Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has invited Senators-elect Dave McCormick, the Republican from Pennsylvania, and Ruben Gallego, the Democrat from Arizona, to the new-senator orientation this week after previously saying they would not be permitted to participate.

“Ruben Gallego and David McCormick have been invited to attend orientation,” a spokesperson for Schumer told Fox News.

Schumer had initially resisted inviting McCormick to the orientation, claiming the Republican had not been declared the winner of his election. This was despite The Associated Press calling the race in his favor over three-term Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey last Thursday. 

Gallego also had not received an invitation, but the AP did not call his race against Republican Kari Lake until Monday night. It was the final Senate race to be called, leaving the Republicans with a 53-47 majority.

GOP SENATOR OFFERS TO ‘PERSONALLY ESCORT’ MCCORMICK TO SENATE ORIENTATION AFTER SCHUMER HOLD

Advertisement

Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has extended invitations to Dave McCormick and Ruben Gallego to attend the new-senator orientation. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

Gallego will replace Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party two years ago. 

Casey still has not conceded in the Pennsylvania race. As of Tuesday morning, McCormick was leading Casey by 35,063 votes, according to the Pennsylvania elections results website. 

A Schumer spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital that McCormick was not invited because at the time there were still “over 100,000 ballots left to be counted” in Pennsylvania’s Senate race, claiming that the contest “has not been decided.” 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did not initially invite Dave McCormick to Senate orientation despite the race being called by AP. (Reuters)

SCHUMER WON’T ALLOW DAVE MCCORMICK AT SENATE ORIENTATION, CITING OUTSTANDING PA BALLOTS

Advertisement

On Monday, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, offered to “personally escort” McCormick into the Capitol to attend the new-senator orientation, and Sens. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Katie Britt, R-Ala., agreed to join him, lambasting Schumer over the exclusion.

Democrat Ruben Gallego defeated Republican Kari Lake in the race to replace Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the AP called on Monday night. (Getty Images)

McCormick was leading by more than 30,000 votes when the AP called the race at 4:09 p.m. Thursday. Though there were an estimated 91,000 votes still outstanding at that time, the AP asserted that there were not enough in areas supporting Casey for him to make up the difference.

Fox News’ Julia Johnson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Advertisement

Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on X: @danimwallace. 

Read the full article from Here

Disney+ subscribers can enjoy the holiday season at “The Happiest Place on Earth” at a discounted rate thanks to the new Disney+ perks program.

Subscribers can enjoy one free day at the Disneyland Resort when they buy two days with a specially priced three-day, one-park per-day ticket. The ticket deal costs $330 and can be used for visits from Nov. 18 to Dec. 27, 2024.

The ticket deal is currently available for Disney+ subscribers and can be purchased here.

Guests should note that the tickets are valid for 13 days after first use or until Dec.  27, 2024, whichever comes first, and are subject to restrictions and park reservation availability. Park visitors can also upgrade their tickets to park hoppers or purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass at an extra cost.

The theme park resort is also offering deals on rooms at Disneyland Resort hotels.

Hotel guests can save up to 25% on select stays of four nights or longer weekdays or weekends at any of the three on-site hotels, up to 20% on standard and premium rooms at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, the Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel, and up to 10% on guest rooms at Pixar Place Hotel, Sunday through Thursday nights, based upon space availability.

Another discount offers up to 15% on guest rooms at a Disneyland Resort hotel, Sunday through Thursday nights, based upon space availability.

For guests wanting to take advantage of the up to 15% deal, travel must be completed on Dec. 20. For the up to 25% off deal, travel must be completed by March 25, 2025.

The Disneyland Resort will celebrate the holiday season beginning on Nov. 15.

More Disney+ subscriber perks and discounts can be found here.

Nearly six years after police pushed him to confess to a murder that never happened, Thomas Perez Jr. received a $898,000 settlement from the city of Fontana.

On August 8, 2018, Perez called the Fontana Police Department to report his father had been missing for 17 hours. 

By the end of the lengthy investigation, Perez confessed to killing his father – before learning that his father had been found alive and well.

According to reports by CNN, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and more – the officers’ tactics were coercive and, at one point, led Perez to attempt to take his own life while he was still in the interrogation room.

On Thursday, Nov. 7, the Fontana Police Department issued a statement offering the department’s side of the story.

“This was a missing person’s case where officers and detectives followed unfolding evidence that pointed toward possible foul play,” says the statement signed by chief Mike Dorsey. “In the settlement agreement, the judge on the case noted that a reasonable juror would agree that officers had sufficient evidence to suspect a crime had been committed.”

Dorsey’s statement narrates that the case began with Perez’s call, saying his father hadn’t returned from getting the mail with his dog the night before. According to the report, the dog returned without Perez’s father – whose wallet, cell phone and keys were still in the house.

“We noticed the house – and particularly the father’s bedroom – was in disarray,” writes Dorsey. “The son explained that he had removed his father’s mattress and some clothing and had cleaned the house with bleach.” 

That was when officers reportedly became suspicious of Perez and asked him to come to the police department for an interview. The department says Perez agreed and arrived voluntarily.

The LA Times reports it was during this interview that officers “alleged Perez had murdered his father and, when Perez denied the accusation, officers tried to convince him that he had forgotten the crime, according to a federal lawsuit, court records and video of the interrogation.”

CNN’s story alleges that amongst the accusations and tactics, officers even brought in the family dog and said she was suffering because she had witnessed the murder. The LA Times said officers told Perez the dog had walked through blood and would be sent away to be euthanized.

The Fontana Police Department did not confirm or comment on the involvement of Perez’s dog, but in a report by The Sun, a photo shows Perez cradling his dog on the floor of an interrogation room that reportedly was screen-grabbed from police video.

“In situations like these, it is acceptable and perfectly legal to use different tactics and techniques, such as ruses, to elicit information from people suspected of potential criminal activity,” says the police statement. “Were we perfect in how we handled the situation? Nobody ever is.”

Dorsey says that around the same time that Perez went to the station for questioning, officers spoke with a neighbor who described Perez as “mentally unstable” and said that he didn’t have patience with his father.

This neighbor also purportedly told officers that the morning the father went missing, someone else was seen driving his truck erratically, and it seemed there was something in the bed of the truck which was then parked in the garage, away from its usual parking spot on the street.

The department says officers used these details in a presentation of evidence to a judge and soon acquired a search warrant.

“During the search, we found blood on the staircase, carpet near the stairs, a couch, in the garage and in a bathtub and on the floor of an upstairs bathroom, adjacent to the father’s bedroom,” says the department.

Throughout the rest of the investigation, officers say they found more evidence of foul play and heard questionable comments from Perez. 

For example, Dorsey said Perez asked officers to drive him around a golf course, during which, while they were near a pond, Perez allegedly asked the officers “Don’t bodies float?”

Toward the conclusion of Dorsey’s statement, he writes, “Sadly, situations like these can and often do end up as homicide investigations. We are so thankful this was not one of those.”

After the nearly $900,000 settlement was reached in the spring of 2024, CNN reports it reached out to Perez and his father who say they both continued to feel the effects of this incident for years and worked to help each other through it.