Steve Ricchetti, a longtime Democratic operative and lobbyist, is sitting down with House Oversight Committee investigators Wednesday.

He’s known as a member of former President Joe Biden’s inner circle who reportedly played a key role in downplaying concerns, both public and private, about the ex-commander-in-chief’s mental fitness for office.

Ricchetti also reportedly helped craft Biden’s historic letter announcing the end of his 2024 re-election bid that July, according to the New York Times.

But long before that, Ricchetti graduated from Miami University in Ohio and got a Juris Doctor from Virginia’s George Mason University.

His first major role in electoral politics came when Ricchetti served as executive director for the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, from 1990 to 1992.

Ricchetti then worked for former President Bill Clinton as a congressional liaison from 1993 to 1996 and then again as White House deputy chief of staff for operations from 1998 to 2001.

During that second stint, he played a critical role in wrangling House Democrats during the GOP’s impeachment proceedings against Clinton.

In between and in later years, Ricchetti enjoyed a lucrative career as a lobbyist, even founding the lobbying firm Ricchetti Inc. with his brother in 2001.

His work with Biden began in 2012 when Ricchetti was appointed to be counselor to the vice president during the Obama administration – one of several ex-lobbyists appointed to that White House, despite former President Barack Obama’s vow not to hire K Street operatives. He was soon elevated to be Biden’s chief of staff in late 2013.

Ricchetti also chaired Biden’s 2020 campaign before playing a critical role in his administration, where he acted as part of a small ‘Politburo’ of close advisors who helped control the White House, Axios reporter Alex Thompson and CNN host Jake Tapper wrote in their book ‘Original Sin.’

‘In terms of who was running the White House, it’s a small group of people that have been around,’ Thompson told the PBS program ‘Washington Week’ earlier this year.

Several members of Ricchetti’s family also notably had roles in the Biden administration; two of his sons and his daughter worked for the Treasury, State Department, and in the White House, respectively.

At the time, the White House argued they got the jobs on their merits rather than their father’s closeness to Biden.

Ricchetti also reportedly played a key role in dismissing concerns about Biden’s mental health.

Two weeks after Biden’s disastrous debate against current President Donald Trump, the New York Times reported that Ricchetti got into a ‘shouting’ argument with Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., after the latter called to express concerns about Biden’s political viability.

U.K.-based outlet The Times reported that Ricchetti ‘sounded like a mob boss’ in a conversation with actor George Clooney days before the Hollywood star and longtime Democratic donor penned an explosive op-ed calling for a new 2024 nominee in early July 2024.

And multiple outlets have reported that Ricchetti also denied any concerns about Biden’s mental acuity in an off-the-record conversation with an unnamed reporter at an unnamed outlet that almost ran a story shining a light on concerns about Biden’s mental health.

Ricchetti is the seventh ex-Biden aide to speak with investigators in House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer’s probe into whether White House officials covered up signs of Biden’s decline.

President Donald Trump warned that his August 1 deadline for making a trade deal with the U.S. ‘stands strong’ on Wednesday, threatening several key nations with a big tariff hike.

‘The August first deadline is the August first deadline — it stands strong, and will not be extended. A big day for America!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social, using all-caps.

Here are the major countries that still need to negotiate deals with the U.S.

Canada

Trump sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney threatening a 35% tariff if a deal isn’t struck, but negotiations appear to have stalled.

‘We haven’t really had a lot of luck with Canada. I think Canada could be one where they’ll just pay tariffs. It’s not really a negotiation,’ Trump said of the negotiations with our neighbor to the north on Friday.

Carney himself said on Monday that negotiations have reached an ‘intense phase.’

‘It’s a complex negotiation. You see with the various trade deals that have been agreed to by other jurisdictions — the European Union yesterday, Japan before that, Indonesia, United Kingdom — that there are many elements to these negotiations. We’re engaged in them. But the assurance for Canadian businesses, for Canadians, is we will only sign a deal that’s a good deal, the right deal for Canada,’ he told reporters Monday.

According to the US Trade Representative (USTR), Canada is America’s third-largest importer, totaling $412.7 billion in 2024. The U.S. exported $349.4 billion to Canada in the same year.

Mexico

Trump sent a similar letter to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum earlier this month, this one threatening a 30% tariff.

No deal has been struck as of Wednesday, however, and neither party has been vocal about where negotiations stand.

Mexico is America’s top source of imports, totaling $506 billion in 2024, according to the USTR. Meanwhile, the U.S. exported $334 billion to the country over the same year.

China

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent negotiated with Chinese officials in Sweden this week and said Tuesday that the talks were ‘very constructive.’

He emphasized to reporters that no final agreement was made, however. Unlike most countries, China is facing an August 12 deadline rather than August 1, giving them somewhat more breathing room for negotiations.

‘Nothing is agreed until we speak with President Trump,’ Bessent told reporters.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News on Monday that the deadline for China could be extended even further than August 12, though that decision will be up to Trump.

South Korea

Trump warned South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in a July 7 letter that the country would face a 25% blanket tariff if a deal isn’t reached by August 1.

Lee’s office said late last week that it was preparing a proposal. Lutnick met with three top Korean officials in Washington this week, though no news has come out of the meeting.

Taiwan

Taiwan has yet to reach a trade deal with the Trump administration, but Taipei has a delegation in Washington hoping to reach one before August 1, Reuters reported Wednesday.

The self-governed island is facing a 32% tariff if it does not secure a deal.

‘All the relevant talks are still ongoing,’ one source familiar with the talks told Reuters, with another saying negotiators were still in the U.S.

‘We hope these negotiations will accomplish four objectives: safeguarding national interests, protecting industrial interests, ensuring public health, and securing food safety. These objectives serve dual purposes: promoting balanced bilateral trade between Taiwan and the U.S., and enhancing cooperation in diverse areas like technology and national security,’ Taiwan’s cabinet said in a statement.

India

Trump appears to have slammed the door shut early on India, announcing on Truth Social that the country will face a 25% tariff across the board beginning August 1.

‘Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the world, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers of any country. Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of energy, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing in Ukraine — all things not good!’ Trump wrote.

‘India will therefore be paying a tariff of 25%, plus a penalty for the above, starting on August first. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAGA!’ he added.

Brazil

Trump threatened a massive 50% blanket tariff on Brazilian goods in a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva earlier in July.

Trump credited the higher rate to Brazil’s prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who many compared to Trump himself. The U.S. president said Bolsonaro was the victim of a ‘witch hunt.’

Lula’s regime has requested that the U.S. exempt certain industries from the tariffs, but a deal before August 1 appears unlikely.

The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that it would be officially imposing sanctions on Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the jurist leading a criminal investigation against former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. 

News of the sanctions comes after President Trump threatened a 50% tariff on products from Brazil unless the country stopped what Trump has described as an ‘unjust’ and politically motivated case against Bolsonaro that is charging the former Brazilian president with organizing an attempted coup. A notice announcing the sanctions from the Treasury Department alleged De Moraes has been using his position to authorize ‘arbitrary’ pre-trial detentions, suppress freedom of speech and target political opponents. 

‘Alexandre de Moraes has taken it upon himself to be judge and jury in an unlawful witch hunt against U.S. and Brazilian citizens and companies,’ Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. ‘De Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions—including against former President Jair Bolsonaro.’

‘Today’s action makes clear that Treasury will continue to hold accountable those who threaten U.S. interests and the freedoms of our citizens,’ Bessent added.

As a result of the sanctions, all of De Moraes’s property and assets that are located within the United States, or that are in the possession of any U.S. persons, have been frozen. That also includes any assets where De Moraes has a 50% or more stake.

Any corporations or financial institutions that engage in certain transactions or activities deemed to violate the sanctions against De Morae also risk exposure to sanctions themselves, the Treasury Department also indicated. 

The Trump administration’s sanctions against De Moraes stem from the president’s first-term Executive Order 13818, which declared a national emergency with respect to human rights abuses and corruption around the world. The 2017 executive order, according to the Treasury Department, builds on the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act passed in 2016, which allows the president and the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to impose sanctions on foreign officials responsible for human rights violations. 

Rumors the U.S. might levy sanctions targeting De Moraes were reported earlier this month as Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo, was reportedly working closely with the White House to push the United States to impose sanctions.  

De Moraes, a Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice, has been leading the case against Bolsonaro, steering key developments in the case as its official ‘rapporteur,’ which followed an 884-page report by the Brazilian Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet detailing a scheme alleging Bolsonaro and 33 others participated in a plan to remain in power despite losing to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. 

The case against Bolsonaro alleges the attempted coup involved the systematic sowing of national distrust in the electoral system among the populace, drafting a decree to give the plot a veneer of legality, and pressuring top military brass to go along with the plan and inciting a riot in the capital.

A panel of justices on Brazil’s Supreme Court accepted the charges against Bolsonaro in March, and ultimately ordered the former leader to stand trial. All five justices ruled in favor of accepting the charges, which included accusations involving a plan to poison Bolsonaro’s successor and kill a Supreme Court judge.

A Senate Republican wants the Justice Department to investigate, and potentially prosecute, former Special Counsel Jack Smith over whether he ‘unlawfully took political actions to influence the 2024 election’ against President Donald Trump.

Sen. Tom Cotton, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, accused Smith of seeking to impact the 2024 election in his capacity as special counsel under the Biden-led Justice Department in a letter to the acting head of the Office of Special Counsel, Jamieson Greer, first obtained by Fox News Digital.  

‘As the Office of the Special Counsel is tasked with ensuring federal employees aren’t conducting partisan political activity under the guise of their federal employment, you’re well situated to determine whether Smith broke the law,’ the Arkansas Republican wrote.

‘Many of Smith’s legal actions seem to have no rationale except for an attempt to affect the 2024 election results – actions that would violate federal law,’ he continued.

Smith was tapped by former Attorney General Merrick Garland to probe allegations that Trump sought to overturn the 2020 election results, and later investigated the handling of classified documents that were uncovered during a raid at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound.

Cotton listed four instances during Smith’s tenure where he charged that the prosecutor sped up trial dates and published information ‘with no legitimate purpose.’

In one example, Cotton accused Smith of fast-tracking the trial date and jury selection for his case against Trump related to his August 2023 indictment that was part of his 2020 election investigation.

That indictment included four charges against the president, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

Cotton argued that, typically, defendants have more than two years to prepare for that kind of trial, and noted that the jury selection period was slated just two weeks before the Iowa Caucuses in 2024.

He also charged that Smith skirted the normal appellate process and ‘failed to articulate a legitimate reason’ the court should grant his request when Smith demanded a trial before the forthcoming election day, wanted an expedited review by the appeals court and then filed a petition with the Supreme Court to bypass the district court after Trump filed his defense with the District of Columbia District Court in December 2023.

Cotton accused Smith of violating the Justice Department’s ’60-day rule,’ that prevents prosecutorial steps from being taken that could influence an upcoming election. That charge stemmed from Smith’s move to file a brief following the Supreme Court’s decision regarding presidential immunity, which was granted on Sept. 26, 2024, a little over a month out from the election.

And that brief, Cotton noted, exceeded the normally allowed length four times over and included grand jury testimony ‘typically kept secret at this point in other proceedings.’

‘These actions were not standard, necessary, or justified – unless Smith’s real purpose was to influence the election,’ Cotton said. ‘In fact, throughout Special Counsel Smith’s tenure, he regularly used farfetched and aggressive legal theories to prosecute the Republican nominee for president. I would add that President Biden also called during the election for President Trump to be ‘locked up.’’

‘President Trump, of course, vanquished Joe Biden, Jack Smith, every Democrat who weaponized the law against him, but President Trump’s astounding victory doesn’t excuse Smith of responsibility for his unlawful election interference,’ he continued. ‘I therefore ask the Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether Jack Smith or any members of his team unlawfully acted for political purposes.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Smith but did not immediately hear back.

The Supreme Court revealed on Wednesday that Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal to her sex trafficking conviction will be among the many cases the high court reviews at a closed-door conference in September.

The Supreme Court posted a brief notice indicating it plans to examine a petition from Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and associate, on Sept. 29, marking the first time the justices will have her case before them. The public could learn whether the high court plans to review Maxwell’s case within days or weeks of that date.

If the Supreme Court were to deny Maxwell’s petition, she would have no appeal options left. If the high court were to grant it, that means it would review Maxwell’s arguments that she was improperly prosecuted.

Maxwell was convicted by a jury in New York in 2021 of five counts involving sex trafficking of a minor and conspiracy and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

She appealed her conviction, arguing it should be tossed out because a plea deal Epstein reached with the federal government in 2007 immunized her and statutes of limitations for her actions had lapsed.

Maxwell’s case has reentered the spotlight in recent weeks after the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI revealed that they had reviewed Epstein’s case files and found no further information that they could release to the public. The DOJ and FBI also said they uncovered no further evidence that would allow them to bring investigative action against figures who may have been associated with Epstein, a wealthy financier and registered sex offender who died in 2019 while in prison awaiting trial.

However, the administration faced intense blowback from MAGA supporters who felt Trump appointees, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, were reneging on promises to unveil revelatory information about Epstein’s case.

Trump, who was among the many prominent figures who once socialized with Epstein, said the topic was ‘sordid’ but ‘boring’ and dismissed questions about it. However, in the face of building pressure, the president demanded the DOJ take more action to release files.

The Supreme Court signaling that it will review Maxwell’s case comes at a delicate moment.

After Trump’s demands, the department asked the court to release a limited and redacted batch of documents from the grand juries’ indictments of Epstein and Maxwell. Then, DOJ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Maxwell in Tallahassee, Florida, where she is serving her prison sentence, and questioned her for two days. 

Blanche’s motives for the meeting remain unclear.

Maxwell’s attorney, David Markus, told reporters after the meeting that it marked the ‘first opportunity she’s ever been given to answer questions about what happened.’  She answered questions about ‘maybe about a hundred different people, and she didn’t hold anything back,’ Markus said. He said they had not ‘yet’ approached Trump about clemency. The president recently said, when asked by a reporter about the matter, that he is ‘allowed’ to give Maxwell a pardon but that he had not considered it at this stage.

The House Oversight Committee has also moved to pull back the curtain on Epstein’s case by subpoenaing Maxwell to testify before the panel.

Maxwell’s attorney responded by saying she would need full immunity to testify and that she wanted to wait until after the Supreme Court responded to her petition.

Israel-supporting Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres revealed on Tuesday he no longer has a relationship with some of his family due to his support for Israel. 

‘I’ve lost friends, all of you have lost friends there,’ he told a room full of Jewish students at the Israel on Campus Coalition Summit on Tuesday. ‘I’m no longer on speaking terms with with certain members of my family.’

Torres’ deep support for Israel has put him at odds with progressives in his party — but the New York Democrat has only recently begun to express frustration with the Jerusalem government. 

‘No offense, but there are moments when I feel like the Israeli government has the worst PR operation that I’ve ever seen,’ he told a room full of Israel-supporting students at the Israel on Campus Coalition Summit, some of whom applauded the remark. 

‘If I have like a normal constituent who comes to me, is not anti-Israel, is not anti-Semitic, but expresses this concern about hunger in Gaza, I cannot tell her there’s no issue,’ he said. ‘I cannot deny it. I cannot downplay that.’

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reports that 60,000 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s offensive campaign in Gaza to eradicate Hamas, and 154 have died from lack of food. President Donald Trump this week acknowledged there’s ‘real starvation’ in Gaza due to food shortages.  

Torres said that while he doesn’t hold Israel responsible for that starvation, ‘I feel like we should be doing everything we can to ease the human suffering in Gaza.’

He claimed that Israel is held to a ‘double standard’ because ‘no other country has been and has been expected to deliver food to its adversaries.’ 

Aid has been trickling into Gaza through the Israel-partnered Gaza Humanitarian Fund, which, since operations began on May 27, the group says has delivered more than 97 million meals. 

That ‘definitely contradicts the narrative that there’s a deliberate policy of starvation,’ Torres said. 

However, Israeli forces guard distribution sites, and the United Nations — which opposes GHF — claims over 1,000 Palestinians have died seeking aid through the group. GHF, in turn, argues the U.N.’s aid distribution has been entirely ineffective: U.N. data shows that only 8% of U.N. aid has reached its destination without being looted in the last 10 weeks, according to a Reuters report.

Israel has said there is no widespread famine in Gaza, asserting photos are misleading or of isolated cases, but has started to pause fighting in large swathes of the strip for 10 hours a day to allow for a surge of aid by land and air. 

A ceasefire and hostage deal has so far evaded Israel and Hamas leadership. White House envoy Steve Witkoff is on his way to Israel for negotiations as of Wednesday, Axios reported.