state police would enforce the order, and that violations could carry a fine of up to $5,000.

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President Biden has finally broken his silence on his possible impeachment, telling attendees during a campaign reception at a private residence in McLean, Virginia on Wednesday such efforts were because Republicans in Congress ‘want to shut down the government.’

According to the official White House transcript of the event, Biden said, ‘Look, before I close, I want to say a word about impeachment,’ as those in attendance laughed.

‘It was pointed out to me today that [Republican Georgia Rep.] Marjorie Taylor Greene, the first day she was elected, said, ‘First thing we want to do is impeach Biden.’ Well, I tell you what, I don’t know quite why, but they just knew they wanted to impeach me. And now, the best I can tell, they want to impeach me because they want to shut down the government,’ he said.

One attendee expressed agreement with Biden, leading the president to say, ‘No, you think I’m kidding. Watch.’

‘Look, I’ve got a job to do. Everybody always asks about impeachment. I get up every day — not a joke — not focused on impeachment. I’ve got a job to do. I’ve got to deal with the issues that affect the American people every single solitary day,’ he said.

‘And a couple of years ago, I met my Cabinet; and I met them again when I appointed them; and I met them today in the Cabinet Room, focusing on how we end cancer as we know it as a country. And I’m focused on these things,’ he added.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced the formal impeachment inquiry against Biden on Tuesday, stating at a press conference that House Republicans had ‘uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct.’

He listed allegations of ‘abuse of power, obstruction and corruption’ made against Biden by several GOP-led committees who have been investigating the president and his family’s foreign business dealings.

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.