Staggering revelations came out this week concerning Operation Arctic Frost, the Biden Justice Department’s weaponization campaign against Republicans predicated on the non-crime of objecting to a presidential election.

Democrats lodged similar objections in 1969, 2001, 2005 and, most infamously, in 2017 when they cited the discredited Steele Dossier to attempt to overturn President Trump’s victory. Yet, none faced charges. Objecting to electors is protected by the First Amendment and the Electoral Count Act of 1887. It was eminently reasonable for Members of Congress—the arbiters of whether to certify election results—to lodge inquiries about the fairness of the 2020 election.

There is no evidence that the Arctic Frost targets participated in any crimes that occurred at the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Still, Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, former FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Special Counsel Jack Smith went on a fishing expedition targeting President Trump, his aides, the Republican Attorneys General Association, Members of both chambers of Congress, and many other Trump allies.

Thanks to the stellar leadership of FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley—an oversight bulldog for more than half a century—was able to deliver a powerful presentation to the media that detailed the horrific abuse of power by the Biden administration. For no valid reason, Jack Smith and his henchmen sought phone records for nine senators, all Republicans.

Even more alarmingly, Smith subpoenaed AT&T to tap the office line of Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. AT&T declined to do so on the advice of counsel but could not disclose Smith’s astonishing request thanks to an order from radical D.C. Obama Judge James Boasberg. Boasberg preposterously asserted that disclosure could lead to evidence destruction and witness intimidation. As former top Senate attorney Michael Fragoso pointed out, Boasberg’s secret snooping likely violated a clear federal statute that requires disclosure to the Senate when spying on a senator.

Boasberg deserved impeachment even prior to this revelation based on his grossly irresponsible order to turn planes full of Tren de Aragua terrorists around while they were flying over the ocean, lawlessly exposing an ongoing military operation and endangering American and allied lives. The House more than ever needs to impeach this renegade judge.

People are understandably outraged at the Democrats’ weaponization of law enforcement, and many are upset that, in their view, not enough is being done. This sentiment ignores the reality of our legal system. Earlier this month, Miami U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones sought and obtained permission to empanel two new grand juries in January—including in Fort Pierce, Florida. It takes several months to prepare for a grand jury because prospective grand jurors need sufficient notice to respond to summonses. Anyone who has received a jury duty summons understands this process. Hopefully, this grand jury will investigate the unprecedented Mar-a-Lago raid as part of a broader probe into a conspiracy against the rights of President Trump, his aides, and his allies pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 241.

Criminal charges also are time-consuming because defendants can delay the process. Former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Leticia James, for instance, have moved to dismiss their charges on the grounds of vindictive prosecution. They also claim that Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, is serving pursuant to a constitutionally invalid appointment. If the leftist judge rules in their favor, the government will appeal, but this is time-consuming, especially if the case reaches the Supreme Court. Jack Smith tried to rush President Trump’s D.C. criminal case to trial, attempting to bypass the D.C. Circuit during the appeal of the presidential immunity issue. The Supreme Court rightly rebuffed Smith’s politically-motivated effort, and Smith’s blatant attempt to rush provided plenty of ammunition for his critics. As one federal judge wisely summarized the right course of action in criminal cases, it is better to do it right than to do it twice.

Patel and Bongino are not sitting on the sidelines while the criminal process plays out under the superb leadership of Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Over ten ringleaders and more than five case agents involved in the Arctic Frost case have been fired so far. Many of these agents, such as Walter Giardina, are suing over their terminations. These suits will take time to play out, as will more firings.

Patel and Bongino have done far more than investigate weaponization. Congress had been demanding documents concerning the shooting that nearly killed House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and more than a dozen other lawmakers by a deranged Bernie Sanders supporter nearly a decade ago. Shortly after assuming office, Patel and Bongino delivered the documents. The FBI also has been at the forefront of drug seizures, taking enough fentanyl off the streets to kill 127 million innocent Americans. The government also has seized more than 190,000 kilos of cocaine and more than 8,000 kilos of methamphetamine. In addition, the Trump administration has taken more than 6,000 illegal weapons off of our streets. Violent crime arrests are up 100%, and gang arrests are up over 200%. Arrests of child predators are up 10%, and human trafficking arrests are up 15%. Four of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted have been captured; no captures occurred in 2024.

Justice is coming for those responsible for the lawfare; Bondi, Blanche, Patel, and Bongino are working diligently to make it happen. They were the targets of the weaponization they are investigating; they have no reason to drag their feet in exposing it and holding its architects accountable. Patience is a virtue, and the coming justice for the individuals who engaged in Republic-ending lawfare surely will be worth the wait. We will make sure of it.

In today’s political environment, it is hard to envision important issues where Republicans and Democrats can find common ground. Protecting the safety and security of citizens from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is hopefully still that issue. 

In recent years, we have seen growing agreement among lawmakers that the CCP is actively working against the security of the U.S. Whether through coercive trade practices, espionage, military aggression or technology theft, the CCP is intent on undermining American strength. 

President Donald Trump has rightly identified our nation’s increased dependence on Chinese companies as a clear threat to national security. In response, he has taken action to rebuild our domestic industrial manufacturing bases. This is especially true in critical security industries like defense, nuclear development, pharmaceutical manufacturing and data center infrastructure. 

The Trump administration should now look at medical devices. This lesser-known threat to American privacy and security lurks within our hospitals, healthcare facilities and even in the homes of everyday Americans. Used to treat patients, monitor patient health and inform medical decisions made by healthcare professionals, medical devices are critical tools used in the everyday care of our most vulnerable members of society. 

It is no wonder, then, that medical devices made by Chinese companies not only have the potential to take advantage of that intimate access, but have already been shown to exploit those vulnerabilities to gain access to the personal, private data of American patients.

Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning about a patient monitor made by Chinese-based company Contec, specifically calling attention to a software backdoor on the device that once connected to the internet ‘begins gathering patient data, including personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI), and exfiltrating (withdrawing) the data outside of the health care delivery environment.’ 

The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) followed up with its own report, saying that the backdoor enabled remote actors to engage in ‘remote code execution and device modification with the ability to alter its configuration.’

Far from being an idle threat, CISA explained that this vulnerability in a machine that monitors and displays critical information like electrocardiograms and blood pressure could result in life-or-death consequences: ‘This introduces risk to patient safety as a malfunctioning monitor could lead to improper responses to vital signs displayed by the device.’

Medical devices made by Chinese companies have quietly made their way into many hospitals and clinics in the United States, bringing with them hidden risks that are waiting to be abused by the CCP. 

First, patient privacy is compromised when unknown actors can access and siphon the most sensitive and confidential data from every patient in America, undermining the very foundation of trust in our healthcare system. 

Compounded with the fact that Chinese law compels Chinese companies to cooperate and share information with the CCP and that China prizes big data and is gathering information on individuals around the world, we can be assured that whatever private information is gathered on American patients is not in our national interest.

Second, we cannot trust that information siphoning will not escalate to more serious tactics that put patient lives at risk. Remote access to medical devices could result in real-world harm to patients if those devices were reconfigured to display false information that then led to unnecessary and harmful medical interventions. 

Third, the U.S. healthcare system is becoming too dependent on Chinese companies to run our hospitals. It does not take much of a leap to think about what would happen if the CCP decided to cut off the supply of medical devices. Just like critical minerals, energy or military equipment, depending on Chinese companies for medical devices is a clear threat to American security.

Back in 2013, federal prosecutors charged three researchers at a New York university with commercial bribery conspiracy for allegedly accepting payments from Shanghai-based United Imaging in exchange for sharing research on MRI technology that was partially funded by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant. No United Imaging employees were charged with a crime. Just this month, the Washington Examiner reported that medical hardware from United Imaging has been installed in some of the country’s top research labs. In some instances, these labs were even funded by the NIH. United Imaging has also worked on a project with a Chinese military hospital and the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

What these threats amount to is that the U.S. can no longer blindly outsource medical devices – some of our most vital and sensitive equipment – to companies that operate at the behest of foreign adversarial governments like the CCP. It is critical that America has a domestic supply chain of medical devices. 

Now is the time that lawmakers, both at the federal and state level, take this threat seriously and take meaningful steps to reduce the risks posed by these medical devices. 

Protecting Americans from threats to their health and security should be an easy, bipartisan win.

Editor’s note: This piece has been updated since publication. 

When New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani stepped to the microphone outside the Islamic Cultural Center of the Bronx last week near Yankee Stadium, his voice broke as he spoke about ‘the memory of my aunt who stopped taking the subway after Sept. 11 because she did not feel safe.’

Behind him, a Yemeni-American educator in sunglasses named Debbie Almontaser nodded. Almost two decades ago, in 2007, she was forced to resign as principal of a city school after defending a T-shirt with the slogan ‘Intifada NYC.’ City officials viewed it as a call to violence. She said it was benign. Her case became a rallying cry for Muslim American activists who cast her as a victim of ‘Islamophobia.’

Now, Almontaser was back, this time as a senior advisor to Emgage Action and a board member of Yemeni American Merchants Association Action, two of 110 political nonprofits, community groups and political action committees backing Mamdani as he alleges ‘islamophobia’ against him. Recently, when critics questioned Mamdani’s ties to hardline Brooklyn Imam Siraj Wahhaj, she sprang to action, helping to organize a protest to defend Wahhaj. 

That rapid, coordinated response captured the modus operandi of a network of political operatives and clerics intertwined with the shared mission of catapulting Mamdani into the mayor’s office.

Mamdani’s background diverges from many of his co-religionists. In an interview, he said he is a Khoja Shia Muslim, part of a small, relatively liberal sect with roots in India. Many of his New York-area allies are religiously strict Sunni Muslims who practice more conservative interpretations of the faith. But they find common ground in politics.

‘It’s a sophisticated fusion of religion, politics and identity,’ said Mansour Al-Hadj, a Washington-based researcher on Muslim political movements and extremism. ‘The same networks that once focused on community services are now mobilizing voters and producing candidates. This is how political Islam adapts inside democracy.’

Mamdani’s God Squad includes about a few dozen key players who specialize in painting any critique as an attack on their faith, accusing critics of Islamophobia even as many of them have engaged in strident rhetoric against the U.S., Israel and capitalism.

Mamdani set off a firestorm on Oct. 7 when he walked into Masjid At-Taqwa in Brooklyn and later posted a photo of himself beaming beside the mosque’s imam, or prayer leader, Siraj Wahhaj.

The imam’s checkered past goes back decades. In a 1992 talk, he said American Muslims should elect an ’emir’ rather than choose between George Bush and Bill Clinton. Soon after, he served as a character witness in the trial of Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the so-called ‘Blind Sheikh’ convicted for plotting the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that killed six people. 

‘You know what this country is?’ Wahhaj said in 1995. ‘It’s a garbage can. Filthy. Filthy and sick.’

In 2018, three of Wahhaj’s children were arrested after authorities found 11 malnourished children in a New Mexico compound tied to his family; a grandchild had died in what authorities described as an attempted exorcism. He told local news reporters, ‘Whatever they did wrong…it’s not acceptable to us.’

In New York, the Muslim American Society recently signed onto a letter to challenge ‘unmistakably Islamophobic, anti-Black, and xenophobic’ attacks on Mamdani. Signatories included CAIR National, the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ New York chapter, Islamic Circle of North America’s New York chapter, the Islamic Center of Five Towns, Muslim American Society of New York, Muslim Community Network, Rockaway Islamic Center, and a ‘Syosset Muslim Community.’

Members of the Muslim American Society have long been quick to accuse others of Islamophobia even as they unabashedly call for violence against their perceived enemies.

At an Eid celebration earlier this year, a cleric at the Muslim American Society, cast Muslims as victims worldwide. Mohammad Badawi, youth director at the Muslim American Society, declared the local community’s joy would only be complete when Muslims are ‘victorious worldwide,’ adding they would celebrate ‘after the destruction of the illegitimate Zionist occupiers,’ Israel.

He regularly organizes anti-Israel protests in a campaign against ‘injustice and oppression.’ At one protest, Badawi urged youth to ‘fight back’ against injustices ‘by any means necessary.’

The Street Protester: ‘Globalize the intifada’

Abdullah Akl, a charismatic organizer with the Muslim American Society Youth Center, leads many protests under the banner of ‘Within Our Lifetime,’ with founder Nerdeen Kiswani. Mamdani joined them before his run for mayor.

Akl calls the street protests ‘sacred activism,’ a mix of faith and resistance that will ‘free Palestine.’ Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, the Muslim American Society Youth Center has organized prayer protests on Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange, street protests for ‘Nakba Day,’ calling the day Israel was created a ‘catastrophe’ and youth-led demonstrations outside BlackRock.

Akl turned a subway car into a protest zone with chants: ‘Globalize the intifada… There is only one solution: intifada revolution.’

When the New York Police Department arrested Akl and other activists, the Council on American-Islamic Relation’s New York chapter sent out a press release demanding their release.

On Oct. 7 protests this year against Israel, Akl shouted, ‘We did not act enough! We will show up, stronger than we did the first October 7th!’ In response to criticism, he posted a message on social media, doubling down and saying, ‘Saying we didn’t act enough to stop a full blown genocide against palestinians [sic] is incitement?? Saying we need to be louder and protest more and continue to speak up for gaza [sic] is a crime? Zionist tears once again for the most documented genocide in modern history.’

CAIR: ‘We will teach these folks a lesson’

For decades, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has served as an aggressive and litigious watchdog for a host of Muslim figures and causes, often at the forefront of fighting legitimate bigotry. But CAIR has also courted controversy. Federal prosecutors named CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal terrorism-financing case against the Holy Land Foundation, a nonprofit based in Texas. In 2008, five Holy Land leaders were convicted of funneling $12.4 million to Hamas. Ultimately, no CAIR officials were charged in connection with the case.

Years ago, Mamdani recorded rap lyrics celebrating the ‘Holy Land Five,’ urging listeners, ‘My love to the Holy Land Five. You better look ‘em up.’ 

Basim Elkarra, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations California chapter and one of the founders of a new 501(c)(4) nonprofit, CAIR Action Inc. now seems to be pursuing a new and entirely legal means of financing causes, taking a page from the powerful pro-Israel political action committee AIPAC. He told a meeting of the Islamic Circle of North America:  ‘AIPAC has had the run for 60 years, but it is over now.’

‘We will teach these folks a lesson … we are coming.’

‘…The game has changed. AIPAC has been around since 1961…and now they have a formidable foe!’

The Former Al-Jazeera Host: ‘Make American Planes Crash Again’

This summer, Mehdi Hasan, a former host at Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV network, sat down with Mamdani for a sympathetic interview. As the campaign heated up, Hasan became a full-time defender on social media, swatting at critics and framing Mamdani as the right kind of provocateur, a ‘once in a generation political talent.’

Hasan’s own record includes sermons likening non-Muslims to ‘animals’ and comparing gay people to ‘sexual deviants.’ He has said his views have become more progressive since then.

After a series of plane crashes earlier this year, Hasan wrote on social media, ‘Make American Planes Crash Again.’ 

He deleted the message amid criticism and said, ‘I deleted this sarcastic quote-tweet because MAGA and Islamophobic folks are clipping it out of context and trying to ridiculously suggest I’m inciting violence. I was obviously mocking the MAGA slogan ‘Make America… Again’ slogan and highlighting the shocking number of plane crashes under Trump and the FAA cuts. But this tweet was in poor taste, poorly worded, and has allowed people in bad faith to call me a terrorist…’

The Global Imam: Read ‘The Hoax of the Holocaust’

Yasir Qadhi, a high-profile American imam and founder of the AlMaghrib Institute and MuslimMatters.com, selling the puritanical Salafi interpretation of Islam, literally wrote the book on ‘Understanding Salafism.’ Recently, he posted a two-part thread on X endorsing the idea of Mamdani’s win as a ‘civilizational victory.’

He urged Muslim Americans to move beyond ‘naive’ religious critiques of politicians who are more socially progressive than they are comfortable.

Meanwhile, Qadhi once mocked European Jews as ‘white, crooked nose, blonde hairs’ and ‘not a Semitic people.’ In the same lecture, he recommended a book, ‘The Hoax of the Holocaust.’

Most recently, he has backed the controversial Muslim housing development outside Dallas, called ‘EPIC City.’ He noted in his Instagram post: ‘open to non-Americans as well.’

He touted some of its features: ‘Islamic schools, college, masjid.’

The Popular Chaplain: Build ‘Our Own Space’

Imam Khalid Latif is a popular chaplain at the Islamic Center of New York City, a $22 million project to build a hub and ‘our own space’ on Sixth Avenue for young Muslim professionals. He endorsed Mamdani earlier this year and has been an ardent supporter. He has called him ‘a bearer of compassion in a time where it is far too rare.’

In 2012, Latif led a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia that included Omar Mateen, who would later murder 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the deadliest anti-LGBTQ attack in U.S. history. He has denied radicalizing Mateen and he hasn’t faced the same type of allegations that surround other imams.

After the backlash to Mamdani’s meeting with Wahhaj, he posted: ‘Happy birthday to my brother Zohran… Keep showing them who we are by showing them who you are.’ 

He invoked the divine to bless Mamdani’s mission, revealing the fusion of religion and politics for the Mamdani God Squad: ‘May your 34th year be one of clarity, courage, and closeness — to your purpose, your people, and your Creator,’ ending with the Arabic word for amen, ‘Ameen.’

On Monday, Latif posted a sassy video from the Muslim Democratic Club of New York with a narration, ‘The name is Mamdani, M-a-m-d-a-n-i,’ with Latif mouthing the part where the narration turns to, ‘You should learn how to say it.’

That day, Latif delivered a speech to support Mamdani, pivoting to allege Mamdani was now a victim of ‘anti-Black racism,’ saying, ‘Anti-Muslim sentiment is always’ a symbol of ‘anti-Black racism.’

The ‘Home Girl in a Hijab’ from Brooklyn: ‘I wish I could take their vagina away’

In a glowing portrait, The New York Times called Palestinian American political organizer Linda Sarsour a ‘Brooklyn home girl in a hijab.’ Over almost a decade, she has been a political mentor to Mamdani, inviting him into the Muslim Democratic Club of New York, which she cofounded. She later endorsed his race for the New York General Assembly, which he won.

All the while, she has been a polarizing figure, once saying about two critics, author and ex-Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali and activist Brigitte Gabriel, ‘I wish I could take their vagina away  – they don’t deserve to be women.’ Ali is a survivor of female genital mutilation, a practice that involves cutting the clitoris of a young girl with the idea that it will inhibit sexual promiscuity.

As a co-founder of the Women’s March, Sarsour stepped down amid criticism for alleged ant-semitism and not welcoming Jewish feminists who support the state of Israel, or ‘Zionists.’

At a rally on Sunday night with Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Imam Latif told 13,000 people: ‘This is our city. This is our moment.’

Some Muslims beg to differ. 

‘It’s not our moment,’ said Al-Hadj. 

‘Across the boroughs, the Mamdani God Squad is banging a drumbeat of grievance after grievance, from Staten Island to Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Long Island,’ he said. ‘Across the city’s Muslim institutions, you hear the same drumbeat: They smeared us. They silenced us. They fear us.’.

He added, ‘In that rising volume, something is lost: Muslim pluralism. The God Squad does not speak for every Muslim in New York—nor for every Shia, every Sunni, every immigrant family, or every second-generation kid trying to thread faith and freedom. It speaks for a coalition committed to illiberal ends, with socialist capture of city politics on the one hand and puritanical religious rhetoric on the other. They insist that to oppose them is to betray the community, so they actually push their own tyranny.’ 

Win or lose next week, Al-Hadj said, the Mamdani God Squad had actualized the words that had gotten Almontaser into so much trouble years ago: ‘Intifada NYC.’

The United States and China plan to establish military-to-military communications channels ‘to deconflict and deescalate’ potential problems, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Saturday after talking with his Chinese counterpart.

In a post on X, Hegseth said he had a ‘positive meeting’ with Admiral Dong Jun, China’s Minister of National Defense, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

During their talk, the two defense leaders agreed that the best path forward for the U.S. and China involves ‘peace, stability, and good relations.’

‘Admiral Dong and I also agreed that we should set up military-to-military channels to deconflict and deescalate any problems that arise. We have more meetings on that coming soon. God bless both China and the USA!’ Hegseth wrote, in part.

Earlier Saturday, Hegseth attended a separate meeting in Malaysia with defense leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where he urged them to push back against Beijing’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea.

‘China’s sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea fly in the face of their commitments to resolve disputes peacefully,’ Hegseth said at the meeting, according to The Associated Press. 

‘We seek peace. We do not seek conflict. But we must ensure that China is not seeking to dominate you or anybody else,’ he added.

The South China Sea remains volatile with Beijing, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei all claiming overlapping territories. 

China’s maritime fleet has frequently clashed with the Philippines in the disputed waters, with Chinese officials recently describing the country as a ‘troublemaker’ for staging naval and air drills with the U.S., Australia and New Zealand.

Hegseth defended the U.S. ally during the Saturday meeting by saying Beijing’s designation of the Scarborough Shoal – a territory seized from the Philippines in 2012 – as a ‘nature reserve’ ‘yet another attempt to coerce new and expanded territorial and maritime claims at your expense.’

The War Secretary then urged ASEAN to finalize the Code of Conduct with China and proposed creating a ‘shared maritime domain awareness’ network and rapid-response systems to deter provocations – measures he said would ensure that any member facing ‘aggression and provocation is not alone.’

Hegseth also welcomed plans for an ASEAN-U.S. maritime exercise in December aimed at strengthening coordination and safeguarding freedom of navigation.

Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa is expected to visit Washington, D.C., and meet with President Donald Trump next week, the first-ever official visit by a Syrian president to the U.S. capital.

A White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital that the meeting was planned for Nov. 10. News of the meeting was first reported by Axios.

Trump and al-Sharaa met for the first time in May on the sidelines of the president’s trip to Saudi Arabia.

‘Young, attractive guy, tough guy,’ Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after meeting al-Sharaa, who is a former Al-Qaeda leader. ‘Strong past, very strong past — fighter. He’s got a real shot at holding it together.’

Al-Sharaa, formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, led the rebel offensive in December that toppled former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

His group, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, was designated by the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in June that the Trump administration would remove the label amid the president’s efforts to reset U.S.-Syria ties.

‘This FTO revocation is an important step in fulfilling President Trump’s vision of a stable, unified, and peaceful Syria,’ Rubio said in a statement.

Trump received a standing ovation in Riyadh after announcing his administration would order the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to ‘give them a chance at greatness.’

‘Oh, what I do for the crown prince,’ he joked, referring to Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Mohammed bin-Salman, who pushed Trump to meet with Syria’s new leader.

Efforts to lift the Caesar sanctions, the strongest sanctions on Syria, have faced procedural delays in Congress.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Reuters on Friday that the Trump administration supports repealing the Caesar sanctions through the National Defense Authorization Act bill, which is under discussion by U.S. lawmakers.

The bill, which was named after a Syrian Army defector who smuggled thousands of images documenting torture and executions in Bashar al-Assad’s prisons, targeted entities and individuals who provided support to Assad’s regime.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.