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NEW YORK — Federal agents investigating New York City Mayor Eric Adams were still seizing phones and applying for search warrants days before Justice Department leaders ordered prosecutors to drop the corruption case, according to documents released Friday.

The trove of court records, which had been sealed, opens a window into the criminal case and shows that even as Washington officials were backing away from the prosecution, investigators in Manhattan were moving forward.

The documents also confirm something prosecutors revealed previously: That a federal investigation into whether Adams took improper campaign contributions began in August of 2021, when the Democrat was still in his old job of Brooklyn borough president but was widely expected to win the mayor’s race that fall.

Adams has repeatedly said he believed he was prosecuted because, much later, as mayor, he criticized former President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.

The investigation first spilled into public view in November 2023, when FBI agents seized Adams’ phones and iPad as he was leaving an event in Manhattan. He was charged 10 months later with accepting free travel and illegal campaign contributions from people seeking to buy his influence, including a Turkish diplomat.

But on Feb. 10, weeks after President Donald Trump took office, the new leadership of the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors in New York to drop the charges, arguing the case was hindering the mayor’s ability to assist in the Republican administration’s immigration crackdown.

The extraordinary directive roiled federal prosecutors’ offices in Manhattan and Washington. Rather than implement the order, multiple prosecutors resigned, including the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, Danielle Sassoon. A judge ultimately said he legally had no choice but to dismiss the case at the request of senior Justice Department officials.

Prosecutors were continuing to dig into Adams in the weeks before the case got halted, and Sassoon has said they were on the verge of bringing additional charges against him for obstruction of justice.

On Feb. 7 a judge had signed off on an application to search a phone that an unidentified subject of the investigation had turned over in response to a subpoena. Weeks earlier, a judge had signed a warrant to search a home in Middletown, New York, in connection with a probe of alleged straw donations made to Adams’ campaign in 2020. Around the same time, prosecutors requested a warrant to access location data for a mobile phone in that investigation. On Dec. 4, a judge had approved a request by federal investigators to search a home in Queens.

Searches and seizures

U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho ordered the records unsealed at the request of The New York Times and, later, the New York Post. The Times argued in court papers that there was a “particularly compelling” case for making them public because there would be no trial. Neither Adams’ lawyers, nor prosecutors opposed the request.

The documents offer a behind-the-scenes look at how investigators pieced their case together through searches of electronics and physical locations around New York and beyond.

The unsealed documents also revealed that in May 2024, a magistrate judge signed off on a warrant to search the Fort Lee, New Jersey, condominium home of the mayor’s longtime romantic partner, Tracey Collins, who formerly served as a senior official in the city’s Department of Education.

The warrant application does not name Collins directly but identifies her as Adams’ partner and says the mayor also sometimes uses the home. Agents wanted to do the search to get access to five iPhones as they looked into whether an official connected to the Turkish consulate sought help getting a child admitted to a highly sought-after public middle school.

Also included was the September 2024 application for a warrant to search Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence in Manhattan, providing photos of the building from multiple angles.

An affidavit from an FBI agent notes that location data for one of Adams’ phones suggests he spends the “overnight hours” of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the residence “and occasionally does so on other days as well.”

Adams meets with Trump

Asked for comment on the new documents, Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, criticized the now-ended prosecution.

“This case — the first of its kind airline upgrade ‘corruption’ case — should never have been brought in the first place and is now over,” Spiro, said.

Adams has touted the dismissal of the case as a vindication, while denying that he cut a deal with Trump in exchange for leniency. But he has maintained a warm relationship with the president after his case was dismissed. The two leaders met in Washington on Friday, with Trump later telling reporters that “I think he actually came in to thank me.”

Adams’ office released a statement that said they discussed “critical infrastructure projects, as well as the preservation of essential social services, among other topics.”

Even with the criminal charges behind him, Adams faces an uncertain political future. He recently announced that he would skip the Democratic primary in June and instead run as an independent in the November general election.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan said India fired missiles at three air bases inside the country Saturday but most of the missiles were intercepted and that retaliatory strikes on India were underway. It’s the latest escalation in a conflict triggered by a massacre last month that India blames on Pakistan.

The Pakistani military said it used medium-range Fateh missiles to target an Indian missile storage facility and airbases in Pathankot and Udhampur.

Pakistani army spokesman, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif, said in a televised address that the country’s air force assets were safe following the Indian strikes. He added that some of the Indian missiles also hit India’s eastern Punjab.

“This is a provocation of the highest order,” Sharif said.

Tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals have soared since an attack at a popular tourist site in India-controlled Kashmir left 26 civilians dead, mostly Hindu Indian tourists, on April 22. New Delhi has blamed Pakistan for backing the assault, an accusation Islamabad rejects.

The Indian missiles targeted Nur Khan air base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, Murid air base in Chakwal city and Rafiqui air base in the Jhang district of eastern Punjab province, according to the spokesman. There was no immediate comment from India.

Sharif said some of the Indian missiles also went into Afghanistan.

“I want to give you the shocking news that India fired six ballistic missiles from its city of Adampur,” said Sharif. One of the ballistic missiles hit Adampur, the remaining five missiles hit the Indian Punjab area of Amritsar.”

Residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir said they heard loud explosions Saturday at multiple places in the region, including the two big cities of Srinagar and Jammu, and the garrison town of Udhampur.

“Explosions that we are hearing today are different from the ones we heard the last two nights during drone attacks,” said Sheesh Paul Vaid, the region’s former top police official and a resident of Jammu. “It looks like a war here.”

Srinagar resident Mohammed Yasin said he heard at least two explosions. “Our home shook and windows rattled,” he said.

The Indian army said late Friday that drones were sighted in 26 locations across many areas in Indian states bordering Pakistan and Indian-controlled Kashmir, including Srinagar. It said the drones were tracked and engaged.

“The situation is under close and constant watch, and prompt action is being taken wherever necessary,” the statement added.

On Wednesday, India conducted airstrikes on several sites in Pakistani territory it described as militant-related, killing 31 civilians, according to Pakistani officials. Pakistan said it shot down five Indian fighter jets.

On Thursday, India said it thwarted Pakistani drone and missile attacks at military targets in more than a dozen cities and towns, including Jammu city in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan denied the claims. India said, meanwhile, that it hit Pakistan’s air defense systems and radars close to the city of Lahore. The incidents could not be independently confirmed.

The Group of Seven nations, or G7, urged “maximum restraint” from both India and Pakistan amid flaring hostilities.

“Further military escalation poses a serious threat to regional stability. We are deeply concerned for the safety of civilians on both sides,” a statement by Canada on behalf of G7 foreign ministers said Friday. “We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome,” it said.

A spokesperson for Taylor Swift on Friday said an attempt to subpoena the pop star as a witness in Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s case is “designed” to use the singer’s “name to draw public interest.” 

TMZ reported Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman issued a subpoena to Swift in the lawsuits involving the 2024 film “It Ends With Us.” Freedman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.  

Representatives for Lively also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Swift’s team rejected the notion she would have any relevant information and should not be involved in the legal tangle.  

“Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film, she did not even see ‘It Ends With Us’ until weeks after its public release, and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history,” her spokesperson said Friday.  

Swift did license music for the film. 

“Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case,” the spokesperson said.  

The legal battle between Baldoni and Lively began late last year after Lively filed a civil rights complaint against her co-star and director, accusing him of sexual harassment during filming. She also accused him of retaliation after she raised issues about his on-set behavior. Lively then sued Baldoni, the film’s production company, Wayfarer Studios, and others, alleging they engaged in “a carefully crafted, coordinated, and resourced retaliatory scheme to silence her, and others, from speaking out. 

An attorney for Baldoni has called the allegations “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious” and accused Lively of engaging in a smear campaign. 

In December, Baldoni sued The New York Times for libel following the newspaper’s publication of an article detailing Lively’s accusations. The Times, which was first to report on the complaint, has stood by its reporting. That lawsuit is ongoing.  

 In January, he also filed a lawsuit against Lively, her husband actor Ryan Reynolds, her rep Leslie Sloane and Sloane’s PR firm. Baldoni alleges that the parties engaged in defamation and disregarded contractual claims.  

He is seeking $400 million and a jury trial. 

A trial is scheduled for March 2026 in New York. 

Swift was pulled into headlines regarding the case after Baldoni filed his 179-page suit, which included examples of alleged text messages between him and Lively.  

Swift is not named in the suit, save for one text message in which a “Taylor” is mentioned. In the text of the lawsuit, she is referred to as a “megacelebrity friend.” 

Baldoni’s team confirmed to NBC News that the Taylor referred to in the lawsuit is Swift, a longtime friend of Lively. 

“If you ever get around to watching Game of Thrones, you’ll appreciate that I’m Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have a few dragons,” one purported text from Lively reads, according to the suit. “For better or worse, but usually better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for. So really we all benefit from those gorgeous monsters of mine. You will too, I can promise you.” 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said definitively on Friday that she will not enter the U.S. Senate race, as Republicans eye Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff’s seat in the battleground state of Georgia as a crucial pickup to expand their three-seat majority next year.

“Someone once said, ‘The Senate is where good ideas go to die.’ They were right. That’s why I’m not running,” Greene wrote in a post on X.

“I won’t fight for a team that refuses to win, that protects its weakest players, and that undermines the very people it’s supposed to serve,” she added.

Greene’s announcement comes a day after another Trump ally, Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., announced his candidacy for the Senate, making him the first major Republican candidate to challenge Ossoff.

Republicans, who are wary of Greene, have been looking for an alternative candidate after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he wouldn’t enter the Senate race.

Greene was first elected to the House in 2020.

U.S. officials have ordered spy agencies to ramp up efforts to gather intelligence on Greenland, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter, in a sign President Donald Trump apparently remains focused on acquiring the island.

The directive was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. 

The move has drawn objections from Denmark, a NATO ally which rules the semi-autonomous island.

Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, has said he will summon the American ambassador over the report. “It worries me greatly because we do not spy on friends,” Rasmussen said, according to the Ritzau news agency.

The Office of the Director of Intelligence sent out a directive last week to intelligence agencies to gather information on Greenland’s independence political movement, perceptions about U.S. interest in the island’s resources and to identify people who back Washington’s goals for the Arctic island, the sources said.

The directive came in the form of a “collection emphasis message, ” which sets priorities for intelligence efforts, the sources said. 

James Hewitt, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said in an email: “We don’t comment on matters of intelligence. However, the President has been very clear that the U.S. is concerned about the security of Greenland and the Arctic.”

The director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, alleged in a statement that government officials were trying to undercut Trump by leaking classified information.

“The Wall Street Journal should be ashamed of aiding deep state actors who seek to undermine the President by politicizing and leaking classified information,” the statement said. “They are breaking the law and undermining our nation’s security and democracy. Those who leak classified information will be found and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

Gabbard added: “I have referred three illegal leaks to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution, and we are investigating nearly a dozen more.”

It was unclear why the administration was turning to espionage to glean information on a U.S. ally that could likely be obtained by diplomats or open-source research, said Marc Polymeropoulos, a former career CIA officer. 

“This seems to be something that could be handled by diplomatic and State Department channels,” he said. “Why would you waste precious intelligence resources on this?”

In an interview last weekend with NBC News’ Kristen Welker, Trump refused to rule out seizing the territory by force.

“I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything,” Trump said. “We need Greenland very badly. Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.”

In a speech to a joint session of Congress in March, Trump said: “One way or the other, we’re going to get it.”

A January poll commissioned by the Danish newspaper Berlingske and Greenlandic daily Sermitsiaq showed 85% of Greenlanders do not want their island to become a part of the United States.

The U.S. military has a base in northwestern Greenland, which is part of a ballistic missile early-warning system.

Greenland has taken on increasing strategic importance as global warming has sparked a competition in the Arctic among the world’s powers. And Greenland’s rare earth minerals, uranium and iron are of increasing global interest as climate change could make those natural resources more accessible.

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, we examine John Fetterman’s place in the Senate, where the Pennsylvania Democrat is increasingly on an island. Plus, Kristen Welker previews her interview with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on this Sunday’s “Meet the Press.”

Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.

— Adam Wollner

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An isolated John Fetterman clashes with colleagues and staff as he skips his Senate duties

Allan Smith, Sahil Kapur, Scott Wong and Frank Thorp V have a deeply reported story out this afternoon on Sen. John Feterman, D-Pa., based on interviews with 18 former staffers, Pennsylvania officials, and congressional lawmakers and staffers, many of whom said the senator is increasingly isolated and absent from official business, both in Washington and his home state.

Fetterman’s behavior has received renewed scrutiny after a recent New York magazine article detailing concerns about his mental health from one of his closest former aides, as well as some frustration from Democrats that Fetterman is not on the same page as many other members of the party when it comes to standing up to Trump and his agenda. 

Here are some of the key lines from the story:

• Fetterman was open to confirming Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, according to two people familiar with his thinking, so Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., wanted to speak with her colleague one-on-one. But Fetterman refused to talk to one of the most senior and well-respected members of the caucus. 
• Two sources familiar with the exchange said Fetterman was “rude and dismissive” to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who wanted to discuss a Republican bill designed to punish the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants to Israeli officials. He also suggested to her that he’d be more inclined to help her if she put him on the Foreign Relations Committee — something she didn’t have the power to do. 
• From April 2024 to this March, Fetterman missed 77 of 381 votes, according to GovTrack. That put him in the 90th to the 99th percentile among all senators in terms of total votes missed during each three-month stretch of the calendar in that time.
• Fetterman skipped 25 of the 26 hearings or business meetings the Senate Commerce Committee has held this year, with the first hearing he attended being on Thursday, after the New York magazine article was published. He missed all nine of the hearings and business meetings the Senate Homeland Security Committee has held this year, and skipped all 11 times the Senate Agriculture Committee has met in 2025.
• A House Democratic lawmaker from Pennsylvania who spoke with NBC News on Thursday said they have had no interactions with Fetterman in recent months.

Read more from the team →

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Transportation Secretary Duffy confronts Newark airport concerns

As Americans gear up for a summer of busy travel plans, the cascade of news about issues at Newark Liberty International Airport has given many pause. 

Some radar screens serving the airport blacked out for 90 seconds early Friday, days after reports that air traffic controllers temporarily lost communication with an aircraft. And there’s been a series of delays out of one of the nation’s busiest airports. 

That’s why I spoke to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for this Sunday’s episode of “Meet the Press,” to ask him the questions that are on Americans’ minds right now about aircraft safety and transportation infrastructure.

The bottom line: Duffy told me he feels safe flying in and out of Newark, and that America’s airspace is the “safest.”

But there’s no silver bullet to fixing the infrastructure concerns. While Duffy said that a Newark-specific fix should be completed by the end of the summer, the air traffic modernization plan released on Thursday will take three years to complete.

“This is a system that’s, what — 25 at best, sometimes 50 years old. The Congress and the country haven’t paid attention to it, right? They expect it to work. And so now I think the — the lights are blinking, the sirens are turning, and they’re saying, ‘Listen, we have to fix this,’” Duffy told me. 

Don’t miss more from Duffy this Sunday, as well as exclusive interviews with Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

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What to know from the Trump administration today

• Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller said that the administration is “looking at” ways to end due process protections for unauthorized immigrants who are in the country.
• Trump’s last-minute push to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans is running into a buzz saw of opposition in the Republican Party, with some unsure of how serious the proposal is.
• Another issue for Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”: Four New York Republicans issued a blistering statement rejecting an offer they said came from Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and the House’s top tax writer on how to expand the state and local tax deduction. 
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told congressional leaders that the U.S. will likely hit the debt ceiling by August. 
• Trump signaled a willingness to cut the U.S.’ current 145% tariff rate on China ahead of trade talks between the two countries. He wrote in a Truth Social post: “80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B.,” appearing to refer to Bessent. 
• Trump abruptly fired the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, the first woman and the first African American to hold the position. 
• FBI Director Kash Patel’s schedule has been lighter on intelligence briefings and heavier on appearances at pro sporting events, raising concerns that he is not taking the job seriously enough.

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✉️ Mailbag: Democrats search for their next leader

Thanks to everyone who emailed us! This week’s question comes from Frank Mona III: 

“Will someone become the standard bearer for the Democrats nationally (and if so, who?) or do you think it will continue to be a group of governors, congressional and senatorial leaders all with overlapping messages?”

To answer this, we turned to national political reporter Ben Kamisar. Here’s his response:

Historically, unless a political party has a president in the White House or a presidential nominee, it doesn’t usually have a single standard-bearer. 

That’s because without that sort of unifying force, there’s not typically a one-size-fits-all approach to leading a national political party. Instead, there are groups of politicians who attempt to grab the mantle of different wings of the party. In recent years on the Democratic side, it’s been people like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who have captured the energy on the left, and people like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer who have spoken for the party’s establishment. 

That’s why we’re seeing the whole group of potential 2028 presidential hopefuls on the Democratic side trying to carve out different lanes, instead of looking to be the singular standard-bearer. And that dynamic won’t change until the presidential nominating contest kicks into high gear in a few years. 

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That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.

If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at [email protected]

And if you’re a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here.

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Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller told reporters Friday that the administration is “looking at” ways to end due process protections for unauthorized immigrants who are in the country.

“The Constitution is clear, and that of course is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended at a time of invasion. So I would say that’s an action we’re actively looking at,” Miller said in the White House driveway.

“A lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not,” Miller said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on whether he was referring to a specific group of people who’ve entered the country illegally, or all the people who have. It also did not comment on what he meant by the courts doing “the right thing.”

In his remarks, Miller maintained that the courts don’t have jurisdiction in immigration cases. “The courts aren’t just at war with the executive branch, the courts are at war, these radical rogue judges, with the legislative branch as well too. So all of that will inform the choices the president ultimately makes,” he said.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced frustration about constitutional due process protections slowing down his efforts at mass deportations.

“I was elected to get them the hell out of here, and the courts are holding me from doing it,” he said in an interview with Kristen Welker that aired Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

Welker pointed out the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says “no person” shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” and that the Supreme Court has long recognized that noncitizens have certain basic rights, but Trump complained that those protections take too much time.

“I don’t know. It seems — it might say that, but if you’re talking about that, then we’d have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials,” he said, adding that some of the people the administration wants to deport are “murderers” and “drug dealers.”

Welker then asked if he needs to uphold the Constitution.

“I don’t know,” Trump replied. “I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said.”

The administration has already skirted due process in some deportation cases after Trump invoked the rarely used Alien Enemies Act to send alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to a prison in El Salvador.

The proclamation said the gang “is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.” Three federal judges in different states have found the gang’s criminal activities aren’t tantamount to an invasion.

Epic Games said on Friday that it submitted Fortnite to Apple’s App Store, the month after a judge ruled in favor of the game maker in a contempt ruling.

Fortnite was booted from iPhones and Apple’s App Store in 2020, after Epic Games updated its software to link out to the company’s website and avoid Apple’s commissions. The move drew Apple’s anger, and kicked off a legal battle that has lasted for years.

Last month’s ruling, a victory for Epic Games, said Apple was not allowed to charge a commission on link-outs or dictate if the links look like buttons, paving the way for Fortnite’s return.

Apple could still reject Fortnite’s submission. An Apple representative did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Apple is appealing last month’s contempt ruling.

The announcement by Epic Games is the latest salvo in the battle between it and Apple, which has taken place in courts and with regulators around the world since 2020. Epic Games also sued Google, which operates the Play Store for Android phones.

Last month’s ruling has already shifted the economics of app development for iPhones.

Apple takes between 15% and 30% of purchases made using its in-app payment system. Linking to the web avoids those fees. Apple briefly allowed link-outs under its system but would charge a 27% commission, before last month’s ruling.

Developers including Amazon and Spotify have already updated their apps to avoid Apple’s commissions and direct customers to their own websites for payment.

Before last month, Amazon’s Kindle app told users they could not purchase a book in the iPhone app. After a recent update, the app now shows an orange “Get Book” button that links to Amazon’s website.

Fortnite has been available for iPhones in Europe since last year through Epic Games’ store. Third-party app stores are allowed in Europe under the Digital Markets Act. Users have also been able to play Fortnite on iPhones and iPads through cloud gaming services.

A seafood company failed to follow federal safety rules to prevent potential botulism contamination. A business was hawking dietary supplements with the misleading claim that they’d cure, treat or prevent disease. A fresh sprouts producer didn’t take adequate precautions against contamination.   

The Food and Drug Administration laid out these inspection findings in warning letters, accusing the companies of committing “significant violations” of federal laws, according to an FDA staff member who described the letters to NBC News.  

But the public doesn’t know about any of this, after the federal workers responsible for reviewing the food safety letters before they’re posted online were fired, the current FDA staff member and a former FDA employee told NBC News.  

That review process ground to a halt after the Trump administration’s mass layoffs of federal health workers in early April, which gutted the teams responsible for reviewing public records and redacting any confidential information, according to the current and former FDA employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to share internal details. 

Since then, the publication of more than a dozen food safety warning letters has been stalled, they said.  

The FDA responded to questions with a statement that didn’t address the publication of warning letters. The agency “remains fully committed to transparency, accountability, and the protection of public health,” the statement said. The FDA added that it is continuing to conduct inspections, enforcement and oversight “to ensure consumer safety.”  

The FDA often issues warning letters after initially flagging its concerns to a company and determining the company’s response was inadequate. The agency typically gives the company a few weeks to respond to the letter, and, after an internal review, the letters are publicly posted on the FDA website.  

The letters are one of the agency’s major enforcement tools — and one of the few windows into a company’s food safety record available to the public. The letters can make headlines and are especially important in alerting retailers to serious food safety violations that could put the public at risk, safety advocates said.   

“It’s an indication that something has gone wrong — it’s not just a normal part of the inspection process. You get a warning letter when there’s a real problem,” said Thomas Gremillion, director of food policy at the Consumer Federation of America, an advocacy group. “There are people you’d expect to use this information to protect the public.” 

The FDA also uses warning letters to pressure companies to take action after the agency’s initial attempts have failed. Last June, for instance, the FDA sent a warning letter to Dollar Tree, the discount retail chain, for failing to pull lead-tainted applesauce pouches from its shelves, even after a national recall of the product. (Dollar Tree denied this, saying in a statement that it “took immediate action” on the recall and “will continue to cooperate with FDA.”) 

In recent days, the FDA has rehired some of the staff who worked on public records at the agency, according to two former employees. The agency has also continued to publish warning letters related to drugs and tobacco products, as well as one related to imported food that was issued by a separate FDA division that was spared from deep staff cuts, the former workers said. 

But even before the mass layoffs in April, staffers said there was a backlog in posting warning letters related to food safety.  

Since the week of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, no warning letters to U.S. food manufacturers have been posted publicly, FDA records show.  

The last published letter, posted on Jan. 21, detailed unsanitary conditions that the FDA found in a Utah-based bread factory: Inspectors described more than 50 live insects inside an ingredient bin, apparent insect trails on the floor, inadequate employee hygiene and debris on bread slicers, among other safety violations. The company told NBC News it had addressed the FDA’s concerns and strengthened its food safety practices. 

A Fox News Channel analyst fainted on air Thursday night in mid-sentence of her harsh critique of the Biden administration, forcing a show host to awkwardly try going to another guest before heading to break.

Camryn Kinsey was criticizing former President Joe Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris when she started slowing down, stopped speaking altogether and suddenly toppled over to her left.

“They have to rewrite history because they had a failed campaign. They had a failed presidency,” she said at the network’s bureau in Los Angeles. “They put her as the borders czar, she never went to the border. So this is about incompetency. ”

At this point, Kinsey slowed down and seemed to struggle for words.

“It’s not about ideology where it’s not about,” Kinsey said as she toppled over to her left.

Viewers of “Fox News @ Night” could hear Kinsey hitting the studio floor.

“Oh my goodness!” host Jonathan Hunt said of the fall.

Hunt, a substitute for regular host Trace Gallagher, had the first instinct was to go to another guest, Lynda Moynihan, appearing on remote from New York, before quickly going to commercial.

“We’re just going to get some help here for Camryn. Let me come back to Lydia while we get some help for Camryn here,” Hunt said. “So Lydia, the president … we’re going to, actually, we’re going to go to a break right here. We’ll be right back.”

Kinsey issued a statement on Friday saying she was feeling better. She appeared to suggest she was struggling with dehydration.

“I want to start by thanking the incredible Fox News team and the EMTs who responded with such speed and care,” she posted on X. “It was an unexpected and frightening moment, but thanks to their professionalism and kindness, I’m doing well.”

Fox News Channel also thanked first responders for their quick work.

“After Fox News @ Night guest Camryn Kinsey fainted during a live on-air appearance last night in our Los Angeles bureau, paramedics were called and she was treated and cleared,” the network said in a statement on Friday. “We are happy to hear she is now feeling much better and wish her a speedy recovery.”