Former Burisma board member Devon Archer is scheduled to appear tomorrow morning before the House Oversight Committee for a closed-door, transcribed interview.

Fox is told that Archer is expected to appear this time – even though he ducked the committee three times before and is under subpoena. 

Moreover, one senior Republican close to the investigation says the DOJ tried ‘an intimidation tactic’ Saturday, asking a judge to set a date for Archer to report to begin serving jail time – Archer was found guilty of defrauding Native American tribes in 2022.

Fox is told investigators intend to ask Archer about previously undisclosed bank records and the purpose of those transactions. In particular, the committee wants to know what role if any President Biden had in those transactions.

There are also questions whether the legal counsel for the Bidens contacted Archer.

The committee believes Archer will tell investigators about meetings or phone calls he had with President Biden with regard to potential business deals.

Archer is slated to appear at 10 a.m. ET. The discussion is scheduled to last four hours total – two hours per side. The Republicans will go for an hour, then the Democrats for an hour, and so on.

With breaks, this likely does not conclude until 3 p.m. ET or so.

Fox is told to expect maybe a couple of lawmakers there, that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio will likely attend.

Fox is also told that the committee intends to release the transcript of the transcribed interview ‘in three or four days.’

A Democratic congressman admitted that it’s ‘clear’ Hunter Biden broke the law during an interview on Friday.

Connecticut Congressman Jim Himes took a swipe at Republicans Friday night before acknowledging the first son’s legal troubles.

‘Let me say something that you never heard a Republican member of Congress say in the four years of the Trump administration, which is that if Hunter Biden broke the law, he should be prosecuted,’ Himes said on MSNBC. ‘And it is clear that he broke the law with respect to taxes and possibly the ownership of a handgun. He should be held accountable for that.’

Himes criticized Republicans for not speaking out against former President Donald Trump when he was indicted, but also acknowledged that Hunter Biden should be held accountable if he used his father’s influence to commit crimes.

‘If he traded on his father’s influence, he should be held accountable for that. And I’m emphasizing this because you never, ever heard a Republican say the same thing about Donald Trump or his family,’ Himes argued.

The Democratic congressman argued there was no evidence that President Biden colluded with his son on any crimes, but insinuated that any evidence should be taken seriously if it arises.

‘Now, to the question about impeachment, there is today zero evidence, zero evidence that Joe Biden, the president of the United States, knew about what his son was doing. If, if he did know about it, if he participated in that, then that is a very different conversation,’ Himes added.

Hunter, who is still under federal investigation, pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax on Wednesday. He was set to plead guilty as part of a deal, but the plea deal fell through.

The White House has stated that President Biden is supporting his son throughout the investigation. 

‘Hunter Biden is a private citizen, and this was a personal matter for him. As we have said, the president, the first lady — they love their son and they support him as he continues to rebuild his life,’ White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre previously said. ‘This case was handled independently, as all of you know, by the Justice Department under the leadership of a prosecutor appointed by the former president, President Trump.’ 

Fox News Digital reached out to Himes’ office for a statement, but has not heard back.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

–>

WASHINGTON – The first action needed to stop human trafficking in the U.S. is to secure the border, Speaker Kevin McCarthy told Fox News in an exclusive interview.

‘The first thing you really want to do is secure the border because right now many children are being trafficked into America because they believe the border to be open,’ McCarthy told Fox News at a movie event held last Tuesday. There were over 10,300 human trafficking incidents reported to the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2021. 

The screening, held for members of Congress, featured ‘Sound of Freedom,’ a film depicting the horrors of human trafficking in the U.S. and abroad. The low-budget movie’s lead actor Jim Caviezel, and Tim Ballard, on whom the film is based, were in attendance. 

ADDRESSING HUMAN TRAFFICKING IS A BIPARTISAN ISSUE: SPEAKER KEVIN MCCARTHY

Ballard, a former U.S. federal agent, began Operation Underground Railroad ten years ago to combat human trafficking after rescuing two children from exploitation in South America. 

‘The border policies that we have in this country are actually incentivizing traffickers,’ Ballard told Fox News at the private screening. ‘If you’re an unaccompanied minor coming into this country and you’re released to anyone, this is very dangerous.’

Ballard referenced a program that enacted stricter biometric verification procedures at the border, including familial DNA tests, recently ended under Biden as the contracts that backed the project expired.

The Speaker said he is proud the Republican majority passed a border security package earlier in May. The bill included measures to restart border wall construction and change laws related to unaccompanied children. 

‘I wish the Senate would take it up,’ the Republican leader told Fox News.

There is a ‘sophisticated network’ of child migrant smuggling into forced labor and other forms of slavery in the U.S., Tara Lee Rodas, a whistleblower from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), testified before Congress in April. 

The New York Times reported a rise in migrant child labor exploitation in February, claiming that over the last two years, HHS lost contact with over 85,000 migrant minors after they were placed in sponsor homes. 

‘Human trafficking should not be a partisan issue, we need to save our children,’ the Speaker told Fox News. ‘And this film, I hope, would inspire both people on both sides of the aisle to realize what needs to get done to solve this problem.’

McCarthy and Ballard held a brief discussion on combating human trafficking before the screening began. 

‘I think movies are a good thing to bring people together, but also educate the members of Congress,’ McCarthy told Fox News.

‘The ‘Sound of Freedom’ does exactly that,’ he continued. ‘This is an educational film.’

To watch the full exclusive interview with the Speaker, click here.

Republican Rep. John James slammed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Twitter Friday over DeSantis’ response to Republican lawmakers who criticized the 2024 presidential candidate on Florida’s new Black history education standards. 

‘@RonDeSantis, #1: slavery was not CTE! Nothing about that 400 years of evil was a ‘net benefit’ to my ancestors,’ James wrote. ‘#2: there are only five black Republicans in Congress and you’re attacking two of them.’ 

‘My brother in Christ… if you find yourself in a deep hole put the shovel down. You are now so far from the Party of Lincoln that your Ed. board is re-writing history and you’re personally attacking conservatives like @VoteTimScott and @ByronDonalds on the topic of slavery,’ James continued. ‘You’ve gone too far. Stop.’

DeSantis has recently traded blows with South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, who have criticized the state’s new school history curriculum and approach to teaching about slavery. 

‘There’s no silver lining in slavery. We founded this nation upon the notion of freedom,’ Scott told the NH Journal Friday. ‘Slavery is a deprivation of freedom. It is antithetical to who we are. That doesn’t need to be explained. That just needs to be digested.

‘Truth be told, whether you’re Kamala Harris or Ron DeSantis, having an opportunity to restate your position against slavery is always something that should be welcomed by all people: Conservatives, liberals, Black, White, rich, poor, red, blue. It doesn’t really matter.’

Donalds said Wednesday the ‘attempt to feature the personal benefits of slavery is wrong & needs to be adjusted.’ He called the rest of the standards ‘good, robust and accurate.’

‘I’m one of the members up here fighting hard against this radical agenda from the Biden-Harris administration,’ Donalds told FOX Business previously. ‘So, my stance, and where I am politically is very, very clear. But if I have an issue with one sentence, I’m allowed to have that. The fact that they made this a story is dumb in my view.’

The new curriculum states, ‘Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.’ 

DeSantis has held his position, accusing the Republicans of falling in line with Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris told a crowd in Jacksonville, Fla., the new Black history curriculum replaces ‘history with lies’ and that students there would be ‘told that enslaved people benefited from slavery.’

‘These extremist so-called leaders should model what we know to be the correct and right approach if we really are invested in the well-being of our children. Instead, they dare to push propaganda to our children. This is the United States of America. We’re not supposed to do that,’ Harris said, according to FOX 35. ‘It is a reasonable expectation that our children will not be misled, and that’s what’s so outrageous, happening right now.’ 

DeSantis’ administration has reportedly fiercely denied accusations claiming Florida’s curriculum teaches students that slaves in the U.S. ‘benefited from slavery.’

The Florida Department of Education said in a letter sent to Florida School District superintendents the Biden administration ‘intentionally misrepresented’ its ‘groundbreaking work’ in updating the new standards.

The DeSantis campaign pointed Fox News to a video the candidate posted to Twitter Friday. 

‘Part of the reason our country has struggled is because D.C. Republicans all too often accept false narratives, accept lies that are perpetrated by the left. And to accept the lie that Kamala Harris has been perpetrating even when that has been debunked, that’s not the way you do it. The way you lead is to fight back against the lies, is to speak the truth,’ DeSantis said. ‘So, I’m here defending my state of Florida against false accusations and against lies. And, we’re going to continue to speak the truth.’

On Saturday, DeSantis tweeted reacting to a News Nation story that reported Democratic lawmakers are seeking to determine if there are grounds to pursue legal action against the state of Florida for new curriculum standards regarding slavery.

‘This is just the latest — and absurd — example of the weaponization of the federal government. Standing up the lies of people like Kamala Harris is the right thing to do. We will defend Florida and stand firm against false, politically-driven narratives,’ DeSantis replied. ‘As president, I will end the weaponization of government and hold partisan bureaucrats accountable for abusing their power.’

Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie, Elizabeth Elkind, Joseph A. Wulfsoh, Chris Pandolfo and Joshua Nelson contributed to this report.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday signed a bill into law that empowers the state attorney general to crack down on pregnancy centers that use ‘deceptive tactics’ to divert women seeking an abortion to alternate care offered by their programs.

The Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act prohibits crisis pregnancy centers from using deception, misinformation, or misrepresentation to interfere with access to abortion services or emergency contraception.

‘Women need access to comprehensive, fact-based health care when making critical decision about their own health — not manipulation or misinformation from politically motivated, non-medical actors,’ Pritzker said in a statement. ‘By empowering the attorney general’s office to battle deceptive practices, we’re ensuring Illinoisans can make their own decisions about their bodies using accurate and safe information.’

The new law allows the attorney general of Illinois to investigate complaints against centers accused of using such tactics and strengthens the power of the attorney general’s office to prosecute cases and issue fines up to $50,000.

The law ‘is about clarifying that the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act that applies to many businesses applies to crisis pregnancy centers as well,’ Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said at a news conference at a Planned Parenthood facility to discuss the measure. ‘This bill is intended to protect the individuals to access the full range of reproductive health care and make fully informed decisions including the right to use or refuse reproductive health care.’ 

Raoul also claimed that ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ use various forms of deception and misinformation to delay or prevent women from going to abortion appointments. He added that this issue has ‘amped up’ since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — the landmark decision that established a constitutional right to an abortion — returning the matter of abortion to state governments.

Critics of the law have noted ambiguity surrounding what exactly will define deception or misinformation under the new law, expressing concern that the government could use that vagueness to unfairly target pro-life pregnancy centers.

Illinois Republican state Rep. Adam Niemerg, for example, asked Raoul, who was in attendance during a spring debate in the House about the bill, to answer questions but was directed to speak only to the bill’s sponsor. 

‘Perhaps the attorney general can elaborate on some of these questions we are asking here,’ said Niemerg. ‘This is a very broad brush that you are painting with, Representative, and I think the people of Illinois deserve to know through examples what will be applicable and what won’t be applicable under this act. Don’t you agree?’ 

Raoul explained the bill is ‘about ensuring consumers have timely access to accurate information and medically appropriate care that’s free from interference, deception, and unfair practices.’

The new law has been met by not only criticism but also lawsuits, with the Thomas More Society, a nonprofit law firm, suing the state of Illinois.

‘This law is a blatant attempt to chill and silence pro-life speech under the guise of ‘consumer protection,” Peter Breen, executive vice president and head of litigation at the Thomas More Society, said in a news release. ‘Pregnancy help ministries provide real options and assistance to women and families in need, but instead of the praise they deserve, pro-abortion politicians are targeting these ministries with $50,000 fines and injunctions solely because of their pro-life viewpoint.’

Illinois Right to Life released a statement similarly blasting the new law.

‘This bill is a direct attack on the work of pro-life pregnancy resource centers and a violation of protected free speech,’ the group said. ‘As the language in the bill explicitly exempts abortion providers from the law while leaving the definition of ‘deceptive practices’ unanswered and open-ended, Illinois pro-life advocates see this legislation as a ‘gotcha’ political attack from abortion proponents.’

Illinois Right to Life went on to praise the work of pregnancy centers providing various medical services to low-income women and suggested it may take legal action against the state.

‘Full stop, this bill is a brazen attack on pro-life pregnancy resource centers,’ said Illinois Right to Life Executive Director Mary Kate Zander. ‘[Freedom of Information Act] requests determined there have been zero complaints filed against pro-life pregnancy centers, yet Attorney General Raoul and sponsors of this bill have repeatedly pointed to unsubstantiated accounts to justify this legislation. It’s a clear violation of free speech and an attack on Illinois’ pro-life movement. They have not heard the last of us on this.’

However, supporters of the new law counter that they’re fighting misinformation and protecting women’s health care.

‘Misinformation is a form of injustice, particularly when it is used in an attempt to control women’s healthcare decisions,’ Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said in a statement. ‘In Illinois, we refuse to accept anything less than bodily autonomy for all, and that includes the right to accessible and accurate medical information. We are committed to protecting Illinoisans from these manipulative tactics and ensuring all have the power to choose what is best for their futures.’

President Biden has accused Republicans of ‘undermining the military,’ and called out one Alabama senator – although not naming him – in particular on Thursday. 

‘The Republican Party used to always support the military. But today, they are undermining the military,’ he said. ‘The senior senator from Alabama, who claims to support our troops, is now blocking more than 300 military operations [nominations] with his extreme political agenda.’

The president noted he had nominated outstanding leaders of all backgrounds and that, for the first time in more than 100 years, the U.S. does not have a sitting confirmed Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Biden forecast that, by the fall, there might not be leaders for other branches, adding that a ‘partisan freeze’ is harming ‘military readiness, security leadership and troop morale.’

‘A growing cascade of damage and disruption, all because one senator from Alabama and 48 Republicans who refuse to stand up to him, to lift the blockade over the Pentagon policy offering servicemen and women, their families access to reproductive healthcare rights they deserve if they’re stationed in states that deny it,’ he accused.

He called on Sen. Tommy Tuberville to let ‘these generals and admirals fully serve their country, and servicemembers care for themselves and their families.’

Biden also stressed the importance of unity.

‘Let’s remember who in God’s name we are. We are the United States of America, and there’s nothing — think about this — literally, there is nothing we’ve ever set our mind to we haven’t accomplished — nothing, ever — if we decided we were going to do it. Nothing beyond our capacity when we act together,’ he said. 

It’s not the first time Biden has spoken out against Tuberville, calling him by name earlier in the month as he announced nominations. 

‘It has long been an article of faith in this country that supporting our servicemembers and their families, and providing for the strength of our national defense, transcends politics. What Senator Tuberville is doing is not only wrong — it is dangerous,’ Biden stated then. ‘In this moment of rapidly evolving security environments and intense competition, he is risking our ability to ensure that the United States Armed Forces remain the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. And his Republican colleagues in the Senate know it.’

Tuberville, who opposes a Department of Defense policy to reimburse travel expenses for military personnel who have to leave their states to get abortions or other reproductive care, has held up hundreds of military nominations and promotions – with pushback from senators in both parties and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The senator has said he wouldn’t stop the blockade unless majority Democrats allow a vote on the policy.

‘President Biden spoke last night at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium. He’s decided that this would be a GREAT avenue to use to attack me … he’s clearly mistaken. My stance HAS NOT and WILL NOT change,’ Tuberville tweeted on Friday. ‘I will uphold the rule of law. Stand with me in this fight and let’s send Joe Biden a clear message.’

In a call with reporters on July 19, he said if he believed it was having a small impact on national security, he ‘wouldn’t be doing this.’ 

‘We’re turning into a woke military, we’re turning into a military that’s soft, that’s dropped its regulations, its dropped its formulations to how we take recruits. This is not a business for everybody. We’re looking for best, the strongest and the most prepared and the most patriotic people to defend our borders, our country and our allies,’ he said, according to WVTM. ‘I asked that same question today (Wednesday) about readiness to the people who put this bill together. They gave some kind of lame excuse about how it’s affecting readiness. I didn’t understand what they were saying and I think they were just trying to make something up. It’s not hurting readiness and it’s not hurting recruiting.’

Biden said those who deem the military ‘weak, soft and less capable’ have ‘no idea what in God’s name they’re talking about.’

‘As Commander-in-Chief, I can tell you without reservation — not just being in this business for a long time, but being a student of history — we have, and always will have, the strongest, toughest . . . fighting force in the history of the world. And, again, that’s not hyperbole. That’s real,’ he said. 

‘Joe Biden is the least popular president since Jimmy Carter. He is in no position to attack anyone,’ Steven Stafford, communications director for Tuberville, told Fox News Digital. Further, the only one who has politicized and undermined our military is Joe Biden through the woke policies he has imposed on our heroes in uniform. Just this past week Senate Democrats voted to support Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate, which discharged 8,000 patriots from our armed forces.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, is hoping he can find a rare area of common ground between Republicans and Democrats on immigration with a bipartisan bill that would streamline the use of temporary visa programs — something he believes will be a first step to more bipartisan work on the issue in Congress.

The HIRE Act would focus on the H-2A agricultural worker visa program and the H-2B seasonal worker program, which grants temporary legal status to nonagricultural service workers in seasonal areas such as landscaping, hotel and restaurant work. 

The bill would expand the length of the visas from one to three years and would allow officials to waive an in-person interview in order to renew their visa status for an additional three years.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Gonzales said the bill was a crucial tool to end the border crisis and said his aim is ‘to get Congress working again.’

‘And we always talk about immigration. We always talk about border security. And a district like mine that’s living it, we want this nightmare to end, and part of the nightmare ending is Congress having a role to play in this and encouraging legal routes where people can come over. That way, we can double down on illegal immigration,’ he said.

‘It’s narrow in scope, but it’s meant to be narrow in scope. You have to crawl before you can walk. You got to walk before you can run,’ he said.

The bill does not increase the number of workers admitted each year, but the Republican congressman says it would cut down on the amount of red tape faced by employers and immigrants. He noted that COVID-19 showed how tools like Zoom could be used to interview virtually.

‘There’s all these ways where you can have this direct interaction with an applicant, ask the questions you need, so you don’t need to change any of that, and then streamline it to the fact where you get rid of the bureaucracy, the red tape,’ he said. ‘Why does somebody have to mail in an application? Why can’t they go online and have a pull-down menu? Why does it have to be so complex?’

As for lengthening the time of the visas from one year to three years, he said it would make the route more attainable for small businesses.

‘Moving it from one to three years makes it more inexpensive for employers to hire these folks, and it encourages people to go through the legal route,’ he said.

The bill has been in development for over two years, and now has 20 co-sponsors — 11 Republicans and nine Democrats — and he says he is still pitching it to lawmakers. He said that by focusing on visas rather than citizenship, voting or access to social services, he’d found the ‘sweet spot’ in this Congress.

It has also picked up the support of a number of labor, immigration and business groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Immigration Forum, Americans for Prosperity and the Chamber of Commerce — which said the bill ‘will help hospitality firms, agricultural commodity producers, forestry companies, seafood processors, landscapers, and many other businesses find seasonal workers for hard-to-fill jobs.’

‘So it’s not a right or a left or a center bill. It’s kind of a mix of all. And I think that’s exactly the tone that needs to happen if we’re going to pass something in this Congress,’ Gonzales said.

Some Democrats and Republicans have previously expressed concern about the abuse of H-2 visa programs — particularly H-2B — arguing that it incentivizes unscrupulous employers to take foreign workers over Americans. 

‘We’ve long expressed concerns that perverse incentives created by the H-2B program encourage lower wages and poor working conditions for American and immigrant guest workers alike,’ Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa said in a statement in 2021 opposing the raising of the H-2B cap. 

This bill does not tackle reforms to the program, but Gonzales says the bill is a starting point in a coalition to take broader steps in the future. 

‘The goal is always: ‘How do you get Congress to work again?’ Come together in a real tangible way, and move the ball forward, and stop pointing the blame at somebody else, round and round we go, ‘It’s the president’s fault’, ‘No, it’s Congress’s fault’ is it’s always somebody else’s fault but our own.’ 

‘This is a big first step, but it’s almost a down payment, if you will, a down payment in a more robust immigration reform,’ he said. ‘But it starts here.’ 

Former Vice President Mike Pence is courting Catholic voters in his bid for the 2024 Republican nomination despite no longer being a follower.

Pence spoke at the Napa Institute’s 13th annual summer conference in California Thursday, one of the largest and most influential gatherings of Catholic leaders in the United States.

‘I cherish my Catholic upbringing. I truly do,’ Pence, who converted from Catholicism to Evangelical Christianity in college, told the crowd.

‘What the world needs today is men and women of deep conviction and faith who will boldly live out their faith in the public square,’ the former vice president said.

Napa Institute co-founder Tim Busch told Fox News Digital ahead of the conference he believed Pence is sincere in his admiration for the church despite leaving it in his youth.

‘I would say [Pence] has great respect. He was formerly a Catholic. I know his grandmother is, and I think his mother is. And he often speaks about that in Catholic crowds,’ Busch said.

Busch also referenced Pence’s many Catholic staffers and advisers as evidence he held the faith in high esteem.

‘I’ve known Mike Pence for many years, and some of his closest advisers are devout Catholics. So, this is not an uncomfortable area for him,’ Busch added.

Pence contrasts most obviously with fellow Republican candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is a practicing Catholic but has made his faith less central to his presidential platform.

However, Pence’s speech was not focused on theology. The former vice president used the opportunity to pitch himself as a Christian candidate who would emphasize faith to a degree other Republicans would not.

Pence also touted the record of his time serving under former President Donald Trump, his most powerful opponent in the race for the GOP nomination.

‘I’m proud of what we accomplished during the four years of the Trump-Pence administration,’ Pence said Thursday. 

‘We achieved the lowest unemployment, the highest household income, the most energy production, the most pro-American trade deals, the most secure border. And we made the strongest military in the history of the world stronger than ever before.’