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Democratic Trump impeachment witness under fire for invoking Barron Trump's name in joke at hearing

A Stanford Law professor is facing criticism after bringing up President Trump’s youngest son in a joke during Wednesday's impeachment hearing, sparking laughs from some in the House Judiciary Committee audience -- and provoking a furious response from the White House.

The White House blasted Karlan as “classless” and the Trump campaign called her joke “disgusting.” First lady Melania Trump, Barron's mother, was incensed.

"A minor child deserves privacy and should be kept out of politics," she tweeted. "Pamela Karlan, you should be ashamed of your very angry and obviously biased public pandering, and using a child to do it."

Karlan later apologized but put in another dig at the president. "I want to apologize for what I said earlier about the president's son. It was wrong of me to do that. I wish the president would apologize, obviously, for the things that he's done that's wrong, but I do regret having said that."

Karlan is clearly not a fan of Trump. In a newly surfaced video from 2017, she told an American Constitution Society panel that she couldn’t stomach walking past the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. At the same event, she also accused Trump of sexually assaulting "more women than 99.99% of all of the people who have entered this country illegally.”

During Wednesday's hearing, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., noted that Karlan had also appeared on an anti-Trump podcast, disparaged conservatives, and donated $1,200 to Barack Obama, $2,000 to Hillary Clinton, and $1,000 to Elizabeth Warren.

The controversy over Karlan's joke overshadowed a day of testimony Wednesday where lawmakers and legal scholars sparred, with Democrats and their witnesses reviving concerns raised during the Russia probe, and Republicans and their sole witness arguing the impeachment of Trump seems “predetermined,” “woefully inadequate,” and “dangerous.” Click here for more on our top story.

Trump administration considering sending 14,000 more US troops to Middle East over Iran threat: report.

The Trump administration is considering sending as many as 14,000 additional troops, dozens of more ships and other military hardware to counter the growing threat of Iran, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move could double the number of U.S. military personnel who have been sent to the region since the start of a troop buildup in May. President Trump is expected to make a decision on the new deployments as soon as this month.

Just last week, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard threatened to destroy the United States and its Middle Eastern allies, accusing them during a televised speech of instigating the violent protests that erupted in November after the announcement of massive fuel price hikes.

Sailor at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard kills two civilians before turning gun on himself, report says

A sailor opened fire at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii on Wednesday, killing at least two civilians before he turned the gun on himself, Fox News has learned. The shooting took place near the USS Columbia, a Los Angeles-class attack submarine. The shooter was an active-duty U.S. Navy petty officer attached to the submarine, according to a Navy official. The gunman shot three civilians, two of whom died, before he shot himself in the head, according to a preliminary incident report viewed by Fox News. Officials did not immediately identify the shooter or victims. Click here for more.



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SOME PARTING WORDS

Laura Ingraham breaks down five reasons Democrats' fight to impeach President Trump is over.



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Fox News First is compiled by Fox News' Bryan Robinson. Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! Enjoy your day! We'll see you in your inbox first thing on Friday morning.