The British government has reportedly reached out to fellow leftist-run Anglo-sphere nations Australia and Canada in an attempt to wage a coordinated campaign to potentially ban Elon Musk's X social media platform.

The recently enacted Online Safety Act — passed by the previous "Conservative" government — empowers broadcasting regulator Ofcom to impose fines of up to 10 per cent of a social media firm's global revenue, and allows for bans in extreme cases.

Yet, apparently reticent to draw the ire of President Donald Trump alone, Downing Street reportedly held talks in recent days with Canberra and Ottawa to craft a joint response to the tech platform, The Telegraph reported.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is pushing for more censorship rules in his own country following the Islamist mass shooting at Bondi Beach last month, said, "The fact that this tool was used so that people were using its image creation function through Grok is, I think, just completely abhorrent. It, once again, is an example of social media not showing social responsibility. Australians and indeed, global citizens deserve better."

For his part, Elon Musk, who has long been critical of the increasingly censorious climate in Britain, accused Starmer's government of acting "fascist" and suggested that they were merely looking for "any excuse for censorship" of X.

Censorship has become increasingly prevalent in Britain. Despite its long tradition of freedom of speech, the country is arresting around 30 people every day for comments made on social media, or over 12,000 per year. Such offences can include the sharing of "grossly offensive" messages or spreading content of "indecent, obscene or menacing character".

The banning of X would remove a major headache for the struggling Labour government, which has come under consistent pressure personally from Musk, on issues such as freedom of speech, immigration, and the predominantly Pakistani Muslim child rape gangs and the failures of police and government to protect mostly young white working-class girls.

However, such an action taken against one of President Trump's key allies and a major American business could risk further angering the White House, which has made fighting censorship in Europe a key foreign policy plank.

Indeed, just last month, the Trump administration sanctioned multiple Europeans, including two Britons, for their involvement in the international censorship industry.

This included Imran Ahmed, the head of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), an organisation with close ties to Prime Minister Starmer's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney. The administration has sought to deport Ahmed from the United States for his group's efforts to censor American conservative outlets, including Breitbart News.

While the CCDH has close ties to the Labour government, the White House has yet to sign off on sanctions against any British government official.

This may change if X is banned, however, with Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna vowing to introduce legislation to sanction Prime Minister Starmer and the UK as a whole should the platform be banned in the UK.

"There are always technical bugs during the early phases of new technology, especially AI, and those issues are typically addressed quickly. X treats these matters seriously and acts promptly. Let's be clear: this is not about technical compliance. This is a political war against Elon Musk and free speech — nothing more," she said.

A criminal contempt of Congress charge is a misdemeanor that carries a punishment of up to one year in jail and a maximum $100,000 fine if convicted.

Burchett, however, told reporters he was not confident that the Department of Justice (DOJ) would pursue such a referral.

"I've been really disappointed in our Justice Department, so I would hope that maybe they're making some changes over there," Burchett said.

The former first couple were two of 10 people who Comer initially subpoenaed in the House's Epstein investigation after a unanimous bipartisan vote directed him to do so last year. Fox News Digital was first to report on the subpoenas in August.

Clinton was known to be friendly with the late pedophile before his federal charges but was never implicated in any wrongdoing related to him.

Bill and Hillary Clinton have declared themselves above the law as they refused to testify before Congress on Jeffrey Epstein.

The ex-president was scheduled to testify at a closed-door deposition in the House Oversight Committee's bipartisan investigation into Epstein at 10am Tuesday but failed to show. Hillary was slated to appear on Wednesday.

House Oversight's Republican chairman James Comer promised to bring contempt proceedings next week, setting off a potentially protracted and politically fraught legal battle that would be the first time in history a sitting or former president has been held in contempt by Congress.

In an astonishing letter to Comer, the Clintons launched a broadside at Donald Trump and the Republican lawmakers carrying out his 'cruel agenda.'

They claimed a legal analysis proved they were not required to testify and insisted the subpoenas were an extension of Trump's 'weaponization' of the law.

'The Justice Department has been used as a weapon, at the direction of the President, to pursue political opponents. And most recently and searingly, an ICE agent killed an unarmed mother only days ago,' the Clintons wrote.

'Every person has to decide when they have seen or had enough and are ready to fight for this country, its principles and its people, no matter the consequences. For us, now is that time.'

The Clintons cited the precedent set by Trump in October 2022, when he defied a congressional subpoena demanding his testimony over the Capitol riot.

Iran has extensive evidence showing the US and Israel had a "big hand" in recent unrest in the country, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a meeting of foreign diplomats in Tehran on Monday.

The statement comes after violent clashes between protesters and the authorities erupted late last month, which have led to dozens of deaths among the Iranian security forces and civilian bystanders.

Multiple mosques, medical centers, and other buildings have been torched across the country.

According to Araghchi, nationwide protests "turned violent and bloody to give an excuse" for US President Donald Trump to intervene militarily in the country.

"We have many documents and pieces of evidence of US and Israeli involvement in the terrorist actions of recent days in Iran."

Araghchi added that armed operatives were seen among protesters asserting:

"Tehran recorded audio messages received by those terrorist operatives giving them orders to fire on protesters ... on security and police personnel ... [and on] peaceful civilians. Many of those killed received gunshots from behind. Tehran has substantial evidence that some operatives received direct orders from foreign powers. There is living proof that the US and Israel have a big hand in these terrorist acts."

Araghchi also claimed the infiltrators were aided by Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, noting that "Mossad operatives speaking Farsi ... [were] infiltrating these protests." He also criticized Western governments, saying they condemned Iran's police instead of the "terrorists."

The remarks come after Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed support for the protests that erupted in Iranian cities on December 28, marking the worst unrest in recent years. Protests escalated into clashes with police, assaults on government buildings, and demands from some demonstrators for the restoration of the monarchy. In response, authorities shut down phone networks and the internet nationwide.

In 2023, then-Special Counsel Jack Smith's office approved a shady $20,000 payment to a confidential human source for information in the controversial FBI probe, code-named Arctic Frost, which investigated efforts by President Donald Trump and his supporters to challenge the 2020 election results, according to documents FBI Director Kash Patel turned over to Congress this week.

The documents outline the scope and methods of the investigation. An email shows that prosecutorial approval was communicated by Counselor to the Special Counsel, Raymond Hulser, on June 2, 2023.

The memo states the payment "was discussed by Raymond Hulser and Assistant Special Counsel Julia Gegenheimer with Special Counsel Jack Smith." An FBI agent reached out to Smith's office that same day, writing: "As discussed, request your office's concurrence in our proposed payment of $20,000 for CHS' provision of information in support of the investigation." Hulser's response was brief: "Concur, thank you."

Patel told Just the News that the revelation of the shady payment is the latest proof that the Arctic Frost investigation was an "egregious abuse of power and violation of the law."

The records show the FBI went all-in trying to make Trump himself a "subject" of the Arctic Frost probe, though that plan was ultimately shot down. The documents also reveal the bureau leaned heavily on liberal media reporting to build its case.

The number of people in Trump's orbit that were targeted by the investigation is also staggering. Phone data analysis extended to nine Trump allies in Congress, plus his lawyers and outside advisers. TV host Steve Bannon made an FBI list of at least 16 Trump associates whose long-distance phone records underwent scrutiny. Bill Stepien, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Cleta Mitchell, and the late former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik also appeared on that list. Kerik had led a team of investigators focused on alleged irregularities in the 2020 election.

One memo shows the FBI analyzed calls from "more than 50 White House-issued cell phones," not counting Trump's and Vice President Mike Pence's personal devices. Arctic Frost secured an order from U.S. District Judge Boasberg allowing Smith's office to obtain phone records of eight U.S. senators and one congressman. That same order swept up information from hundreds of conservative figures and groups, expanding the scope far beyond the initial targets.

At least two members of Congress have vowed to sue the Justice Department. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee say the investigation violated their congressional privilege and privacy protections under the separation of powers. Other Republican lawmakers describe Arctic Frost's data collection as overly broad and insufficiently tailored. Critics in Congress say the probe resembled a fishing expedition rather than a narrowly targeted investigation, raising Fourth Amendment concerns.