President Biden’s nomination of a judge who once released a man later involved in the murder of a 10-year-old, was not renewed after mounting pressure from Republicans in the senate, despite a Democrat majority. 

President Biden originally nominated Judge Todd Edelman in 2022 to serve on the U.S. District Court of Washington, D.C. Edelman currently sits on the district’s Superior Court, where he presided over a case involving Christian Wingfield.

Wingfield was awaiting trial for illegal possession of a firearm when Edelman released Wingfield with a GPS monitoring ankle bracelet. Shortly after his release, Wingfield was involved in the murder of a 10-year-old boy, Davon McNeal, July 4, 2020, while attending a ‘stop the violence’ cookout. 

‘Crime in DC and across the country is skyrocketing, thanks in large part to radical, activist judges like Judge Edelman,’ Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee and opposed Edelman, told Fox News Digital.  

‘A child died because Judge Edelman didn’t do his job, but President Biden wanted to give him a promotion. I am pleased to see that the White House has backed down from its reckless decision to nominate Edelman to the federal bench,’ she said.

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

In an op-ed published by the Washington Post, author Dana Milbank, who is reportedly a friend of Edelman, said he was ‘an important pick for progressives.’ Milbank lamented Democrats’ inability to overwhelm Republican criticisms of Edelman, saying Democrats ‘cowered.’

‘[I]f Democrats are so cowardly that they won’t fight back and won’t answer the lies with truth, then the battle to preserve our democracy is already lost no matter who wins at the polls,’ said Milbank. 

In November of 2022, Edelman was questioned about his decision to release Wingfield in his nomination hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

‘When you made the choice to release Mr. Wingfield, you knew these following facts,’ Senator Blackburn told Edelman at the hearing. ‘You knew that he had multiple arrests for illegally possessing a firearm.’

‘And you know that he had been identified as the person who, on another occasion, had been shooting a gun in the street at 1 p.m. in broad daylight,’ she pressed. 

Blackburn added that a week prior to Edelman’s decision to release Wingfield, another judge denied Wingfield’s request for pre-trial release because he posed a ‘safety risk’ to the community.

Edelman said he recalled ‘virtually all the facts’ and defended his decision by calling the charge of illegal gun possession ‘non-violent.’ 

Edelman also stated that Wingfield pleaded guilty to ‘a lesser charge’ of associating with the group that killed McNeal and was not the person who fired the gun. Wingfield eventually pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

Edelman failed to earn enough votes in the committee to proceed to a full senate confirmation, which let his confirmation expire at the end of the 117th Congress. With Democrats in the majority, his failure to earn enough committee votes indicates that at least one Democrat was unwilling to back him for the judgeship.

President Biden did not renew is nomination. 

Hunter Biden’s business associates are gearing up to testify behind closed doors at the House Oversight and Judiciary committees later this week as part of the House impeachment inquiry against his father, President Biden.

First up is Mervyn Yan, who was subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee last year for financial records related to his business dealings with Hunter Biden.

Yan worked with Hunter Biden through Chinese energy company CEFC and Hudson West III.

Yan is set to appear before both committees on Thursday for closed-door transcribed interviews.

Next is Rob Walker, who was also subpoenaed last year. He is expected to appear for his closed-door transcribed interviews before both committees on Friday.

Financial records subpoenaed by the committee revealed that members of the Biden family, including Hallie Biden and Sara Biden, received more than $1 million in payments from accounts related to Walker and his Chinese business ventures with Hunter.

Walker worked on a joint venture called Sinohawk Holdings, which was meant to be a partnership with Chinese energy firm CEFC.

Multiple Biden family accounts, including those belonging to Hunter, Hallie Biden and an unnamed Biden, also received approximately $1.038 million from the same Walker LLC account after Bladon Enterprises, which reportedly belonged to Gabriel ‘Puiu’ Popoviciu, a Romanian tycoon, deposited more than $3 million between November 2015 to May 2017. According to a 2017 email from Walker, which was obtained by the Senate Finance Committee, Walker viewed himself as a ‘surrogate’ for Hunter and his uncle, Jim Biden, when ‘gauging [business] opportunities.’

The transcribed interviews with Yan and Walker this week come after the committees announced last week that they had confirmed a new date for Hunter Biden’s closed-door deposition.

Hunter Biden had initially defied a subpoena to appear for a deposition and was at risk of being held in contempt of Congress.

The committees said Hunter Biden’s attorneys confirmed that he would appear for a deposition on Feb. 28, thus pausing all contempt of Congress proceedings.

Hunter Biden’s deposition will come after his business associates share testimony with the committees.

The House Oversight and Judiciary committees plan to hear testimony from other Hunter Biden business associates like Eric Schwerin on Jan. 30, Tony Bobulinski on Feb. 5, and more.

JERUSALEM – The head of the Israeli army unit, tasked with coordinating the massive international humanitarian aid operation for millions of Gazan civilians caught in the midst of a raging war in their tiny enclave, rejected recent claims that the territory was on the brink of starvation or facing the imminent threat of infectious and noxious diseases. 

Col. Moshe Tetro, head of the Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) for Gaza, a division of the military body that in peace times facilitates entry permits for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians civilians and laborers and oversees Palestinian imports and exports to Israel and beyond, told Fox News Digital that while he was familiar with reports claiming the territory was on the brink of starvation, at the moment, ‘there are no restrictions on food going into Gaza.’

Speaking on Friday for the first time in nearly a month, President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayahu discussed the ongoing situation in Gaza. According to a readout of the call provided by the White House, ‘The President and the Prime Minister reviewed the situation in Gaza and the shift to targeted operations that will enable the flow of increasing amounts of humanitarian assistance while keeping the military pressure on Hamas and its leaders.’

Tetro, whose team of soldiers works around the clock to ensure that hundreds of aid trucks, drinking water and fuel enter the Palestinian enclave daily – and work to facilitate the hazardous journey through the Strip – said it was essential to look at the data. Before the war, he said, only 70 trucks of food entered Gaza each day. He said that number has now more than doubled to 220 trucks of food entering daily over the past week.

‘If you open Telegram and other social media pages, take a look at the marketplace in Rafah last Friday – you will see that while many things are missing, there is no shortage of food,’ he said, referring to Gaza’s southernmost town where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians have sought shelter from the fighting. 

‘I recommend to anyone writing about this to base their words on the facts and not on the basis of political agendas,’ Tetro said.

‘Our figures come from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA,)’ said a spokesperson for the State Department. The spokesperson also noted that Blinken met with the U.N. Secretary General in Davos and spoke with the ‘U.N.’s newly appointed Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag underscoring the importance of strengthening the humanitarian assistance coordination mechanism in Gaza and facilitating assistance to the northern part of the Gaza Strip.’

Last week the heads of the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF and the World Health Organization issued a joint press release calling on Israel to allow more aid into the Gaza Strip as ‘the entire population of Gaza – roughly 2.2 million people – are in crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity.’ 

‘Virtually all Palestinians in Gaza are skipping meals every day while many adults go hungry so children can eat,’ said the statement, citing the latest Integrated Food Security and Nutrition Phase Classification report. The report has warned of famine if current conditions in Gaza persist.

‘People in Gaza risk dying of hunger just miles from trucks filled with food. Every hour lost puts countless lives at risk. We can keep famine at bay but only if we can deliver sufficient supplies and have safe access to everyone in need, wherever they are,’ WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said in the statement, which made an urgent appeal for Israel to open additional crossing points, as well as its nearby port in Ashdod, so more aid being sent from around the world could be received.

Currently, most of the aid – mainly from Arab and Muslim countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Turkey – arrives at the smaller Egyptian port of al-Arish in northern Sinai. From there, it is transported to two stations on the border with Israel, where soldiers from Tetro’s unit check the shipments for weapons and ammunition that may be smuggled to Hamas terrorists inside the Strip.

Following a thorough security inspection, the trucks, which include food, medicine, and essential supplies such as blankets and tents, enter Gaza either through the Kerem Shalom Crossing from Israel or at the Rafah Crossing from Egypt. International aid agencies and local Palestinian organizations then distribute the goods among the needy across the war-stricken territory. Israel has also agreed to aid shipments of flour to its port in Ashdod. 

A spokesperson for Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the military body that oversees the CLA Gaza, pointed out that Israel had already opened an additional checkpoint and another aid entry point at the Kerem Shalom crossing and increased its inspection capabilities in recent weeks. 

‘We are checking more trucks than the U.N. is able to accommodate in Gaza,’ the spokesperson said.

According to the latest figures published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) – based on information from the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza – more than 1.9 million people, or nearly 85% of the Strip’s population, are internally displaced. The majority of those seeking refuge are sheltering in facilities run by UNRWA, the U.N. agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, OCHA said.

At a recent meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Martin Griffiths, the U.N.’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, called the situation in Gaza ‘horrific,’ highlighting what he said were ‘the appalling conditions on the ground.’

‘Shelters are overflowing, and food and water running out, and the risk of famine is growing by the day,’ he said. ‘The health system is in a state of collapse: women are unable to give birth safely; children cannot get vaccinated; the sick and injured cannot get treatment; and infectious diseases are on the rise.’

Last week, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres echoed the same sentiments saying, ‘the long shadow of starvation is stalking the people of Gaza – along with disease, malnutrition and other health threats.’

At the Coordination and Liaison Administration for Gaza unit headquarters, where Israeli soldiers monitor news and social media reports coming out of Gaza 24 hours a day, speak to their local contacts on the ground and coordinate humanitarian aid efforts with international organizations, including the U.N., Col. Tetro said that he was not surprised by such comments.

‘We know these agencies systematically lie and use false narratives, but we are in close contact with international and Palestinian officials in order to assess the civil situation in the Gaza Strip,’ he said, reiterating that there is no shortage of food or water inside Gaza. 

Tetro also refuted claims that infectious diseases were on the rise. If that’s true, he said, ‘then why do those diseases not exist? None of the data we have, including that from the international agencies, has identified any outbreaks of diseases.’

‘I’m not saying the situation in Gaza is pleasant,’ said Tetro, who recently authorized additional vaccines for hospitals in case of potential outbreaks. ‘But there is a great distance between the truth and the lies and propaganda that sadly, the international community and also the media promotes, repeating the narrative of a barbaric terror organization without even checking the facts.’

On Monday, COGAT announced that the 10,000th aid truck had arrived in Gaza since the start of the war with Hamas. The statement noted that ‘close to 99% of the coordinated trucks were approved for entry.’