A group of House Republicans is raising concerns about the potential effects of the U.S. importing Argentinian beef after President Donald Trump floated the idea earlier this week.

Rep. Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D., is leading seven other House GOP lawmakers in a letter to the president on Tuesday evening, warning the potential plan has rattled the multibillion-dollar American ranching industry.

‘America’s cattle producers are among the most resilient and hardworking in the nation,’ the Republicans wrote. ‘Collectively, the cattle industry supports thousands of jobs across our districts and contributes $112 billion to rural economies nationwide.’

‘In recent days, we have heard strong concerns from producers regarding reports that the U.S. may import beef from Argentina.’

The House Republicans acknowledged the ‘importance of strong trade relationships and diverse markets’ but added that beef producers in their districts ‘are seeking clarity on how this decision will be made, what safety and inspection standards will apply, and how this policy aligns with your administration’s commitment to strengthening American agriculture.’

Trump suggested Sunday that buying beef from Argentina could help lower prices for Americans at home, amid a wider promise to lower costs for U.S. citizens.

‘One of the things we’re thinking about doing is beef from Argentina,’ Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

He later elaborated in his conversation with reporters, ‘We would buy some beef from Argentina. If we do that, that will bring our beef prices down.’

‘Our groceries are down, our energy prices are down. I think we’re going to have $2 gasoline pretty soon. We’re getting close and everything’s down. The one thing that’s kept up is beef,’ Trump said.

He added that it would not be ‘that much’ but argued it would help Argentina, a U.S. ally, as well.

But the House Republicans questioned whether imported beef would be held to the same food safety and animal health requirements as that of the U.S., which they called ‘the gold standard.’

‘Any import policy must hold foreign suppliers to those same rigorous standards. Introducing beef from countries with inconsistent safety or inspection records could undermine the confidence that U.S. ranchers have worked decades to earn,’ the lawmakers warned.

‘We respectfully request additional information on this matter and urge your administration to ensure that any future decisions are made with full transparency, sound science, and a firm commitment to the U.S. cattle industry. America’s producers can compete with anyone in the world. If given an opportunity, they will continue to respond quickly to the market demand for more quality American beef in our grocery stores.’

In addition to Fedorchak, the letter is also signed by Reps. Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn., Troy Downing, R-Mont., Gabe Evans, R-Colo., Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., Derek Schmidt, R-Kan., Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., and Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger, R-Texas.

White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital in response, ‘The Trump administration remains committed to addressing the needs and concerns of American cattle producers and safeguarding their interests at home and abroad. That’s why the administration has secured billions in new export opportunities for American agricultural products in our historic trade deals with the UK, Japan, the EU, and others.’

‘It’s also why the administration is focused on reversing a prolonged decrease in the supply of live cattle by growing American cattle herds with robust action to deliver disaster relief to cattle country, support new ranchers, and reduce risk for cattle producers,’ Desai said.

Trump’s proposal has stirred some anxiety among some Republicans whose constituencies depend on cattle ranching.

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., posted on X Tuesday, ‘If the goal is addressing beef prices at the grocery store, this isn’t the way.’

‘The U.S. has safe, reliable beef, and it is the one bright spot in our struggling ag economy. Nebraska’s ranchers cannot afford to have the rug pulled out from under them when they’re just getting ahead or simply breaking even,’ Fischer wrote.

Meanwhile, Fox News Digital was told that Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., also raised significant concerns about what importing beef from Argentina could do to the U.S. cattle ranching industry during a call with fellow House Republicans on Tuesday.

But some Republican responses were more muted. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told reporters that Trump ‘definitely identified a problem’ regarding a shortage of cattle in the U.S. He added, ‘I understand what he’s trying to get done. I think there’s more ways to implement it.’

Fedorchak herself told Fox News Digital, ‘We’ve all received a number of questions and calls from our constituents over the last few days, so we are asking for clarity on the administration’s long-term plans. Our farmers and ranchers stand ready to deliver on the president’s America-First agenda. North Dakotans take great pride in producing the safest, highest-quality beef in the world — and we should be building on that success.’

Former first son Hunter Biden is claiming that his father only pardoned him because Donald Trump reclaimed the presidency in November 2024 — and ‘would not have’ done so under ‘normal circumstances’ while the appeals process played out.

‘Donald Trump went and changed everything,’ Hunter said in an interview released Monday on journalist Tommy Christopher’s Substack platform.

‘And I don’t think that I need to make much of an argument about why it changed everything.’

The 55-year-old — who pleaded guilty last year to evading $1.4 million in back taxes to the IRS and was convicted on felony gun charges — declined to mention that he had apparently been present for discussions on pardons during Joe Biden’s final months in the White House.

‘I’ve said this before,’ Hunter went on.

‘My dad would not have pardoned me if President Trump had not won, and the reason that he would not have pardoned me is because I was certain that in a normal circumstance of the appeals [I would have won].’

The Biden scion added that Trump was planning a ‘revenge tour’ against his father, which would have made himself the ‘easiest target to just to intimidate and to not just impact me, but impact my entire family into, into silence in a way that at least he is not — it’s not as easy for him to do [with] me being pardoned.’

‘I realize how privileged I am,’ Hunter went on.

‘I realize how lucky I am; I realize that I got something that almost no one would have gotten.

‘But I’m incredibly grateful for it and I have to say that I don’t think that it requires me to make much of a detailed argument for why it was the right thing to do, at least from my dad, from his perspective.’

Ex-White House chief of staff Jeff Zients spilled last month that Hunter ‘was involved’ in clemency talks and even ‘attended a few meetings,’ a source with knowledge of the Biden official’s testimony to the House Oversight Committee told The Post.

In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi Tuesday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, referred former CIA Director John Brennan to the Justice Department for allegedly making false statements to Congress.

Jordan accused Brennan of lying in his 2023 Judiciary Committee testimony by denying that the CIA used the Steele dossier in prepping the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Russian election interference, and falsely claiming the CIA opposed including the dossier.

The Steele dossier was a series of reports detailing President Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Russia. It was compiled and delivered to the FBI in 2016 by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele.

In Jordan’s letter, he alleged subsequent investigations ‘confirmed that the Clinton campaign and the DNC paid Steele via the law firm Perkins Coie and opposition research firm Fusion GPS to provide derogatory information about Trump’s purported ties to Russia, which resulted in the discredited dossier.’

In July 2025, the Trump administration declassified documents which appear to show Brennan approved the decision to include the dossier, despite objections from senior CIA officials.

During a transcribed interview on May 11, 2023, Brennan stated that ‘the CIA was not involved at all with the [Steele] dossier.’

Yet, according to the declassified documents, the decision to incorporate information from the dossier in the ICA ‘was jointly made by the Directors of CIA and FBI.’

‘Brennan’s assertion that the CIA was not ‘involved at all’ with the Steele dossier cannot be reconciled with the facts,’ Jordan wrote in the letter. ‘As the newly declassified documents show, a CIA officer drafted the annex containing a summary of the dossier; Brennan made the ultimate decision, along with then-FBI Director James Comey, to include information from the dossier in the ICA; and, as discussed further below, Brennan overruled senior CIA officers who objected to the inclusion of the dossier material.’

While past the five-year statute of limitations on criminal prosecution, Jordan also accused Brennan of providing false testimony during a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) hearing in 2017 — a move Jordan said ‘indicates a pattern of Brennan’s willingness to lie to Congress about the Steele dossier.’

‘The HPSCI report and the CIA memorandum confirm not only that the Steele dossier was used as a basis for the ICA, but that Brennan insisted on its inclusion,’ Jordan wrote. ‘This stands in stark contrast with Brennan’s testimony to HPSCI that the dossier was not used in drafting the ICA. … Brennan’s testimony before the Committee on May 11, 2023, was a brazen attempt to knowingly and willfully testify falsely and fictitiously to material facts.’

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates

The top congressional Democrats want a meeting with President Donald Trump as the government shutdown stretches on.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that both he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., reached out to Trump on Tuesday to set up a confab with the president.

The top Senate Democrat said the duo ‘urged’ Trump to meet with them, and that they were open to setting up ‘an appointment with him any time, any place.’

‘Hakeem and I reached out to the president today and urged him to sit down and negotiate with us to resolve the healthcare crisis, address it and end the Trump shutdown,’ Schumer said. ‘He should sit — the things get worse every day for the American people. He should sit down with us, negotiate in a serious way before he goes away.’

Congressional Democrats, particularly Schumer and his Democratic caucus, have remained steadfast in their demands for an extension to expiring Obamacare subsidies. Though Senate Republicans have been open to holding a vote on the matter after the government reopens, Democrats want an ironclad guarantee that the subsidies will be extended well before their expiration at the end of this year.

Should Trump relent to their request, it would mark the first meeting among the trio since Schumer, Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., met in the Oval Office a day before the shutdown began.

Lawmakers left that meeting with no agreement to avert the shutdown, which has now dragged on for 21 days.

Senate Democrats have also blocked Thune and Republicans’ attempts to reopen the government 11 times. Another vote on the House-passed continuing resolution, which would reopen the government until Nov. 21, is expected on Wednesday.

And like the many attempts before, that latest effort is expected to fail.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans met with Trump for lunch at the White House Tuesday afternoon.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Thune reiterated that Senate Republicans were united in their war of attrition strategy to continue putting the same bill on the floor again and again. He noted that Trump would likely agree to meet with Schumer and Jeffries, but only after Senate Democrats unlocked the votes needed to reopen the government.

‘We have negotiated. I don’t know what there is to negotiate. This is about opening up the government,’ Thune said. ‘We have offered them several off-ramps. Now, the Democrats want something that’s totally untenable. I mean, they want $1.5 trillion in new spending. They want free healthcare for people who are noncitizens in this country. That is just a flat nonstarter. It doesn’t pass the Senate. It won’t pass the House. It won’t be signed into law by the president.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Jeffries’ and the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back. 

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it known she is no fan of President Donald Trump’s project to construct a ballroom at the White House in an appeal to voters that 1600 Pennsylvania Ave is their ‘house.’

‘It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it,’ Clinton wrote on X on Tuesday morning. 

The social media post included a screenshot of The Washington Post’s report, ‘White House begins demolishing East Wing Facade to build Trump’s ballroom,’ accompanied by a photo of a demolition crew. 

‘President Trump is working 24/7 to Make America Great Again, including his historic beautification of the White House, at no taxpayer expense. These long-needed upgrades will benefit generations of future presidents and American visitors to the People’s House,’ White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox Digital when asked about Clinton’s post and other Democrats criticizing the ballroom construction. 

Trump announced on Monday that construction had begun on the ballroom, following months of the president floating the planned project to modernize the White House. The project does not cost taxpayers and is privately funded, the White House reported. 

‘I am pleased to announce that ground has been broken on the White House grounds to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom,’ Trump said on Truth Social. ‘Completely separate from the White House itself, the East Wing is being fully modernized as part of this process, and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete!

‘For more than 150 years, every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits, etc. I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!’ he continued. ‘The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly. This Ballroom will be happily used for Generations to come!’

The privately-funded project will cost an estimated $200 million, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the media in July. The 90,000-square-foot ballroom will accommodate approximately 650 seated guests, according to the White House. 

‘The White House is currently unable to host major functions honoring world leaders in other countries without having to install a large and unsightly tent approximately 100 yards away from the main building’s entrance,’ Leavitt said back in July, adding the new ballroom will be ‘a much needed and exquisite addition.’

Other Democrats have also slammed the construction project, including New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim calling it ‘disgusting.’

‘I wanted to share this photo of my family standing by a historic part of the White House that was just torn down today by Trump. We didn’t need a billionaire-funded ballroom to celebrate America. Disgusting what Trump is doing,’ Kim posted to X on Monday. 

‘Oh you’re trying to say the cost of living is skyrocketing? Donald Trump can’t hear you over the sound of bulldozers demolishing a wing of the White House to build a new grand ballroom,’ Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren posted to X on Monday. 

‘Republican math. Can afford: Trump ballroom, $40 Billion Argentina bailout, massive tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires Can’t afford: health care for Americans, SNAP for struggling Americans, tax relief for middle class families,’ Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta posted to X. 

The ballroom construction follows Trump installing two massive 88-foot-tall American flags on either side of the White House this summer in a patriotic endeavor that did not cost U.S. taxpayers a cent, as well as an overhaul to the White House Rose Garden. 

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this article. 

A new conservative group working to untangle state laws concerning food and personal care ingredients by setting a national standard for ingredient transparency officially launched Tuesday, Fox News Digital learned. 

‘It is a simple concept to understand — Americans want to know that the ingredients in the products they’re buying for their families are safe,’ Americans for Ingredient Transparency leader and senior advisor Andy Koenig said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘This should not be a difficult standard to meet.’ 

‘Unfortunately, states are now implementing their own patchwork of contradictory ingredient rules that have caused widespread confusion among consumers,’ Koenig continued. ‘President Trump and his Administration are well-suited to make these determinations. Our goal is to cut through confusion and ensure everyone has access to clear information. Consumers want to know exactly what they are putting in and on their bodies. That is what we are working to achieve.’ 

Americans for Ingredient Transparency is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit comprised of ‘concerned Americans, policy experts, farmers, and business leaders’ who are advocating that the U.S. government establish a national standard for ingredients to apply ‘consistent, science- and risk-based principles to give Americans everywhere confidence in the safety of food, beverage and personal care products,’ Fox News Digital learned. 

The group argued that states have made well-intended efforts to enact transparency laws as they relate to ingredients in food and household products, but that the moves have created confusion with an ‘ever-expanding patchwork of disjointed food, beverage, and personal care regulations.’

Americans for Ingredient Transparency specifically aims to work with Congress and the Trump administration to incorporate Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) reform, front-of-package labeling reform, and QR code reform into federal law.

GRAS reform would establish a ‘nationally uniform regulatory approach for new ingredients used in food and beverage products,’ according to the coalition’s website. The front-of-package labeling reform would guide consumers to healthier choices, while the QR code reform would provide consumers with a scannable code on products to review product information, according to the group’s website. 

Julie Gunlock, a conservative policy advocate focused on nutrition and parenting, leads Americans for Ingredient Transparency with Koenig. She said in comment to Fox News Digital that the push for a national ingredient transparency standard is one rooted in protecting families and children. 

‘As an American, but most importantly a mom, I know firsthand how important it is to trust the products we consume and bring into our homes,’ Gunlock said. ‘Families deserve commonsense and science-backed transparency they can rely on. That’s why a national standard for food safety and labeling is of the utmost importance to ensure every parent can make safe, informed choices for their children – because protecting our families starts with the truth.’

Americans for Ingredient Transparency is backed by a handful of food and consumer groups, Fox Digital learned, including the Consumer Brands Association, American Beverage Association, Corn Refiners Association, and FMI- The Food Industry Association.

‘Every American deserves to know what’s in their food, beverages, and personal care items – and that they’re safe no matter where they live,’ an ad for the group released Tuesday states. ‘It’s time to fix the patchwork. It’s time to pass a national uniform standard.’

The announcement comes as the Trump administration and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues its mission to ‘Make America Healthy Again.’ Kennedy has already addressed potential GRAS reforms, calling on the FDA in March to ‘explore potential rulemaking to revise its Substances Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) Final Rule and related guidance to eliminate the self-affirmed GRAS pathway.’

‘For far too long, ingredient manufacturers and sponsors have exploited a loophole that has allowed new ingredients and chemicals, often with unknown safety data, to be introduced into the U.S. food supply without notification to the FDA or the public,’ Kennedy said in March. ‘Eliminating this loophole will provide transparency to consumers, help get our nation’s food supply back on track by ensuring that ingredients being introduced into foods are safe, and ultimately Make America Healthy Again.’  

A group of House Republicans is calling on Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to deal with expiring Obamacare subsidies immediately after the government shutdown ends.

Thirteen House GOP lawmakers, led by Reps. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., and Jen Kiggans, R-Va., are sending a letter to Johnson on Tuesday thanking him for his leadership during the shutdown but maintaining that Obamacare must also be dealt with before the end of the year.

Obamacare, formally called the Affordable Care Act (ACA), has emerged as one of the main flash points in the ongoing fiscal standoff between Republicans and Democrats.

‘Every day the shutdown continues to hurt the very people we were elected to serve, including the men and women of our Armed Forces, the federal law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe, the agents who defend our nation’s borders, and the public servants who provide essential services to veterans, seniors and families,’ the Republicans wrote.

‘We also firmly believe that the government funding debate is not the time or place to address healthcare issues. Using the shutdown as leverage to force that debate only prolongs the harm and distracts from the immediate task of reopening the government. Once the government is reopened, however, we should immediately turn our focus to the growing crisis of healthcare affordability and the looming expiration of the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits.’

Obamacare subsidies were enhanced under the Biden administration in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic in a bid to make healthcare more available to a wider swath of Americans. Democrats voted to extend those subsidies through 2025 in 2022 via the Inflation Reduction Act.

Democrats are now pushing to extend those subsidies now, using the ongoing government shutdown as leverage to force Republicans to deal with the issue.

Both House and Senate GOP leaders have signaled they are willing to discuss the expiring healthcare subsidies but rejected pairing them with their bill to fund the government — a short-term extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal spending levels called a continuing resolution (CR).

But extending the Obamacare subsidies is expected to generate its own debates among Republicans. Conservatives like the House Freedom Caucus and their allies are skeptical of the move, arguing the enhanced healthcare credits were responsible for sending medical prices skyrocketing.

But the 13 Republicans who signed the letter maintain, ‘Millions of Americans are facing drastic premium increases due to short-sighted Democratic policymaking. While we did not create this crisis, we now have both the responsibility and the opportunity to address it.’

‘Allowing these tax credits to lapse without a clear path forward would risk real harm to those we represent. Nevertheless, we must chart a conservative path that protects working families in our districts across the country who rely on these credits,’ they wrote.

The lawmakers agreed with GOP leaders that reforms are needed to the system ‘to make these credits more fiscally responsible and ensure they are going to the Americans who need them most,’ but added, ‘Our Conference and President Trump have been clear that we will not take healthcare away from families who depend on it. This is our opportunity to demonstrate that commitment through action.’

House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, R-Md., ruled out accepting a straightforward extension of the Obamacare subsidies in comments to reporters on Monday.

‘You want a clean vote on a program that potentially is $400 billion, and you want to do it without any debate, any negotiation? That’s just insanity,’ Harris said.

Asked by Fox News Digital if he sees any pathway to compromise, he said, ‘It all depends on what the package is, how is it paid for, what other healthcare reforms are in it?’

‘But that’s stuff that you’re not going to negotiate in hours. It’s going to take weeks to negotiate,’ Harris said.

It’s also not immediately clear when the shutdown will end — while the House passed its CR on Sept. 19, Senate Democrats have sunk the bill in the upper chamber 11 times as of Monday.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., was one of nearly a dozen Senate Republicans allegedly probed by former Special Counsel Jack Smith, an investigation she wasn’t aware of until earlier this month.

She was one of several Senate Republicans that Smith allegedly surveilled as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots. But it was only revealed earlier this month by the FBI — thanks to an oversight request by Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa — that Smith allegedly requested phone records on her and others.

Blackburn told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that until the documents from Smith’s ‘Arctic Frost’ investigation were revealed, she had no idea that her phone records were being surveilled.

She believed the ‘common thread’ behind the former special counsel’s probe, which was carried out in 2023, was because ‘the eight of us are all Republicans. We all support President Trump.’

Blackburn and Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., Bill Hagerty, R-Wyo., Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., were all reportedly part of Smith’s investigation.  

In response, Blackburn and many of the others that were allegedly surveilled by Smith want to see him disbarred.

‘This is about making certain we have one tier of justice, and that we stop this two tiers of justice,’ Blackburn said. ‘And if they can do this to eight sitting U.S. senators, what could they possibly — I mean, think about how, what they must be doing to conservatives in this country.’

Last week, she and Graham, Tuberville, Sullivan and Kelly sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding an investigation into Smith, and that he be referred to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Professional Responsibility.  

The end goal of the investigation is to see Smith disbarred from both New York and Tennessee, two states where he holds a license to practice law. Blackburn argued that Smith’s alleged spying on her and others was a ‘First Amendment and Fourth Amendment violation.’

Her latest push against the former special counsel came on the heels of another letter sent to AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon demanding why the cellphone carriers allegedly allowed Smith and the FBI under the Biden administration to track their communications.

‘You would have thought that, because of the Stored Records Act and the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment and the Speech and Debate Clause, that at least Verizon, who’s my wireless carrier, would have informed me that there was a request on my records,’ she said. 

‘But of course, there was nothing given to us, and it’s the reason that we sent the letter to Verizon and then followed it with a letter … to the DOJ on Jack Smith,’ she continued.

Smith is one of a handful of former officials that have been targeted by the DOJ under the Trump administration. He is currently under investigation by the Office of Special Counsel for alleged Hatch Act violations, which bars government employees from participating in political activities.

Then there are federal indictments against former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly making false statements and obstructing justice, and former National Security Advisor John Bolton for allegedly mishandling classified documents.

Blackburn was one of many Republicans that railed against so-called political witch hunts against President Donald Trump when he was out of office. When asked what the difference between the indictments against Trump and his allies compared to the latest crop of former officials, she said it was about accountability.

‘These need to be investigated so that this kind of stuff stops,’ Blackburn said. ‘And one of the differences, I think you see between Democrats and Republicans, is Democrats repeatedly circle the wagons, and they push things under the rug, and then they want two tiers of justice. And with Republicans, the focus is on accountability and transparency, and I think that is a major, major difference.’

China’s spy agency accused the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) of hacking its national time service, alleging a yearslong cyberespionage campaign that targeted the system keeping official Beijing Time — a backbone for China’s telecommunications, finance and defense sectors.

The Ministry of State Security claimed the NSA began the operation in 2022 by exploiting a text-messaging vulnerability to gain control of employee cell phones at the National Time Service Center, then used stolen credentials to access servers and implant covert tools. The alleged breach, if true, could have allowed attackers to tamper with national timekeeping — a move that experts say could disrupt communications, banking and satellite navigation across China.

The NSA said in a statement it ‘does not confirm nor deny allegations in the media regarding its operations. Our core focus is countering foreign malign activities persistently targeting American interests, and we will continue to defend against adversaries wishing to threaten us.’

Chinese Investigators allege the hackers deployed 42 ‘specialized cyberattack weapons’ to implant sabotage capabilities.

The attackers allegedly forged digital certificates, bypassed antivirus software and used strong encryption to erase traces to conceal activity. Tampering with the National Time Service could disrupt financial transactions, communications and satellite timing.

China’s national security agency said it countered the operation by cutting off the attack chain and upgrading defenses.

The Beijing statement claimed that in recent years, the U.S. has pursued ‘cyber hegemony,’ launching hacking operations against China and across the globe.

But for years, U.S. officials have said the nation needs to take a more offensive approach to cyber espionage, given China’s frequent intrusions into U.S. systems.

In a media statement, the U.S. embassy in Beijing said China ‘is the most active and persistent cyber threat to U.S. government, private-sector and critical infrastructure networks.’

The latest claim fits into years of mutual accusations of state-sponsored cyber activity between the world’s two largest powers. Beijing has frequently accused the U.S. of hacking Chinese systems, while American intelligence and private cybersecurity firms have repeatedly attributed massive data-theft campaigns – from the Microsoft Sharepoint breach to Operation Salt Typhoon – to Chinese state-linked groups.

In April, Chinese authorities accused the NSA of launching attacks against networks linked to the Asian Winter Games held in February.

Former President Joe Biden completed a round of radiation treatment for his aggressive form of prostate cancer on Monday.

Biden had been undergoing treatment at Penn Medicine Radiation Oncology in Philadelphia for several weeks. The former president’s daughter, Ashley Biden, hailed the milestone in a post on social media.

‘Rung the bell! Thank you to the incredible doctors, nurses, and staff at Penn Medicine. We are so grateful!’ she wrote on Instagram.

‘He rang the bell today,’ Biden spokeswoman Kelly Scully confirmed, according to CBS News.

‘Dad has been so damn brave throughout his treatment. Grateful,’ Ashley wrote in a follow-up post.

It is common practice for cancer treatment centers to have patients ring a bell when they complete a round of radiation treatment. It serves as both a mark of progress for the patient and a form of encouragement for other patients undergoing treatment in the facility.

It is unclear whether Biden will need to undergo further rounds of radiation therapy.

Biden announced his diagnosis with prostate cancer in May, saying it had already metastasized and spread to his bones. The announcement redoubled concerns that the White House was not being forthright about Biden’s health during his time in office.

Biden also underwent surgery Sept. 4 to remove cancerous skin cells through a procedure known as Mohs surgery.

During his presidency, Biden had a cancerous skin lesion removed from his chest, the White House previously said. Former White House physician Kevin O’Connor noted in February 2023 that a biopsy of skin tissue taken during a health assessment revealed cancerous cells, all of which were successfully removed.

Fox News’ Bonny Chu contributed to this report.