NationalWatch

An Obama-appointed federal judge who previously blocked President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order has again dealt a major setback to the administration by striking down Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa payment requirement and declaring the policy unlawful.

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin of Massachusetts ruled Monday that the Trump administration lacked the authority to impose the hefty payment on employers seeking new H-1B visas, finding that the requirement amounted to a tax that only Congress has the constitutional power to impose.

In Monday’s 42-page decision, Sorokin sided with a coalition of 20 states that challenged Trump’s September 2025 proclamation creating a new $100,000 payment requirement for employers filing petitions for foreign workers under the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. employers to hire skilled foreign workers. Approximately 65,000 foreign workers are issued a H-1B visa each year.

TRUMP’S $100K H-1B VISA OVERHAUL COULD HIT TECH GIANTS LIKE AMAZON AND MICROSOFT HARDEST

Before Trump’s proclamation, employers typically paid between $2,000 and $5,000 in filing fees to sponsor an H-1B worker, depending on the type of application and the size of the company.

The administration had argued that the measure was necessary to curb abuse of the visa system and protect American workers.

Trump’s proclamation stated that the H-1B program had been exploited to replace U.S. workers with lower-paid foreign labor and that the new payment would help address those concerns.

Sorokin rejected the administration’s legal justification, finding that the Immigration and Nationality Act gives presidents broad authority over the entry of noncitizens but does not authorize them to impose taxes.

“While the Executive has broad discretion over the admission and exclusion of aliens, … that discretion is not boundless,” Sorokin wrote, referring to previous case law.

Sorokin concluded that the payment functioned as a tax rather than a permissible immigration restriction.

TRUMP IS DOWN BUT NOT OUT IN COURT BATTLE OVER HARVARD’S FOREIGN STUDENT VISAS

“The Court finds that the Policy imposes a tax on H-1B petitions without the requisite delegation by Congress,” Sorokin wrote.

He further rejected the administration’s argument that the payment requirement was simply another immigration restriction, bluntly stating: “Taxes are not ‘restrictions.'”

Beyond the constitutional concerns, Sorokin also found that federal agencies violated the Administrative Procedure Act by implementing the policy without notice-and-comment rule making and concluded that the agencies exceeded their statutory authority.

As a remedy, Sorokin declared the policy unlawful and vacated it in its entirety.

Sorokin, a Yale and Columbia Law School graduate, was nominated to the federal bench by President Barack Obama in 2013 and confirmed by the Senate in 2014. Last year, Sorokin was the fourth judge to issue a nationwide injunction blocking Trump’s executive order seeking to limit birthright citizenship. He ruled that the policy is likely unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. That dispute has since reached the Supreme Court, and a ruling is expected in the coming weeks.

The administration is expected to appeal Sorokin’s decision, setting up another legal battle over the scope of presidential authority in immigration matters and the limits of executive power.

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“President Trump has clear legal authority to restrict entry of any class of aliens he determines is not in America’s best interests, and that is exactly what he did,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. “The H-1B program has been abused for decades, and President Trump finally took action to fix it. A federal judge in Washington already upheld a nearly identical order, and the Administration is confident this order will be reversed on appeal.”

In a separate challenge filed in December 2025, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington declined to block the policy after dismissing claims from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the additional H-1B charge violated federal immigration law.

As Americans mark the nation’s 250th anniversary this year, a survey of adults in the U.S. found that just 25% felt that the country stands above every other nation on the globe, while 44% think that the U.S. is just one of the greatest nations, among some others.

A whopping 30% in the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll thought that there are other nations better than the U.S.

Only 34% believed that the ideal of the American dream, that hard work will enable someone to move ahead in life, remains true. But 51% felt that the American dream is now a relic of the past that once held true but no longer does. And 15% felt that the idea was never true.

THE STATES REVEALED AS BEST TO START A FAMILY AMID CRATERING BELIEF IN THE AMERICAN DREAM

Views varied significantly among people with different political leanings, with 57% on the GOP side of the aisle believing that the American dream remains intact, while just 17% of those on the Democratic side of the aisle felt that way, the AP reported.

The poll found President Donald Trump’s approval rating deep underwater at just 33%, versus 67% disapproval — while 17% strongly approved and 16% somewhat approved, 49% strongly disapproved and 17% somewhat disapproved.

A huge 70% disapproved of his handling of the economy, while just 30% approved.

FOX NEWS POLL: ‘RESILIENT DISCONTENT’ DEFINES THE US MOOD AT 250TH ANNIVERSARY

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The survey was conducted between April 16-20, 2026. Participating adults were aged 18 and up, and represented all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. A total of 2,596 people completed the survey—2,461 online and 135 by phone, the poll data noted.

“The overall margin of sampling error is +/-2.6 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, including the design effect,” the poll stated.

The margin of sampling error for Republicans, including GOP leaners, was +/-4.3 percentage points, while the figure for Democrats, with leaners included, was +/- 3.8 percentage points, the survey said.

“Words taken down.”

That term of art may not mean much off Capitol Hill. But it’s a phrase which usually signals there’s a ruckus in the House of Representatives.

The House witnessed one such melee recently. Lawmakers debated a war powers resolution for Lebanon. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., pushed the measure, hoping to restrict President Donald Trump’s conflict in Iran. Especially as other places in the region emerge as flashpoints.

Tlaib, a Palestinian-America, is one of only two Muslim women in Congress. She is one of the most controversial members of Congress. And she often speaks out against Israel.

“We must end U.S. participation in the Israeli apartheid regime’s invasion of Lebanon. The Israeli military continues to target journalists like Amal Khalil and use our tax dollars to commit war crimes,” said Tlaib.

RASHIDA TLAIB HIT WITH HOUSE CENSURE THREAT, ACCUSED OF ‘CELEBRATING TERRORISM’ IN PRO-PALESTINIAN SPEECH

But the House floor devolved into a verbal fracas when Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, tore into Tlaib, attacking her personally and mentioning Hezbollah during the floor debate.

“Its members are butchers that you like to hang out with to a certain extent,” charged Miller, who is Jewish. “Yes, you advocate for terrorists on a daily basis. You advocate for a terrorist regime every single day.”

Tlaib hollered at Miller from across the chamber, but it wasn’t clear what she said since the Michigan Democrat wasn’t on mic.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are we getting a little emotional?” chided Miller.

Tlaib erupted, at that, shouting even more loudly at Miller.

Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., presided over the debate from the dais. Obernolte had enough of the verbal judo and slammed down the gavel.

“Colleagues, this is a serious topic. We will debate it respectfully and deliberately,” admonished Obernolte. “Is the gentlewoman from Michigan making a motion?”

NANCY MACE CHALLENGES DEM REP TO ‘TAKE IT OUTSIDE’ AFTER ‘CHILD, LISTEN’ COMMENT SPARKS CHAOS

Tlaib had made it to one of the mics in the chamber by this point.

“Yes, Mr. Speaker, I am. That is a direct attack on my character. I please request to strike the words down,” said Tlaib.

And there it was. “Words taken down.”

Tlaib may have garbled the precise verbiage of the parliamentary request. But her motion brought debate on the war powers resolution and all other business before the House to a screeching halt.

“The gentleman from Ohio will be seated,” Obernolte instructed Miller.

In effect, Tlaib’s motion is the parliamentary equivalent of pulling someone over for speeding. You might get a ticket. Maybe not. Especially if you’re cooperative with the officer. But the authorities will first investigate. And that’s what unfolded on the House floor.

During this stasis, the House conducts no business. The House suspends speeches. Amendments. Votes. Nothing happens on the floor until they figure out if someone broke the rules.

The phrase “words taken down” refers to the process of the House’s institutional staff and stenographers to document or “take down” language uttered by a member that may violate House rules. The House prohibits members from personal attacks on fellow lawmakers, impugning the motives of their colleagues or “engaging in personalities.” One member can’t disparage another personally.

Tlaib clearly believed that Miller broke House rules by saying she would “like to hang out” and “advocate for terrorists.” Tlaib also believed the line about her “getting a little emotional” may have crossed the line, too.

‘SQUAD’ MEMBER DELIVERS REAL-TIME WHITEBOARD RESPONSES TO TRUMP: ‘NO KING!’

If it’s pretty clear that a member broke the rules of decorum, someone from leadership or key staff may ask offending lawmaker to withdraw the language in question and apologize. But if the member resists, the House has no alternative but to rule that member out of order. The House then expunges the speech and he or she is suspended from speaking on the House floor the rest of the day.

If the chair rules that member violated the rules, it’s possible that someone could appeal the ruling of the chair. That would entail a roll call vote, where the entire House votes yes or no on whether they believe their colleague broke the rules. Or, another member might move to “table the appeal of the ruling of the chair.” In that scenario, the House votes on whether to kill or set aside the appeal. Thus, the vote is a step removed from actually voting on appealing the chair’s ruling.

After an hour of delay, it was clear that Miller wouldn’t apologize or withdraw his statement.

“The words of the gentleman from Ohio contain an allegation that the gentlewoman from Michigan is a ‘butcher’ and affiliated with a terrorist organization,” said Obernolte. “Such remarks impugn the patriotism and loyalty of the member of the House.”

Obernolte added that “the remarks contain personalities and are not in order. Without objection, the offending words are stricken from the record.”

So the House sanctioned Miller for breaking the rules and benched him for the remainder of the day.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., managed the Lebanon war powers debate on the floor for the GOP. Since the House muted Miller, Mast spoke on his behalf.

“I’m going to deliver a message from Rep. Miller of Ohio,” said Mast, who quoted this Republican colleague. “‘Yes, I said it. I own it. And I stand by it.’”

CHAOS ERUPTS DURING IMMIGRATION HEARING AS DEMOCRAT LUNGES AT CHAIRMAN’S GAVEL: ‘I’M TIRED OF YOU’ ‘

The Florida Republican then asked the House if he could submit for the record an article entitled ‘Rashida Talib, member of secret Facebook Group where Hamas Terrorists glorified.’”

Tlaib objected.

Mast then tried to submit into the record a transcript about Tlaib allegedly speaking about genocide.

Tlaib objected to that as well.

Yours truly first encountered a parliamentary donnybrook like this in 1994 while working at C-SPAN. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., tangled with then-Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y. The House ruled Waters out of order. Then-House Speaker Tom Foley, D-Wash., came to the floor to mete out the punishment, not leaving the umpiring to a more junior lawmaker.

The day after the Tlaib/Miller brouhaha, Obernolte released a bipartisan framework to help establish guardrails for AI.

I pressed Obernolte on how an AI chatbot might handle the dust-up if it were presiding over the House.

“AI is actually very good at this. You give it a rules manual and then you give it a specific instance and say ‘Is this in compliance with rules or is this a violation of the rules?’” said Obernolte. “I think last night was obviously someone engaging in personalities. And, I think I made the correct ruling. I think AI would have also made the correct ruling.”

It wasn’t that long ago that the actual Speaker of the House came to the floor to sort out a kerfuffle between two members. Could the House ever delegate such refereeing to AI?

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Taking down words? Ruling members out of order? Suspending members for additional speeches that day if they get out of line?

One can imagine that members will say a lot of words worthy of being taken down if AI ever becomes the parliamentary umpire in the House of Representatives.

President Donald Trump’s selection of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of National Intelligence elevates a housing finance regulator and former social media philanthropist to one of the government’s most sensitive national security posts.

Before entering government, Pulte was best known as the grandson of the founder of homebuilding giant PulteGroup and for building a large following through social media philanthropy campaigns that distributed money to followers online. He later became a prominent figure in conservative social media circles before Trump tapped him to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Trump announced the selection in a Truth Social post, praising Pulte’s leadership of the housing finance system and his experience managing “the most sensitive matters in America.” 

The White House declined to tell Fox News Digital whether Trump is considering Pulte for the position on a permanent basis. But expectations for Pulte became clearer Friday when Trump told The Wall Street Journal that he wants the acting intelligence chief to begin reducing the size of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

TRUMP NAMES BILL PULTE ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

“I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” Trump told the newspaper, describing the agency as “unnecessary and/or too big.” Asked whether he wants Pulte to fire employees, Trump said he wants him to “start the process.”

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., quickly endorsed the effort, arguing that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has expanded far beyond the mission Congress envisioned when it created the office after the Sept. 11 attacks.

“President Trump is right: the ODNI has grown far beyond its original mandate,” Cotton wrote on X. “I’ve long advocated for downsizing, if not outright eliminating, this bureaucracy.”

The appointment immediately generated pushback from lawmakers and former officials who argued that Pulte lacks the experience for the role.

But Trump allies, many of whom spent years railing against an intelligence “Deep State” they believed was working to undermine Trump insisted he would dutifully carry out the president’s agenda.

“There is still very much so – I would say – internally a battle between different intelligence agencies,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said. “Half the battle in these intelligence positions is the fact that you want someone that will not obstruct the declassification order but assist in locating documents, and that is something that Bill will do.”

TRUMP’S DRASTIC NSC CUTS SPARK DEBATE: DOES FIGHTING THE ‘DEEP STATE’ PUT NATIONAL SECURITY AT RISK?

“Bill Pulte is a great American and Patriot who will always fight for President Trump and his agenda,” White House communications director Steven Cheung wrote on X. “This is an important time in our country, and Bill has the required energy and focus to achieve great things in this new position.”

Pulte’s selection follows a period of public friction between Trump and outgoing director Tulsi Gabbard, who leaves the role on June 30. 

Gabbard entered the role as a critic of the intelligence establishment, but her assessment that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon became a point of contention with the president as the administration moved toward military action against Tehran. Trump publicly rejected her assessment, saying “I don’t care what she said” and later declaring that she was “wrong.”

Neither Trump nor his allies have defended Pulte’s selection by pointing to any intelligence or national security experience. Instead, supporters have emphasized his management experience, willingness to challenge bureaucracy and commitment to advancing administration priorities.

The White House declined to tell Fox News Digital whether Trump is considering Pulte for the position on a permanent basis. The distinction could prove significant, as acting officials can wield most of the authorities of Senate-confirmed officeholders while serving in a role intended to be temporary.

“Very few Senate-confirmable positions come with statutory eligibility requirements. There are good reasons why the Director of National Intelligence is one of them,” former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.

“Anyone performing this role of such immense public trust must have the extensive national security experience required by statute, and no nominee who falls short of this requirement will earn my vote,” McConnell added.

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., similarly argued that Pulte lacks the qualifications envisioned for the position.

“The concern is not only that Mr. Pulte lacks the ‘extensive national security experience’ required by statute,” Warner said. “It is that he appears to have been selected precisely because the White House believes he will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence we need.”

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., a former FBI agent who now chairs the House Intelligence Committee’s CIA Subcommittee, was similarly blunt.

“He shouldn’t be there,” Fitzpatrick said. “He’s got no background in intelligence.”

Not all intelligence overseers were critical of the appointment, however. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Ark., defended Trump’s selection and dismissed concerns about Pulte’s résumé.

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“Maybe you should think about something else,” Crawford said. “This guy, whether anybody knows him or not, at least is not guilty of trying to orchestrate a coup against a sitting president.”

Pulte did not respond to a request for comment. 

Earlier in 2026, Pulte said the FHFA had referred alleged Chinese and North Korean nationals to the Justice Department after discovering they had been working at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while allegedly posing as other individuals.

EXCLUSIVE — Noncitizens in a key blue state were on the voter rolls for years — and some even voted in prior elections, according to documents obtained via public records request.

The New Jersey Republican Party (NJGOP) and the Republican National Committee (RNC) requested voter rolls from all 21 counties in the Garden State and found multiple instances of noncitizens seeking naturalization asking to be removed from the rolls, claiming they were unknowingly registered to vote. Most were registered as Democrats.

Noncitizens cannot vote in state or federal elections, and the candidates for citizenship worried that being on the rolls would disqualify them.

In official letters viewed by Fox News Digital from Atlantic County, Superintendent of Elections & Commissioner of Registration Maureen Bugdon certified that noncitizens came to her asking to be removed.

FOUR NONCITIZENS CHARGED WITH ILLEGALLY VOTING IN 2020, 2022 AND 2024 FEDERAL ELECTIONS IN NEW JERSEY

“Please allow this letter to confirm that on today’s date, the below referenced individual came before this office to confirm her registration and voter status,” the typical letter reads. “She relayed that she did not wish to be a New Jersey registered voter and does not understand how she became registered through the Department of Motor Vehicles, allegedly.”

Most of the letters confirmed that the noncitizens did not have a voting record, but not all.

One noncitizen, who the county said was removed from the rolls in 2015, voted several times in 2000 and 2001, and in the 2008 general election. Another voted in a primary election in 2005 and a municipal election in 2000.

TRUMP ADMIN BLOCKS CITIZENSHIP FOR ILLEGAL MIGRANT VOTERS

Other documents showed noncitizens directly asking to be removed from the rolls through a state voter registration cancellation form.

When prompted about why they wished to be removed, the vast majority of the unknowingly registered voters checked a box labeled “other” and wrote that they were not citizens.

In Atlantic County alone, Fox News Digital reviewed more than 50 documents from noncitizens attesting that they were registered to vote unknowingly.

OVERSIGHT GROUP SEEKS DOCS FROM WALZ’S MINNESOTA AS DOJ REBUKES VIRGINIA VOTER-ROLL MAINTENANCE

RNC Chairman Joe Gruters says the group found hundreds of noncitizen registrants in New Jersey who are likely only the tip of the iceberg, but that New Jersey and other Democrat-run states are unwilling to disclose information about their voter registration list maintenance processes. The organization has requested that information from 48 states.

“I mean, it’s really incredible because here the Democrats are saying that, you know, noncitizens never vote, [that], this is a non-issue, but every county we’re finding people that are self-reporting now, and I’m glad we’re doing these records request because it’s really eye-opening, because this is just the people that have self-reported,” Gruters told Fox News Digital.

“You want a democracy that’s secure and elections that are free and safe and that people can depend upon, and people have full confidence in,” he said.

RNC LAUNCHES MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR ELECTION INTEGRITY PUSH IN 17 STATES AHEAD OF MIDTERMS

The RNC in 2024 made a full-throated election integrity push to ensure, one that continues to this day, according to Gruters.

He told Fox News Digital that the group is “bringing the hammer down” and that it has “boots on the ground” across the country to ensure even more diligence in November.

“We have staffers already in 17 states working on these issues to make sure that, like I said, it goes back to having a safe and secure election that’s free and fair,” he said.

RNC GETS DAY AT SUPREME COURT TO CHALLENGE LATE-ARRIVING MAIL BALLOTS

Gruters is also optimistic about another RNC battle on the election integrity front.

The Supreme Court is soon set to decide on the case of Watson vs. RNC, a challenge to laws that allow ballots to be cast by mail on election day, but counted days later. The RNC’s goal is eliminate the practice, which Gruters highlighted as California continues to count ballots from Tuesday night’s primary elections almost a week after polls closed.

He said a win in that case could be “one of our biggest election victories ever.”

“I mean, just what’s happened with [Los Angeles Mayoral Candidate] Spencer Pratt should open your eyes, and you should be sick to your stomach,” he said. “This should not be allowed in America.”

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Gruters said that when elections have an “open-ended target date,” it opens the doors for potential manipulation.

“We’re fighting hard to put an end to this, and this, like I said, this could be probably our biggest win ever from an election integrity standpoint by stopping this and making sure that election day means exactly what it says, election day.”

Democratic New Jersey Gov. Mickie Sherrill’s office did not return a request for comment. Neither did the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission or Atlantic County officials.

A spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles said  it’s rare that noncitizens end up on the rolls. 

“MVC, together with state and local partners across New Jersey, uses rigorous processes to ensure eligible individuals register to vote through the MVC. Consistent with all applicable laws, individuals who apply to register to vote through the MVC affirm their citizenship. While it is exceedingly rare that non-citizens claim citizenship or other voter eligibility through the MVC, such instances are taken extremely seriously by this agency.”

SEE THE FULL CACHE OF DOCUMENTS HERE:

A Republican-led congressional oversight report alleges that senior Minnesota officials, including Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., failed for years to act on warnings about fraud in the state’s social services programs, allowing hundreds of millions of dollars in confirmed or alleged losses and placing billions more at risk.

The Walz administration had the power to stop fraudulent payments to high-risk entities receiving federal nutrition and Medicaid funds, but the state “repeatedly failed to act” after officials raised concerns, according to a 205-page final staff report released by the House Oversight Committee on Monday.  

Congressional investigators found that concerns about potential racial discrimination claims — rather than legal constraints — contributed to the Walz administration’s decision to continue paying providers suspected of fraud. The committee also spoke to nearly 30 whistleblowers, some of whom accused the Walz administration of retaliation against state employees for sounding the alarm about potential fraud.

“Fraud warnings were elevated to the most senior levels of the Minnesota state government, meaningful corrective action was delayed or avoided, and payments continued long after credible signs of fraud emerged,” the report reads in part.

OWNER OF DAYCARE IN VIRAL NICK SHIRLEY VIDEO CHARGED IN $4.6M DAYCARE FRAUD SCHEME, PROSECUTORS SAY

The committee found Minnesota is estimated to have lost $300 million in stolen federal nutrition funds intended to feed hungry children during the COVID-19 pandemic and that as much as $9 billion in Medicaid billing may have been fraudulent, an estimate attributed to a federal prosecutor and disputed by Walz administration officials.

Walz was allegedly aware of fraud associated with the now-defunct Feeding Our Future nonprofit that operated a constellation of fake meal sites as early as 2020, but payments continued flowing to the group for roughly two more years. The oversight panel also found Walz gave conflicting answers about when he first learned of the sweeping meal fraud. 

Federal prosecutors have charged more than 110 individuals in connection with various fraud schemes in the state. Many defendants in the Feeding Our Future case have been identified as members of Minnesota’s Somali immigrant community, in connection with various fraud schemes in the state. Some of the convicted fraudsters used the stolen money for luxury purchases and state officials have investigated whether a portion of it was funneled overseas to aid terrorist groups in Somalia and the Middle East.

“Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison are responsible for one of the most stunning oversight failures this Committee has ever examined,” Comer said in a statement. “It is now clear the Walz Administration chose to protect the system rather than protect the taxpayer.”

The report caps a months long investigation into the Walz administration’s handling of widespread fraud, which began in late 2025 and included hearing testimony from Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison as well as members of the Minnesota state legislature’s fraud committee. Nine current and former state officials also participated in transcribed interviews with congressional investigators.

The panel is also probing alleged health care fraud in California and Ohio as part of Republicans’ ongoing “war on fraud.”

MINNESOTA TAXPAYER DOLLARS FUNNELED TO AL-SHABAAB TERROR GROUP, REPORT ALLEGES

The committee sent a letter to Vice President JD Vance urging a full review of Minnesota’s social services programs for potential fraud vulnerabilities, following the report’s findings.

Vance’s anti-fraud task force has led to the arrest of at least eight people who allegedly participated in health care fraud schemes and the freezing of $1.3 billion in payments to home health and hospice providers suspected of defrauding the government. 

Earlier this year, the Trump administration suspended nearly $260 million in federal Medicaid funding to Minnesota over the Walz administration’s alleged failure to crack down on fraud.

The Trump administration has also required states to show they are aggressively probing potential Medicaid fraud or risk losing federal funding.

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The report also comes as the House is expected to consider a slate of fraud-prevention bills this week. Republicans have argued that new legislative tools are necessary to prevent fraud at the state level amid alleged inaction.

The federal government loses an estimated $233 billion to $521 billion annually to fraud, according to a 2024 Government Accountability Office report.

Spencer Pratt’s independent bid to make the Los Angeles mayoral runoff hangs in the balance nearly a week after Election Day.

With the jungle primary leaving incumbent Democrat Mayor Karen Bass already ruled to have advanced to a November runoff, Pratt’s margin over Democrat City Councilmember Nithya Raman has slimmed to just 1% with a few thousand ballots left to make up the difference.

Pratt led Raman by just 7,494 votes in the latest AP elections tally with 78% of the vote counted to date. Bass remained in first place with 235,180 votes (34.8%), while Pratt had 184,596 votes (27.3%) and Raman had 177,102 votes (26.2%).

Los Angeles County continues to count ballots postmarked on or before Election Day and received by Tuesday, June 9, drawing the attention of the Republican National Committee. The election results must only be counted within 30 days and certified by July 10.

CALIFORNIA’S SLUGGISH VOTE COUNTING RIPPED ACROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM: ‘EXTREMELY EMBARRASSING’

“The California primary ended on June 2, 2026; yet California is still counting ballots,” the RNC website tracker counting the seconds since polls closed reads.

“The state’s election system is a complete joke. The RNC is tracking every hour it takes California to finish the count.”

The latest ballot update gave Raman another boost, as she picked up 23,514 votes in the latest batch, more than double Pratt’s 10,336-vote gain. That cut Pratt’s lead by 13,178 votes in a single day and pushed the contest for second place into uncertain territory.

Pratt posted a meme to X decrying the ongoing ballot count in the race.

“Me trying to figure out how votes get counted in LA,” he wrote Saturday night.

Under California’s top-two primary system, if no candidate wins more than 50% of the votes, the two highest vote-getters advance to the general election. The AP reported that Bass advanced to the runoff after finishing first in the crowded mayoral primary, while Pratt and Raman continued battling for the remaining November spot.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., pointed to California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom when discussing the delayed results.

“The question to the rest of the world is what happened to California elections? Well, I’ll tell you, it’s Gavin Newsom,” McCarthy told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “When Gavin Newsom was elected governor of California, you knew who was elected in a day to two days. Now it takes more than weeks, almost a month.”

“Why did we get here?” McCarthy continued. “Gavin changed a number of election laws in which you want to see is what did he do and why did he cause it?”

WATCH: LEFT-WING LA MAYOR FACES REALITY TV CHALLENGER’S BLUNT TAKEDOWNS IN HEATED MAYORAL DEBATE

The slow count has drawn heightened attention because later-counted ballots have steadily cut into Pratt’s lead.

Longtime Democrat strategist Michael Trujillo told The California Post on Saturday that the trend pointed to a likely runoff appearance for Raman, calling the late ballot counting “normal” for California and telling critics to “go back to where you came from.”

“I was always a little jealous of east coast elections getting so much attention in the media and on this app, yeah nevermind,” he wrote on X. “The stupidity from these out of state analysts and reporters and the bots and fake accounts it brings to what is really a very NORMAL process happening in Los Angeles and California is annoying.

“Go back to where you came from, thanks.”

SPENCER PRATT SEIZES ON HOMELESSNESS REMARKS BY KAREN BASS, BLASTS DEMOCRAT FOR FAILURES

Conservatives on X are decrying the probability of Pratt being shut out of the runoff.

“Spencer Pratt is likely going to be overtaken by far left Nithya Raman today,” Robby Starbuck wrote on X. “This graph shows the count on Election Day through last night. “Nithya did this by suddenly winning 1st in every new ballot drop.

“North Korean ‘elections’ have more self respect. Even they’d find it absurd for 3rd to suddenly jump to 1st place in every ballot drop DAYS after an election. It’s just ludicrous.”

That post also brought the attention of X owner Elon Musk.

“The reason ID is banned in California (and New York) elections is to enable large-scale fraud,” Musk claimed on X, replying to Starbuck’s post. “When you combine no ID and mail-in voting, fraud is de facto legalized.”

SCOTUS CONSERVATIVES SIGNAL READINESS TO CURB LATE-ARRIVING MAIL BALLOTS

Starbuck noted the historic run Raman’s count has made.

“ChatGPT can’t find a single example of a 3rd place candidate surging, days AFTER Election Day, to overtake 2nd place,” he wrote Sunday morning. “It couldn’t find 1 example in all of American history. That’s what’s happening with Nithya Raman & Spencer Pratt.

“Los Angeles has 3rd world country elections.”

Democrats merely point back to an overwhelming edge in registered Democrat voters versus Republicans, even if Pratt is running as an independent.

“IF SOMETHING CAN BE EXPLAINED BY A CONVOLUTED CONSPIRACY THEORY—OR SIMPLE MATH—THEN MATH ALWAYS WINS,” Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., wrote on X. “LA Registered Voters. Approximate number of Dems: 1,224,737 Approximate number of Republicans: 326,292.”

RNC RAILS AGAINST CALIFORNIA’S LATE MAIL-IN BALLOT COUNTING AMID NATIONAL LITIGATION: ‘IT IS ABSURD’

Americans “want to see election integrity,” McCarthy told host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday.

“They want to see transparency and they want to see timely reporting: We had that in California,” McCarthy, a former Republican House member in the deep-blue state, said. “We were very liberal in the rules about absentee ballots, but we had accountability.”

“We had cut off voter registration 30 days before the election. That helps the registrars to know who’s going to vote and the candidates,” he continued. “Now we have same day voter, and you don’t have to show ID. Gavin changed the rules where he mails ballots to everyone. So he took away the choice to Californians to vote in person or to vote absentee. Everybody gets mailed a ballot. But he didn’t clean up the rolls. So that raises doubt in people’s minds.”

McCarthy noted Raman’s Election Night disappointment was originally telling.

“When you look at the LA mayor’s race, the third place person gave it like a concession speech that night and cried, and she was getting the most votes in the last drop,” McCarthy said. “So if she didn’t even believe that she could move up, that puts in question to the whole election itself. And that’s why it brings doubt to people.”

President Donald Trump had weighed in, too, with the RNC pointing to the pending Watson v. RNC Supreme Court decision on late ballot counting due soon.

The Watson decision might come before the end of June.

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“.@POTUS is right,” the RNC’s Election Integrity unit posted on X. “That’s why the RNC has boots on the ground and is fighting in the Supreme Court to stop ballots received after Election Day from being counted. MAKE ELECTIONS SECURE AGAIN!”

Jonathan Bush, a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Maine who has been vying for President Donald Trump’s endorsement ahead of this week’s June 9 primary, previously ran a network of birthing clinics in the San Diego County area that often catered to migrant women, a Fox News Digital review found.

“Here we were, the largest obstetric practice in San Diego County and our business was mostly Medi-Cal, the state welfare program, and migrant workers. We needed their business and even appealed to them with Spanish-language ads on local TV,” Bush, who was referring to Athena Women’s Health, commonly known at the time as Athena Health, recounted in Where Does it Hurt? — a 2014 book he co-authored.

At its height, Athena Health helped give birth to thousands of children, according to Bush, who opened a network of birthing clinics with his business partner, Todd Park, who would go on to serve years later as the chief technology officer during the Obama administration.

“We actually owned a birth center. And at the height, we were doing 3,000 babies a year,” Bush told the audience on the Venture Fizz Podcast in 2022. “If you multiplied our monthly run rate, maybe 3,300. So really big, prosperous, not prosperous. A lot of low-income families with very low couldn’t, not on Medicaid, had to pay cash, migrant laborers, all kinds of people.”

FED AUDIT, EMERGENCY MEDICAID U.DERCUT DEMS ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT HEALTH COVERAGE

Bush’s resurfaced comments about his business raise questions about whether he had knowingly helped women, who may not have been American citizens, secure U.S. citizenship for their children through birthright citizenship and come as he wages a campaign to become the Republican nominee for governor in Maine.

When pressed by Fox New Digital with questions about Athena’s work with immigrants, the Bush campaign pushed back, arguing that Athenahealth had never offered birthing services and that, as a healthcare software company, it would have been illegal to provide them. 

“To distract from his flailing campaign, 25-year DC lobbyist Bobby Charles continues to lie about my record of creating hundreds of Maine jobs,” Bush said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Ironically, Lobby Charles – who lied about his military service – lobbied for a liberal pro-illegal immigrant, pro-gun control, pro-birthright citizenship California Democrat Attorney General. Here’s the truth without the Lobbyist Lies: athenahealth/Athena Women’s Health provided software, billing, and management services to 116,000 American doctors.” 

“They have never provided any medical services of any kind. And as I’ve said consistently, I agree with President Trump — illegal immigrants should be deported,” Bush, a first cousin to former President George W. Bush, added.

While Bush’s statement about Athenahealth not providing medical services with birthing clinics is accurate, the failed venture, Athena Health, that Bush was initially involved with for less than 2 years was operating birthing clinics.

“Our new company started out with twelve clinics scattered through San Diego County,” Bush said in his 2014 book, referring to Athena Health. “The six doctors and thirty-five midwives were doing two thousand births a year. The midwives were all Latinas. They were warm and friendly and supportive, just what our business plan called for.”

A 2005 profile piece also reveals the early days of their main birthing clinic, where they were “listening to the urgent and beautiful sounds of a baby’s first gulps of air from the birthing room nearby.”

“Jonathan Bush and Todd Park sat in their offices in a San Diego birthing clinic in 1997, listening to the urgent and beautiful sounds of a baby’s first gulps of air from the birthing room nearby. The cries were music for the two fresh-faced former Booz Allen Hamilton health-care consultants, 28 and 24, respectively, who had decided they’d learned enough to run a physician’s clinic better and more efficiently than the doctors could,” the article reads. 

The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity also describes Bush’s work with Athena as a “birthing clinic in San Diego.” 

GOP GUBERNATORIAL HOPEFUL BLASTED BY CRITICS FOR ‘LYING’ ON STAGE ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT HIRES

It’s unclear what portion of his clients were migrant women. But from his own comments, the volume appears to have been a significant volume of business.

“‘All migrants all the time.’ It was a laugh line for us, but not a very funny one. This was not the thriving business we envisioned. We were hemorrhaging money,” Bush said in his book.

“A lot of low-income families had to pay cash — migrant laborers, all kinds of people,” he continued.

Bush, who has been a healthcare technology entrepreneur for decades and is best known for co-founding Athenahealth, a cloud-based software and services company marketed to medical practices, has touted this experience on the campaign trail.

“I’ve made my career disrupting the status quo, creating jobs and helping people achieve their American dream,” Bush, who announced his candidacy for governor in October, said in an announcement video.

During his race, he has positioned himself as a Maine-first candidate, promising to make Maine more of a destination state for businesses and investors by cutting taxes, auditing local government, and increasing energy supplies by tapping into natural gas reserves.

While he has distanced himself from the MAGA wing of the Republican Party on some issues, he recently told Fox News that “everybody wants endorsements, a giant endorsement like Donald Trump would be phenomenal. He’s held off. This is a purple state…we’d love one.”

Although he has leaned heavily on his business experience to make his pitch to voters, his top GOP opponent, Bobby Charles, believes his birthing clinics and the pitch to migrant women goes against the pro-America, pro-Maine message he’s pitching now.

“It is not surprising to hear Bush now may also have been involved in facilitating illegal immigration. The contrast couldn’t be clearer. I am a pro-Trump conservative who will remove illegals out of the state and ban sharia law. Jonathan ‘Never Trump,’ Bush simply can’t be trusted to do what most Mainers want,” Charles said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

According to the National Immigration Law Center, undocumented immigrants are not eligible to enroll in insurance programs, prompting them to search out services where they can find lower costs and payment flexibility. 

According to Bush, as Athena continued to take on a higher volume of those clients, the business’s stability weakened.

MINNESOTA MEDICAID OPERATOR’S BANKRUPTCY-TO-RICHES RISE CRASHES INTO FRAUD PROBE

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“Our popularity worked against us… Pretty soon, most of our remaining clients were indigent. They were either on Medicaid or they had no insurance at all and paid in cash or promised to pay in cash,” Bush wrote in his book.

“I’m probably not giving away anything to tell you that it floundered, and then failed,” he continued.

Maine holds its primary election for governor on Tuesday, June 9.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., cursed out a Fox News Digital reporter after he began asking about allegations of a sexual relationship between her and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., that were recently raised by a woman identifying herself as Massie’s ex-girlfriend.

“F – – – you, first of all!’ Boebert said to a Fox News Digital reporter when bringing up claims from Massie’s alleged ex-girlfriend.

“If you’re gonna bring me into this, like, the sexist stuff is like out of control,” she continued. “So there’s your clickbait that you were looking for.”

FIVE TIMES NANCY PELOSI LOST HER COOL WITH THE MEDIA

Boebert then declined to discuss the allegations further.

The exchange came after Boebert had been discussing President Donald Trump’s efforts to unseat Republican incumbents and Massie’s political future.

The former congressional staffer Cynthia West, who previously worked for Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., accused Massie of bragging to her about an alleged sexual encounter with Boebert within weeks of his wife’s death.

West also accused Massie of offering her $5,000 to drop a wrongful termination lawsuit she was pursuing against Spartz, an ally of Massie. The allegations surfaced just a week before Massie lost his House seat in the May 19 Republican primary.

“I don’t want to talk about anybody’s exes and their crazy s– – – that they do,” Boebert said to the reporter.

Before the exchange turned contentious, Boebert was answering questions about whether Trump’s strategy of backing primary challengers against Republican incumbents is backfiring on the GOP agenda.

MTG SAYS GOP’S FUTURE ‘DESTROYED’ AFTER TRUMP-BACKED PRIMARY CHALLENGER DEFEATS THOMAS MASSIE IN PRIMARY

“I think most of the folks that have lost their primaries, they were backfiring on the GOP agenda — Cassidy, Cornyn,” Boebert replied.

“I mean, obviously Thomas Massie is the only one that I’m a little sad about,” she said. 

Boebert was also asked about Massie’s recent announcement that he is filing for re-election in 2028. Many are speculating that Massie could make a 2028 presidential run as he said he is unsure which position he will be seeking re-election for.

“I haven’t made a final decision about which office to seek, if I run,” he wrote in a post on X announcing his re-election filing with the Federal Election Commission.  

TRUMP CALLS OUT REP THOMAS MASSIE: ‘KENTUCKY, GET THIS LOSER OUT OF POLITICS’ TUESDAY

Boebert shared that she was unsure of Massie’s next move, before she reprimanded the reporter for shifting the conversation to allegations raised by West.

“He filed for something,” she said. “He didn’t specify what and I don’t know if he’s going to move forward with that or not. I don’t know.” “Hopefully he leaves here and makes some money,” Boebert added.

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Moments later, the reporter began asking about the allegations from Massie’s alleged ex-girlfriend, prompting Boebert’s expletive-laced response.

Boebert declined to discuss the allegations further and walked away from the interview.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital ahead of Tuesday’s South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary that President Donald Trump’s endorsement has done little to boost her opponent’s standing with conservative voters, arguing that many grassroots Republicans are “very upset” with the decision.

“It’s not going over well for her with the grassroots, which is why she didn’t get much of a bump,“ Mace said. “She got maybe a five point bump — not much.”

“And she’s going to be in a runoff and I think at that point all bets are off.”

Mace was referring to South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, whom Trump endorsed last week, as Mace and Trump have publicly broken in recent months.

FIRST ON FOX: REPUBLICAN FIREBRAND NANCY MACE LAUNCHES BID FOR SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR

“It’s a dog fight,” Mace said. “We’re in it and I’m gonna fight to the death.”

Mace shared that she wasn’t shocked when Trump chose not to endorse her because of her vote in Congress to push for the release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“I knew it was on the line when I voted to release the Epstein files, and I’m a survivor,” Mace said. “If the price to pay for an endorsement was to not release those files, I would never pay it.”

Mace was one of four Republicans to sign a petition last year to force a vote in the House on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, legislation that urged the Department of Justice to publish all its information on its probe into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell — millions of documents.

NANCY MACE TORCHES CLEMSON UNIVERSITY OVER 15-GENDER MENU: ‘NOT ON MY WATCH’

Trump’s endorsement in the Republican primary was also in favor of South Carolina’s current term-limited governor, Henry McMaster, who has also endorsed Evette as his potential successor. Trump wrote that he expected Evette would choose the current governor’s son, Henry McMaster Jr., as her lieutenant governor.

“Pam Evette is a good friend, fighter, and WINNER, and will be a terrific Governor of South Carolina,” the president posted . “Pam has my Complete and Total Endorsement — SHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”

Trump’s endorsement came days before the June 9 primary and as early voting was getting underway in South Carolina.

MACE TARGETS SQUAD DEM WITH PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL BAN ON FOREIGN-BORN LAWMAKERS

Tuesday’s crowded Republican primary field includes Evette, Attorney General Alan Wilson, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., businessman Rom Reddy and Mace. If no candidate wins a majority, the top two finishers will advance to a runoff — a situation Mace predicted could reshape the race despite Trump’s backing of Evette.

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“I disagree with this endorsement,” Mace said. “And I’m going to vote for myself. I’m asking voters in South Carolina to vote for me as well on Tuesday.“

Former first lady Dr. Jill Biden gave an update on former President Joe Biden’s cancer on Saturday, saying that though the 83-year-old will live with cancer for the rest of his life, he maintains a busy schedule, but has slowed down.

Biden explained during a discussion with political commentator and “The View” co-host Ana Navarro for her new book “View From the East Wing: A Memoir,” that while her husband was still president and had a team of doctors, she mentioned that he was getting up seven times a night to go to the bathroom, and she assumed that someone would follow up on that.

But she said when they left the White House in 2025 and his problem persisted, she said she told him he had to go see a urologist and in his first appointment the doctor said, “There’s something there,” and the former president was given a CAT scan.

“I never imagined it would be prostate cancer,” she admitted. “I just never imagined it.”

MEDICAL EXPERT ‘ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED’ BY TIMING OF BIDEN’S PROSTATE CANCER DIAGNOSIS

While she said in some cases prostate cancer can be “cured, “the problem with Joe — it’s stage four, and it has metastasized to his bones. So that puts things on a whole different level. I mean, Joe will have to live with cancer for the rest of his life, which means he’s on special medicines.”

She said he also went through radiation, which involved going from where they live in Delaware to Philadelphia constantly for five weeks.

“You know, it takes a toll,” she said, adding that on Friday night her husband was in South Dakota for a Democratic Party event, on Saturday he was at a friend’s wedding, and Sunday he’ll be in Philadelphia.

BIDEN ‘A LITTLE OLDER AND A LITTLE SLOWER’ IN THE FINAL DAYS OF HIS PRESIDENCY: NEW YORK TIMES REPORT

“He keeps his schedule, but he’s slowed down,” she said. “I mean, stage four cancer is — and he’s 83 — so, I think the mix of everything and the medications that he’s taken has made life a little more difficult these days.”

BIDEN’S FIRST PUBLIC REMARKS SINCE CANCER DIAGNOSIS HONOR GOLD STAR FAMILIES

When asked how she’s been handling the situation, Biden said: “It’s hard to be a caretaker,” noting that the former president wouldn’t want her to phrase it that way, but explaining that she’s the one responsible for all the details.

“I have to make sure he gets the right medications,” she explained. “I’m the one talking to the doctors. I’m the one setting up the appointments. I’m the one to make sure that he eats well.”

Joe Biden announced his cancer diagnosis in May 2025.

Earlier this week, the former first lady told the “Today” show that her husband is “doing OK.”

“He’s out making speeches, and he’s traveling on Amtrak,” she added. “He was just at the Delaware Memorial Bridge for the veteran’s ceremony. So yeah, he’s doing a lot, but he has stage 4 cancer.”

JILL BIDEN REVEALS TO ‘THE VIEW’ IT WAS ‘HEARTBREAKING’ WHEN DEMS ABANDONED JOE AFTER 2024 DEBATE

Biden and Navarro also talked about some other issues she wrote about in her book, including when the former president made the decision to drop out of the 2024 race after his disastrous debate in June 2024.

She said he turned to her while they were at their home in Delaware and told her: “I have no choice.”

BIDEN URGED TO REVEAL DISEASE HISTORY AFTER CANCER DIAGNOSIS

Biden added that it was also “hurtful” to her when she saw Democrats, many of whom had been their friends for decades, publicly calling for Biden to drop out of the race.

But she said Biden reconciled with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was believed to have been privately leading calls for him to leave the race, at the funeral for Tatiana Schlossberg, the daughter of Caroline Kennedy, in January.

The 75-year-old admitted that she still hasn’t spoken to Pelosi. 

She also said she believes there has been a “double standard” in the conversations around her husband’s age and mental acuity when compared to President Donald Trump, who will turn 80 on June 14.

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For the next president after Trump leaves office, Biden said she’s looking for someone with integrity, trustworthiness, and empathy, but didn’t name any names.

“They’re the characteristics of the American people,” she said. “That’s who we are.”

BAR HARBOR, Maine – Graham Platner’s past relationships were “toxic and volatile,” Rep. Ro Khanna of California says of the Senate Democratic candidate aiming to unseat longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in one of this year’s most crucial ballot box showdowns.

But Khanna, a progressive leader from California who along with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is backing Platner, argued in a Fox News Digital interview on Friday night that Platner is “taking accountability” for his past and “we need that redemption in this country.”

Platner, the military combat veteran and oyster farmer who is considered the Democrats’ presumptive nominee ahead of Tuesday’s primary in Maine, has been playing defense amid multiple controversies, ranging from inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now-covered up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, to new allegations this week from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes.

The candidate is arguably facing the roughest stretch to date of his campaign against Collins, in a race that is one of a handful across the country which will decide if the Republicans hold on to their slim Senate majority in this year’s midterm elections.

THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

Collins, returning to Maine on Friday after a busy week on Capitol Hill where she reached a milestone by casting her 10,000th consecutive vote in the Senate, was asked by reporters about the latest allegations facing Platner.

“The allegations in the latest story are troubling,” Collins responded. “And I believe that Graham Platner has a lot of questions to answer.”

Collins, a moderate Republican who at times votes against President Donald Trump’s agenda, is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate in left-leaning Maine.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

Speaking with Fox News Digital ahead of a rally with Platner, progressive gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson and congressional contender Matt Dunlap, which was organized by Khanna, the congressman was asked if he was concerned the latest allegations could sink Platner’s campaign and hurt Democrats’ hopes of winning back the Senate.

“I’m more concerned about making it clear that we’re opposed to misogyny, those relationships were toxic and volatile, there’s no excuse for that,” Khanna said. “I talked to Graham and he says he was at a very dark period, he had come back from two tours of duty in Iraq as an infantry man seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it.”

But Khanna added that Platner said “he really grew as a person when he came back to Maine and he was an oyster farmer and he found peace and he is ashamed of that period. To me that suggests someone taking accountability and improving their lives and we need that redemption in this country. And I agree with a lot of his economic policies, that we should be taxing the billionaires, we should be focusing on the working class.”

‘MAINE, YOU HAVE MY BACK’ – PLATNER BLASTS NEW ALLEGATIONS AS ‘FALSE ACCUSATIONS’ AS HE THANKS SUPPORTERS

After Christine Blasey Ford accused then-Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault in 2018, Khanna tweeted, “I stand with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Brett Kavanaugh is not fit to sit on the Supreme Court. #BelieveSurvivors.”

Back on home turf on Friday, the rally was held in this resort town next to Acadia National Park that is close to Platner’s hometown of Sullivan, Maine, the candidate thanked a large crowd of supporters for having his back and charged the incoming fire he’s facing is “politically motivated.”

“When hurtful things I said on the internet a decade ago came out into the public as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth. Maine had my back,” Platner said at a rally. “Now, as every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back. And when politically motivated, serious and false, false accusations are made against me. Maine, you have my back.”

Platner, who has acknowledged his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder from his multiple tours of duty in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.

And Platner has said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He said that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol. But new allegations raise questions about Platner’s timeline regarding knowledge of the tattoo.

‘HE HATED WOMEN’: EXPLOSIVE ABUSE, NEW NAZI TATTOO ALLEGATIONS FROM EXES ROCK PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN

Platner is facing plenty of incoming political fire from Republican groups. A super PAC aligned with Collins has been blasting Platner, running ads spotlighting his multiple controversies.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), in a social media post following Friday night’s rally, took aim at Platner, charging he’s “a fraud”

“He’s preaching about living a small but decent life growing up in Maine. The truth? Graham Platner is an elitist whose parents sent him to boarding school in Connecticut and bought him a house,” the NRSC wrote.

And the Republican National Committee (RNC) also targeted Platner.

“Graham Platner says his violent and erratic past is being “weaponized” against him. Platner said he would rape someone to show his dominance and “rape was about power,” the RNC research team wrote on X, as it pointed to new allegations against the candidate.

Platner, as he runs for the Senate, is pushing an economically populist agenda as he takes aim at corporate influences and advocates for the working class.

“I agree with a lot of his economic policies, that we should be taxing the billionaires, we should be focusing on the working class,” Khanna told Fox News Digital.

Platner is considered the all-but-certain Democratic nominee after two-term Gov. Janet Mills, who was backed by longtime Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Party establishment, dropped out of the race earlier this spring after significantly trailing Platner in fundraising and polling.

Mills, in a recent interview, noted that her name remains on the ballot. And a source in her wider political orbit confirmed to Fox News that the governor is receiving calls urging her to get back in the race amid Platner’s controversies. But there’s no active campaign effort on behalf of Mills.

Asked about Mills, Khanna told Fox News Digital: “the great thing about democracy, you can run full steam ahead, you can kind of run ambiguously like Janet Mills, you can keep your name on that campaign. That’s why I love American democracy.”

But he predicted that “Platner is going to come out victorious. And we need to unite and realize that the goal is defeating Susan Collins. And everyone from Schumer to Sanders is unified around that goal.

Platner’s campaign said that more than 600 people attended the rally. And they touted that they had raked in $200,000 in fundraising the past 24 hours, which they said was their strongest fundraising day since Mills suspended her campaign.

WATCH: Maine residents weigh in on Platner amid mounting controversies:

Maine voters that Fox News Digital spoke with ahead of the rally were divided on whether Platner’s controversies will impact their opinions of the candidate.

Jeff from Waterboro, Maine, said, “it’s not a good situation” as he pointed to Platner. “I think it’s somebody who shouldn’t’ be in the mix. I am a conservative but he’s just got so much damage, if the Democrats want to have a winner, they’re going to have to find somebody else. He’s not the guy. It’s just too much.”

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Ellen from Acton, Maine, who said she is a registered Republican, said, “is he a perfect person? Heck no.”

But she added, “I think he will go in and do a good job.”

The White House recently announced President Donald Trump on Thursday exercised his authority under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution to grant a “full, complete, and unconditional pardon” to former Republican Indiana Rep. Stephen Buyer, who was convicted of profiting from insider information.

The pardon absolves Buyer of a 2023 federal conviction that resulted in a 22-month prison sentence. 

Buyer, who chaired the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and served as a House prosecutor during former President Bill Clinton’s 1998 impeachment trial, was found guilty by a jury of operating off nonpublic, insider information after he left office.

GOP LAWMAKER JOINS DEMOCRAT-LED EFFORT TO LIMIT TRUMP’S PARDON POWER

The White House proclamation praised Buyer’s “distinguished and highly productive” career, citing his service as a judge advocate general in the U.S. Army and his 1993–2011 tenure as a U.S. representative from Indiana.

The pardon was supported by the “complete and total endorsement” of more than 50 current and former lawmakers, the White House said.

Among those who endorsed the pardon included Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Roger Wicker and former House Speaker John Boehner. Other supporters were former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., former Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, former Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., former Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, and former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill Jr.

The proclamation directed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to “administer and effectuate the immediate issuance of a certificate of pardon” for Buyer.

DEM CONGRESSMAN PARDONED BY TRUMP ACCUSES BIDEN-ERA DOJ OF WEAPONIZING INDICTMENT

Buyer’s conviction stemmed from allegations that he purchased stock in a management company called Navigant just weeks before one of his own clients, Guidehouse, acquired it. He was then accused of buying shares of Sprint after secretly learning about the company’s unannounced plans to merge with T-Mobile.

During the proceedings, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman, a Clinton nominee, argued the former congressman obstructed justice by giving the court false explanations for why he made the trades.

TRUMP PARDONS 5 FORMER NFL STARS FOR WIDE-RANGING CRIMES

Buyer’s legal team pushed for a sentence of home confinement and community service rather than prison time, arguing that despite Buyer once earning up to $2.2 million in a single year, the cost of litigation had financially ruined him.

According to his lawyers, Buyer and his wife were forced to sell their home, condo and two cars, and his wife had to re-enter the workforce at 65 years old.

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Despite the defense’s efforts, Berman sentenced Buyer to 22 months in prison, ordered him to forfeit the $354,027 he made from the illegal trades and imposed an additional $10,000 fine. 

Federal prosecutors also pushed for Buyer to pay $1.4 million to cover the legal fees for both sides, but the judge ruled against the request.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump said he wants soon-to-be acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte to begin shrinking the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) before a permanent nominee takes over — signaling a potentially aggressive effort to reduce the size of the agency responsible for coordinating the nation’s intelligence community.

Trump told The Wall Street Journal that he has privately instructed Pulte to begin what he described as a broader effort to streamline ODNI, calling the office “unnecessary and/or too big” and saying he wants the acting intelligence chief to “start the process” of reducing personnel before a permanent director is confirmed.

“I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” Trump said, pointing to holdovers from the Obama and Biden administrations.

Asked whether he wants Pulte to fire employees, Trump said he wants the acting intelligence chief to “start the process,” adding that his eventual nominee to permanently lead the office should continue that work.

TRUMP NAMES BILL PULTE ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard abruptly announced her resignation May 22, effective June 30, citing her husband’s bone cancer diagnosis. 

The president named Pulte, who currently serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to the acting role in early June. Because the position is temporary, Pulte does not require Senate confirmation and can serve for up to 210 days.

Trump suggested Pulte’s acting status could make it easier for him to carry out changes before a permanent director is confirmed.

“You’re less shackled,” Trump said. “It sort of gives you more power, you know, for a somewhat limited period of time.”

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions on whether Pulte would be put up for confirmation as permanent director of national intelligence. 

SENATE PUSH TO REAUTHORIZE NATION’S SPY POWERS STUMBLES OVER CONTROVERSIAL TRUMP DECISION

“Frankly, it might be good for him to shake it up before people come,” Trump added. “Because, if he reduced the size, in conjunction with me … and in conjunction with possibly the person coming in … he can do a lot of the hard work and we wouldn’t have to saddle somebody that goes in.”

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton quickly endorsed the effort, arguing the office has expanded beyond its original purpose and renewing his longstanding support for dramatically downsizing — or even eliminating — the office.

“President Trump is right: the ODNI has grown far beyond its original mandate,” Cotton wrote on X. “I’ve long advocated for downsizing, if not outright eliminating, this bureaucracy.”

TOM COTTON SLAMS ‘PARTISANS AND OBSTRUCTIONISTS’ IN DOD REPORTEDLY PLOTTING TO BLOCK TRUMP PLANS

“Time to return these officers back to their home agencies to focus on actual intelligence work. I support President Trump in this effort.”

ODNI was established in 2004 following recommendations from the 9/11 Commission and was designed to improve coordination among U.S. intelligence agencies after failures to share critical information ahead of the terrorist attacks.

The office oversees and coordinates the work of the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies and components.

Cotton has long been among lawmakers who argue the agency has grown beyond its original mission. Earlier in 2026, he introduced legislation that would cap ODNI at 650 employees. 

The office had roughly 1,800 employees at the start of the second Trump administration, though outgoing Director of National Intelligence Gabbard has said she reduced the workforce by about 25%. 

Trump’s latest comments suggest the administration could pursue a more far-reaching restructuring effort than previously outlined — and that Pulte may be tasked with beginning that process before a permanent nominee is in place.

The president’s selection of Pulte as acting DNI surprised many lawmakers and national security observers because the Federal Housing Finance Agency director has no intelligence or national security background.

Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell raised concerns about the appointment shortly after it was announced.

“Anyone performing this role of such immense public trust must have the extensive national security experience required by statute, and no nominee who falls short of this requirement will earn my vote,” McConnell said.

“Trump thinks that Bill Pulte can be both director of the mortgage regulators and director of national intelligence,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a video posted to X. “You can’t do both jobs … this is outrageous.” 

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Trump, however, has suggested that Pulte’s temporary status is precisely what makes him well-suited to carry out the administration’s plans for the office.

The president said he hopes Pulte can begin reducing the size of ODNI before a permanent nominee takes over, allowing the acting chief to complete much of the “hard work” associated with the effort.

Republican congressional candidate and CAL DOGE Director Jenny Rae Le Roux says pushback on decades of Democratic control is fueling a political shift in deep-blue California, which was on display Tuesday with strong performances by gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton and LA mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt.

“Californians are tired of one-party rule,” Le Roux told Fox News Digital after her Tuesday night primary victory that sent her into a head-to-head match up with incumbent Democrat Dave Min in California’s 47th Congressional District.

“They know that the reason we’re suffering in this state and people are leaving California is because Democrats have been in charge for 60 years, and they’re up to no good.”

Le Roux argues that Min has not done enough to represent people across the district, saying her campaign has “already started doing the job that he’s not doing.”

CALIFORNIANS EXPERIENCING A ‘RED SHIFT’ OF LOCAL DEMOCRATS BECOMING REPUBLICANS AMID MIGRANT CRISIS, CRIME

“It’s just to do the thing that Dave Min is not doing, which is to represent the district,” she said. “We are out in every community. We have a precinct-by-precinct operation. Anyone who wants to meet with us, we will meet with them.”

Le Roux said residents unable to get answers from Min’s office on fraud, veterans’ concerns or housing issues are turning to Republicans like her for help.

“People are frustrated by his office,” she said. “They’re not responsive. They ask us for help with fraud issues, issues with HUD and veterans’ issues, and we’re making calls and getting things done for the people in the district.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Anna Elsasser defended Min, saying his office has helped constituents recover over $5 million from federal agencies.

“Jenny Rae Le Roux’s lame attacks reflect both a lack of familiarity with Dave Min’s office, which has brought back over $5.7 million to constituents, and with the issues that Orange County families care about,” Elsasser said.

The Cook Political Report ranks the race between Min and Le Roux as “Solid D” as Republicans try to hold onto their razor-thin margin in the House.

Democrats’ decades-long control of California has come under scrutiny as the Trump administration investigates alleged fraud involving healthcare, homelessness spending and nonprofit groups, issues Le Roux says are driving residents out of the state and pushing voters toward Republicans.

HOUSE COMMITTEE LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO ‘RAMPANT’ CALIFORNIA HOSPICE FRAUD

Last month, federal officials suspended 800 California hospice and home health providers in a Medicare fraud crackdown tied to foreign-linked criminal networks accused of stealing more than $1 billion from taxpayers.

Le Roux said her team at CAL DOGE, a private-sector initiative founded by Hilton, is uncovering more fraud in the state and “taking down not just the systems, but actually each one of the criminals that are going to be indicted over the course of the next six months.”

SCOOP: DEMOCRATIC VIRGINIA GOV SPANBERGER’S REPUBLICAN COUSIN AIMS TO FLIP KEY CALIFORNIA HOUSE SEAT RED

“We’re finding the fraud that’s happening through Sacramento,” she said. “They’ve been completely silent about it. They haven’t fought it themselves because they’re in on it.”

Since launching in early 2026, CAL DOGE says it has uncovered nearly $700 million in misused taxpayer funds. Le Roux said she will continue working with Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton to root out fraud.

“We’ve got some fraud-fighting on our hands, and I’ll work with Steve up and down the state to make sure our money is being spent wisely before either one of us is in office,” Le Roux said.

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Despite her criticism of Democrats, Le Roux said “it’s really important to keep relationships with people in other parties.”

Le Roux is the cousin of Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, and she told Fox News Digital the two “faithfully messaged each other after campaigns” and despite having “completely different opinions,” we “really love each other.”

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., criticized four fellow Republicans who joined Democrats to block an effort to add the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to the Senate’s reconciliation package, saying “you can’t explain it to me why you wouldn’t vote for voter ID.”

During Thursday’s vote-a-rama, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., voted with Democrats to defeat an amendment that would have attached the election-integrity measure to the GOP’s budget package.

“I guess it’s frustration,” Hawley told Fox News Digital. “Listen, we’ve been doing this in Missouri for years. I mean voters in my state put it in our constitution.”

FOUR SENATE REPUBLICANS AGAIN UNITE WITH DEMS TO BLOCK TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT

“Voter ID is the most popular thing out there,” he continued. “There’s a reason for that. People want their elections to be safe, they want them to be fair. And to me, you can’t explain it to me, why you wouldn’t vote for voter ID. I just don’t understand it.”

Republicans, yet again, failed to pass the legislation Thursday night through the Senate, despite months debating the importance of attaching it to the roughly $70 billion budget reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol.

REPUBLICANS FAIL TO ATTACH SAVE AMERICA ACT TO PARTY-LINE FUNDING PACKAGE

Many senators who voted to block the SAVE act argued that a bill dedicated to voter ID laws and protecting election integrity should be determined at state-level, and should not have federal jurisdiction.

Hawley rejected arguments that election rules should be left solely to the states, arguing Congress has long played a role in regulating federal elections.

“We make federal rules all the time for elections, you know,” Hawley said. “I mean all the time we do. And there’s nothing more basic than protecting the integrity of the ballot and that’s what this is about.”

PENCE URGES SENATE TO ‘RESTORE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE’ WITH NATIONWIDE VOTER ID LAW

Congress has enacted numerous election-related laws over the years, including the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022, which revised procedures for certifying presidential election results.

The SAVE Act would require applicants to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections and would require voters to present photo identification when casting a ballot in federal elections.

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“37 states have voter ID already including several blue states,” Hawley said in response to the idea that election rules should be left to the state. “So I think this idea that this is like ‘this is weird, this is exotic, this is out there,’ no it’s not. Like most of our states do it.” 

“Sooner or later this is going to happen because I think the American people are going to demand it.”

A war of words has erupted between U.S. and British officials after a young Briton with a bright future bled out in handcuffs as police took him into custody on suspicion of making racial remarks, only to learn later that his killer fabricated the allegation. 

The State Department issued a harsh rebuke Thursday night amid online outrage stemming from the stabbing of Henry Nowak, and Vice President JD Vance was quick to pile-on, claiming the incident proves that western civilization is at risk.

“Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilizational decline,” the State Department wrote Thursday in a viral post on X. “They must be rejected across the West. The United States sends our condolences to the family of Henry Nowak and the people of the United Kingdom at this troubling time.”

It was the first time the Trump administration commented publicly on the horrific stabbing.

In December 2025, Nowak was returning home from a night playing soccer with friends in the southern England city of Southampton when he encountered 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, a British Sikh man of Indian heritage wearing a turban and carrying a long ceremonial knife.

Nowak was later handcuffed by police after Digwa claimed the student was racist against him, and police refused to believe him when he said he was stabbed. He died while in police custody.

“Henry Nowak died the same way a civilization dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit,” Vance wrote on X in a lengthy post addressing the overseas crime.

“His murder is as tragic as it is enraging,” the vice president continued. “He should still be alive today, and he would be if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West and the people who love it.”

He reiterated how a top priority of the Trump administration is working to preserve western civilization by stopping mass migration.

ENGLISH COPS CUFFED TEEN STABBING VICTIM AFTER ATTACKER CLAIMED RACIAL ASSAULT

Vance’s post drew an immediate response from across the pond. 

“In recent days we have seen people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets,” a Downing Street spokesperson said. 

“The Nowak family are grieving after Henry’s horrific murder. They have said they do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension. We should be respecting their wishes,” the statement continued. “Our politics should bring people together even in the most terrible of circumstances. That is who we are as a country.”

Nowak filmed the initial encounter before his death, where he called Digwa a “bad man.”

“I am a bad man,” Digwa replied, taking offense to the comment. He then stabbed the student five times, including a fatal wound to his chest. What came next sparked worldwide outrage while Digwa, now convicted of murder, was on trial in May.

Body cameras worn by officers show Digwa alleging racial abuse and claiming Nowak removed his turban. The police took Digwa’s word, and handcuffed Nowak when they located him. Footage shows Nowak lying on the ground, repeatedly telling officers he couldn’t breathe.

When Nowak told officers he had been stabbed, one is heard dismissing him with: “Don’t think you have, mate.”

The young student bled to death in police custody.

DAN GAINOR: THE ENGLAND WE LOVE IS LOST. IF WE DON’T CHANGE, AMERICA WILL BE, TOO

It was later revealed that Digwa called his mother, Kiran Kaur, who arrived at the crime scene before the police so she could take the murder weapon to their family home and hide it. She was recently found guilty of assisting an offender and will be sentenced July 17.

Digwa was sentenced on June 1 to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years.

UK ACTOR IDRIS ELBA SUGGESTS KITCHEN KNIVES BE BLUNTED, OTHERS BANNED TO PREVENT STABBINGS

Carrying knives in Britain is a heavily regulated practice, and certain types of knives are banned entirely. Digwa’s knife was considered an exception due to his religious beliefs, which also fanned the flames of the controversy surrounding the murder.

British law has a provision allowing Sikhs to carry kirpans, which are ceremonial religious knives. In Digwa’s case, he was carrying an eight-inch blade.

The country’s tightening speech laws have also come to the forefront, with critics arguing that police in Nowak’s case were too blinded by the report of racism to notice he had been mortally wounded. Since the Online Safety Act of 2023 took effect, swaths of Britons have been jailed for internet posts deemed racist by authorities.

AMERICA STILL CAN’T PUT DOWN THE RACE CARD. AND IT’S THE SHAME OF OUR NATION

Police eventually apologized for the way the stabbing was handled.

“I want to say that I am sorry that Henry couldn’t be saved that night. I’m sorry that he was handcuffed and arrested in the moments before he lost consciousness,” Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Robert France of the Hampshire Constabulary said, according to Sky News.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Miss., also responded amid the controversy.

“Britain has a regime willing to jail people for tweets, but unwilling to protect its own citizens from bleeding out in the street,” he said in response to the State Department’s post. “Henry Nowak deserved better. That is what civilizational decline looks like. This is the future the Left is trying to import. We have to stop it.”

So did SpaceX founder and former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk, who posted multiple times about the case.

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“Send the video to everyone you know showing how heinously Nowak was treated by the police in his dying moments and how the police cravenly kowtowed to his murderer,” he said in one post that was viewed 28 million times. “Legacy mainstream media, same ones who wrote about George Floyd millions of times, are dead silent about Nowak.”

“The West has created an utterly evil state religion where an accusation of ‘racism’ is the gravest offense that can be committed, even worse than rape or murder!” he said in another, “So if police show up at a crime scene and a British boy is bleeding out and an immigrant says the British boy is racist the cops will cuff the dying British boy.”

BAR HARBOR, Maine – Facing arguably the roughest stretch to date of his campaign for the U.S. Senate, Democratic candidate Graham Platner, back on home turf, thanked a large crowd of supporters for having his back and charging the incoming fire he’s facing as “politically motivated.”

Platner, the military veteran and oyster farmer who is aiming to oust longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in this year’s midterm elections, has been playing defense amid multiple controversies, ranging from inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, to new allegations last week from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes.

“When hurtful things I said on the internet a decade ago came out into the public as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth. Maine had my back,” Platner said at a rally Friday. “Now, as every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back. And when politically motivated, serious and false, false accusations are made against me. Maine, you have my back.”

Collins, a moderate Republican who at times votes against President Donald Trump‘s agenda, is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate in left-leaning Maine in a race that’s one of a handful across the country that will determine whether Republicans keep control of their slim Senate majority.

THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

Platner, who is supported by progressive champions Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, is pushing an economically populist agenda as he takes aim at corporate influences and advocates for the working class.

He is considered the all-but-certain Democratic nominee after two-term Gov. Janet Mills, who was backed by longtime Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Party establishment, dropped out of the race earlier this spring after significantly trailing Platner in fundraising and polling.

Platner, who has acknowledged his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder from his multiple tours of duty in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.

And Platner has said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He said that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol. But new allegations raise questions about Platner’s timeline regarding knowledge of the tattoo.

Friday’s rally, which also included speeches by progressive gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson and congressional contender Matt Dunlap, was organized by Khanna.

In an interview with Fox News Digital ahead of his appearance on stage, Khanna was asked whether he’s concerned if the current allegations, and any futures ones, could sink Platner’s campaign and sink Democrats’ hopes of winning back the Senate.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

“I’m more concerned about making it clear that we’re opposed to misogyny, those relationships were toxic and volatile, there’s no excuse for that,” Khanna said. “I talked to Graham and he says he was at a very dark period, he had come back from two tours of duty in Iraq as an infantry man seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it.”

But Khanna added that Platner said “he really grew as a person when he came back to Maine and he was an oyster farmer and he found peace and he is ashamed of that period. To me that suggests someone taking accountability and improving their lives and we need that redemption in this country. And I agree with a lot of his economic polices, that we should be taxing the billionaires, we should be focusing on the working class.”

Collins, returning to Maine on Friday after busy week on Capitol Hill where she reached a milestone by casting her 10,000 consecutive vote in the Senate, was asked by reporters about the latest allegations facing Platner.

“The allegations in the latest story are troubling,” Collins responded. “And I believe that Graham Platner has a lot of questions to answer.”

‘HE HATED WOMEN’: EXPLOSIVE ABUSE, NEW NAZI TATTOO ALLEGATIONS FROM EXES ROCK PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN

Meanwhile, an outside political group aligned with the senator has been blasting Platner, running ads spotlighting his multiple controversies.

The Republican National Committee (RNC), in a social media post following Friday’s rally, took aim at Platner.

“Graham Platner says his violent and erratic past is being “weaponized” against him. Platner said he would rape someone to show his dominance and “rape was about power,” the RNC research team wrote on X, as it pointed to new allegations against the candidate.

Mills, in a recent interview, noted that her name remains on the ballot. And a source in her wider political orbit confirmed to Fox News that the governor is receiving calls urging her to get back in the race amid Platner’s controversies. But there’s no active campaign effort on behalf of Mills.

Asked about Mills, Khanna told Fox News Digital “the great thing about democracy, you can run full steam ahead, you can kind of run ambiguously like Janet Mills, you can keep your name on that campaign. That’s why I love American democracy.”

But he predicted that “Platner is going to come out victorious. And we need to unite and realize that the goal is defeating the the Susan Collins. And everyone from Schumer to Sanders is unified around that goal.

Platner’s campaign said that over 600 people packed a theater in this resort town next to Acadia National Park, not far from the candidate’s hometown of Sullivan, to attend the rally. And they touted that they had raked in $200,000 in fundraising the past 24 hours, which they said was their strongest fundraising day since Mills suspended her campaign.

Maine voters Fox News Digital spoke with ahead of the rally were divided on whether Platner’s controversies will impact their opinions of the candidate.

Jeff from Waterboro, Maine said “it’s not a good situation” as he pointed to Platner. “I think it’s somebody who shouldn’t’ be in the mix. I am a conservative but he’s just got so much damage, if the Democrats want to have a winner, they’re going to have to find somebody else. He’s not the guy. It’s just too much.”

But Ellen from Acton, Maine, who said she is a registered Republican, said “is he a perfect person, heck no.”

“I think he will go in and do a good job,” she added.

California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra advanced to the state’s general election Friday night, according to an Associated Press race call.

The AP called the race for Becerra at 7:50 p.m. EDT, sending the former U.S. health secretary and ex-California attorney general into the November contest to succeed term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton appeared headed for a November showdown. AP vote totals showed Becerra with 26.7% of the vote and Hilton with 26.4%, while Democrat Tom Steyer finished third with 21.0%.

In a statement following the race call, Becerra touted the result as a victory for working Californians and said his campaign would carry its message into the fall election.

HILTON, BECERRA IN THE LEAD WITH VOTES STILL BEING COUNTED IN BATTLE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR

“The people of the great state of California, in the greatest nation on earth, have spoken — loudly and proudly,” Becerra said. “We will not be bought. We will not be bullied. And we are never backing down. November, here we come.”

Becerra’s campaign also said the result makes him the first Latino candidate to advance from a California gubernatorial primary to a general election, calling it a historic milestone for the state.

If elected in November, Becerra would become California‘s first Latino governor since Romualdo Pacheco, who briefly served as governor in 1875.

In a post on X after the race was called, Becerra wrote, “More than ever, California needs our voices and our values. To the people and the voters of California, this is your state. Este es tu estado.”

AWKWARD MOMENT KICKS OFF INTERVIEW WITH EX-BIDEN ADVISER, DRAWING DERISION FOR DEM CALIFORNIA GOV CANDIDATE

Becerra, a former California attorney general, served as Health and Human Services secretary in former President Joe Biden’s administration before launching his gubernatorial campaign.

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Hilton, a former Fox News host and conservative commentator backed by President Donald Trump, also advanced in the state’s top-two primary system, setting up a high-profile general election contest in November.

Results have not yet been certified.

President Donald Trump says he wants incoming Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Bill Pulte to “start the process” of firing intelligence community officials, he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday.

Trump on Tuesday tapped Pulte to take over for the current DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned in May after her husband was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Pulte, who will take over in the interim when Gabbard’s resignation becomes official on June 30, has apparently been tasked with reducing the number of employees at the 18 intelligence agencies over which the DNI presides.

“I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal, referring to the intelligence community.

TRUMP NAMES BILL PULTE ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

The selection of Pulte, who currently serves as Trump’s Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has reportedly irked a swath of lawmakers, including former Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who publicly criticized the move.

“We don’t need a weaponized DNI. We need professionals there,” Thune said.

But Pulte’s outsider status was explicitly what made Trump inclined to pick him the first place, he explained to the Wall Street Journal.

GABBARD LAUNCHES ‘ODNI 2.0,’ WITH PLAN TO CUT WORKFORCE BY 40%

“You’re less shackled,” he told the outlet. “It sort of gives you more power, you know, for a somewhat limited period of time.”

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump assuaged concerns that Pulte would have difficulty being confirmed by the Senate if picked for the role on a permanent basis. He ensured the public that an active search for a permanent replacement was ongoing and that Pulte’s interim status would benefit him.

“Frankly, it might be good for him to shake it up before people come,” Trump said. “Because, if he reduced the size, in conjunction with me…and in conjunction with possibly the person coming in…he can do a lot of the hard work and we wouldn’t have to saddle somebody that goes in,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal.

TULSI GABBARD CHANGES TUNE ON CONTROVERSIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOL FOLLOWING GOP LOBBYING

Pulte, who also chairs the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac government-sponsored entities (GSEs), has already affected legislative outcomes.

After six Senate Republicans joined with the Democrats to block a bill reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., warned that Democrats would not vote for the reauthorization as long as Pulte was in charge of intelligence.

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“I don’t see how you get the necessary Democrat votes… that would get them to 60,” Warner said.

Fox News Digital contacted the offices of Leader Thune and Senator Warner and reached out to Bill Pulte for further clarity.