California’s justice department will soon begin reviewing criminal cases for possible wrongful convictions, searching for ‘evidence of significant integrity issues’ that could lead to resentences, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday.

Bonta said the California Department of Justice will create a Post-Conviction Justice Unit with ‘broad discretion’ to investigate wrongful or improper convictions. He said the unit will partner with local district attorneys, many of whom are already doing similar work.

‘We’re embracing our duty to seek justice, not to blindly seek convictions and to make sure that convictions are just,’ Bonta said.

State and local prosecutors across the country have established internal review units to evaluate this evidence, including Minnesota and New York. In California, prosecutors in Contra Costa and Sacramento counties have similar units.

Prosecutors have historically not gone out of their way to overturn convictions secured by their offices. But technological advances in DNA testing and other forensic evidence have brought forward lots of new evidence on old cases, raising questions about the convictions.

In San Francisco, the district attorney’s Innocence Commission spent 18 months investigating the conviction of Joaquin Ciria, who was sentenced in 1990 to life in prison for the shooting death of Felix Bastarrica. A judge overturned Ciria’s conviction last year after the district attorney’s office found new witnesses and evidence of ‘a cascade of errors’ in how the case was handled.

Bonta said he will hire two people and task them with creating formal rules about reviewing past cases. These can be cases handled by the state Department of Justice or where the department is handling the case on appeal. He said the unit will pay particular attention to cases in counties where local prosecutors do not have a ‘conviction integrity unit.’

Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News Contributor and Professor Of Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, gave his diagnosis for prominent lawmakers who have shown signs of cognitive or physical health issues while serving in office, sounding the alarm on the need for ‘more transparency’ for the American people.

‘I believe the voters of the states involved have a right to know whether their senator is fit for the job and able to serve,’ Siegel said. ‘While technology can help [Sen. John] Fetterman and teleprompters can help Biden this isn’t enough. Are they up to the job? We need more transparency and info. The lives of others are on the line based on the important decisions they have to make.’

‘The majority of the American public (even Democrats) feel he is too old to run, but the issue isn’t age, it’s the question of fitness,’ Seigel said of Biden, who often raises eyebrows over misspoken words (he has dealt with a stutter since he was a child) and times when he appears confused.

The president underwent his annual physical exam Thursday that cleared him as fit to serve, but the report failed to mention any results from neurological tests. 

‘Biden, the issue is that his stiff legged gait and frequent cognitive errors could be a tip off to a brain problem such as dementia or normal pressure hydrocephalus, but the workup would be an MRI or brain imaging study and neuropsych testing including a cognitive exam such as the Montreal cognitive test. The mini-mental status exam that was mentioned is very limited and wouldn’t add much,’ Siegel told Fox News Digital. 

‘It is very noteworthy that [Biden’s physician Dr. Kevin] O’Connor ascribed the stiff gait to arthritis of the spine and peripheral neuropathy and mentioned physical examination to rule out serious neurological disorders such as MS and stroke, but made no mention of MRI of the brain or neurocognitive tests. These are significant omissions in the report esp given the frequency and severity of his so-called gaffs,’ Siegel added.

Fetterman was admitted into a Washington, D.C. hospital twice in a week, checking himself in on Thursday to be treated for ‘clinical depression.’

‘We should feel compassion and as a physician I am glad he is coming forward and can be a role model for others, but at the same time clinical depression requiring hospitalization is severe and according to a Cochrane review especially difficult to treat after stroke requiring combinations of medicine and therapy,’ Siegel said of Fetterman, who suffered a stroke in May 2022 while on the campaign trail.

Siegel also speculated that the depression could be a side effect of last year’s stroke. ‘According to a 2016 study in STROKE 1/3 people after stroke are reported to have depression, but the number is likely far greater,’ he said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who announced that she will not be seeking re-election in 2024, did not realize she resigned when asked by a reporter about the announcement on Tuesday.

‘Feinstein too appears to be well past the point where she can function effectively,’ Siegel wrote.

The Democrat, who is 89 years old, also reportedly left the Senate floor not knowing if she voted for anything.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., also recently had a ‘successful’ prostate cancer surgery, and Siegel believes he will be in good enough health to serve after his recovery.

‘Casey is undergoing surgery for prostate cancer which will likely cure him, and he will be able to resume work shortly in a matter of days or weeks,’ he stated.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Friday announced that she is appointing Democratic state Rep. Jon Santiago to serve as the state’s first Cabinet-level veterans’ secretary.

The action comes after lawmakers last year approved a bill creating the Executive Office of Veterans’ Services in response to the deaths of dozens of veterans who contracted COVID-19 at a Massachusetts veterans home in 2020.

Santiago’s responsibilities will include helping oversee the superintendents of the state’s two veterans homes. He will be formally sworn in on March 1.

The coronavirus outbreak at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke in the spring of 2020 was one of the deadliest outbreaks at a long-term care facility in the U.S. A federal judge last year approved a nearly $58 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed in response to the deaths.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs said 84 residents died and roughly the same number were sickened. The defendants were four former leaders at the state-run home and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. With the settlement, which is being paid by the state, claims against the five were dropped.

An investigation by an ex-federal prosecutor hired by former Republican Gov. Charlie Baker found that management at the home made several ‘utterly baffling’ decisions that allowed the virus to spread almost unchecked.

Healey, a Democrat, said Santiago’s ‘public health expertise and military service make him uniquely qualified to serve as Massachusetts’ first ever Secretary of Veterans’ Services.’

Santiago is a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, an emergency medicine physician at Boston Medical Center, and a former volunteer in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. The Boston resident has also served as a state lawmaker since 2019. He launched an unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2021.

‘Our veterans deserve the absolute highest quality of care, but they are far too often underserved,’ Santiago said in a written statement, adding that the administration is ‘committed to meeting the complex needs of those who have bravely served our country.’

As veterans secretary, Santiago will be charged with working with the newly constituted Veterans’ Homes Council, which was also created by the legislation.

The council’s responsibilities include recommending improvements for veterans’ homes, submitting recommendations for appointments and removal of veterans’ homes superintendents, and writing an annual report reviewing the homes’ demographics, finances, staffing levels and resident well-being.

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump will travel to East Palestine, Ohio next week to visit the area and members of the community as they grapple with the aftermath of the train derailment that led to a large release of toxic chemicals, Fox News has learned.

A source familiar with the former president’s plans told Fox News that Trump plans to travel to East Palestine on Wednesday to meet with members of the community. 

The source said Trump, who announced his 2024 presidential campaign in November, has a strong relationship with the people of Ohio.

Trump’s planned visit comes after a train derailment on Feb. 3, when about 50 cars on a Norfolk Southern Railroad train carrying vinyl chloride derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, a small community that is located along the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

The company opted to release the gas from the derailed cars, releasing potentially deadly fumes and other dangerous chemicals into the air, to prevent a disastrous explosion. Local residents were told to evacuate the area during the release, but were assured it was safe to return on Feb. 9.

Residents of the East Palestine community have reported severe symptoms from toxins and chemicals that have seeped into the air and waterways since the derailment on Feb. 7.

After more than two weeks, the Biden administration on Friday announced it would deploy medical personnel and toxicologists to East Palestine from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine requested HHS and CDC assistance on Feb. 16, after being denied aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA told DeWine Ohio isn’t eligible for disaster assistance, even amid the derailment. 

A White House official told Fox News Digital on Friday that FEMA, the agency that usually provides relief to communities hit by hurricanes and other natural disasters, isn’t best equipped to support the state’s current needs.

A panel led by Gov. Kevin Stitt determined Friday that Oklahoma lawmakers will have about $2 billion more to spend in next year’s budget than they did in the current one.

The Board of Equalization certified that the Legislature will have $12.6 billion to spend in the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. That’s an increase of $2 billion from last year’s $10.6 billion that lawmakers were authorized to spend.

The Legislature also has another $1.4 billion stashed away in state savings accounts and $700 million that was appropriated last year to help lure a manufacturing facility to Oklahoma that didn’t materialize.

Despite the rosy financial projections, Republican state Sen. Roger Thompson, the chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, warned that much of the additional revenue lawmakers have to spend, more than $1.3 billion, is one-time cash that wasn’t spent last year. He said that revenue is non-recurring and should only be spent on one-time projects.

Thompson also cautioned that the available revenue is based on projected collections and could end up being lower, particularly if oil and natural gas prices continue to fall. The price of crude oil has fallen from about $92 per barrel at the beginning of November to about $75 per barrel this week.

‘We’ve got a warmer winter than had been anticipated … and so I think natural gas will go down as well,’ said Thompson, of Okemah. ‘And those are our two big revenue drivers.’

Former Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson is reportedly considering challenging President Biden for the White House in 2024.

The spiritual self-help author is expected to make an announcement about her political future this weekend in New Hampshire, and, should she enter the race, will be the first declared Democratic candidate considering Biden has not yet officially announced he will run for re-election.

‘Apparently Biden’s going to run on a message that the economy is getting stronger. I think that speaks to the disconnect between the analysis of party elites versus the struggle of everyday Americans,’ Williamson told Politico this week about what was factoring into her decision-making process.  

‘We’re being asked to limit our political imaginations — to just accept the low unemployment and low inflation rate, that that is sort of the best that we can get,’ she added. ‘But that is a hollow victory. The majority of Americans are still struggling to survive.’

Williamson ran for the White House in the 2020 Democratic primaries before ultimately dropping out in January ahead of the Iowa Caucuses and endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

She faced accusations of being an anti-vaxxer during her last run, but has sharply denied she is anti-science. She brought up the accusations when asked by Politico what the media got wrong about her as a candidate the last cycle.

‘I’m certainly not anti-science. I’m not anti-vax. I’m not the crystal lady. I didn’t tell people they got sick because they didn’t pray enough. Basically, I’m not stupid,’ she told Politico.

The Democratic National Committee has shaken up its presidential nominating calendar to move New Hampshire, which has long held the first primary of the presidential nominating cycle, into third place. The move has upset many in New Hampshire and has led to speculation that Biden could face a primary challenger in that state.

‘How can the Democratic Party present itself as a champion of democracy and do something as undemocratic as overtly engineering the primary schedule to make sure that their chosen candidate would win it?’ Williamson told Politico. ‘That is spitting in the face of democracy.’

Williamson said she would run as a Democrat rather than as an independent if she entered the race. Another Democrat rumored to be mulling his own Biden challenge is environmental lawyer and anti-COVID vaccine crusader Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of the late Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

A pair of Republican lawmakers in the Idaho state legislature have introduced a bill that would make the administering of mRNA vaccines throughout the state a crime.

Introduced by state Sen. Tammy Nichols and state Rep. Judy Boyle, House Bill 154 would make it possible to charge those who administer mRNA vaccines, such as the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, in the state of Idaho with a misdemeanor.

‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person may not provide or administer a vaccine developed using messenger ribonucleic acid technology for use in an individual or any other mammal in this state,’ the bill states. ‘A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.’

Nichols discussed the proposed bill before the House Health and Welfare Committee on Wednesday.

‘We are seeing more and more concerns rising because of the mRNA vaccine,’ Nichols told the committee. ‘We have issues that this was fast-tracked, there’s no liability, there’s no access to data, risk-benefit analysis has not been done, there’s no informed consent.’

‘There are other options available if people want to get a shot that works with COVID,’ she added. ‘So, I think there’s a lot of discussion that needs to be done on this, I think there’s a lot of information that continues to come out with concerns of blood clots and heart issues, and the correlation versus causation needs to be addressed.’

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website states that reports of heart conditions following the COVID-19 vaccine are rare, and it has ‘determined that the benefits (such as prevention of COVID-19 cases and its severe outcomes) outweigh the risks of myocarditis and pericarditis after receipt of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.’

Pushing the bill, Nichols said mRNA vaccines administered in the state should be dealt with in a ‘similar manner’ like drugs some residents use that are later found to be harmful.

In pushing the bill, Nichols said the state makes determinations about drugs that may not be healthy for residents of Idaho and suggested it should approach the vaccine in a ‘similar manner.’

State Rep. Ilana Rubel, a Democrat, pressed Nichols on her introduction of the measure and asked about her comments related to the fast-tracking of the vaccines, which were approved by the FDA.

‘I understand that these vaccines were initially fast-tracked, but my understanding is that they ultimately were approved under the ordinary approval process and did ultimately, you know, survive the scrutiny of being subjected to all the normal tests . . . am I wrong on that?’ Rubel asked.

‘There is concern with that, too,’ Nichols responded. ‘I’m seeing conflicting reports in regard to that. So I’m actually having more information being sent to me to address that particular issue, because I’m finding that it may not have been done like we thought it should have been done or that it would have normally been done for an approval process, as an FDA-approved vaccine.’

The mRNA vaccines, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus, work by ‘introducing a piece of mRNA that corresponds to a viral protein, usually a small piece of a protein found on the virus’s outer membrane.’

According to the CDC, there are currently three main types of Coronavirus vaccines, including mRNA, viral vector and protein subunit.

COVID-19 vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna, according to the CDC, fall into the mRNA category and ‘use mRNA created in a laboratory to teach our cells how to make a protein – or even just a piece of a protein – that triggers an immune response inside our bodies.’

That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what ‘helps protect us from getting sick from that germ in the future,’ the CDC states on its website.

The United States produces more oil and gas than any other country. Domestic production is increasing in some areas and decreasing in others, but new limits on parts of the drilling process could cut output significantly in the coming years. 

From his first week in office, President Joe Biden vowed to shift from oil and gas production to clean energy. He announced a pause for leasing on federal lands and offshore waters. The Interior Department was called on to conduct a review of siting and permitting processes.

‘We’re going to review [and] reset the oil and gas leasing program,’ President Biden said during the executive order signing. ‘We’re going to start to properly manage lands and waterways in ways that allow us to protect [and] preserve them.’

The Interior Department completed its review in April of last year and announced reformed leasing procedures. Royalty rates, or the portion from oil and gas sales that companies pay to the government, would rise 50% — from 12.5% to 18.75%. The land nominated for drilling by the oil and gas industry was reduced by 80%. 

‘We all pay 50% more for 80% less,’ U.S. Oil and Gas Association President Tim Stewart told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto following the leasing reforms announcement. ‘I think this is them trying to thread the needle, sort of split the hairs, saying, okay, we’re going to go ahead with a leasing program. We’re not going to put much out there.’

Oil and gas production has risen in the past decade, including on federal lands, which make up around 25% of total output. Most occurs on state or privately owned land. The government issues leases to companies who want to produce oil or gas on federally-owned lands. Once a company has the lease, they must also request a drilling permit. The permits usually last for two years or until the lease expires. 

The Bureau of Land Management can also grant a 2-year extension to allow the operator more time to drill. The Biden Administration approved nearly 5,000 permits in 2021, the highest number in more than a decade. Those added to unexpired permits that were already approved. However, just 1,626 new wells were started in 2022. 

The White House said oil and gas companies are blocking further production by not using all the available permits.

‘There are 9,000 unused approved drilling permits,’ former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters last March. ‘So I would suggest you ask the oil companies why they’re not using those, if there’s a desire to drill more.’ 

Oil and gas groups argue the drilling permits apply to land that is already set aside for production. They believe more acreage is needed to actually increase output. 

‘The 9000 lease claim from the administration is nonsense,’ said American Petroleum Institute Senior Vice President Frank Macchiarola. ‘The fact is we have nearly 100,000 producing wells in the United States of current leases. Two thirds of those leases are actually in production. That’s a 25-year-high. And so when the administration throws out this claim, about 9000 leases, what they’re really saying is we don’t want to produce more in the United States. We don’t want to make more areas available for production.’

Democrats believe that if land is set aside new energy production, some of that should include clean energy. 

‘What we know is that America is the leader in the world in energy. We are blessed with abundant energy resources. That has to include the abundant resources of the sun, of the wind. That is cheaper energy,’ Rep Kathy Castor, D-Fla., said. ‘We want to build those vehicles. We want to have the solar panels manufactured here in America. We want to build the wind turbines here. And unless we invest in that cleaner, cheaper energy now, we will we will be more reliant on China and the rest of the world down the road.’

In 2021, during the leasing pause, just 407 new leases were issued by the Bureau of Land Management.  It was the lowest number in the last two decades. The amount of land also fell below 25 million acres for the first time in the last 20 years. Western states in particular, had less production across all parts of the oil drilling process. 

‘I’m from Wyoming, one of the energy breadbasket parts of this country. We can produce it. We have it. He’s making us keep it in the ground,’ Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said.  ‘At the same time that he’s going asking Iran and Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, places run by dictators, to produce more. They don’t produce energy in the same responsible environmental way that we do in Wyoming and across the United States.’

Wyoming oil production on federal lands has yet to return to pre-pandemic numbers. The state output was about 8,000 barrels per day less than what was produced in 2019. Utah oil production is also still about 5,000 barrels short of its 2019 numbers. Colorado meanwhile has slightly increased production on federal lands, with about 200 more barrels per day than it had in 2019. Construction on new wells slowed and the number producing oil fell across all three states. Wyoming had the highest decrease, with more than 4,000 wells going offline in the last five years. 

New Mexico has significantly increased its oil and gas production. In 2022 the state produced more than 977,000 barrels per day, just on federal land. That’s almost triple the amount it produced in 2018. In 2021, New Mexico received more federal land leases and more drilling permits than any other state. It also had the highest number of new wells under construction. The new production in New Mexico is likely because it holds part of the Permian Basin. Part of the energy-rich area is also located in Texas, where most oil production is done on privately-owned lands – rather than federally-owned. The region is producing at record levels, but experts say this kind of output was not always thought possible. 

‘Folks were saying that the Permian Basin production would level out to under a million barrels per day,’ Macchiarola said. ‘In just a short time due to the innovation of the industry we’re seeing production of up to 6 million barrels per day. The Permian Basin is part of a larger story of the shale revolution here in the United States through ingenuity and technological advances in the industry.’

Natural Gas production has also been ramping up in some parts of the U.S. The Appalachian region is home to the Marcellus Shale. It is the second-largest natural gas find in the world. However, regulations and policies in regions like New England, are blocking permitting for pipeline projects that would transport gas. 

‘The prices that people pay in New England for energy are far greater than they are in the rest of the country because we can’t unfortunately get that resource from right next door from the Marcellus,’ Macchiarola said.

Managing Director of Clearview Energy Partners Kevin Book said a lack of permitting reforms is causing problems for investment. 

‘These are private businesses. They’re actually producing returns for shareholders,’ Book said. ‘Shareholders want their capital back when there’s not a good productive use for it. So what is happening is that their inability to access projects, that will deliver returns acceptable to them because of things like permitting that they can’t get, or the infrastructure — the pipes that they need — the ports they need to build it out and send the oil into the world.’

Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has tried to negotiate with other democrats to increase permitting. He believes his bill could be voted on in the house sometime soon. 

‘We all realize it’s got to be done. If not, we cannot build what needs to be built and not deliver the energy the country needs,’ Manchin said Feb. 7 on Special Report.

Some Democrats acknowledge the transition to renewables will be a lengthy process. 

‘The climate crisis is driving higher costs across the board as well,’ Castor said. ‘We have got to reduce climate pollution over time. But you can’t flip a switch. This has to be a managed transition.’ 

President Biden has also acknowledged that oil and gas will still be needed for a while longer. He said in his State of the Union address the U.S. will need it for at least another decade. He went even further in mid-February saying, ‘We’re going to need oil for a long time and gas for a long time. It’s not going to go away.’

Renewable energy output has also risen in recent years and now make up more than 12% of U.S. energy consumption. Petroleum and natural gas are still the two leading sources. Many lawmakers and economists agree that all forms of energy are necessary for the future. 

‘The United States is an enormous producer of oil and gas,’ Book said. ‘Even if the United States transitions into cleaner fuels, and as a wealthy country we almost certainly will, there will be a world ready to consume what we produce. That’s money that we can earn here at home with fuels that are cleaner than what a lot of those countries are using right now. So a chance to clean them up while we make money, even as we transition at home. So it’s not necessarily an either/or. It can be both.’