A CNN anchor is the co-author of a buzzy new book that sheds light on President Joe Biden's apparent mental decline in office and the cover-up orchestrated by his team, but various CNN figures were critical in the past of narratives that questioned his fitness.As Jake Tapper and co-author Alex Thompson promote "Original Sin," an account of the cover-up that features high-level Democratic sources, media critics have noted CNN and other mainstream outlets downplayed or were even hostile to the suggestion that Biden could be losing his grip before last year's debate against President Donald Trump.Here are four examples at CNN.NEW BOOK REVEALS BIDEN'S INNER CIRCLE WORRIED ABOUT HIS AGE YEARS BEFORE BOTCHED DEBATE PERFORMANCEVideos of Biden freezing up or appearing confused at various events went viral throughout 2024, but the White House aggressively pushed back, saying some of them were edited in a misleading fashion or didn't show what they purported.The term "cheap fakes" was popularized, and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted from the podium that fact-checkers and mainstream outlets also embraced the term.CNN White House correspondent Arlette Saenz pushed the White Houses narrative last year about a video of Biden appearing to freeze up at a fundraiser with Jimmy Kimmel, saying Biden had merely "looked out at the crowd for a few seconds" before walking offstage with President Barack Obama, adding that "Republicans and right-leaning media outlets" "used this moment to say that President Biden froze."Moments later during a panel discussion, CNN commentator and former Kamala Harris adviser Jamal Simmons called Biden's fundraiser moment an "obviously selected video.""These are cheap fakes, [as] the White House and Biden people are calling them," Simmons told CNN's Erin Burnett.Tapper feels differently about them.JAKE TAPPER DECLARES BIDEN WHITE HOUSE LIED ABOUT 'CHEAP FAKES' AFTER CNN PEDDLED NARRATIVE IN 2024"The Biden White House falsely- when people showed that clip and asked what was going on- said it was a cheap fake. They did this all the time when there was video that seemed to show Biden acting in an odd or unusual, seemingly out-of-it way, they would call it a cheap fake. It was not fake. It was actual video," Tapper said last week.In a story in the aftermath of the Robert Hur report where Biden was memorably described as an elderly man with a poor memory, CNN's website published an article expressing concerns about both Biden and Trump and what type of cognitive ability was normal for a person in their 80s.The article cited a professor who said Biden's issues with word recall were not necessarily indicative of someone having memory issues. Biden at times during the interview with Hur had difficulty remembering when he was vice president and the year of his son Beau's death in 2015.The article concluded with the professor saying that ageism was codified in how people talk to one another, suggesting that the skepticism about Biden was a form of prejudice against the elderly."Ageism is not just what people do to each other. Ageism is also a mindset that you carry within yourself," the professor said. "It actually impacts your health negatively."JAKE TAPPER'S PAST COVERAGE OF BIDEN'S COGNITIVE DECLINE UNDER SCRUTINY AHEAD OF HIS NEW BOOKEx-CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy repeatedly hammered proponents of the idea that Biden was in mental decline in his "Reliable Sources" newsletter before leaving CNN last year."For years, and particularly over the last few months, MAGA Media has portrayed Biden as a senile, mentally incapacitated elderly man who cannot remember what he had for breakfast, let alone run the federal government," Darcy wrote in a newsletter last June, before the then-president's disastrous debate.Darcy declared the debate would give Biden an easy chance to "puncture the narrative" that he lacked fitness for office, suggesting Republicans had stupidly lowered the bar so much that Biden would easily clear it and come out of the debate stronger."That's a worry for right-wing media figures, which risk seeing their bogus narrative about Biden being ripped up in real time," he wrote.Darcy also blasted the Wall Street Journal report last June about Biden's behind-the-scenes decline in his newsletter, saying it "owes its readers and the public better." Asked for comment by Fox News Digital about his past coverage, Darcy, who left CNN last year to start his own newsletter called Status, pointed to his newsletter Wednesday where he declared conservative media outlets were taking an undeserved victory lap.BIDEN INSIDER EXPOSES HOW WHITE HOUSE 'GASLIT' THE PUBLIC ABOUT FORMER PRESIDENT'S DECLINE"For years, right-wing media pushed a warped narrative of Joe Biden as a brain-dead puppet controlled by sinister, shadowy forces. Now theyre demanding vindicationbut they do not deserve it," he wrote.Even after Biden dropped out of the race last July, "The View" co-host and CNN commentator Ana Navarro was committed to defending his mental acuity in office.Later that week, Manhattan Institute official Reihan Salam wondered if Biden should even stay in office until his term ended, but Navarro erupted that any talk about his state behind the scenes was mere speculation."No, it is speculation! It is speculation! Because actually, unlike you, Ive actually seen the guy at 9:00 at night. I have seen him after he has had five different events in 24 hours," Navarro said at one point.Navarro appeared to have a strong interest in Biden, beyond that of a typical media pundit. Although she continues to identify as a Republican, the left-wing commentator is an avid supporter of the Democratic Party, hosted the second night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, and has referred to Biden and Harris as "Uncle Joe" and "Auntie Kamala."CNN has stood behind Tapper's past reporting in light of his new job, pointing to examples when he aggressively covered the subject. For his part, however, Tapper has said he feels "humility" about his past work on Biden and praised conservative media outlets for discussing what was in plain sight.Fox News Digital's Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: A group of House Republicans are requesting Fiscal Year 2026 spending bills to include language prohibiting federal funding for transgender experiments on animals.Republican Reps. Paul Gosar, Elijah Crane, Abraham J. Hamadeh of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Brandon Gill of Texas, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Pete Stauber of Minnesota and Troy E. Nehls of Texas are urging the chairman and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies to prohibit transgender experiments on animals in its FY2026 appropriations bill.House Republicans have requested the committee include the following language: "None of the funds made available by this or any other Act thereafter may be used for research on vertebrate animals for the purpose of studying the effects of drugs, surgery, or other interventions to alter the human body (including by disrupting the bodys development, inhibiting its natural functions, or modifying its appearance) to no longer correspond to its biological sex."The letter, addressed to Chairman Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., and Ranking Member Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., points to the dozens of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants issued during former President Joe Biden's administration that are funding "wasteful and disturbing experiments to create transfeminine and transmasculine lab animals using invasive surgeries and hormone therapies."TRUMP ADMIN CUTS ADDITIONAL $1M IN FEDERAL FUNDING FOR 'TRANSGENDER ANIMAL' EXPERIMENTS$10M IN TAXPAYER FUNDS SPENT CREATING TRANSGENDER ANIMALS: REP. NANCY MACE"The transgender animals are then wounded, shocked, injected with street drugs and vaccines, and subjected to other disturbing procedures," the House Republicans said in the letter, as Fox News Digital reported earlier this year."President Trump has personally criticized these experiments on several occasions, and the Department of Government Efficiency has canceled millions in NIH grants funding transgender animal testing. However, many of these NIH grants funding gender transitions for lab animals are still active," House GOP members said.President Donald Trump condemned transgender animal experiments during his joint address to Congress in March. The White Coat Waste Project, a government watchdog group that testified about transgender animal experiments on Capitol Hill earlier this year, told Fox News Digital there are still "29 active taxpayer-funded grants that have been used to fund transgender animal tests.""We urge you to include the language above in the FY26 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill to ensure no more taxpayer dollars are wasted to fund transgender animal tests," the Republicans said in the letter.The White Coat Waste Project, in a statement to Fox News Digital, touted their role in halting taxpayer-funded "transgender animal tests," and celebrated the House Republicans' bill, led by Gosar, to stop more federally funded experiments."Thanks to White Coat Wastes viral investigations and collaboration with Rep. Paul Gosar and others in Congress, the Trump Administration has slashed spending on wasteful experiments that subject lab animals to invasive surgeries and hormone therapies to crudely mimic gender transitions in kids and adults and then wound, shock and inject the animals with vaccines and overdoses ofsexpartydrugs," Justin Goodman, Senior Vice President of White Coat Waste Project, said."These Trump cuts have already saved thousands of lab animals and millions of tax dollars, but dozens more NIH grants that funnel tax dollars to disturbing transgender animal tests are still active. Taxpayers shouldnt be forced to foot the bill for wasteful and cruel transgender animal tests, and Rep. Gosars commonsense effort to permanently defund them will ensure they wont have to."

Jeff Bezos and fiance Lauren Snchez packed on the PDA while soaking up the sun earlier this week ahead of their wedding this summer.In photos obtained by Fox News Digital, the 61-year-old Amazon founder was spotted getting handsy with the 55-year-old former entertainment journalist as the couple spent a day at sea with friends on Bezos' $500 million sailing yacht, which was anchored off the coast of Cannes, France. Bezos was seen playfully smacking and patting his bride-to-be on her backside while she tanned on a lounge chair next to a friend who smiled at the couple.Snchez showed off her toned figure in a leopard-print thong string bikini and a straw bucket hat while Bezos wore a navy blue T-shirt with blue and white patterned swim trunks.LAUREN SANCHEZ HOSTS STAR-STUDDED PARIS BACHELORETTE PARTY BEFORE BEZOS WEDDINGIn several photos, Bezos was seen kneeling on Snchez's lounge chair as he bent over to kiss and cuddle her. In other snaps, the billionaire was spotted rubbing Snchez's arms and nuzzling her neck.Snchez was photographed sitting up on her knees as she raised her fist in the air and bent over to grab her hat from a nearby table.The pair were later spotted side by side as they enjoyed lunch with their friends at a table on one of the yacht's decks.According to Architectural Digest, Bezos first commissioned his yacht, which he named Koru, in 2018, and it was delivered to the Blue Origin founder in 2023. At 417 feet long, Koru is the largest sailing yacht in the world, according to the outlet.MYSTERY COUPLE MISTAKEN FOR JEFF BEZOS AND LAUREN SANCHEZ AT CANNESThe three-masted yacht boasts nine staterooms, teak decks, three Jacuzzis, a swimming pool and a pickleball court. Koru is accompanied by a $75 million support vessel named Abeona, which features a helipad and a hangar.According to Architectural Digest, Snchez, a licensed helicopter pilot, has been spotted flying her helicopter to and from Abeona.Bezos proposed to Snchez while aboard Koru in May 2023, she told Vogue in November of that year.The two are staying in Cannes and have attended events celebrating the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Last Saturday, Snchez attended the Global Gift Gala in Cannes. She was given the Women Empowerment Award at that event for her "commitment to uplifting others, breaking barriers, and championing change," the Global Gift Foundation said in an Instagram post.On Sunday, Bezos and Snchez were spotted walking hand in hand through Cannes as they enjoyed a dinner date in town.On Thursday, the pair attended the glitzy amfAR Gala Cannes 2025, which raised funds to support AIDS research.In photos from the event, Snchez sat at a table with Bezos and kissed his cheek.Prior to arriving in Cannes, Snchez visited Paris, where she hosted a three-day star-studded bachelorette party.The festivities kicked off May 14 at the historic restaurant Lafayette's, where Snchez hosted a dinner for an intimate gathering of 13 women, including Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Katy Perry and Eva Longoria.LIKE WHAT YOURE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS"The atmosphere was very relaxed and very Parisian," a source shared with People. "It was a pre-wedding all-girl party for 13."Snchez later shared a photo of the group posing on Lafayette's rooftop with the Eiffel Tower in the background.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER"Forever starts with friendship, surrounded by the women whove lifted me up, illuminated my path in dark times, and shaped my heart along the way," she wrote in the caption.On May 16, Snchez's bachelorette group was spotted heading to lunch before partying on a yacht. Snchez hosted another bachelorette event at Le Grand Cafe at Grand Palais May 17.In March, Puck News reported Bezos and Snchez had mailed wedding invitations. They will reportedly tie the knot this June in Venice, Italy.The city of Venice said later that month it was "mutually working and supporting" the organizers of the couples wedding.VENICE TO PLAY HOST TO BEZOS, SANCHEZ WEDDING, CITY SAYSVenice said at the time it would be "easy" for the city to "accommodate" the couples nuptials "without any disruption whatsoever to the city, its residents and visitors."

Earlier this year, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) uncovered $4.7 trillion in untraceable Treasury Department payments.Prior to the discovery, Treasury Account Symbol (TAS) identification codes were optional for $4.7 trillion in Treasury Department payments, so they were often left blank and were untraceable. The field is now required to increase "insight into where the money is actually going," the Treasury Department and DOGE announced in February."Of the 1.5 billion payments that we send out every year, they are required to have a TAS, a Treasury Account Symbol. We discovered that more than one third of those payments did not have a TAS number," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government earlier this month.Fox News Digital asked Republican senators on Capitol Hill to respond to the approximately 500,000 in untraceable payments made by the Treasury Department each year.DOGE SAYS IT FOUND NEARLY UNTRACEABLE BUDGET LINE ITEM RESPONSIBLE FOR $4.7T IN PAYMENTS"I'm not surprised at all, unfortunately," Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, said before adding, "They were leaving complete fields undone when they were filling out their financials, so this is a common theme. I'm not surprised."TOP 5 MOST OUTRAGEOUS WAYS THE GOVERNMENT HAS WASTED YOUR TAXES, AS UNCOVERED BY ELON MUSK'S DOGESen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, called for an investigation into where those payments actually went."There's so much waste. There's so much fraud, There's so much abuse in our government," Schmitt told Fox News Digital. "I'm glad there was a laser-like focus on it. We ought to make many of those reforms permanent, but there probably ought to be some investigations here about where this money actually went. I mean this is taxpayer money. People work hard."After DOGE and the Treasury Department uncovered $4.7 trillion in untraceable funds, Marshall and Sen. Rick Scott of Florida introduced a bill in March requiring the Treasury Department to track all payments.The Locating Every Disbursement in Government Expenditure Records (LEDGER) Act seeks to increase transparency in how the Treasury Department spends taxpayer money."When you hear about this story that they didn't know where the money was going, it makes you mad because this is somebody's money, this is taxpayers' money when we have almost $37 trillion in debt, so this makes no sense at all," Scott said.The Congressional Budget projects that interest payments on America's national debt will total $952 billion in fiscal year 2025. That's $102 billion more than the United States' defense budget at $850 billion.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP"We paid out more last year on our debt, $36 trillion in debt, with $950 billion in interest going to bondholders all over the world, including in China. That $950 billion didn't go to build a bridge or an F-35. We paid more on the interest on debt than we did to fund our military," said Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska."That is an inflection point that when most countries hit, you look at history, that's when great powers start to decline. So we have to get those savings."

Audio has been released of when Gregg Popovich reportedly suffered a medical emergency at a San Antonio restaurant last month.The now-former San Antonio Spurs head coach was dining at a steakhouse when he reportedly fainted. Popovich then left in an ambulance.The caller said Popovich was "not responding" at first. He updated dispatch that Popovich was "barely responding" and had "passed out for a little bit," according to TMZ.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMPopovich reportedly did not suffer any life-threatening injuries or illnesses, and he was alert by the time he entered the ambulance.The 76-year-old had already been recovering from a stroke that led to him missing all but the first six games of the 2024-25 season.Shortly after the reported medical scare, Popovich stepped down as head coach."While my love and passion for the game remain, Ive decided its time to step away as head coach," Popovich said in a statement earlier this month. "Im forever grateful to the wonderful players, coaches, staff and fans who allowed me to serve them as the Spurs head coach and am excited for the opportunity to continue to support the organization, community and city that are so meaningful to me."PACERS' GAME 1 HERO'S GIRLFRIEND TAKES SHOT AT KNICKS AFTER PLAYOFF COLLAPSEPopovich will transition full-time to president of basketball operations.Popovichs tenure comes to an end after a nearly three-decade run that saw him coach the Spurs to fiveNBA Championships. He remains the leagues all-time wins leader and has the most playoff wins with one team by any coach in NBA history. His career, which also included being named NBA Coach of the Year three times and an Olympic gold medal, earned him a place in the Hall of Fame in 2023.The team missed the playoffs this year after Victor Wembanyama missed a healthy chunk of the season with blood clots.The Spurs have the second overall pick in the NBA Draft, two years after selecting Wembanyama first.Fox News' Ryan Gaydos and Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.Follow Fox News Digitalssports coverage on X,and subscribe tothe Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

A scary moment occurred on an Alabama baseball diamond Friday during the SEC tournament, as two outfielders collided while going for a ball.Arkansas, down 5-1 in the second inning, was desperate for some runs, with Cam Kozeal at the dish.The left-handed batter drilled a ball into the right-center gap that both center fielder Isaac Humphreys and right fielder Ryan Moerman went after.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMThey both made valiant efforts to make the grab, but instead, they crashed right into one another, causing the ball to roll all the way to the outfield. As the fielders collided, accessories flew everywhere.It was good news for the Razorbacks, as Kozeal scored quite easily for an inside-the-park homer. Humphreys attempted to get the ball and throw it in, but he could hardly throw the ball in. Moerman, meanwhile, lay on the field for quite some time.Humphreys somehow stayed in the game, but Moerman was taken out. Their injury diagnoses were not immediately known.COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF REVAMPS FORMAT AFTER FIRST 12-TEAM TOURNAMENT EXPOSED FLAWS: REPORT"Obviously a scary moment for everybody, especially when you get two guys go down," Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said, via On3. "You never know. Bumped heads, concussion, and all kinds of injuries. But at first, we werent sure if it was some type of head injury, just because Ryan complained of his right knee, and then as he got up and started to move around it was his left knee. I think its one of those, its pretty traumatic, guys running full speed in the moment, and he actually came out of the game because they just wanted to really check him out because they werent really sure what was going on."The Razorbacks were blanked for the rest of the day, and the Rebels took a 5-2 win into Saturday's semifinal against LSU.The winner of that will take on the winner of Vanderbilt and Tennessee in Sunday's championship for an automatic bid into the College World Series.It is unclear whether either player will be available on Saturday.Follow Fox News Digitalssports coverage on X,and subscribe tothe Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

After a reported dispute between Bill Belichick's current girlfriend and his ex, the two have an offer to duke it out in the boxing ring.Linda Holliday and Jordon Hudson both reportedly attended the Dreamland Stroll Party on December 6. Holliday's daughters, Ashley and Kat Hess, were DJing the party.Holliday, according to People, got "aggressive" with Hudson, and the two reportedly shared an intense moment.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMNow, they have a chance to hash it out once and for all, thanks to Celebrity Boxing founder Damon Feldman."I heard about the situation with Bill Belichick's ex, Linda Holliday, as she ran into his current girlfriend, Jordon Hudson. They got into it at a party a couple months back," Feldman said, via TMZ Sports. "So I wanted to reach out, and I want to give them the opportunity and the platform here at Celebrity Boxing to settle that beef in the ring. Let's get it girls."A staffer wrote in an incident report obtained by TMZ that "Ms. Hudson was a paying guest. No concerns had been raised regarding her behavior nor had any issues been reported up until that point in the evening (the event began at 7pm)."JORDON HUDSON SLAMS JOURNALIST FOR 'SLANDEROUS, DEFAMATORY' REPORTS ON RELATIONSHIP WITH BILL BELICHICK"Ms. Holliday felt her presence was inappropriate, since the event was widely advertised as a party headlined by her daughters. She asked that I remove Ms. Hudson from the premises, to which I responded that I would speak with Ms. Hudson after contacting Dreamland executive director Alicia Carney to discuss the matter."Security footage then showed Holliday confronting Hudson in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by roughly 200 people.Holliday was apparently irked because it "involve[d] my girls," and her "momma bear" emerged.Neither Holliday, Hudson nor the Nantucket Dreamland organization immediately responded to requests for comment.Hudson and Sapini were eventually escorted out by that staffer shortly before the lights came on at the party, TMZ reported.Holliday dated Belichick from 2007 to 2022. Hudson and Belichick, who have a 49-year age gap, made their relationship public last year.Follow Fox News Digitalssports coverage on X,and subscribe tothe Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

The New York Knicks were not safe from getting trolled by the Indiana Pacers' superstar, or his girlfriend, after their epic Game 1 collapse.The Knicks blew a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter to lose Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday. They had also led by 14 with 2:50 to go, and nine with under 60 seconds.All they've done since then is now lose at home again to trail 2-0 in the series. Nobody has ever won a conference final after losing the first two games at home.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMBut back to Game 1. After storming all the way back, Tyrese Haliburton chucked up a long shot that hit the back iron and dropped in. With former Pacers hero Reggie Miller just feet away, calling the game for TNT, Haliburton mimicked Miller's signature choking signal he directed at Spike Lee back in the 1990s.Haluburton's shot wound up being a two, putting the game into overtime, but the Pacers came away with the victory.After the game, Haliburton's girlfriend, Jade Jones, joined her boyfriend to take her own shot at the Knicks."finally got to see the ball drop in NYC," she posted on Instagram with a smirking emoji.KNICKS FALL BEHIND 0-2 IN EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS SERIES VS. PACERSTeams leading a playoff game by nine-plus points in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime of a playoff game had been 1,414-0 since 1998 entering Wednesday. Also, since 1997, teams are now 4-1,640 when trailing by seven-plus points in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime of a playoff game the Pacers have won three of those games this season alone.New York came back for revenge on Friday, but the Pacers pulled away late to take a commanding series lead. This time, it was Pascal Siakam leading the way with 39 points.It was tied at 81 after three, before the Pacers opened the fourth with a 13-4 run to move ahead 94-85 on Siakams 3-pointer with 9:17 remaining. They would quickly push the margin back to around there every time the Knicks got any momentum, and it was 110-100 after another basket by Siakam with 2:45 to play.The Knicks scored nine straight to make it 110-109 on Josh Harts basket with 14 seconds to go. Aaron Nesmith made two free throws for the Pacers, Brunson was well off on a 3-point attempt and Turner finished it out with two free throws.Jalen Brunson had 36 points and 11 assists for the Knicks, who need a quick turnaround or their first appearance in the conference finals in 25 years will be a brief one.Game 3 is in Indiana on Sunday.The Associated Press contributed to this report.Follow Fox News Digitalssports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Theres a provision tucked into President Donald Trumps broadly ranging "big, beautiful bill" that could see Texas get billions of dollars in funds that it spent on the states border security under the Biden administration.The legislation earmarked $12 billion for a grant program allowing states to be reimbursed for costs they incurred trying to stem the flow of illegal immigration during the Democratic administration.The measure was added to the bill hours before the final vote but Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the former chairman of the House Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs Committees, told Fox News Digital it was a product of months of negotiation."Early on, [Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., and I were discussing reconciliation going through the Homeland Security Committee. And, you know, there was about $70 billion for the border," McCaul said. "Texas bore the brunt of the federal mission the last four years and deserves to be reimbursed. And so he agreed, had a conversation with Governor Abbott, and he agreed."HOUSE GOP TARGETS ANOTHER DEM OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF BLOCKING ICE AMID DELANEY HALL FALLOUTWhile the text does not name Texas specifically, Fox News Digital was told that the measures inclusion was primarily sought by the Lone Star states congressional delegation.The state of Texas, Fox News Digital was told, had incurred just over $11 billion in costs from Gov. Greg Abbotts efforts to keep the border in his state secure."The fact of the matter is, when you look at the costs that were borne, Texas had the lion's share of [the burden] carrying out the federal mission when the Biden administration completely failed to deliver on border security," McCaul said. "My state built the border wall and built detention facilities. We bore a lot of costs."Operation Lone Star alone cost Texas $11.1 billion, according to The Texas Tribune.Rather than add it to the initial text of the bill, McCaul said, leaders opted to include it in a "managers amendment" that was added on Wednesday night along with several other issues that lawmakers needed more time to negotiate."The legislative process, it's something I've gotten to know over my 20 years and how to get things done up here. And I thought, you know, the way we worked it was strategically very smart," McCaul said. "Its going to the Senate now. And Senator Cornyn is going to take it up, be the champion in the Senate."The Texas Republican first met with Abbott and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on the matter in early February, Fox News Digital was told.McCaul said he also worked closely on the push with Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, who told Fox News Digital that "no state" carried more financial burden from the border crisis than Texas."Texas spent $11.1 billion on border security, including $5.87 billion on personnel costs and $4.75 billion on border wall and barriers. When the federal government failed to secure our border and protect our communities, Texans stepped up," Pfluger said.Johnson, for his part, thanked McCaul for his efforts in a public written statement."Thanks to Rep. McCaul, states that stepped up to protect Americans in the face of Bidens border catastrophe will be reimbursed for doing the work the Biden Administration refused to do,"the speaker said. "Had those patriotic governors not taken action and used the resources of their state, the devastation from Bidens wide-open border would have been significantly worse."MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCEGreen said of the need for the measure, "In the absence of help from the Biden-Harris administration,stateswere forced to take extraordinarymeasuresto mitigate the crisis and protect their communities by building barrier systems and increasing law enforcement activity."And while McCaul and his colleagues efforts in the House do not guarantee that Texas will ultimately see those funds, it puts them one step closer to success.The measure is one aspect in a multi-trillion-dollar bill that Republicans are working to pass via the budget reconciliation process.By lowering the Senates threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51, reconciliation enables the party in power to pass certain fiscal legislation while completely sidelining the minority in this case, Democrats.Trump directed Republicans to use reconciliation to advance his policies on taxes, immigration, energy, defense, and the national debt.The Senate and House must pass identical versions of the bill before it gets to Trumps desk.McCaul told Fox News Digital that he was confident the measure would stay in the Senate bill after conversations with the Trump administration on the matter."I anticipate it willgo forward," McCaul said. "Im, just proud that we were able to get this done. I'm very proud of what my state did to stop the flow of illegals and dangerous actors coming into the country."When reached for comment, Abbott told Fox News Digital, "This is a national issue that Texas was proud to address, and we are grateful for the allocation that reduces the financial burden that Texas incurred."

A cryptocurrency investor has been charged after he allegedly kidnapped an Italian former business partner and tortured him for two weeks -- using a taser, chainsaw and other twisted methods -- inside a plush New York City townhouse as part of a sadistic plot to steal passwords, according to police and reports.John Woeltz, 37, was seen cuffed wearing a robe and barefooted outside his pad in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan on Friday morning, shortly after his victim made a daring escape and called the police for help.Woeltz, who is understood to have had prior business dealings with the 28-year-old unidentified victim, helped lure the man to the Princes Street townhouse on May 6, snatched his passport and tied him up before torturing him in an extortion plot to get the sought-after passwords, the New York Post reports citing police sources. A 24-year-old female has also been arrested, police told Fox News.NYC EXECUTIVE USED APARTMENT TO RAPE, TORTURE WOMEN IN 'CALCULATED CAMPAIGN OF VIOLENCE': PROSECUTORSThe victim endured severe abuse, including being bound with electrical cords, tasered while his feet were submerged in water, pistol-whipped, forced to ingest cocaine and threatened with dismemberment using an electric chainsaw, the outlet reported.Polaroid photos showing the tourist being tied up with electrical wire and tortured, including one of him bound to a chair with a gun pointed at his head, were discovered by police, according to the sources, along with weapons and other incriminating evidence.The victim managed to escape and call a nearby traffic cop.Officers responded to the address around 10 a.m. and witnesses described a dramatic scene as police, SWAT teams and emergency vehicles swarmed the area, Fox 5 reported.BLUE CITY PROSECUTOR ATTACKED IN OWN HOME BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WITH TREN DE ARAGUA GANG TIES: POLICEWoeltz, who the Post reports is from Kentucky, has been charged with two counts of second-degree assault, one count of kidnapping and one count of unlawful imprisonment, police told Fox News.Woeltz,a crypto entrepreneur an investor,was perp walked out of the 5th Precinct station last night wearing a white T-shirt and said nothing to screaming reporters.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe victim was transported to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.The 24-year-old woman, Beatrice Folchi of Manhattan, has been charged with kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment."He looked like a decent guy," one resident told Fox 5 describing Woeltz. "He just looked like a rich guy in a nice bathrobe, clean-shaven, hair was done. It didnt look like police had a problem arresting him.