President Joe Biden is scheduled to ramp up his reelection campaign this week amid bombshell whistleblower allegations about a federal probe into the president’s son, Hunter.

Biden has three campaign receptions scheduled: Tuesday in Chevy Chase, Maryland; Wednesday in Chicago; and Thursday in New York City. The president has done five other campaign receptions since he announced his bid for reelection on April 25 – four of which were in a two-day stretch last week in California.

The spike in campaign events comes amid whistleblower allegations that Biden’s Justice Department limited aspects of its investigation into Hunter Biden. One specific allegation is that Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf ‘interjected’ and said she did not want to investigate the identity of the ‘big guy’ Hunter Biden referred to in texts as a recipient of a percentage of one of his Chinese business deals.

A WhatsApp message from Hunter revealed by the whistleblower showed the son told a Chinese business associate, ‘I am sitting here with my father’ and that ‘you will regret not following my direction.’

Biden has consistently denied any involvement in his son’s business deals.

Giancarlo Sopo, a GOP consultant, said Biden’s sudden focus on his campaign is a response to his weak polling numbers amid the news on his son, who last week agreed to a plea deal that will likely see him dodge prison time on federal tax and gun charges.

The elder Biden is facing an approval rating of 42% and disapproval rating of 53%, according to a RealClearPolitics aggregation.

‘Biden is ramping up his reelection campaign this early because his team is clearly troubled by his poll numbers cratering – particularly among independents and minorities – amid a growing corruption scandal,’ Sopo told Fox News Digital. ‘His team also has to be concerned that so many people are openly questioning if Democrats will ditch him for [former first lady] Michelle Obama or [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom next year, and this is their way of throwing cold water on that speculation.’

Biden is scheduled to deliver three speeches this week: Monday on infrastructure with Vice President Harris; Wednesday on ‘Bidenomics’; and Friday on lowering costs for consumers.

Brad Bannon, a Democrat consultant, said Biden’s spike in campaign and speeches is likely for a few reasons: Congress is out of session the next two weeks; Republicans are already on the campaign trail; and there’s an internal push to better promote their agenda.

‘I think they realize they have a tough election ahead of them and I think there’s a feeling within the administration that they haven’t done a very good job of selling their accomplishments,’ Bannon told Fox News Digital. ‘I don’t think Americans realize the accomplishments of the administration. The closer you get to November 2024, the more you’ll see him out there.’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pledged on the campaign trail for president on Monday that his administration will change the rules of engagement at the border to physically stop drug smugglers with deadly force.

‘We’re going to create adequate rules of engagement, if somebody were breaking into your house to do something bad you would respond with force,’ DeSantis said while visiting the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday. ‘Yet why don’t we do that at the southern border?’

‘So if the cartels are cutting through the border wall trying to run product into this country, they’re going to end up stone-cold dead as a result of that bad decision.’

DeSantis added, ‘If you drop a couple of these cartel operatives, they’ll stop coming.’

The Florida Republican was in Texas unveiling his border security agenda that he pledged will ‘stop the invasion’ at the southern border.

‘On Jan. 20, 2025, we will be on a mission to stop the invasion at our southern border to fight the drug cartels that are poisoning our citizenry, to build the border wall, and to reestablish the sovereignty of this nation,’ DeSantis said. ‘We are done with promises. We are done with slogans. Now is the time for action. No excuses. We will get the job done.’

The governor stressed that it’s ‘humiliating as a country to not have control over our own territory.’

And he slammed President Biden, charging that ‘this border because of the neglect of the Biden administration, because of their intentional failures, this border is controlled by the Mexican drug cartels. That is a disgrace. That is horrific.’

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

A Delaware judge who garnered support from a close Biden ally in Dec. 2017 will preside over Hunter Biden’s federal criminal tax case in Delaware, the Justice Department announced last week.

U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika will oversee Biden’s plea hearing, which is slated for a month from Monday on July 26 at 10 a.m. ET.

Former President Donald Trump nominated Noreika to serve as the U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Delaware after his administration was consulted by both of Delaware’s Democratic senators for the seat that was vacated by Judge Gregory Sleet. In February 2018, a hearing on Noreika’s nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. One month later, her nomination was reported out of committee by a voice vote. In August 2018, Noreika’s nomination was confirmed by a voice vote and she later received her judicial commission.

Upon being nominated to the post by Trump in December 2017, Noreika, a former patent attorney out of Delaware, received support from Delaware Sens. Chris Coons and Tom Carper. As outlined in the U.S. Constitution, the president ‘shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint’ judges.

Under the so-called blue slip tradition, judicial nominees may receive a confirmation hearing only if they receive support from both of their home-state senators, according to the American Constitution Society. That support was given to Noreika from Delaware Democrat Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons.

‘Delaware’s courts are renowned for their judges’ expertise. Maryellen Noreika and Colm Connolly are two highly-respected, sought-after attorneys who have displayed a vast knowledge of the law and a thorough understanding of the courts during their extensive careers working in the Delaware judicial system,’ Carper said of Noreika’s nomination in December 2017.

Carper’s comments were also echoed at the time by Coons, who said, ‘Colm Connolly and Maryellen Noreika are seasoned attorneys, with impressive trial skills, deep experience in federal practice, and profound respect for the law. I am confident that they will both be capable jurists, and I look forward to their confirmation hearings.’

A Fox News Digital report from April found that Hunter Biden served as an outside adviser at one time to Coons, and was instrumental in helping him fundraise for his successful 2010 Senate bid using his network of in-state and out-of-state business associates to contribute to Coons’ campaign.

According to emails from Hunter’s abandoned laptop, which have been verified by Fox News Digital, Coons met with Hunter and his longtime business partner Eric Schwerin in June 2010, just weeks before Hunter started hosting fundraising events for the future senator. On June 26, 2010, Coons emailed Hunter thanking him for their meeting earlier in the week.

Considered by some to be a potential nominee for a federal judgeship in the Federal Circuit by President Biden, Noreika has donated at least $15,000 to political candidates of both parties since 1999, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Most recently, Noreika made multiple financial contributions supporting Arkansas GOP Sen. Tom Cotton’s 2014 campaign, which resulted in the unseating of a Democratic incumbent. She also gave $2,500 to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012, and another $1,000 in 2009 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).

Prior to that, she gave $2,300 to the late GOP Sen. John McCain, who later became the Republican presidential nominee in 2008. Around the same time, she made a $1,000 donation to then-New York Sen. Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign for the Democratic nomination for president.

Additionally, Noreika donated $1,000 in 2005 to then-Sen. Rick Santorum, a Republican from Pennsylvania.

Biden has agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax. He will also enter into a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate felony charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

If convicted, Biden faces a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison on each of the tax charges – a total of two years. There is a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the firearm charge for which he agreed to the diversion program.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware did not respond to multiple media inquiries.

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom, Brie Stimson, and Brooke Singman contributed to this article.

FIRST ON FOX: The House Weaponization Subcommittee says the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has ‘facilitated the censorship of Americans directly’ and through third-party intermediaries during the Biden administration. 

Fox News Digital first obtained a new committee report Monday, stemming from the panel’s ongoing investigation into government-induced censorship on social media. The report focuses on CISA’s alleged work ahead of the 2020 election and the 2022 midterm elections. 

The committee, led by Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, obtained non-public documents which lawmakers say reveals CISA ‘expanded its mission to surveil Americans’s speech on social media, colluded with Big Tech and government-funded third parties to censor by proxy, and tried to hide its plainly unconstitutional activities from the public.’

The report states that CISA engaged in ‘surveillance,’ by expanding its mission from cybersecurity to monitor foreign ‘disinformation’ to eventually monitor ‘all ‘disinformation,’ including Americans’ speech.’

It also says CISA ‘exploited its connections with Big Tech and government-funded non-profits to censor, by proxy, in order to circumvent the First Amendment’s prohibition against government-induced censorship.’ Specifically—the report says CISA-funded entities created reporting portals which ‘funneled ‘misinformation’ reports from the government directly to social media platforms.’

The report also alleges CISA engaged in ‘cover-ups’ by trying to ‘cover their tracks ad cover up CISA’s censorship of domestic speech and surveillance of American citizens’ social media activity.

‘This included scrubbing CISA’s website of references to domestic ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation,’’ the report states.

CISA, which was founded in 2018, was intended to be an agency focused on protecting critical infrastructure and guarding against cybersecurity threats.

‘In the years since its creation, however, CISA metastasized into the nerve center of the federal government’s domestic surveillance and censorship operations on social media,’ the report states.

The subcommittee found that by 2020, CISA ‘routinely reported social media posts that allegedly spread ‘disinformation’ to social media platforms.’

By 2021, CISA had a formal ‘mis, dis, and malformation’ (MDM) team. And by 2022 and 2023, the subcommittee alleged that CISA ‘attempted to camouflage its activities, duplicitously claiming it serves a purely ‘informational’ role.’

‘Although CISA’s efforts to police speech are highly troubling overall, one particularly problematic aspect is CISA’s focus on ‘malformation,’’ the report states. ‘According to CISA’s own definition, ‘malformation is based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm or manipulate.’

The report points out that malformation is ‘factual information that is objectionable not because it is false or untruthful, but because it is provided without adequate ‘context’—context as determined by the government.’

CISA’s adivsory MDM Subcommittee has since disbanded, according to the report, but ‘brought together government, Big Tech, and academic misinformation ‘experts.’’ Those experts included a former chief legal officer of Twitter—Vijaya Gadde; a former assistant general counsel and legal advisor for the CIA; and a professor for the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public.

The report states that in January 2021, after President Biden took office, CISA ‘transitioned’ to ‘promote more flexibility to focus on general MDM.’

‘In doing so, CISA admitted that its focus was no longer exclusively on ‘countering foreign influence,’ but was also targeting MDM originating from domestic sources,’ the report states.

According to the report, individuals on the MDM advisory team sought to ‘disguise the true nature’ of its work.

One email obtained by the committee, written by a member of the MDM advisory team in May 2022, stated: ‘It’s only a matter of time before someone realizes we exist and starts asking about our work.’

That individual suggested finding time to speak with CISA communications and legislative officials to discuss ‘how we socialize what we’re doing.’ 

‘It would be good to be proactive in telling our story rather than reacting to how someone else decides to portray it, right?’ The email states. ‘I know neither of us has time for this, but I am telling myself that it might save us time in the long run!’

Days later, the MDM advisory team discussed its ‘commitment to transparency but expressed concern’ for its efforts and ‘cautioned the group on how to communicate their ongoing work.’

Meanwhile, the report states that after the committee began issuing subpoenas to Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Meta in February 2023, CISA ‘scrubbed its website of references to domestic MDM.’ The website had previously described the threats posed by both foreign and domestic MDM.

Now, it only references ‘Foreign Influence Operations and Disinformation.’ 

The report goes on to state that CISA was working with federal partners to ‘mature’ a whole-of-government approach to curbing alleged misinformation and disinformation. The report also states CISA considered creating an anti-misinformation ‘rapid response team’ capable of physically deploying across the U.S.

The subcommittee also found that CISA moved its ‘censorship operation’ to a CISA-funded non-profit, after the agency and the Biden administration were sued in federal court. 

The report also states CISA wanted to use that CISA-funded nonprofit— The Center for Internet Security (CIS)—as a ‘mouthpiece’ to ‘avoid the appearance of government propaganda.’

The report states that CISA funds CIS—including spending $27 million in FY 2024 for CIS’ Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing & Analysis Center.

‘CISA still has not adequately complied with a subpoena for relevant documents, and much more factfinding is necessary,’ the report states. ‘In order to better inform the Committee’s legislative efforts, the Committee and Select Subcommittee will continue to investigate CISA’s and other Executive Branch agencies’ entanglement with social media platforms.’

Jordan and Republicans’ investigation comes after Republicans have sounded the alarm for years on Big Tech censorship and bias against conservatives.

Jordan’s committee has vowed to continue investigating the matter.

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

It’s not delivery, it’s a protest.

Conservative artist and activist Scott LoBaido threw multiple pizzas at New York City Hall in response to the city’s crackdown on coal- and wood-fired ovens.

LoBaido protested on Monday by launching several cheese pies across the City Hall fence in response to a crackdown on the traditional ovens used to make pizza.

‘The woke-a– idiots who run this city are doing everything in their power to destroy it,’ LoBaido said outside New York City Hall on Monday after a report revealed the impending regulations from the city to cut carbon emissions.

‘We have naked men with their t–ies bouncing around all over this city yesterday, in public, in front of children,’ LoBaido said. ‘We have the most violent, raging crime rate ever. We are being invaded by illegal immigrants who are being treated way better than our homeless veterans.’

‘Our teachers and first responder heroes who were fired [are] still not compensated because they didn’t take the Fauci injection. Our city schools produce the dumbest kids and the woke a– punks who run New York S—-y are afraid of pizza? The world used to respect New Yorkers as tough, thick-skinned and gritty. Now, we have become pussified.’

LoBaido said it’s ‘a damn shame’ and invoked the famed Boston Tea Party in his viral video.

‘Well … this is the New York Pizza Party! Give us pizza or give us death!’ LoBaido said, grabbing cheese pie slices from several boxes he brought to City Hall and throwing them over the gates.

‘Give us pizza or give us death!’ LoBaido chanted repeatedly as he hurled slices of pizza at City Hall.

‘Destroying every small business, that’s what this city keeps doing,’ LoBaido yelled. ‘Can’t have a small business? Can’t have pizza? New York City is nothing without pizza.’

LoBaido said it was the ‘New York Pizza Party’ as his demonstration was interrupted by two NYPD officers.

‘Got to do my thing, man,’ LoBaido said to the first officer, waving him off and reaching for another slice to throw at City Hall.

LoBaido’s viral demonstration comes after New York City turned the heat up on pizzerias that have traditional coal- and wood-burning ovens.

Widely regarded as some of the best in the world, New York City’s pizzerias have long been the subject of Americana culture as the Italian staple has solidified itself the most recognizable food in the city.

But the city may soon force pizzerias to pay thousands of dollars in renovations to keep their coal- and wood-fired ovens over environmental concerns with air quality, according to a new report.

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has drafted new rules that would require pizzerias with coal- and wooden-fired ovens installed prior to 2016 to cut carbon emissions by 75%, according to the New York Post. Restaurant owners would be forced to install a filter to the specified ovens then hire an engineer to regularly inspect the carbon emissions.

‘All New Yorkers deserve to breathe healthy air and wood and coal-fired stoves are among the largest contributors of harmful pollutants in neighborhoods with poor air quality,’ DEP spokesperson Ted Timbers said in a statement. ‘This common-sense (sic) rule, developed with restaurant and environmental justice groups, requires a professional review of whether installing emission controls is feasible.’

One pizzeria owner told The Post he has already spent $20,000 on emission-control air-filter devices in anticipation of the DEP rule due to installation and regular maintenance.

‘Oh yeah, it’s a big expense,’ said Paul Giannone, owner of Paulie Gee’s in Brooklyn. ‘It’s not just the expense of having it installed, it’s the maintenance. I got to pay somebody to do it, to go up there every couple of weeks and hose it down and, you know, do the maintenance.’

Less than 100 restaurants would be affected by the regulations, the Post reported, citing a city official.

Another pizzeria owner told the Post anonymously that there are negotiations in place with the city government on whether to apply the regulations to all coal- and wood-fired ovens or only ones installed after the regulation begins.

Fox News Digital’s Patrick Hauf contributed reporting.

In March, the Biden administration proposed new energy efficiency standards for washing machines that require new appliances to use considerably less water, all in an effort to ‘confront the global climate crisis.’ 

In response, Representative John Moolenaar, R-Mich. has introduced an appropriations amendment barring the Department of Energy from using any of its funding to enforce environmental regulations proposed by the Biden administration. 

‘None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to finalize, implement, administer, apply, or enforce the proposed rule entitled ‘Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Clothes Washers’ published by the Department of Energy in the Federal Register on March 3, 2023,’ the amendment reads. 

Controversy over the environmental regulations arose as leading industry corporations voiced their opinion on the rule, claiming the mandates forces manufacturers to reduce cleaning performance to ensure their machines comply.

When asked what he thinks is the driving force behind the Biden administration’s new push on quality of life appliances, like gas stoves and washing machines, Rep. Moolenaar told Fox News Digital, ‘It’s their radical climate agenda. It is so unpopular that they try to use executive orders to get it done opposed to having Congress pass legislation.’ 

‘When our country moved from typewriters to personal computers, we did not need rules from the executive branch forcing typewriters from the market. Yet, the Department of Energy has proposed regulations on washing machines that would push affordable options for Michigan families out of the market while making it harder to wash clothes,’ Moolenaar said in a press release. ‘My amendment is a win for clean clothes, consumer choice, and stopping another burdensome regulation from the Biden administration.’ 

–>

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday was asked to explain the administration’s policy on family members attending state dinners. 

The question seemed to allude to the president’s son, Hunter Biden, who was listed among the guests invited to a White House state dinner last week just two days after the 53-year-old’s agreement to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax became public. He has also reportedly been allowed to avoid prosecution on a felony gun charge that could have landed him in prison if convicted.

The reporter acknowledged that it was not unusual for presidents to invite family members to White House functions but questioned whether any additional guardrails were put in place, given the circumstances. 

‘I’m curious though, in light of some of the recent legal controversy, if the president communicated to members of his family not to conduct business on White House grounds? Can you tell us about any kinds of guardrails that are up?’ the reporter asked. 

Jean-Pierre refused to engage the question on account of it being tied to a Department of Justice investigation. 

‘We have laid out very early on in this administration when it comes to ethics, when it comes to how we move about and how … we respect clearly the government ethics here, this administration had been incredibly transparent on that and has put [in place] some very strict rules,’ she said. 

‘I can speak to how the president has moved forward in making sure that the people who work for him and himself are held to a strict course of action, but I’m not going to speak to anything that’s related to the case.’ 

The reporter pressed for answers on whether the White House had guardrails in place for the president’s family. 

‘I’m not going to speak to anything that is related to this case,’ Jean-Pierre said. ‘As you stated … when it comes to ethics, we take that very, very seriously here in this administration.’ 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for additional comment. 

U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David C. Weiss’ office said Tuesday that despite ‘owing in excess of $100,000 in federal income taxes each year, [Hunter Biden] did not pay the income tax due for either year.’

The younger Biden will also enter into a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate felony charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. 

Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday unveiled his plan to police the southern border by pledging to give local authorities more power to enforce the nation’s immigration laws. 

One of the biggest changes would be to deputize local and state law enforcement officers to be able to deport migrants, arguing that states have the right to .step in if the federal government fails to do so. 

‘On Jan. 20, 2025, we will be on a mission to stop the invasion at our southern border to fight the drug cartels that are poisoning our citizenry, to build the border wall, and to reestablish the sovereignty of this nation,’ DeSantis said during a campaign visit to Eagle Pass, Texas. ‘We are done with promises. We are done with slogans. Now is the time for action. No excuses. We will get the job done.’

DeSantis’ border security plan is the first formal policy proposal rollout of his month-old campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. 

The Republican governor has criticized the Biden administration over the crisis at the border, which has seen record numbers of migrants in recent years. 

Among other changes pledged by DeSantis was the ending of ‘catch and release’ — a policy that allows migrants to be released into the U.S. while they await their asylum hearing — and to reimpose the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy.

He said if elected to the White House, he would declare the crisis at the southern border a ‘national emergency on day one’ while holding the Mexican drug cartels accountable.

Combating illegal immigration has been a top priority for DeSantis, who has made a series of anti-illegal immigration moves as governor, including sending migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and most recently, California as part of a program to relocate illegal immigrants.

In response to his plan, the Democratic National Committee took aim at DeSantis.

‘Ron DeSantis has repeatedly used young children and families as pawns in his shallow political stunts to pander to the MAGA base. This latest plan is more of the same – political gimmicks that are merely an echo of the same cruel and callous policies of the Trump administration that broke our immigration system,’ DNC spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement.