President Donald Trump has filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, accusing the agency of unlawfully leaking his confidential tax returns in a politically motivated violation of federal privacy laws.

A spokesman for Trump’s legal team told Fox News ‘a rogue, politically motivated’ IRS employee disclosed private and confidential tax information involving Trump, his family and the Trump Organization to outlets, including The New York Times and ProPublica.

The suit claims the disclosures were illegal and harmed millions by violating federal privacy laws.

That contractor at the heart of the leak, Charles Littlejohn, pleaded guilty in October 2023 to a single felony count of unauthorized disclosure of tax return information and is serving a five-year prison sentence.

Littlejohn admitted to stealing and leaking Trump’s tax records to The New York Times and to disclosing confidential tax data involving wealthy individuals to ProPublica.

According to the lawsuit, Littlejohn testified in a 2024 deposition that the Trump materials he leaked included information on all of Trump’s business holdings.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, Littlejohn refused to testify before Congress, invoking his Fifth Amendment rights while appealing his sentence.

According to a June 2025 Judiciary Committee press release, DOJ prosecutors said Littlejohn’s disclosures were ‘unprecedented in its scope and scale.’ 

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

House conservatives are expressing skepticism after Senate Democrats and the White House announced a deal had been reached to fund the government without a long-term Department of Homeland Security funding bill. One House member warned that Republicans should not give in to demands to ‘handcuff ICE.’  

With any deal reached in the Senate needing approval in the House of Representatives, Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital, ‘[Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer’s current demands, compounded by a lack of conservative priorities, are an absolute non-starter’ in the lower chamber.  

‘With Chuck Schumer’s demands to handcuff ICE and his Democrat colleagues threatening to shut down the government over it, this is yet another example of the radical left prioritizing criminals over American citizens,’ said Harris.

Schumer, D-N.Y., and President Donald Trump labored over a deal from late night Wednesday into Thursday evening after the top Senate Democrat unleashed several funding demands and the White House accused Schumer of blocking a meeting with rank-and-file Democrats.

‘The separation of the five bipartisan bills the Democrats asked for, plus the two-week DHS [continuing resolution] has been agreed to,’ Schumer said in a statement. 

In response, one House conservative remarked to Fox News Digital, ‘We’re still looking at what is being discussed in the deal, but 14 days is awfully short.’

‘We sure think we should be getting something out of this deal when it’s Democrats who are threatening a shutdown, not Republicans,’ the House member said.

Not all House Republicans were against the compromise. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., reacted on X, ‘I stand with @POTUS, a shutdown will only hurt the American people. I will vote YES on this package should it make it through the Senate!’ 

In a Truth Social post on Thursday evening, Trump urged the GOP to agree to the deal, saying, ‘Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much-needed bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote.’

The president added that the ‘only thing that can slow our Country down is another long and damaging Government Shutdown.’ 

‘I am working hard with Congress to ensure that we are able to fully fund the Government, without delay,’ Trump said. ‘Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security (including the very important Coast Guard, which we are expanding and rebuilding like never before).’

The deal brokered between the two would see the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill stripped from the broader six-bill package. Schumer and Democrats have been adamant that if the bill is sidelined, they’d vote for the remaining five, which includes funding for the Pentagon. 

Their agreement also tees up a short-term funding extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), for two weeks to keep the agency funded while lawmakers negotiate restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

If passed in the Senate, the deal would still need to pass the House again. With lawmakers there not expected back in Washington until Feb. 2, three days after the Jan. 30 funding deadline, a brief partial government shutdown is all but certain.

Tensions have been boiling over in the House over the prospect of the Senate’s compromise on DHS.

Caucus member Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital via text message on Thursday, ‘THE HOUSE DID OUR JOB BY PASSING THE REMAINING SIX APPROPRIATION BILLS TO THE SENATE AND THERE IS NO RATIONAL REASON TO REMOVE DHS FROM THE APPROVAL PROCESS.’

Norman accused Democrats of trying to ‘demonize’ and ‘bludgeon’ DHS, adding, ‘IF THE DEMOCRATS WANT TO SHUT THE GOVERNMENT DOWN, ‘DO IT’!!’

Meanwhile, Mark Bednar, a GOP strategist and former spokesperson for then Speaker Kevin McCarthy, told Fox News Digital, ‘President Trump wants to ensure that our troops, air traffic controllers and DHS patriots are on the job and get paid, and this path will help ensure they do that.

‘It’s now on Democrats to negotiate in good faith with President Trump so that the homeland is secured with a long-term funding bill — because that’s what the American people want and deserve.’

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report.

The Trump administration announced Thursday it was easing sanctions on the Venezuelan oil industry, as the U.S. aims to ramp up production in the South American country following the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.

The U.S. Treasury said it is authorizing transactions involving the government of Venezuela and state-owned oil company PdVSA that are ‘ordinarily incident and necessary to the lifting, exportation, reexportation, sale, resale, supply, storage, marketing, purchase, delivery, or transportation of Venezuelan-origin oil, including the refining of such oil, by an established U.S. entity.’

The new license includes significant carve-outs, with sanctions remaining fully intact for persons or entities in Russia, Iran, North Korea or Cuba.

It also excludes transactions with blocked vessels, Chinese-owned or controlled entities operating in Venezuela or the U.S., and debt swaps, gold payments, or cryptocurrency payments, including Venezuela’s petro.

The announcement came as President Donald Trump pushes for the expansion of oil production in Venezuela.

‘We have the major oil companies going to Venezuela now, scouting it out and picking their locations, and they’ll be bringing back tremendous wealth for Venezuela and for the United States and the oil companies will do fine too.’ Trump said during a cabinet meeting Thursday.

Trump also announced during the meeting that commercial airspace over Venezuela would reopen, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released an emergency notice earlier this month blocking civil flight operations by U.S. aircraft over the South American country.

‘I just spoke to the president of Venezuela and informed her that we’re going to be opening up all commercial airspace over Venezuela,’ Trump said. ‘American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela, and they’ll be safe there and be safe. It’s under very strong control.’

 Earlier Thursday, Venezuela’s government approved opening the nation’s oil sector to privatization, with Acting President Delcy Rodríguez signing the reform into law — a move that reverses a core principle of the socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than two decades.

Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump on Thursday declared a national emergency via an executive order over Cuba, accusing the communist regime of aligning with hostile foreign powers and terrorist groups while moving to punish countries that supply the island nation with oil.

Thursday’s executive order states that the policies and actions of the Cuban government constitute ‘an unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.’

To address that threat, Trump ordered the creation of a tariff mechanism that allows the U.S. to impose additional duties on imports from foreign countries that ‘directly or indirectly sell or otherwise provide any oil to Cuba,’ according to the order.

The White House said the move marks a significant escalation in U.S. pressure on the Cuban government, aimed at protecting American national security and foreign policy interests.

In the order, Trump said Cuba aligns itself with and provides support for ‘numerous hostile countries, transnational terrorist groups, and malign actors adverse to the United States,’ naming Russia, China, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah.

The administration said Cuba hosts Russia’s largest overseas signals intelligence facility, which the order states attempts to steal sensitive U.S. national security information. The order also says Cuba continues to deepen intelligence and defense cooperation with China.

According to the order, Cuba ‘welcomes transnational terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas.’

Trump also cited the Cuban government’s human rights record, accusing the regime of persecuting and torturing political opponents, denying free speech and press freedoms, and retaliating against families of political prisoners who protest peacefully.

‘The United States has zero tolerance for the depredations of the communist Cuban regime,’ Trump said in the order, adding that the administration will act to hold the regime accountable while supporting the Cuban people’s aspirations for a free and democratic society.

Under the order, the Commerce Department will determine whether a foreign country is supplying oil to Cuba, either directly or through intermediaries. The State Department, working with Treasury, Homeland Security, Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative, will decide whether and how steep the new tariffs should be if so.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is tasked with monitoring the national emergency and reporting to Congress, while the Commerce Department will continue tracking which countries are supplying oil to Cuba.

In a fact sheet, the White House said the order is designed to protect U.S. national security and foreign policy from the Cuban regime’s ‘malign actions and policies,’ and described the move as part of Trump’s broader effort to confront regimes that threaten American interests.

The administration said the action builds on Trump’s first-term Cuba policy, which reversed Obama-era engagement and reinstated tougher measures against the communist government.

The executive order is set to take effect Friday.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for additional comment.

President Donald Trump warned the U.K. Thursday against strengthening ties with China, hours after Prime Minister Keir Starmer met President Xi Jinping in Beijing to reset relations after a long period of strain.

Trump’s remarks came as Starmer and Xi had called for a renewed ‘strategic partnership,’ highlighting the pressures facing them amid global instability.

Speaking to Fox News while traveling to Florida for the premiere of first lady Melania Trump’s documentary, Trump was asked about the U.K. ‘getting into business with China.’

‘Well, it’s very dangerous for them to do that,’ Trump said. ‘And it’s even more dangerous, I think, for Canada to get into business with China.’

Trump added that China was not the solution for Western economies despite his personal relationship with Xi. ‘I know China very well. I know President Xi is a friend of mine, and I know him very well, but that’s a big hurdle to get over,’ he said, before joking that Beijing might ban Canada from playing ice hockey. 

‘That’s not good. Canada’s not going to like that,’ he added. 

Trump had previously criticized Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney after Carney’s visit to China and warned then that ‘China will eat Canada alive.’

Trump’s latest comments followed an 80-minute meeting in Beijing between Starmer and Xi in which the leaders sought to thaw relations after several years of diplomatic chill.

The Associated Press reported that neither leader mentioned Trump directly in their discussions Thursday.

‘In the current turbulent and ever-changing international situation, China and the United Kingdom need to strengthen dialogue and cooperation to maintain world peace and stability,’ Xi told Starmer, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

Xi also warned that if major powers failed to uphold international law, the world risked sliding into a ‘jungle.’

Starmer said cooperation on climate change and global stability was ‘precisely what we should be doing,’ The Associated Press also reported.

The outlet also reported that Starmer described the meeting as ‘very productive,’ and mentioned progress on whisky tariffs, visa-free travel to China for British citizens and cooperation on migration.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, Starmer sought Xi’s help to disrupt the supply of China-made small boat engines that the U.K. leader’s office says are used to smuggle people across the English Channel.

He also raised human rights concerns and the Iran nuclear program.

Starmer is the first British prime minister to visit China in eight years and the fourth U.S.-allied leader to do so this month, signaling a push by Beijing to re-engage Western partners.

The visit also came as the U.K. navigates trade alignment with the U.S., defense cooperation in Arctic regions and negotiations over the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands.

In November, the U.S. and China reached a deal easing some tariffs and export controls, boosting U.S. agricultural exports, curbing fentanyl precursor flows and relieving pressure on American semiconductor and shipping companies.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

Last week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth released the 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS), a Pentagon blueprint that elevates Israel as a ‘model ally’ and translates President Trump’s national security doctrine into concrete military policy.

‘Israel has long demonstrated that it is both willing and able to defend itself with critical but limited support from the United States. Israel is a model ally, and we have an opportunity now to further empower it to defend itself and promote our shared interests, building on President Trump’s historic efforts to secure peace in the Middle East,’ the NDS states.

The document is now influencing parallel debates over the future of U.S. security assistance to Israel and whether the next Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, should continue delivering traditional U.S. military aid to Israel, amid dissenting voices that portray the alliance as a burden rather than a strategic asset.

According to the strategy, Israel proved its ability and willingness to defend itself following the Oct. 7 attacks, demonstrating that it is not a passive partner but an operational force that supports U.S. interests in the region. The strategy emphasizes empowering capable allies rather than constraining them, building on President Trump’s earlier push for regional integration through the Abraham Accords.

Jonathan Ruhe, director of foreign policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, said the strategy reflects a broader American shift toward partnerships that strengthen both U.S. security and domestic industry.

‘U.S. defense assistance to Israel in the MOU is spent in dollars here in America to support our industry,’ Ruhe told Fox News Digital. ‘And like in the national security strategy, it then enables Israel to go and do more to protect U.S. interests.’

He said a future agreement would likely extend beyond funding alone. ‘A new MOU would also likely be broader and include things that are more 50-50 partnership, like joint research and development, co-production, intelligence sharing and things like that to reflect the changing partnership going forward,’ Ruhe said.

The strategy also highlights the importance of revitalizing the American defense industrial base, noting that allies purchasing U.S. systems help strengthen domestic production while enabling partners to shoulder greater responsibility for regional security.

Avner Golov, vice president of the Israeli think tank Mind Israel, said the document makes clear that Israel is viewed not merely as a recipient of aid, ‘Israel is in the fight. We are protecting ourselves by ourselves. We just need the tools to do that. And by doing so, we enhance not only America’s standing in the Middle East, but also worldwide and contribute to the American economy.’

That framing comes as Israel and the United States prepare for negotiations over the next 10-year MOU, which governs U.S. military assistance to Israel. The current agreement, signed in 2016, provides $3.3 billion annually in foreign military financing, along with $500 million a year for missile defense cooperation.

The debate follows tensions during the Biden administration, when the White House paused the delivery of certain U.S. weapons to Israel in May 2024, including a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs. At the time, Netanyahu warned that Israel ‘will stand alone’ if Washington halted weapons deliveries, reflecting concern that limits or delays in U.S. military support could undermine Israel’s readiness and deterrence. 

Experts have noted that U.S. leaders have not always approved every Israeli weapons request and that roughly 70% of Israel’s military imports come from the United States, underscoring the strategic calculus behind Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent push for greater independent production.

Golov criticized that approach, arguing it risks prioritizing optics over readiness. ‘I believe that is a short-term vision,’ Golov said. ‘In the long term, Israel must first be prepared for the next round of escalation. If we are not ready, we will face another war. If we are prepared, perhaps we can deter it.’

‘Israel must remain the strongest army in the region, and that is also a fundamental American interest,’ Golov said.

Ruhe said the debate reflects lessons learned from nearly two years of war. ‘You’ve got this sort of topsy-turvy world now where the Israelis are saying we don’t want to take any more U.S. money, and the Americans are saying, no, you’re going to take our money,’ he said.

According to Ruhe, the conflict exposed vulnerabilities created by heavy dependence on U.S. supply chains and political delays.

‘The war of the last two years showed that Israel can’t afford to be as dependent on the U.S. or continue to maintain the same defense partnership that it has because that creates a dependence,’ he said. ‘Israel becomes vulnerable to U.S. shortages in weapons output or politically motivated embargoes and holdups that can impact Israel’s readiness.’

At the same time, Ruhe noted that Israel remains reliant on the United States for major platforms.

‘Even Israel will say we’re utterly dependent on the U.S. for those big-ticket platforms,’ he said, pointing to aircraft such as the F-15 and F-35 that Israel has already committed to purchasing.

For that reason, Ruhe argued that maintaining stable funding under the next MOU may be the most practical path forward.

‘It’s actually much easier for Congress just to go ahead and approve that money,’ he said, explaining that predictable funding reduces annual political battles on Capitol Hill.

Golov said Israel’s long-term objective should not be reducing ties with Washington, but deepening them. ‘I don’t want to reduce dependency,’ he said. ‘I want to increase contribution to America.’

He described the emerging vision as a fundamental shift in how the alliance is structured. ‘We are moving from a 20th-century aid model to a 21st-century strategic merger,’ Golov said. ‘Israel is the only partner that delivers a 400% return on investment without asking for a single American soldier.’

Golov said the proposed framework is built around three pillars: an industrial defense ecosystem, a joint technology ecosystem and a regional ecosystem connecting Israeli innovation, Gulf infrastructure and American power.

He emphasized that maintaining U.S. security assistance during the transition period is critical.

‘We need a final ten-year ‘bridge’ with the current security aid MOU,’ Golov said. ‘A sudden cut would be a dangerous signal of American retreat to our enemies and may hinder IDF preparedness.’

‘I don’t know who the next president of the United States will be,’ he added. ‘This is where our enemies can read it in a very dangerous way.’

Shipping in the Persian Gulf dipped sharply Wednesday as tensions with Iran intensified amid signs the U.S. was positioning military forces for a potential strike, according to maritime intelligence assessments.

The U.S. Navy’s USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group entered the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility Monday, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News Digital, as President Donald Trump continued to keep military options on the table.

‘At this stage, it remains ambiguous, and probably intentionally ambiguous, what the objectives and desired outcomes are of any U.S. military action,’ Ambrey Intelligence’s Robert Peters told Fox News Digital.

‘This means that there are a wider range of possibilities and retaliatory scenarios under consideration,’ he added.

‘That said, there are five U.S.-flagged merchant vessels, tankers and cargo ships, in the Gulf today — two transited the Strait of Hormuz earlier without any apparent issues — but those already in the Gulf and destined for the U.S. are at heightened risk,’ he added.

Trump, who earlier this week indicated ‘numerous’ calls were received from Iran, also posted about the situation on Truth Social Wednesday morning.

‘A massive Armada is heading to Iran. It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose. It is a larger fleet, headed by the great Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln, than that sent to Venezuela,’ he wrote.

‘Like with Venezuela, it is ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary. Hopefully Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal — NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS — one that is good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence! As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL!’

The post came as the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported the death toll from nationwide protests in Iran has surpassed 6,200 since the outset on Dec. 28. 

The organization said nearly 17,100 more were under investigation, with ‘a continuation of both scattered and mass arrests,’ as internet restrictions continue.

Peters meanwhile, claimed that ‘shipping companies have been advised to reduce aggregate risk when operating in the Arabian/Persian Gulf.

‘This means limiting the number of ships that could be exposed to retaliatory action, and sometimes ships will await further instructions closer to their next port in the Gulf,’ he said. ‘At this point, it is more appropriate to wait further away, in case of an escalation.’

Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, warned Wednesday that any military action by the U.S., from any origin and at any level, ‘will be regarded as the start of a war, and the response will be immediate, all-out, and unprecedented, targeting the heart of Tel Aviv and all those who support the aggressor,’ according to Iran International.

‘Our brave Armed Forces are prepared — with their fingers on the trigger — to immediately and powerfully respond to ANY aggression against our beloved land, air, and sea,’ Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X.

With tensions rising in the region, Peters described how shipowners may be being approached by cargo charterers to load cargo in the Gulf.

‘Then they will make the decision to avoid the Gulf for the time being until the tensions reduce,’ Peters added. ‘Interestingly, last year the Iranians did not take retaliatory action in the maritime sphere: Israeli shipping was already avoiding the Gulf, and the U.S. military action was highly targeted at the nuclear capabilities.’

But Peters warned that the situation ‘may see something similar again. If there is a much broader, regime-destabilizing operation, the effects could be considerable for wider shipping.’

‘During periods like this, we tend to see greater risk aversion and inquiries from those asked to pick up cargo for U.S. charterers and destined for the U.S.,’ he added.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that he relayed to NATO allies that the U.S. ‘may be the richest country in the world, but we don’t have unlimited resources.’ 

Rubio made the remark at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on U.S. policy toward Venezuela, during which he spoke about the American military operation to capture former dictator Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.  

‘One of the things we’ve explained to our allies in NATO is the United States is not simply focused on Europe. We also have defense needs in the Western Hemisphere. We have defense needs in the Indo-Pacific, and it will require us – we may be the richest country in the world, but we don’t have unlimited resources,’ Rubio said. 

When pressed by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., on whether the U.S. still benefits from NATO, Rubio said, ‘We do. I mean, the problem, but NATO needs to be reimagined as well in terms of the obligations.’

‘And this is not new to this president. Multiple presidents have complained about it. I think this president just complains about it louder than other presidents,’ the secretary added.

Rubio added that prior to Maduro’s capture on Jan. 3, ‘We had in our hemisphere a regime operated by an indicted narco-trafficker that became a base of operation for virtually every competitor, adversary and enemy in the world.’

Rubio also said Wednesday, ‘We are certainly better off today in Venezuela than we were four weeks ago.’ 

‘I’m not here to claim to you this is going to be easy or simple,’ Rubio told lawmakers. ‘I am saying that in three and a half, almost four weeks, we are much further along on this project than we thought we would be, given the complexities of it going into it, and I recognize that it won’t be easy. I mean, look, at the end of the day we are dealing with people over there that have spent most of their lives living in a gangster paradise.’ 

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Wednesday that a Supreme Court showdown over sitting Fed governor Lisa Cook could have far-reaching consequences for the central bank’s independence and the U.S. economy.

‘I would say that that case is perhaps the most important legal case in the Fed’s 113-year history. As I thought about it, it might have been hard to explain why I didn’t attend,’ Powell told reporters Wednesday at the Federal Reserve.

‘Paul Volcker famously attended a Supreme Court case in, I guess, 1985 or so, so there is precedent,’ Powell said, referring to the former Federal Reserve chair who served under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

Last week, the nation’s highest court heard oral arguments for two hours on whether President Donald Trump has the authority to remove Cook from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. The court is expected to issue a ruling in the case by summer.

Cook’s legal fight traces back to late August, when Trump said he was firing her from the board.

He alleged she misrepresented information related to a trio of mortgages she obtained before joining the central bank. Cook has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.

She sued Trump in federal court in Washington, D.C., to block her removal. On Sept. 9, a district court judge barred Trump from firing her while the case proceeds, a decision later upheld by a federal appeals court.

Her ascent to the Federal Reserve was historic from the start. Appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2022, she became the first Black woman to serve as a Fed board governor, the seven-member panel that sets national interest rates and oversees the banking system.

Now, she stands at the center of an even more consequential moment, as Trump seeks to fire her — a step that would be unprecedented in the Fed’s history.

What’s more, Powell’s long-standing insistence on finishing his term, which ends in May, now comes amid a Justice Department criminal investigation into his congressional testimony on the Federal Reserve’s headquarters renovation.

Powell confirmed the investigation and said he respected the rule of law and congressional oversight, but described the action as ‘unprecedented’ and driven by political pressure.

Asked by reporters at the Federal Reserve for further comment, Powell declined to discuss the Justice Department investigation, pointing instead to remarks he made in a video statement on Jan. 11.

His decision to address the issue so publicly, after days of private consultations with advisors, marked a sharp departure from the central banker’s typically measured approach.

What comes next remains unclear, as the Federal Reserve navigates largely uncharted territory.

The U.S. Capitol Police told Fox News Digital one person was arrested for disrupting Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill. 

The individual was escorted from the hearing room at the Dirksen Senate Office Building as Rubio was about to deliver his opening statement about U.S. policy towards Venezuela.  

‘All right, here we go … you know the drill, off to jail,’ Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said after a man in the audience got up and started yelling about a ‘war crime’ while holding a sign that said ‘Hands Off Venezuela.’ 

‘That’s a one-year ban from the committee. Anyone who is a persistent violator will be banned for three years. So, I don’t know whether the guy falls in that category, looks like it,’ added Risch, who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. ‘I hope after three years he’ll find a more productive means of employment.’

‘Secretary Rubio, we have two hearings a week. You know, you seem to have a more robust following than most of our witnesses that come before us,’ Risch added. 

‘There’ll be a couple more. Thank you for stopping the clock, but I appreciate it,’ Rubio responded. 

The U.S. Capitol Police said the individual was arrested for demonstrating in a committee.  

‘It is against the law to protest inside the congressional buildings,’ the U.S. Capitol Police told Fox News Digital.

Prior to the outburst, Risch thanked the audience for their attendance but also warned, ‘This is a public hearing. It is also the official business of the United States of America. And as a result of that, the committee has a zero-tolerance policy for interruptions or for attempts by anyone in the room to communicate with somebody up here or the witness.

‘So, as a result of that, if you do disrupt, you will be arrested. You’ll be banned for a year,’ he continued. ‘However, I’m told that we have some guests today who have completed their ban and are back with us again today. We hope you’ve had the time to think about your indiscretions and will behave yourself today. If you don’t, as a persistent violator, you’ll be banned for three years this time.’