Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held up to $50,000 in student loan debt while being one of the biggest proponents of its cancelation, according to filings reviewed by Fox News Digital.

The New York lawmaker’s recently released financial disclosure shows she maintained between $15,001 and $50,000 in student loan debt in 2022. During this time, the progressive champion, who collects a $174,000 salary as a U.S. House of Representatives member, consistently advocated for actions that would also directly benefit herself. 

‘Now would be a great time to cancel student loan debt, take significant climate action, and pass voting rights,’ Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in May 2022 in response to a Marist poll showing President Biden’s low approval rating with young adults.

After Biden announced his ill-fated student loan forgiveness plan for more than 800,000 borrowers months later, the ‘Squad’ member applauded the relief but vowed to push for more.

‘It was YOUR pushing, YOUR pressure, YOUR organizing that got them to this point,’ Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Instagram. ‘It is up to us, and to you, to decide if we are going to stop here, or if we are going to keep pushing.’

‘I am very grateful for this watershed moment of a first step – it is so encouraging, thrilling, and has already changed SO many people’s lives,’ she continued. ‘But I am also thinking about how this still leaves a question mark for those in the highest amounts of debt, who need the most amount of help. So let’s celebrate and keep going.’

The Biden administration recently returned to the drawing board after the Supreme Court canceled Biden’s student loan debt handout, ruling that Congress would have to authorize such a program explicitly. 

Biden said the court ‘misinterpreted the Constitution’ and offered a ‘work-around’ plan that will provide a 12-month ‘on-ramp’ intended to assist borrowers struggling to resume repayment. 

Ocasio-Cortez, however, was unsatisfied with the terms of the plan. In July, she said the president should suspend interest on debt payments for a year. 

‘I would like to see interest payments suspended during this time, especially during that 12-month ramp-up period,’ Ocasio-Cortez told CNN’s Dana Bash. ‘There are millions of people in this country that have student loan debt under… $10,000 or $20,000, as outlined in the plan.’

‘People should not be incurring interest during this 12-month on-ramp period,’ she continued. ‘So, I highly urge the administration to consider suspending those interest payments. Of course, we still believe in pursuing student loan cancellation and acting faster than that 12-month period wherever possible.’ 

Ocasio-Cortez’s reported debt range on her new financial disclosure remained unchanged from the previous year. Her office did not respond to a request for comment.

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed reporting.

The White House has responded after both Democrats and Republicans criticized President Biden, who said he had ‘no comment’ on the rising death toll from the destructive Hawaiian wildfires during his weekend beach getaway in Delaware.

One Hawaii Democrat called the president’s response ‘shocking’ and out of character. While a congressional Republican accused Biden of ‘actively ignoring what is happening in Hawaii and really helping Hawaii.’

A White House spokesperson pushed back on the criticism and told Fox News Digital that the Biden administration was using the ‘whole-of-government’ to respond to the deadly fires, which included Biden mobilizing federal assistance from various departments and agencies.

‘The Biden-Harris Administration has mobilized a robust whole-of-government response effort to support immediate and long-term rescue and recovery efforts in Maui, Hawaii,’ the White House spokesperson said.

The statement continued: ‘Since the onset of the horrific fires in Maui, dozens of Federal departments and agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security through FEMA and the Coast Guard, the Department of Defense through the Navy and Army, the Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Small Business Administration (SBA) have been working with state and local partners on the ground to assess ongoing needs and providing resources and personnel to support response efforts.’

On Sunday, Bloomberg White House correspondent Justin Sink first reported that Biden had nothing to say in response to a question about the death toll.

‘After a couple hours on the Rehoboth beach, @potus was asked about the rising death toll in Hawaii ‘No comment,’ he said before heading home,’ Sink reported on X.

Video footage of the exchange released later appeared to corroborate Sink’s account.

Despite the apparent halfhearted remark, President Biden responded ‘within hours’ of Hawaii officials reporting the fire, according to a White House fact sheet.

‘Last Thursday, within hours of the devastating fires, President Biden signed a Major Disaster Declaration for Hawaii, and as President Biden told [Hawaii] Governor Josh Green, the Federal Government stands ready to provide additional assistance to ensure the state recovers. This weekend, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, U.S. Fire Administrator Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell and U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman surveyed catastrophic damage on the island and hosted a local press conference to reiterate the Administration’s commitment to supporting impacted communities, however long it may take.’

There are also nearly 500 federal personnel deployed to Maui as well as the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy, who are supporting maritime search and rescue operations, and U.S. Army helicopters, who are supporting fire suppression efforts on the Big Island, the White House said.

During a speech in Wisconsin, President Biden said Tuesday he and first lady Jill Biden would visit Hawaii to see the damage and visit with local officials.

The spokesperson also defended the Biden administration’s decision to send additional aid to Ukraine, which continues to have bipartisan support in Congress — amid the destruction to Hawaii.

‘The recent supplemental package reflects urgent needs through the end of the year both with respect to national security and critical domestic areas like disaster relief. We’re grateful for the strong bipartisan support for Ukraine since Russia’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion, and we are confident that support will continue as we work together to support the Ukrainian people as they bravely stand up to Russia’s brutal war of aggression and defend their country,’ their statement said.

As of Wednesday morning, the death toll from the devastating Maui fire reached 106.

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The Rhode Island Board of Elections said Tuesday that its review of nomination signatures submitted by the congressional campaign of Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos found ‘no obvious pattern of fraud,’ but will continue to investigate to protect the integrity of the democratic process.

The review was conducted after election officials in three communities in the 1st Congressional District asked local police departments to investigate suspected fraudulent signatures on nomination papers submitted by the Matos campaign. The state attorney general and state police then got involved in the investigation.

The nomination papers allegedly included the names of dead people and some from people who said their names were forged.

Despite the alleged fraud, the board confirmed that Matos’s campaign had collected more than enough voter signatures to qualify for the Sept. 5 primary ballot to seek the Democratic nomination in the race to succeed former Rep. David Cicilline.

Cicilline stepped down earlier this summer to become the president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation.

The board voted to continue investigating and will issue subpoenas to all of the people who collected signatures for Matos, but not until after the primary so as not to influence the outcome of the special election.

‘Continuing on this parallel path to the attorney general will lead to some chaos in election,’ Board Vice Chairman David Sholes said, noting that early voting begins Wednesday.

Matos, one of a dozen Democrats running to replace Cicilline, blamed the questionable signatures on an outside vendor hired by her campaign.

‘The Board of Elections has affirmed what my campaign has said all along and what the Secretary of State previously found: despite being the victim of a vendor who lied to my campaign, we submitted more than enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot,’ Matos said in a statement Tuesday.

Matos was the presumed front-runner and her Democratic opponents used the scandal to attack her.

‘It is unfortunate that the guys who are running against me have used this as an opportunity to attempt to smear my reputation and call into question our democratic process,’ she said.

Matos’ campaign has said it is cooperating with the attorney general’s investigation. A spokesperson for the attorney general said Tuesday that the investigation is ongoing.

Attorney General Peter Neronha has said his office would examine the nomination forms the Matos campaign submitted in every municipality in the district.

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The Fulton County Clerk of Courts Office is offering a new explanation for the supposed ‘fictitious’ indictment posted on the Georgia court’s website before a grand jury voted Monday to hand up an indictment for former President Trump and 18 others.

On Monday afternoon, the Fulton County Court’s website posted a document that listed the same charges included in the indictment released late Monday night, which included charges of violating the Georgia RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, conspiracy to commit filing false documents and more.

Reuters first reported on the document before the Fulton County Court quickly removed it from the website and released a statement, blasting the document as ‘fictitious’ and warning the media ‘that documents that do not bear an official case number, filing date, and the name of The Clerk of Courts, in concert, are not considered official filings and should not be treated as such.’

The indictment was handed up and unsealed Monday night, bearing the same charges as listed on the alleged fictitious document, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was asked for an explanation.

‘No, I can’t tell you anything about what you refer to,’ Willis said. ‘What I can tell you is that we had a grand jury here in Fulton County. They deliberated till almost 8 o’clock, if not right after 8 o’clock, an indictment was returned. It was true billed. And you now have an indictment.’ 

But the fallout continued into the day Tuesday after Trump attorneys and allies blasted the system.

The court on Tuesday afternoon released a lengthy statement in an attempt to clear up questions.

‘The Office of the Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts announces that midday on August 14, 2023, a media outlet utilizing the Fulton County Press que obtained a docket sheet and shared it with other media outlets who then released the sample working document related to the former United States President, Donald Trump – reporting that an indictment had been returned by the Special Grand Jury in Fulton County Georgia,’ the statement reads. ‘Upon learning of the mishap, Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts, Ché Alexander, immediately removed the document and issued correspondence notifying the media that a fictitious document was in circulation and that no indictment had been returned by the Grand Jury.’

‘In anticipation of issues that arise with entering a potentially large indictment, Alexander used charges that pre-exist in Odyssey to test the system and conduct a trial run,’ the statement continues. ‘Unfortunately, the sample working document led to the docketing of what appeared to be an indictment, but which was, in fact, only a fictitious docket sheet.’

The court said that ‘because the media has access to documents before they are published, and while it may have appeared that something official had occurred because the document bore a case number and filing date, it did not include a signed ‘true’ or ‘no’ bill nor an official stamp with Clerk Alexander’s name, thereby making the document unofficial and a test sample only.’

‘Hours later, after receiving the True Bill presented to presiding Judge, Robert McBurney, Clerk Alexander executed the filing with a file stamp and moments later she made the filing public,’ the court continues. ‘The Office understands the confusion that this matter caused and the sensitivity of all court filings.’

The court said its remains ‘committed to operating with an extreme level of efficiency, accuracy, and transparency.’

‘Media members can expect to be notified of any/all filings in real time and will be provided access to filings via equitable communication,’ the court said.

It is still unclear why the ‘sample working document’ and the ‘fictitious docket sheet’ matched the exact charges brought against the former president and 18 others.

Fox News’ Claudia Kelly-Bazan contributed to this report.

A 2018 text message from Hunter Biden in which he claimed to have paid his father’s bills for more than a decade suggests further evidence of the first family’s corruption, House Republicans say.

In a text thread with his assistant, Katie Dodge, Hunter wrote that his Wells Fargo account ‘shut me out again.’

‘Too many cooks in the kitchen,’ he wrote on April 12, 2018. ‘Too many profile changes and such. Happened 10 days ago too. What do you need? I’m going to bank in a few. Need to verify identity in person.’

‘I need to pay AT&T,’ Dodge responded.

Hunter Biden then instructed Dodge to put the payment on both his debit card and his ‘Wells Fargo credit line.’

‘My dad has been using most lines on this account which I’ve through the gracious offerings of Eric [Schwerin] have paid for past 11 years,’ Hunter wrote.

It’s not clear whether Hunter was claiming to have a shared AT&T account or a shared Wells Fargo account with his father. The White House declined to clarify when reached by Fox News Digital.

But the texts show some combining of Hunter’s and Biden’s finances that has been uncovered by Fox News Digital in past reports.

A 2010 email from Schwerin, Hunter Biden’s longtime business partner, said he was transferring funds from Biden’s tax refund check into Hunter’s account because ‘he owes it to you.’

A 2016 email from Schwerin to Hunter indicated that Hunter was expected to pay an AT&T bill in the amount of $190 for ‘JRB.’

A 2019 text from Hunter to his daughter, Naomi, said the elder Biden forced him to fork over half of his salary.

‘I hope you all can do what I did and pay for everything for this entire family Fro (sic) 30 years. It’s really hard. But don’t worry unlike Pop I won’t make you give me half your salary,’ Hunter wrote.

The Committee on Oversight and Accountability has released multiple memos to show money flowing into Hunter-linked accounts from entities in China, Romania, Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine when his father was vice president. The question, however, is whether Biden knew about it or benefited from the millions of dollars reaped by his son.

House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., slammed the Bidens’ ‘corruption’ in a statement to Fox News Digital.

‘This is what corruption looks like. For seemingly the entirety of Joe Biden’s Vice Presidency, his son Hunter was selling access to his father to the highest bidder while paying off his Joe Biden’s credit card bills,’ Stefanik said. ‘There can no longer be any doubt that Joe Biden is compromised.’

Committee Republicans told Fox News Digital that the 2018 texts between Hunter and his assistant provide further evidence that the president had at least a passive understanding of his son’s business dealings, despite repeatedly claiming he had no knowledge.

‘There’s more. Much, much more,’ said Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La. ‘Joe Biden is most certainly a heavily compromised career politician. Republicans on the Oversight Committee are revealing the depths of his corruption, and everyone close to him will be burned by the inferno of his crash.’ 

‘Bank records don’t lie,’ said Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz. ‘Follow the money: all transactions lead to the Big Guy and his money laundering shell games. Joe Biden should be impeached.’

‘This is no longer just about Hunter Biden,’ said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn. ‘The president shared this bank account with him. More and more evidence just keeps hitting us in the mouth and eventually there’s got to be some justice. The American people are owed that much.’

Schwerin, who has been dubbed the ‘money guy’ due to his frequent involvement with the Biden family’s finances, is a key player in the orbit of Hunter and his father.

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.’

Hunter also acknowledged that Schwerin, who visited the Obama White House and the vice presidential residence at least 36 times, was a ‘close confidant and counsel’ to his father in a February 2014 email thread with Schwerin, Fox News Digital previously reported.

The House Oversight Committee released its third bank memo last week, producing bank records that purport to show that Hunter and his business associates received millions in payments from Russian and Kazakhstani oligarchs when his father was vice president. 

The 19-page memo, which provided screenshots of redacted bank records, says millions in payments came from Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings, Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina and Kazakhstani oligarch Kenes Rakishev and that then-Vice President Biden attended dinners with Baturina, Rakishev and a representative from Burisma.

Two previous memos from the Republican-led committee tied Biden family members to payments linked to entities in China and Romania. The committee says the foreign payments to the Biden family now add up to over $20 million.

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel in the federal investigation into Hunter Biden. Republicans immediately criticized Garland’s selection of Weiss, who led the prosecution in Hunter Biden’s tax and gun charges that conservatives blasted as too lax.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., called Garland’s announcement ‘part of the Justice Department’s efforts to attempt a Biden family cover-up in light of [House Oversight Republicans’] mounting evidence of President Biden’s role in his family’s schemes [of] selling ‘the brand’ for millions of dollars to foreign nationals.’

FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are pushing the Department of Justice (DOJ) for answers on who gets grant money and how those allocations are decided, as some conservatives push to slash the department’s funds over charges of politicization.

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent letters to three DOJ offices on Tuesday suggesting the Biden administration was stonewalling the committee’s efforts to find out how grants are allocated within the Office of Justice Programs, Office of Violence Against Women, and the Community Oriented Policing Services. 

It comes as lawmakers face a tough spending showdown when they return from their home districts in September. 

Calls to cut funding to the DOJ and FBI have gained traction within the House GOP, particularly among allies of former President Donald Trump, who believe the department has been improperly co-opted by President Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland.

A source familiar with the back-and-forth said House Judiciary Republicans are demanding ‘full transparency of the DOJ’s grant-making processes.’ They added, ‘Everything remains on the table.’

In his Tuesday letter, Jordan said the three DOJ offices in question had ‘not responded to the Committee’s request or provided any documents’ about their grants, which he pointed out was made on June 30 ‘despite the Committee’s repeated efforts at accommodation.’

He accused the offices of missing a self-imposed July 28 deadline for producing information on how taxpayer-funded grants are being disbursed and to whom.

‘Committee staff followed up via email with the Department to inquire if the Committee should expect a production. Department staff responded again by indicating that they ‘are working diligently and in good faith…to gather documents and information responsive to [the Committee’s] requests.’ The Department declined to provide a specific date by which it would honor the Committee’s requests,’ the letter charged. 

Jordan signaled he would be open to subpoenaing the relevant offices if Biden officials did not give his committee the information it is seeking. 

‘Now 46 days after our initial request, the Committee still has yet to receive a response from OVW or any of the requested documents,’ Jordan wrote. ‘If the Department fails to voluntarily comply with the Committee’s requests, the Committee may consider the use of compulsory process.’

The DOJ confirmed receipt of the letters to Fox News Digital but declined to comment further.

President Biden raised eyebrows on social media Tuesday after he told a crowd in Wisconsin that he watched a bridge collapse in Pittsburg last year.

Biden was touting his economic policies during a stop at Ingeteam, a wind turbine generator manufacturer in Milwaukee, when he brought up the 2022 collapse.

‘A lot of you were with me when I was in Pittsburgh,’ he said. ‘By the way, Pittsburgh is a city of bridges – more bridges in Pittsburgh than any other city in America.’

‘I watched that bridge collapse,’ he said. ‘I got there and saw it collapse with over 200 feet off the ground going over a valley. It collapsed. Thank God school was out during the pandemic.’

The Republican National Committee posted a clip of Biden’s remarks on X, formerly Twitter, adding, ‘That didn’t happen.’

On Jan. 28, 2022, hours before Biden’s arrival in Pittsburgh for a pre-planned speech, the 477-foot Forbes Avenue Bridge collapsed, injuring multiple people. Biden reportedly gave his speech four miles from the bridge, and he later visited the site of the damage, but he did not witness the collapse firsthand.

BIDEN REPEATS DEBUNKED AMTRAK STORY FOR 5TH TIME DURING PRESIDENCY 

The president has a long history of exaggerating stories about himself. In November 2021, he said he ‘had a house burn down with my wife in it.’ A month earlier, he recounted for the fifth time during his presidency a debunked story about an Amtrak employee during a speech in New Jersey. The employee Biden frequently mentioned actually died a year before the story was said to have taken place.

In 2020, Biden had to walk back repeated claims that he was arrested in apartheid-era South Africa while trying to visit Nelson Mandela.

In 2019, Biden told a crowd of college students a harrowing story about a Navy captain in Afghanistan that was later debunked by the Washington Post.

In 2013, Biden said he heard the gunshots of an Amish schoolhouse shooting that killed five students while playing golf nearby in Pennsylvania in 2006. The Washington Times poured cold water on the claim at the time, reporting that no golf course in the area had any record of hosting Biden.

In 2008, Biden said his helicopter in Afghanistan was ‘forced down’ by al Qaeda insurgents on ‘the superhighway of terror.’ The Associated Press later reported that a snowstorm, not the enemy, forced the pilot to land.

In 2007, Biden said he had been ‘shot at’ during a trip years earlier to Iraq. He later clarified that he was ‘near where a shot landed.’

Biden’s tall-tale telling came to light during his first presidential campaign in 1988, from which he eventually withdrew under the weight of multiple plagiarism allegations. During that campaign, he also falsely claimed that he attended law school on a full scholarship and graduated in the top half of his class, which he later admitted was untrue. He also said at the time that he ‘marched with tens of thousands’ of people during the civil rights movement, but that also turned out to be false.

President Biden tripped over his words Tuesday during a visit to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he touted ‘Bidenomics’ and his administration’s economic agenda.

During the speech, Biden focuses on jobs in manufacturing as he spoke at a Wisconsin factory.

Nearly 20 minutes into his speech, the president spoke about jobs being created in America instead of getting exported out.

‘And they’re being built right here in Wisconsin and in places where factories have been shut down,’ he said.

Biden then boasted that since taking office, the private sector had announced $3 billion in investments for wind energy manufacturing in the U.S., which he claimed was cheaper than fossil fuels.

‘And that’s not all. So, this year, this company didn’t think it made sense to make chargers for electric vehicles in the United States,’ Biden said. ‘But then when I signed the [unintelligible word], again, which [Republican Senator] Ron Johnson and his friends didn’t vote for, they all voted against, that law invests $7.5 billion to build a network of thousands of electric vehicle chargers stretching across the country, including on I-94.’

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which could be what Biden was trying to say when he muttered something that sounded like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, was signed in November 2021.

At the time, Biden called the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill a ‘once-in-a-generation investment in our people.’

He said it would create millions of jobs, turn the climate crisis into an opportunity, and put the U.S. on a path to win the economic competition for the 21st century.

Biden also said the act would create good-paying jobs that cannot be outsourced, and jobs that will transform the transportation system with significant investments.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy went viral following an exchange he had with a self-described ‘pansexual’ activist who confronted him on LGBTQ issues.

Video of the exchange, which took place on Saturday at the Iowa State Fair, began with the activist asking what his ‘opinions on the LGBTQ+ community.’

‘Well, I don’t think it’s one community,’ Ramswamy responded. 

‘Really?’ the activist reacted.

‘Yeah. I mean, how could it be,’ Ramaswamy continued. ‘Just mash together an alphabet soup. Trans is fundamentally in tension with gay if you ask me. But what’s your opinion?’

‘I’m personally am pansexual,’ the activist responded, referring to the sexual orientation that has attraction towards all sexes and gender identities. 

The activist then asked what his views were on same-sex couples. 

‘I don’t have a negative view of same-sex couples, but I do have a negative view of a tyranny of the minority,’ Ramaswamy said. ‘So I think that in the name of protecting against the tyranny of the majority, and there are times in this country’s history where we have had a tyranny of the majority. We have now in the name of protecting against tyranny of the majority created a new tyranny of the minority. 

‘And I think that that’s wrong. I don’t think that somebody who’s religious should be forced to officiate a wedding that they disagree with. I don’t think somebody who is a woman who’s worked really hard for her achievements should be forced to compete against a biological man in a swim competition. I don’t think that somebody who’s a woman that respects her bodily autonomy and dignity should be forced to change clothes in a locker room with a man. That’s not freedom. That’s oppression.’ 

‘And so I believe that we live in a country where free adults should be free to dress how they want, behave how they want and that’s fine, but you don’t oppress you don’t become oppressive by foisting that on others, and that especially includes kids because kids aren’t the same as adults. And so I think adults are free to make whatever choices they want, but do not foist that ideology onto children before children are in a position as adults to make decisions for themselves. 

‘And so I think a lot of the frustration in the country, and if I’m being really honest that I also share, comes from that new culture of oppression where saying those things can actually get somebody punished. And in my case, it’s part of why it’s my responsibility to say them, and I respect that you have a different opinion. And that’s okay. Part of what makes our country great is that you and I can be civil and have this conversation and that we live in a country that still gives us — each of us the right to speak to a presidential candidate and back and still say that we pledge allegiance to the same nation. So I think that’s the beauty of our country. And that’s my honest opinion.’

The activist finished the exchange by thanking Ramaswamy, who in turn thanked her ‘for her civility as well.’

The social media post with of their interaction received nearly 12 million views. 

This isn’t the first time Ramaswamy went viral for embracing voters who might not have his support. At an Iowa campaign event in July, he was confronted by a liberal protester who interrupted his remarks by advocating for abortion rights. But as other attendees attempted to shout her down, Ramaswamy urged them to ‘let her speak’ and encouraged her to come towards the front of the room to express her thoughts.

Ramaswamy has risen in GOP primary polls according to RealClearPolitics, placing third behind former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 6.4% percent support. 

He is one of eight candidates who qualify for the first Republican debate on Aug. 23 that will air on Fox News Channel at 9 p.m. ET.