Postal Service thrust into mail-in ballot fight as Trump order gets tied up in court

EXCLUSIVE: A conservative legal group urged the U.S. Postal Service this week to carry out President Donald Trump’s executive order on mail-in ballots, saying the USPS has an obligation to block possible "fraudulent ballots" ahead of this year's midterms.

America First Legal laid out in a petition filed with the USPS and obtained by Fox News Digital that the postal service has the independent authority to impose restrictions on mail-in ballots, including by requiring barcode tracking on ballot envelopes and cross-checking ballot recipients against federally-approved voter registration lists.

The petition comes as part of a broader push by the Trump administration to tighten election security rules over concerns about ineligible voters casting ballots. It aims to ramp up pressure on the postal service to use its regulatory authority to unilaterally advance those efforts as the president’s executive order faces multiple lawsuits brought by blue states and voting rights groups.

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"Federal law gives every interested individual the right to file a petition for rulemaking with federal agencies," America First Legal senior counsel James Rogers said in a statement. "Our petition gives the Postal Service the authority to implement these common-sense reforms, even in the face of this frivolous litigation against President Trump."

AFL’s petition came after Trump issued an executive order last month directing the USPS to work with states on mail-ballot procedures tied to state-submitted voter eligibility lists, while separately calling on DHS and the Social Security Administration to help states verify citizenship data.

The executive order, titled "Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections," also required the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration to coordinate with states to create a master list of registered voters. The order has become the subject of intense litigation.

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Voting rights groups immediately sued, calling it "an extraordinary and abusive assertion of executive power over the administration of federal elections" and arguing that the Constitution gives states, not the president, authority over federal election administration.

While the White House has framed the executive order as an effort to bolster election integrity, other lawsuits, brought by a coalition of blue states led by California, Democratic lawmakers and national Democratic campaign committees, accused Trump of attempting to reduce mail-in voting. Voting by mail has become more prevalent since the COVID-19 pandemic, when states expanded voters' ability to cast ballots by mail because of what they said was a public health emergency. Trump called the policy changes an effort to "rig" the 2020 election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden.

"President Trump has tried again and again to rewrite election rules for his own perceived partisan advantage. If only he could ban mail voting—a favorite scapegoat for his 2020 electoral defeat—and impose other voting restrictions, he has proclaimed, Republicans will 'never lose a race—for 50 years,'" one of the lawsuits, led by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, read.

Trump and Republicans have zeroed in on noncitizen voting, which is illegal, and have long argued it is a widespread problem. In addition to his executive order, Trump has been urging Congress to pass the SAVE Act before the 2026 midterms to impose a physical identification requirement on people registering to vote, though the bill lacks the needed support from Democratic senators to advance.

Fox News Digital reached out to the USPS press office for comment on AFL's petition.

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Pirro warns car theft ring used new tech to quickly access vehicles: 'Gone in 60 seconds'

A high-tech car theft ring that can steal vehicles in under a minute — without keys, smashed windows or hot wiring — has been exposed in a sweeping federal indictment, exposing a sophisticated pipeline that moves stolen cars from U.S. streets to overseas black markets.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro on Wednesday announced a 15-count federal indictment targeting the ring, which she said uses an electronic device called an Autel to rewrite a vehicle’s internal computer, allowing them to program a blank key fob instead of using more traditional methods to steal cars.

"They don't need keys, and they don't need hot wiring," Pirro said. "No smashed windows, no drama.... In under a minute, the car's brain is rewritten. The car is gone in 60 seconds."

Pirro said the crews have acted in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Pennsylvania to steal a wide range of vehicles, from higher-end Corvettes and Camaros to one of America’s most popular vehicles, the Honda Civic.

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Once stolen, the suspects allegedly disabled tracking systems, including GPS and Bluetooth, to avoid detection, and "cooled off" vehicles at locations where license plates were swapped — including a parking garage at a Maryland Marriott. They allegedly then loaded them onto transport carriers at ports in Savannah, Georgia, and Baltimore, Maryland.

The stolen cars are hidden in containers labeled as furniture to avoid scrutiny, Pirro said. Investigators say the vehicles were then sent overseas, primarily to Africa, where they were sold on the black market for high profits.

"This isn't joyriding," Pirro said. "These are high-end vehicles that are then loaded on transport carriers ... shipped across the ocean to Africa, where demand is sky high and profits are enormous."

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"Welcome to the new world of car theft," Pirro added.

The indictment identifies more than 20 stolen vehicles worth nearly $1 million, but investigators believe the operation may be far larger — potentially tied to over 100 thefts in Washington, D.C., and more than 30 in Prince George’s County, Maryland, with a total value approaching $4 million.

The five men charged so far include Jacob Hernandez, David Coby, Dustin Wetzel, Chance Clark and James Young. They face multiple federal charges, including conspiracy, possession and transport of stolen vehicles, as well as related offenses.

Authorities said the investigation is ongoing and warned the public that modern car theft rings are increasingly using advanced technology to bypass traditional security measures.

Metropolitan Police Department’s Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carrol said citizens can take steps to prevent this new kind of car theft, including keeping key fobs inside a faraday bag — a bag that prevents the electronic signal from emanating from the fob — and "old school things" like club manual devices to lock a steering wheel.

"I know a lot of people will think those things are outdated, but they're not," Carrol said. "They're good devices that prevent vehicles from still being driven" even if someone uses an Autel device to access the car.

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Illegal immigrant Israel Flores Ortiz gets 360 days for groping girls at Fairfax County Va. High School

Israel Flores Ortiz, 18, an illegal alien, was sentenced to 360 days on Tuesday after being convicted for groping several female classmates in Fairfax High School hallways earlier this year.

With time served and the calculations for a misdemeanor, he has 135 days left in prison.

Judge Melinda Vanlowe delivered the sentence, calling it a "very difficult case," adding the actions were "targeted" and representing a "pattern" of "deplorable" behavior. 

Fairfax County public defender Jamie Hospes asked Judge Vanlowe for a sentence of 9 days, calling the offenses just "butt-grabbing," adding, "sometimes we arrest people for that, sometimes we elect them to be president of the United States."

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Flores Ortiz wore a green prison jumpsuit and listened to the proceedings through an interpreter.

He read a statement in Spanish, saying he apologized to the girls he had grabbed and their families. 

"I hurt them," he said, also apologizing to his own mother and father.

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Flores Ortiz was charged as an adult, but he was tried in juvenile court because most of the victims were minors. He was convicted in nine cases, acquitted in three and had one charge dismissed. He had originally been accused of assaulting 13 female classmates, according to the Fairfax Police Department.

The case had heightened concerns among parents about student safety after years of former President Joe Biden's open borders policy.

Flores Ortiz, originally from El Salvador, is in the country illegally, having reportedly arrived in 2024.

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The defense asked the court to impose just nine days of incarceration, arguing Flores Ortiz’s age should weigh heavily in sentencing. Counsel said his "brain is physically not as developed" as that of a 25-year-old and argued his actions were not driven by sexual gratification.

Instead, the defense characterized the assaults as immature behavior, telling the court Flores Ortiz acted "for fun" and that "it was like a joke or prank." 

"Only a teenager would think like that," counsel said.

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After the hearing, an attorney representing one of the teenage victims rejected the political framing. 

"This should not be politicized," the attorney said.

The defense said the defendant "is sorry" for his actions and "he agrees it was deplorable; he agrees it was a pattern."

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Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano, who has been under fire for this case, as well as other high-profile crimes committed by illegal immigrants in Northern Virginia, spoke to the media after the sentencing. He called Fairfax County, "The safest large jurisdiction in the country."

Prosecutor Jenna Sands read from a letter written by one of the victims who said for her this was not about immigration, but about "a guy who made me feel unsafe."

"I want to back to being a normal kid," the victim added.

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The judge allowed Flores Ortiz and his attorney to remain seated during sentencing, then sharply rebuked him as she laid out the impact of the assaults and his conduct after being confronted by one of the victims.

Referring to the evidence, the judge said that on March 4, "one of the students actually confronted you," and made it "very clear it hurt her." 

Despite that, the judge said, Flores Ortiz went on to assault another victim two days later.

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The judge said that for the victims, the offenses had "adjusted how they move through life," underscoring the lasting effect the assaults had on the students involved.

After serving his sentence, Flores Ortiz will be placed on two years of probation. The judge also ordered him to undergo a psychosexual evaluation and complete any treatment recommended as a result.

Addressing Flores Ortiz directly, the judge struck a more measured tone at the close of the hearing, telling him, "I absolutely believe in redemption" and, "this does not define you."

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She added, "You can go on to do great things."

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano told reporters after the hearing that he was "happy with the outcome," and said prosecutors "stand ready" if Flores Ortiz chooses to appeal.

The case stems from a series of incidents in crowded school hallways that prosecutors said involved Flores Ortiz groping female students. The allegations sparked scrutiny in Fairfax County over school supervision and hallway safety.

Both Jake Gibson and Peter Pinedo reported from the courtroom.

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Nick Shirley confronts California Democrats over 'Stop Nick Shirley Act,' pressing on First Amendment rights

California lawmakers were confronted at the state Capitol in Sacramento as independent journalist Nick Shirley filmed a video published this week questioning Assembly Bill 2624, a proposal California Republicans have dubbed the "Stop Nick Shirley Act," during interviews with Democratic and Republican legislators about the bill's scope and intent.

"If this bill were to get passed, instead of going after the fraudsters, they’re trying to make it criminal to go after the people that are committing this fraud," Shirley said in the video posted to his YouTube page.

The video centered on California Assembly Bill 2624, authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, which seeks to restrict the public posting of personal information of individuals connected to immigration support services, including nonprofit organizations, legal clinics and health care providers.

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"I think that that’s a misinterpretation of the bill, but I’m happy to talk with you more about it," Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Alhambra, told Shirley when pressed about whether the measure would restrict fraud investigations.

The legislation also drew scrutiny in Shirley's video because Assemblymember Bonta is married to California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Shirley repeatedly framed that relationship as a potential conflict of interest while questioning lawmakers about whether the bill would make it harder to expose fraud involving taxpayer-funded immigration services.

"I actually don’t think that this bill violates the First Amendment," Pérez said when asked about constitutional concerns.

"We have ledge [legislative] counsel and ledge attorneys that talk with us about this. Constitutionality is really important to the work."

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Shirley’s video showed several encounters in which lawmakers declined to discuss the bill in detail, with some saying they were unfamiliar with its contents or needed to review it further.

"I need to read the bill," Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, said after Shirley told him he had signed onto the measure.

One of the most pointed exchanges came when Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, was approached and asked for his opinion on the legislation.

"I think you’re a psycho scam artist," Wiener said on camera before closing the door on Shirley.

Shirley also approached Speaker of the Assembly, Robert Rivas, D-Salinas, and asked about the legislation directly.

"I don’t know anything about it," Rivas said, before also closing the door on Shirley.

"That just shows you everything you need to know," Nick Shirley said, after Rivas ignored the rest of his questions. "These people won't even answer the questions."

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Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, who appeared in the video opposing the measure, argued the bill's language could impact independent reporting on alleged fraud.

"You read the bill, and you realize that it's against the First Amendment," DeMaio said. "It criminalizes citizen investigative journalists who take video and expose fraud."

"That's what the bill is designed to do," he said. "It's designed to keep secrets, to keep the public from knowing what's going on. They don't want to end their fraud racket."

Fox News reached out to the California Democrats for comment, but did not immediately hear back.

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Sledgehammer murder spurs ICE manhunt for illegal immigrant suspect

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has asked officials in Democratic-run Harris County not to release an illegal immigrant suspect from custody after he allegedly beat a coworker to death with a sledgehammer on a construction site in a suburb of Texas’ largest city, Houston.

This comes as Texas officials feud with the City of Houston over a new policy limiting law enforcement cooperation with ICE. The confrontation mirrors the broader national debate between Democrats and Republicans over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies. Disagreements over immigration enforcement have resulted in an ongoing lapse in funding for the Department of Homeland Security during a partial government shutdown.

Now, Venezuelan national Josue Abraham Chirino-Leonice has been charged with the murder of carpenter Juan Antonio Salinas Leija at a north Houston home earlier this month, according to reporting by local outlet KHOU-11. The outlet said Salinas Leija was found dead at a home under renovation with severe wounds consistent with a sledgehammer attack. Chirino-Leonice was later arrested driving the victim’s truck in east Houston.

ICE lodged a detainer — a request to hold — with the Harris County Jail last week. According to DHS, Chirino-Leonice was released into the country under Biden administration in 2023.

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DHS said U.S. Border Patrol first arrested Chirino-Leonice in November 2023. The agency said the Biden administration "subsequently released him into the interior of the country."

Gabriel Martinez, acting field office director for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston, called the alleged murder a savage attack by an illegal alien "who never should have been allowed into the country."

"This criminal illegal alien — who never should have been allowed into the country in the first place — is accused of savagely beating a co-worker to death with a sledgehammer and leaving him to die in a house they were renovating together," said Martinez.

He said ICE officers in Houston are "working tirelessly to restore integrity to our nation’s immigration system to bring an end to the carnage and unnecessary suffering in this country that’s caused by criminal illegal aliens," adding, "We won’t rest until we’ve accomplished that mission."

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ICE has arrested thousands of illegal immigrants in the Houston area since President Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office in January 2025. Those arrests have included at least 414 criminal illegal aliens who have been charged with or convicted of child sex offenses, according to DHS.

At the start of the month, ICE Houston said that in the span of five days it arrested nearly 150 criminal aliens, including five child predators, two drug traffickers, 14 thieves, 62 violent offenders, one arsonist, seven hit-and-run DWIs, and nine immigrants convicted of a combined 31 DWIs.

The Democratic-majority Houston City Council recently voted to end a policy requiring law enforcement to hold illegal immigrants for ICE for at least 30 minutes. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has called the policy a "breach of contract" with the state. Last week, he issued an ultimatum to the city to reverse the move or pay the state back $110 million in funding.

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Democratic Mayor John Whitmire has called the situation a "crisis" for public safety. The city council is set to reconsider the policy this Wednesday.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris County Sheriff's Office for comment.

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8 children dead in mass shooting that began as domestic dispute, police say

A domestic dispute that led to a shooting in Louisiana left eight children dead at different homes early Sunday before the shooter was stopped dead after a chase by officers, authorities say.

The victims ranged in age from 1 to about 14 years old, according to Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon. A total of 10 people were shot, including two adults.

"I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback," Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said. "I cannot begin to imagine how such an event could occur."

"This is an extensive scene unlike anything most of us have ever seen," Bordelon said.

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The man stole a car at gunpoint a half block away from the original crime scene, leaving the scene of the shootings and getting pursued by police, according to Bordelon.

A shootout between police and suspect occurred after a traffic stop in Bossier Parish, resulting in the suspect's death.

"This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had," said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana with about 180,000 residents. "It’s a terrible morning."

Officials said they were still gathering details about the crime scene, which extended across three locations. Some of the children shot were related to the suspect, according to Bordelon.

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Louisiana State Police say their detectives have been asked by Shreveport police to investigate the officer-involved shooting.

In a statement, state police say no officers were harmed in the shooting.

State police are asking anyone with pictures, video or information to share it with state police detectives.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Jennifer Aniston reacts to ex-husband Justin Theroux's baby announcement

Jennifer Aniston reacted to her ex-husband Justin Theroux sharing news that he and wife Nicole Brydon Bloom welcomed their first child.

Aniston, who was married to Theroux from 2015 until 2018, liked the post announcing the news on Instagram.

The picture featured Theroux cradling his newborn son on his chest.

Theroux and Bloom posted the joint photo with the caption: "He’s here. We are so in love."

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Aniston and Theroux first met in 2007 but didn’t start dating until 2011, while on the set of Wanderlust.

The duo got engaged in 2012 before tying the knot in 2015. Their split was announced in 2018.

Despite their divorce, Aniston and Theroux have remained friends.

JENNIFER ANISTON'S BOYFRIEND CALLS ROMANCE WITH ACTRESS A 'DREAM'

In 2024, Theroux told The Times that Aniston "is still very dear to me."

Theroux and Bloom got engaged in 2024 and married the following year.

Aniston is currently in a relationship with Jim Curtis.

Aniston was first spotted with Curtis in July, while on a yacht off the coast of Mallorca, Spain. The actress was seen gently placing her hand on Curtis' hand while his arm was around her waist.

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At the time, a source told People that Aniston and Curtis were "casually dating and having fun."

"They've been seeing each other for a few months now," another source told the outlet. 

"They were introduced by a friend and started out as friends. Jen had read his book and was familiar with his work. She's really into self-help and wellness. They are dating, but it's still casual."

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"She's been happy on her own, but she's also open to sharing her life with someone. As long as it feels right," the source added. "Jen's in a very good place right now — grounded, fulfilled and very happy."

Aniston gave Curtis a birthday shout-out in early November, writing, "Happy birthday my love. Cherished."

She also shared a black-and-white image of herself with her arms wrapped around his waist.

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In February, Curtis shared a PDA-filled moment with Aniston moment with Aniston in honor of her birthday.

"HBD MY [love emoji]," Curtis wrote beneath an Instagram carousel, with one picture of them sharing a kiss and another image of them mid-laugh.

Weeks prior, Curtis was asked about their relationship during an appearance on the "Today" show.

On how they met: "We were just introduced by friends," he said on the "Today" show on Jan. 26. "We found out that we had mutual friends, and we started to just chat."

He added that they "chatted for a long time" before they "became close."

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"It took a long time… months now, almost close to a year," he said.

When the host pointed out he seemed flustered, Curtis admitted with a laugh, "OK, yeah. I sure am."

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Months prior, Aniston offered a peek inside her first Christmas with Curtis.

In December, the actress posted a carousel of images to her Instagram page from her holiday celebrations — with one image of Curtis playing with a friend's baby.

The inclusion of Curtis in her Christmas post comes almost two months after confirming her romance with the life coach and author, who specializes in hypnotherapy.

According to Curtis' Instagram, his "mission is to help you heal and thrive by upgrading your I AM."

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