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Senate Democrat staffers will be briefed this month by two groups that are looking to protect President Biden from a third-party presidential run that could sap energy from Democrats.

Liberal advocacy groups MoveOn and Third Way will meet with the chiefs of staff to Democratic senators on July 27 to discuss the risks of a potentially well-funded third-party presidential run, Third Way confirmed to Fox News Digital. The story was first reported Monday by Politico.

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Politico reported that a spokesperson for MoveOn said the group is working with several Democrat groups to “stop No Labels from running a third-party ticket.”

A Democratic Senate staffer familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that the chief of staff for each Democratic senator was invited.

The third-party candidate push is spearheaded by centrist group No Labels, which has touted a $70 million plan to back a “unity” candidate. The group has established previous success and influence in Congress, where it founded the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. But its push for a third-party candidate in 2024 has led to pushback from Democrats in the caucus.

“No Labels is wasting time, energy and money on a bizarre effort that confuses and divides voters, and has one obvious outcome – re-electing Donald Trump as president,” Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., said in May.

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Speculations of a possible third-party presidential run have focused on Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who has established himself as a leading moderate Democrat and is up for a tough re-election bid in 2024. Manchin has repeatedly declined to rule out a presidential run.

A Manchin staffer told Fox News Digital his chief of staff plans to attend the meeting with MoveOn and Third Way if his schedule permits.

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The possibility of a well-funded third-party challenger to Biden’s re-election campaign comes amid a wave of concerning polls for the president. Biden had a 44% approval rate and 55% disapproval rate in Fox News’ June poll.

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Biden faces a primary challenge from Robert Kennedy, Jr., who several polls show with support in the 10-20% range.

Inventor Nikola Tesla was born on this day in history, July 10, 1856, in what is now Croatia. 

Tesla’s father was a priest in the Serbian Orthodox Church, notes Encyclopedia Britannica. 

His mother, while uneducated, was “highly intelligent.” 

The younger Tesla took a keen interest in science at a young age. Around the age of six, he started to conduct experiments, according to the website for the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe in New York.

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“His keen interest in nature and the way things work, combined with intelligence and curiosity, led to childhood inventions such as a motor powered by June bugs, air piston gun and frog-catching device,” said the website.

“In elementary school he built water turbines and dreamed of using Niagara Falls to generate power, a dream that he saw come to life in 1896,” the site added.

As a young adult, Tesla worked at the Budapest Telephone Exchange and at a job installing lights in Paris. 

At both of these jobs, Tesla was able to invent improvements to existing technology.

In Budapest, Tesla “improved the equipment and developed an amplifier” — while in Paris, “Tesla made improvements to Edison’s dynamos and created an automatic regulator,” said the Tesla Science Center. 

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Tesla would move to the United States in 1884, at the age of 28. 

He arrived in New York City “with four cents in his pocket,” said the website Tesla Universe.

That same year, Tesla met Thomas Edison. 

Edison “essentially hired Tesla on the spot” and put him to work on the electrical system of the ocean liner “Oregon,” the first ship with electric lighting. 

“The set of dynamos that powered the ship were badly damaged and Edison was amazed to learn that Tesla had repaired him,” said Tesla Universe. 

Tesla and Edison’s relationship would deteriorate the following year, said Tesla Universe, reportedly after Edison reneged on an offer to pay Tesla $50,000 for improving Edison’s direct current generator. 

Despite Tesla’s work to improve the generator, Edison refused to pay him, reportedly saying, “You don’t understand our American humor.” 

Tesla invented the “Tesla coil” in 1891 — the same year he became a U.S. citizen.

Among Tesla’s notable achievements are patents for the alternating-current dynamo, transformer, and motor, said Encyclopedia Britannica. 

Those patents were sold to George Westinghouse in May 1888. 

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“The transaction precipitated a titanic power struggle between Edison’s direct-current systems and the Tesla-Westinghouse alternating-current approach, which eventually won out,” said Encyclopedia Britannica. 

In 1891 — the same year he became a U.S. citizen — Tesla invented the “Tesla coil,” “an air-core transformer with primary and secondary coils tuned to resonate,” according to California State University, Long Beach. 

“Tesla conceived it to be a means to transmit electrical power without wires,” said the same source.

Eventually, Tesla would acquire nearly 300 patents throughout his life, said the Tesla Science Center. 

He was particularly interested in the concept of a wireless energy transmission system.

In his later years, he reportedly became rather eccentric, and had a fixation on the pigeons that lived near his hotel.

Despite his lasting impact on electricity as we know it, Tesla himself died in debt and alone on Jan. 7, 1943, in the hotel room where he lived, said Tesla Universe. 

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In the modern era, the name Tesla is most commonly associated with a brand of electric cars.

Tesla, Inc. was founded as Tesla Motors in 2003 by entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, notes Encyclopedia Britannica. 

Elon Musk joined the company the following year — and became its largest shareholder. 

The company was named in honor of Nikola Tesla, inventor of the AC motor that powers the company’s cars. 

Tesla Motors produced its first car, the Roadster, in 2008 — and in October 2008, Musk was named CEO. 

In 2010, the company went public. 

Production of the Roadster ceased in 2012, said Encyclopedia Britannica, and the company changed its name to Tesla, Inc. in 2017.

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Now, the company sells several models of cars–Model S, Model 3, Model Y, and Model X–along with solar panels and the “Powerwall.” 

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The Powerwall is a battery system that can power a home in case of a power outage, says its website. 

Federal, state and local agencies were continuing to search Sunday for an inmate who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison using a rope made of bed sheets, authorities said.

The City of Warren Police Department said Michael Charles Burham, 34, escaped from the Warren County Prison on Thursday by tying sheets together to make a rope and using it to slide off the roof of the prison, reported the Erie Times-News, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Burham is wanted in connection with the killing of a woman in Jamestown, New York, on May 11, the publication reported. He is accused of fleeing the area after her death, which led to a multi-agency manhunt that ended with his arrest in South Carolina on May 24.

Burham – who has not been charged in the homicide – has been charged with kidnapping an elderly couple and stealing their SUV at gunpoint on May 20 to drive to South Carolina, the Times-News reported.

Burham was being held on a $1 million bond in the kidnapping case. 

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Burham is “dangerous” and “should not be approached,” Warren city police said.

In a Saturday news conference, Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said Burham is a “self-taught survivalist with military experience and could be potentially holed up in a wooded area,” The Associated Press reported.

Northwestern University football players released a joint statement Saturday night following allegations that the team conducted hazing involving sexual abuse with head coach Pat Fitzgerald knowing about it. 

A report from The Daily Northwestern had a former player detailing allegations of “absolutely egregious and vile and inhumane behavior” that took place within the organization. It ultimately led the university to suspend Fitzgerald for two weeks this past Friday. 

However, the “ENTIRE Northwestern Football Team” penned a letter, obtained by ESPN, to push back on the claims in that report. 

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“Northwestern Football players DO NOT tolerate hazing,” the letter read. “We want to reiterate that as representatives of the Northwestern Football program, we do not tolerate hazing in any form. Hazing goes against our values of respect, integrity, and personal growth. We are committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive environment that promotes the well-being and development of every individual on our team.

“It is disheartening to see that the allegations brought forth against our team have been exaggerated and twisted into lies. These fabrications have been made with the intention of harming our program and tarnish the reputation of our dedicated players and coaching staff. We firmly deny the validity of these accusations and stand united in our assertion that they do not reflect the true character of our team.”

The letter added that Northwestern conducted an “independent third-party” investigation into the matter that took “a rigorous six months” to complete. The investigation included interviews with current and former players as well as coaching staff. 

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“Following this thorough examination, outside counsel in collaboration with the University reached its own conclusions, which we trust were based on a fair and unbiased evaluation of the facts,” the letter continued. 

Fitzgerald denied knowing about the allegations, though the player that came forward to The Daily Northwestern said he would make a signal during practice that showed he was in on the hazing. 

“It is crucial to note that our Head Coach, Pat Fitzgerald, was not involved in any of the alleged incidents in any way, shape, or form,” the letter read. “Coach Fitzgerald had no knowledge of these allegations until they were brought to his attention during the investigation. Throughout his tenure, Coach Fitzgerald has consistently prioritized the well-being and development of his players, and we stand behind him in his unwavering commitment to our team.

“We urge you to respect the privacy and well-being of the individuals involved, including both the accused and the accusers. Our team remains committed to our Head Coach and upholding the values of Northwestern University and fostering a positive, inclusive, and respectful environment for all.”

The player that came forward detailed how mostly freshman would be “dry-[humped]” by upperclassmen who were dressed in “Purge-like” masks in a practice, which was called “running.” A player would be “ran” if mistakes were made. 

The player explained how clapping above the heads of players by other team members indicated that the player must be “ran,” and Fitzgerald was allegedly in on it. 

“It’s a shocking experience as a freshman to see your fellow freshman teammates get ran, but then you see everybody bystanding in the locker room,” the player said. “It’s just a really abrasive and barbaric culture that has permeated throughout that program for years on end now.

“Everyone would just be looking at each other and be like, ‘Bro, Fitz knows about this,’ because you wouldn’t take that action otherwise,” the player added. “Everyone joins in because he’s the head coach.”

Other hazing incidents allegedly include stripping naked and performing various acts, including bear crawling. The player said a freshman quarterback was also forced to take a snap from a freshman center while they were both naked. 

There is also the “Gatorade shake challenge,” with players forced to consume as many Gatorade shakes as possible in 10 minutes, which would lead many to vomit. 

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Fitzgerald, who has been a coach at the university since 2006, released a statement saying he was “very disappointed” to hear about the accusations against his program. 

“Northwestern football prides itself on producing not just athletes, but fine young men with character befitting the program and our university,” he noted. “We hold our student-athletes and our program to the highest standards; we will continue to work to exceed those standards moving forward.”

The university will be requiring all coaches, staff members and athletes to go through anti-hazing training. 

Northwestern may be revisiting the two-week suspension of Fitzgerald given the new allegations that have come forth from the student newspaper.

“In determining an appropriate penalty for the head coach, I focused too much on what the report concluded he didn’t know and not enough on what he should have known,”  Northwestern president Michael Schill wrote in a letter Saturday, per ESPN.

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“As the head coach of one of our athletics programs, coach Fitzgerald is not only responsible for what happens within the program but also must take great care to uphold our institutional commitment to the student experience.… Clearly, he failed to uphold that commitment, and I failed to sufficiently consider that failure in levying a sanction.”

Fox News’ Ryan Morik and The Associated Press contributed to this report.