NationalWatch

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin accused the Biden administration of turning a “blind eye” to widespread reports of sexual abuse targeting migrants during a Thursday press conference. 

“We’re going to enforce our nation’s laws, and we’re going to right the wrongs that the Biden administration turned a blind eye to,” Mullin said. “It’s horrific to what’s happening right in our own country because of four years of a blind eye that allowed unvetted sponsors to come pick up 450,000 kids on our borders … their own reports [were] reporting that over a third of the females, regardless of age, was sexually assaulted before they made it to their border.”

In May 2025, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, obtained Department of Health and Human Services data showing that 65,605 reports regarding migrant children were ignored or dismissed under President Joe Biden, including 7,346 reports of human trafficking. Within 100 days of assuming power, the Trump administration had opened dozens of legal investigations from the previously inactive reports.

NOEM SAYS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS LOCATED 127K MISSING MIGRANT CHILDREN LOST UNDER BIDEN

During the press conference, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that three individuals, all purportedly illegal immigrants from Guatemala, had been indicted in the Northern District of Ohio for allegedly conspiring to smuggle more than a dozen children into the United States by “exploiting the loopholes created by the last administration.”

“This is one example, one indictment, but it is not unique. There are over 15,500 super-sponsor cases that we have identified, along with DHS. And again, these sponsor cases are when somebody sponsors more than three children, unrelated,” Blanche said. 

Mullin took an emotional tone later in the press conference.

“What’s inhumane about taking care of our kids?” he asked. “As a father of six with three young girls, I’ll do whatever I have to do, I will. I will move heaven and hell to go find these kids.”

“We’re going to bring you to justice. We’re going to charge you, and we’re going to work side by side with Todd Blanch and DOJ to make sure you pay for your crimes,” Mullin added.

HUNDREDS OF JAILED ILLEGAL ALIENS RELEASED BACK ONTO BLUE-STATE STREETS DESPITE ICE DETAINERS, RECORDS SHOW

A 2021 HHS Office of Inspector General report found that large numbers of child migrant sponsors were not properly vetted before minors were released to them, including 19% of sponsors who authorities never received FBI fingerprint or state child abuse and neglect registry checks.  

ICE SWEEPS UP CHILD PREDATORS, RAPISTS ACROSS US AS MULLIN TAKES HELM OF DHS

While internal government probes uncovered problems in the Biden administration’s processing of migrant children, the administration did take some action in response to abuse concerns and sponsor-vetting failures.

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In July 2024, for instance, the Biden administration sued Southwest Key, a company that operated a processing facility for unaccompanied migrant children, alleging that employees sexually abused and harassed the minors in their care. The administration also accepted recommendations for reform following the 2021 HHS OIG report.  

The DOJ and Biden’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

DHS directed Fox News Digital to Mullin’s comments during the press conference when approached for additional comment. 

“We found 146,000 kids so far. Some of these kids claimed that they were raped over 600 times. I don’t care who you are. If you can’t stand for law enforcement to go find these kids, who are you?” Mullins said during the press conference. 

A key U.S. surveillance program is on the brink of expiring after House Democrats and a group of conservatives sank a temporary extension amid a standoff over President Donald Trump’s intelligence chief pick. 

Lawmakers voted 198-218 on Thursday to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for three weeks, falling well short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage.

The measure, meant to give Congress more time to negotiate a long-term renewal, faced an uphill battle amid widespread Democratic opposition. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., warned he would withhold support for extending the program until Trump reversed his decision to name Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., put the bill on the floor via suspension of the rules, a fast-track procedure that requires a higher threshold to secure passage.

WHY TRUMP PICKED BILL PULTE TO LEAD US INTELLIGENCE AS CRITICS QUESTION HIS QUALIFICATIONS

He indicated he would not keep the House in session before the spy law was scheduled to lapse Saturday at 12:01 a.m.

“I attempted to pass a short-term extension for three weeks. Clean extension, no changes to the law,” Johnson told reporters following the failed vote. And the Democrats … voted against it and applauded themselves as they left the building. What would be the point of me going through this exercise over and over?”

Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., Don Davis, D-N.C., Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Susie Lee, D-N.V., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., were the 7 Democrats to cross party lines and support extending the program through July 2.

Meanwhile, 19 Republicans, who were skeptical of a clean reauthorization of Section 702 without greater privacy guardrails, joined the majority of Democrats in voting down the measure.

Thursday’s vote was a notable setback for Trump, who urged lawmakers to reauthorize the program ahead of the June 12 deadline with no modifications.

Democrats and some Republicans have argued that Pulte, a Trump insider and senior housing official, is unqualified for the top intelligence post.

Trump has largely defended and refused to bow to Democrats’ demands. His comments Wednesday that he is actively looking for a permanent replacement for Pulte, who is expected to begin the job June 19, were not enough to soften Democrats’ opposition. 

The standoff over the critical surveillance tool has led to tensions erupting in the lower chamber with little time to act before the law’s expiration.

Jeffries called Pulte a “malignant clown” during a news conference earlier this week and pledged that House Democrats would probe his tenure at the Federal Housing Finance Agency if they retake power in November. As the agency’s director, Pulte launched investigations into several Trump foes over alleged mortgage fraud.

Meanwhile, Republicans have warned that letting the spy law sunset would leave the United States uniquely vulnerable amid an influx of foreigners into the country with the World Cup underway and as the war with Iran drags on. They argue that Democrats are putting the country at a grave security risk by failing to extend the program into July.

“45 countries descend upon the United States for World Cup games, which just so happens to be the week that Democrats have actively chosen to disallow this critical national security tool from being renewed to allow it to go dark,” House Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Ark., said Wednesday. “This is unserious, very dangerous behavior on the part of congressional Democrats.”

“You cannot play politics with the security of the American people,” Johnson told reporters. “I am praying that they come to their senses.”

REPS ANDY HARRIS, KEITH SELF, SEN RICK SCOTT: FIX FISA. DON’T SPY ON US

The Section 702 program allows the U.S. government to collect intelligence on foreigners abroad who are using U.S. communication systems. The spy law also allows the government to sweep up the messages of Americans when communicating with foreign suspects, provoking the ire of privacy hawks in both parties.

The program is credited with thwarting a terrorist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Austria in 2024, as well as gathering intelligence used to identify and eliminate a prominent Mexican cartel leader and providing information used to intercept shipments of fentanyl precursors from China. 

Congress passed two consecutive short-term extensions of the law earlier this year, but has yet to strike a deal on a multi-year fix.

Some Democrats have argued Republicans’ warnings are political theater and have pointed to an intelligence court ruling that recertified Section 702 through March 2027.

“Existing law allows Section 702 collection to continue under an order from the FISA court for another year, even without congressional reauthorization,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Wednesday. “Congress can and must take the time to get this right.”

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But GOP lawmakers warned that allowing the government’s warrantless surveillance powers to sunset entails substantial risk, including potential legal challenges.

“If this authority lapses starting on Saturday, we move into uncharted territory,” Crawford said Wednesday. “The implications get worse every single day.”

“While the 702 database would remain available to search, the data in that database will become increasingly out of date, with the potential of provider noncompliance with orders, litigation by providers or outside groups, and even reticence by agency personnel to continue implementing an expired authority for fear of personal liability,” he added.

EXCLUSIVE: A top Trump agency is cutting off funding to the Los Angeles agency responsible for coordinating billions in homelessness spending after accusing it of “obvious fraud,” “wanton mismanagement” and repeated failures to safeguard taxpayer dollars, Fox News Digital has learned.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which is a member of the White House fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance, is immediately suspending the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s (LAHSA) federal funding while HUD’s inspector general investigates potential offenses by the agency and its leadership, according to a letter sent to LAHSA’s board chair Wendy Greuel and its CEO Gita O’Neill, which was obtained and reviewed by Fox News Digital. 

The letter detailed conflicts of interest, financial mismanagement, fraud, lack of oversight, and more from the homelessness agency, which has faced efforts by the city and county to take it over.

The move puts one of the country’s biggest homelessness bureaucracies under direct federal scrutiny after years of criticism that billions have gone into homelessness programs in Los Angeles while the crisis remains entrenched on the streets. LAHSA receives funding at the city, county, state and federal level, with the group getting nearly $1 billion from just the federal government since 2021, according to HUD.

CALIFORNIA MAN ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY STEALING MILLIONS IN HOMELESS FUNDS

“Suspending LAHSA’s participation in federal government programs is a necessary step in accomplishing that critical mission in Los Angeles,” HUD wrote in the letter. “LAHSA’s failures have been so severe and pervasive that Los Angeles County has withdrawn its funding for the agency, and the City of Los Angeles is considering doing so as well.”

LAHSA’s former top executive, Va Lecia Adams Kellum, resigned last year after she was found to have been a party to directing $2.1 million in federal funds under LAHSA’s control to her husband’s Santa Monica-based nonprofit employer.

HUD says a federal judge last year also concluded that LAHSA had committed “obvious fraud” after it allegedly kept requesting funding for an 88-bed shelter even though it knew the shelter was operating at roughly half-capacity.

EX-NONPROFIT BOSS ALLEGEDLY SWIPED $1.2M MEANT FOR HOMELESS PROGRAMS TO FUND LAVISH LIFESTYLE, DA SAYS

HUD noted in its letter that the judge considered placing LAHSA into receivership as well.

LAHSA’s inability to verify the existence of nearly 2,300 housing sites for which it was responsible is another recent issue that has plagued the homelessness provider, according to HUD, which said 70% of the contracts for those sites did not disclose any expenses over the prior year.

Public audits of LAHSA, meanwhile, found a pattern of routinely paying service providers late and poor record keeping preventing it from monitoring contracts, including $5 million in cash advances sent to five different service providers, according to the Associated Press. In November 2024, the City Controller’s Office found that LAHSA failed to spend $513 million in public funds budgeted in fiscal year 2024, blaming a lack of staff and old technology, according to HUD.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, HUD will fund results, not corrupt failure or the homeless industrial complex,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Year after year, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars were funneled to LAHSA with little accountability. Meanwhile, homelessness skyrocketed. Taxpayers will no longer bankroll an organization that puts its own self-interests ahead of the Americans it was created to serve.”

Other audits concluded that LAHSA’s poor record keeping made it unable to accurately identify or calculate how well its spending has been benefiting the homeless population in Los Angeles.

KAREN BASS GRILLED OVER BROKEN HOMELESSNESS PROMISE, BLAMES BUREAUCRACY FOR SLOWED PROGRESS

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, who is the vice chair of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, praised the leadership on this issue from HUD Secretary Scott Turner, President Donald Trump and Vance, who serves as the chairman of the fraud task force that was established earlier this year. 

“Los Angeles didn’t care about helping the homeless, but the Trump Administration does,” Ferguson told Fox News Digital. “It is unconscionable that Los Angeles has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars that was supposed to be used on housing our nation’s most vulnerable. Instead of providing a roof and care for the homeless, Los Angeles has used these funds to line the pockets of left-wing NGOs. Such a disgrace ends today.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles officials have pointed to recent homeless-count data as evidence that the crisis has begun to improve, with LAHSA reporting that countywide homelessness fell for a second straight year in 2025 and Bass saying it marked the first time in the city’s recent history that homelessness had declined two years in a row.

But the numbers still showed more than 72,000 people experiencing homelessness across Los Angeles County, and critics have continued to argue that modest declines do not erase years of runaway spending, encampments and repeated audit findings that the region’s homelessness system has failed to adequately track whether taxpayer dollars are producing results. 

The federal action from HUD comes after Los Angeles city and county officials had already begun backing away from LAHSA, the Associated Press reported last year.

The city council moved to explore bypassing the agency and contracting directly with providers, while the county moved to redirect hundreds of millions of dollars in annual homelessness funding away from LAHSA and into a new county department, citing the need for stronger accountability after a series of audits.

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“HUD cannot ignore LAHSA’s wanton mismanagement of public funds. HUD’s mission is to reduce the plague of homelessness in America,” the agency’s letter to LAHSA leadership on Thursday stated. “Turning over billions of dollars from American taxpayers to an organization under investigation and suspected of gross misuse of federal funding and “obvious fraud” does nothing to reduce homelessness. Indeed, diverting dollars from worthy programs to LAHSA merely makes the homeless crisis worse.”

Fox News Digital reached out to LAHSA for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of the Interior is cutting 43 partnerships with outside groups it says no longer align with the Trump administration’s priorities, eliminating more than $4 million in planned funding for programs tied to DEI, environmental justice and support services for illegal immigrants.

Led by Secretary Doug Burgum, the department determined the agreements were “operating in direct opposition” to its mission, according to a press release obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital.

“Under Secretary Burgum, the Department of the Interior is ending partnerships with groups that no longer represent the priorities of the American people,” the department said. In response, DOI said it is terminating all agreements with the identified groups and removing references to them from its websites.

The terminated agreements supported internship programs, conservation initiatives, research projects and cooperative partnerships.

BURGUM SAYS INTERIOR DEPARTMENT ‘COMPLETELY EMBRACING THE DOGE EFFORT’

A department-wide review launched in March uncovered nearly 3,000 active agreements with about 2,000 outside groups, ranging from NGOs and nonprofits to private entities and educational institutions.

The review later found multiple groups “did not appear to provide a clear benefit” or “did not align with the department’s mission,” according to the department.

ICE SHUTS DOWN PROGRAMS OFFERING SERVICES TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, CITING ‘IMMENSE’ COSTS

Among the groups targeted were the Hispanic Access Foundation, which offers scholarships for illegal immigrant Latino students, and Latino Outdoors, which the department said provided instructions on avoiding detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Latino Outdoors has advocated against oil and gas development, while the Hispanic Access Foundation has worked with the National Park Service “to conduct a variety of educational and cultural support activities,” according to the department.

The department cited the American Alliance of Museums, which it said had a contract with the NPS to build DEI programs across national parks as part of the agency’s Community Engagement initiative. The department pointed to the group’s previous Facing Change initiative, which promoted DEI efforts at museums.

EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP HUD SECRETARY CANCELS $4M IN DEI CONTRACTS AFTER LAUNCHING DOGE TASK FORCE

Conservation International, an environmental group that the department said advocates for a “total phase out of fossil fuels,” was also flagged. The department noted the organization’s statements describing fossil fuels as the “leading culprit” of planet-warming carbon emissions, as well as its support for environmental justice and equity-focused climate policies.

Another group on the department’s list was The Cultural Landscape Foundation, which it said has a master cooperative agreement with the NPS “to conduct a variety of educational and cultural support activities.” The organization has opposed several administration initiatives, including suing over changes at the Kennedy Center, criticizing plans for a White House ballroom and highlighting cultural landscapes and historic sites it says are threatened by administration actions through its Landslide 2026: Erasing American History initiative.

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“Under President Trump and Secretary Burgum, the Department of the Interior is taking decisive action to ensure its partnerships and resources support the priorities of this administration and the interests of the American people,” Matthew Middleton, principal deputy communications director and director of research, told Fox News Digital.

“As part of that commitment, the Department is ending relationships with organizations whose advocacy for phasing out baseload energy, defunding law enforcement services, and promoting racially preferential programs directly conflicts with this administration’s priorities. Interior will continue to invest in partnerships that expand access to public lands, promote responsible stewardship, and deliver tangible benefits to the American people.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Hispanic Access Foundation, Latino Outdoors, the American Alliance of Museums, Conservation International and the Cultural Landscape Foundation for comment.

Other groups the DOI is cutting ties with include: The Green Schools Alliance, Doris Duke Foundation, Hispanic Access Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, California Native Plant Society, American Alliance of Museums, Clean Ocean Action and the National Geographic Society.

The move is the latest in a series of administration actions, including efforts to roll back DEI initiatives, strengthen immigration enforcement and expand energy development. The department said it will ensure future partnerships align with the agency’s mission.

President Donald Trump vowed a forceful response against Iran on Wednesday, saying the U.S. would be “attacking them very hard” after accusing Tehran of prolonging nuclear negotiations and targeting a U.S. helicopter.

Trump was asked during the signing of the Secure America Act in the Oval Office what he meant about an earlier social media post in which he wrote that Iran has taken too long to negotiate a deal and “now they will have to pay the price!!!”

“We’re going to be attacking them and attacking them very hard,” Trump told reporters, adding that the action is being taken after Iran shot down an American military helicopter.

The two crew members aboard a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache were rescued by American forces after the helicopter went down near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Monday. Both soldiers were safely rescued within two hours.

US ARMY HELICOPTER GOES DOWN, BUT PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SAYS ‘PILOTS ARE FINE’

On Tuesday, CENTCOM said U.S. forces completed self-defense strikes against Iran on Tuesday at Trump’s orders in response to the downing of the helicopter.

“We hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them again hard today,” Trump said.

Trump said the U.S. and Iran are “really close to a deal,” though accused Tehran of “tapping us along” and “playing us for suckers.”

When asked if the U.S. will strike Iranian power plants and bridges, Trump said he wouldn’t disclose any details.

“We have the strongest military anywhere in the world,” the president said. “And sometimes you’ll have to use it.”

Trump reiterated that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. 

TRUMP KEEPS FORECASTING AN IRAN DEAL – WHY THE WHITE HOUSE STILL THINKS IT CAN HAPPEN

“They’ve agreed to that,” he said, adding that all Tehran has to do is sign the agreement. 

“It’s fully negotiated,” Trump said, “but they’re tapping and tapping. And I say, ‘All right, let’s give them a couple of more days’ … because it’s a meaningful paper. They know when they sign that paper it’s meaningful.”

In a Truth Social post from earlier Wednesday, Trump claimed Iran’s military “is a complete and total mess.”

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“Much of it, like their Navy and Air Force, doesn’t even exist anymore – They have been completely defeated,” the post read. “Iran is all talk and no action. The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!! They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”

President Donald Trump signed the $70 billion Republican-led homeland security bill Wednesday after the Senate-crafted measure narrowly passed the House despite the GOP’s slim majority. 

Speaking from the Oval Office alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and other lawmakers, Trump said he was “thrilled” to fund the Department of Homeland Security and give “heroes of ICE and Border Patrol” needed resources through the end of his term, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

“The bill provides crucial funding for domestic law enforcement investigations and combating child exploitation, continuing our work to restore law and order across our nation, and to protect America’s youth,” the president said. 

TRUMP ON VERGE OF SECURING $70B ICE FUNDING VICTORY AFTER HOUSE CLEARS HURDLE

“For more than 100 days, congressional Democrats tried to block all funding for the Department of Homeland Security in a reprehensible attempt to throw open the borders of the United States of America,” he added. “They want to drag us straight back to chaos and crime of the Crooked Joe Biden administration, one of the most corrupt administrations, probably the most corrupt ever.” 

Trump took shots at former President Joe Biden for his “open border policy” allowing 25 million migrants to illegally enter the U.S. and former Vice President Kamala Harris, named border czar, for not utilizing ICE and border patrol. 

“She never once called them,” Trump said. “She was the border czar for four years, almost four years, and she never went to the border, and she never called up. I used to call them all the time.” 

He said the crossing of fentanyl across the border has been cut by almost 60%, with law enforcement now narrowing in on land crossings “because the sea was tougher.”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Tuesday it was imperative that the lower chamber act amid “heightened security threats.”

The $70 billion package initially faced resistance from conservatives who pushed to codify Trump’s immigration-related executive orders, which still lack the full force of law.

“We need to codify what the president has done across the board,” Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, told reporters Tuesday. “So we’re going to fund the people who will try to keep the bad guys out, but we haven’t codified the actions to prevent them to do to come back here in three years or so.”

All Senate Democrats and Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski voted against the bill in early June, while the rest of the GOP argued that ICE and Customs and Border Protection must be fully funded through the remainder of Trump’s term.

California Rep. Pete Aguilar, a member of House Democratic leadership, said that giving a “$70 billion blank check to ICE” is the wrong move, claiming the agency has a record of “brutalizing (and) terrorizing” American communities.

Trump initially gave congressional Republicans a June 1 deadline to secure funding for ICE and Border Protection, but intra-party opposition to the president’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” delayed the measure’s passage. Some Republicans feared people convicted of violent offenses, including assaulting police officers, in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot could access taxpayer funds.

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The bill’s passage comes months after Democrats successfully shut down the Department of Homeland Security over objections to Trump’s immigration enforcement actions.

However, the shutdown’s impact was limited because ICE had already been separately funded through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act the previous November.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for additional comment.

Senate Republicans are warning that scandal-plagued oysterman Graham Platner could still defeat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, if the party fails to take the race seriously.

Republicans are defending several seats in expectedly close races, including Nebraska, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas, while seeking to flip Georgia. Maine is different: Sen. Susan Collins’ seat is the only Republican-held Senate seat in a state won by Kamala Harris in 2024, making it Democrats’ most direct path to returning Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., to the majority leader’s office, Republicans said in a memo circulated Wednesday.

“It is a fatal mistake to assume Platner is too damaged to win,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) memo obtained by Fox News — addressed to “Interested Parties” — read.

The NRSC agreed that Maine is the “linchpin” of the 35 seats up this year and that despite Platner’s Nazi tattoo, allegations of misogynist violence, arousal from biocide in port-a-johns, and his socialist policy platform, he remains a credible threat to the middle-of-the-road Collins.

SEE IT: MAINE VOTERS SOUND OFF ON PLATNER’S DIVISIVE CAMPAIGN AS CRUCIAL PRIMARY NEARS: ‘HE’S A DISGRACE’

“Senator Collins has won tough races before and can win this one, but only if we meet this moment with total urgency,” the NRSC said.

“Because Democrats cannot win the majority without [Collins’ seat], they have fully rallied around Graham Platner, an extremely flawed, far-left candidate who secured the nomination last night. Platner has captured his party’s financial backing, outraising Senator Collins in every quarter since entering the race. We must match both the energy and the money to retain the seat,” the memo said.

The NRSC said Democrats don’t view Platner’s race as being about the flawed candidate but rather about usurping power.

COLLINS SECURES GOP NOD IN MAINE SENATE BATTLE THAT COULD DECIDE GOP MAJORITY

The committee said any one of Platner’s multiple scandals would have ended most campaigns, but Democrats remain united around him. The NRSC reported that after former girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield’s allegations against Platner broke, Platner raised $200,000 in one day in what the campaign said was its best haul of the cycle.

“The political fundamentals in Maine remain challenging, and it is a fatal mistake to assume Platner is too damaged to win,” the NRSC said.

Collins is the last remaining federal Republican in New England and the only Republican in the Senate north or east of Pennsylvania.

The NRSC reported that Platner is beating Harris’ own margins by seven points while noting Collins has won tough races in the past, but this one is different.

Collins won her last race against former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon by about eight points, and her last electoral loss was way back in 1994 when now-Sen. Angus King Jr., I-Maine, won the governorship in a four-way contest.

Republicans said in the memo that the biggest story in the past week about Platner is not his latest scandal, but the fact that Democrats are circling the wagons around him even more tightly and “propping him up.”

WATCH: DEM SENATORS EXCUSE PLATNER’S CONDUCT AT CRISIS HUDDLE WITH EMBATTLED MAINE CANDIDATE

They cited Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna visiting Maine to hold a gushy interview-slash-ad with Platner and the fact that Democrats keep claiming Collins and Trump are worse than the left-winger.

“Gotta do what you gotta do,” the NRSC quoted former Biden deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty, while noting that Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse publicly claimed Platner’s foibles are a “lot of nothing.”

They also pointed to one of the most influential Democratic operatives claiming that Platner’s flaws actually bolster his qualifications.

Platner had disparaged former Pennsylvania lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Teddy Daniels after video of the Purple Heart recipient being besieged and gravely wounded by the Taliban surfaced several years ago.

“We’ve got a f—ed up guy who could be 100 times more f—ed up than he is and he’d never be as f—ed up as what we’ve got in Washington,” said 1992 Bill Clinton campaign architect James Carville, who suggested that Platner’s apparent PTSD should be a symbol on the Hill as to why neoconservatives have been wrong about war powers.

“This is not a party abandoning its nominee. This is a party rationalizing, accepting, and preparing to fight,” the NRSC said.

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“Republicans need to match that urgency immediately. Define Platner. Defend Collins. Resource Maine,” they said. “Senator Collins has proven time and time again, through her work ethic and commitment to the people of Maine and America, that she will prevail.”

“This race can be won, but it will not win itself.”

NRSC national press secretary Bernadette Breslin exclusively told Fox News Digital that Platner “has become the new face of the Democratic Party, forcing Democrats to own his mounting scandals and socialist wish list.”

“Come November, Mainers will see through his fraudulent working-class persona and reject the political baggage Democrats are now stuck defending,” Breslin said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the DSCC, Platner campaign and Collins campaign for further comment.

Two top Democrat leaders who were hesitant to endorse embattled Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner by name amid his controversies finally relented Tuesday night after he cruised to victory in his primary election.

House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., issued a seemingly half-hearted joint statement backing Platner as he continues to face heat stemming from a multitude of scandals.

“Over the past year, we have created a path to win a Democratic Senate majority and put a stop to the chaos and damage of the Trump administration by defeating the Republicans who enable his harmful agenda,” they wrote in a statement issued by the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) just after Platner was declared the winner.

“In November, Maine voters will elect Graham Platner, and we will win a Senate majority,” they concluded.

In the statement, the New York lawmakers attempted to paint moderate Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as a radical pro-Trump Republican despite her several breaks with the president.

“Susan Collins has never been more vulnerable after she voted with Trump 96 percent of the time, confirmed his far-right judicial nominees, and took millions from special interests while voting to rip health care away from Mainers,” they listed.

SCANDAL-PLAGUED PLATNER CAPTURES DEMOCRATIC SENATE NOMINATION

Last week, Platner met with Gillibrand and Schumer, among other Democrats, during a crisis trip to Washington, D.C., in the midst of his latest scandal, which, at the time, was related to revelations of an account on a controversial messaging app. 

After that meeting, Gillibrand refused to say whether she still supported the progressive candidate.

“I’m very confident we are going to win Maine,” she told reporters. “I do. I have confidence that we are going to win Maine and I have no doubt.”

WATCH: DEM SENATORS EXCUSE PLATNER’S CONDUCT AT CRISIS HUDDLE WITH EMBATTLED MAINE CANDIDATE

Schumer also attempted to duck direct questions from reporters at a Capitol Hill press conference following that meeting.

“I met with Graham Platner today, we’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate,” he said. “We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.”

After he was asked for the fifth time about the meetings, he begrudgingly used Platner’s name to back the candidate.

WATCH: SCANDAL-PLAGUED PLATNER DODGES QUESTIONS BEFORE DC MEETING WITH DEMOCRATS

“As I said, I endorsed Graham Platner,” he said.

Before that meeting, Platner was embroiled in controversy after it was revealed that he has an active account on Kik, an anonymous chatting platform notorious for lax identification methods that have enabled the proliferation of child sexual abuse material.

Platner used as his profile image on the application a sexually suggestive photo of himself shirtless and wearing only a towel around his waist.

Just days after the meetings in D.C., the candidate was accused of physical misconduct, including aggressive behavior, with a former romantic partner. Platner denies those accusations.

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Platner’s previous scandals include sexually lewd Reddit posts, disrespectful comments made against a Purple Heart-winning combat veteran, a Nazi-linked tattoo on his chest that has since been covered up and reports he exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married.

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper is facing a judicial misconduct complaint from a conservative watchdog group, which argues he should have recused himself from a lawsuit involving President Donald Trump’s effort to rename the Kennedy Center.

The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) alleged that Cooper should have bowed out of the case because his wife, Amy Jeffress, has a history of representing what the group described as “anti-Trump” clients. In May, Cooper ruled against Trump by permanently blocking the renaming of the Kennedy Center after Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, filed a lawsuit.

CASA filed a complaint with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday, alleging Cooper failed to disclose or recuse himself despite what it called significant financial and professional interests stemming from his wife’s involvement in litigation against Trump.

“CASA is filing a judicial complaint against Obama-appointed DC District Court Judge Christopher Cooper for his potentially unethical behavior after his failure to recuse himself from the frivolous Kennedy Center lawsuit filed against President Trump, given his wife’s financial interests in opposing President Trump’s agenda through litigation,” CASA Director of Research and Policy Curtis Schube said in a statement.

JUDGE WITH INTIMATE TIES TO DEM PARTY’S KEY RUSSIA HOAX PLAYERS BEHIND LATEST ANTI-TRUMP DECISION

The complaint comes more than a week after Trump slammed Cooper for having a “conflict of interest,” pointing to Cooper’s wife, Amy Jeffress’, track record of representing Trump’s biggest foes, including former anti-Trump FBI lawyer Lisa Page, and currently representing former President Joe Biden, who is suing Trump’s Justice Department over the release of Robert Hur’s interview recordings.

“Cooper’s wife is longtime Democrat activist and attorney Amy Jeffress. Jeffress is the former counsel to the January 6th committee, works as former President Biden’s personal lawyer, and currently represents Biden in ongoing litigation against President Trump,” Schube said. “There was a clear need for Cooper to recuse himself from this matter, or at the very least disclose these conflicts. By doing neither, Cooper caused — at the very least — an appearance of impropriety, which warrants a full investigation.”

The complaint does not challenge Cooper’s ruling itself, but it argues that his involvement in the case could raise reasonable questions about his ability to be impartial under the federal judiciary’s Code of Conduct.

JONATHAN TURLEY: TRUMP’S KENNEDY CENTER NAME CHANGE WILL KEEP LAWYERS BUSY FOR YEARS

“We are deeply concerned with the fact that a sitting federal judge did not recuse himself, and adjudicated to disposition, a case from which he and his spouse financially benefit,” the complaint states. “Indeed, a large portion of his wife’s business model appears to rely on handling litigation that is anti-Trump in nature.”

CASA argues that Cooper may have violated Canon 1, which requires judges to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary.

Read the complaint below. App users: Click here

“Canon 1 requires that a judge uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary,” the filing states. “Judge Cooper, presumably, goes home every night to his wife whose career is predicated on suing President Trump.”

CASA argued Cooper is in violation of Canon 2, which requires judges to avoid situations that could appear improper, even when no actual misconduct has occurred.

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“More specifically, Canon 2 lists occasions when the appearance of a relationship affects a judge’s ability to adjudicate a case: 1) when public confidence is hampered; and 2) when spousal relationships influence judicial conduct,” the complaint stated. “Both problems are present here.”

The complaint also argues that Cooper violated Canon 3, which requires judges to remain fair and impartial and that recusal may be warranted when a judge’s spouse’s interests or potential partisan influences could reasonably raise questions about that impartiality.

The complaint concludes by urging the D.C. Circuit to investigate Cooper and determine whether disciplinary action is warranted.

Appointed by President Barack Obama, Cooper has served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C., since 2014.

Cooper has long been the target of conflict of interest allegations from Trump and his allies. The judge drew scrutiny during Special Counsel John Durham’s prosecution of former Clinton campaign-linked attorney Michael Sussmann, which was a part of Durham’s broader probe into the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation centered on the now-debunked Russian-Trump collusion theory.

Critics argued then that he should have recused himself because his wife, attorney Amy Jeffress, represented former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, a figure tied to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation.

Fox News Digital reached out to Cooper and Jeffress for comment.

Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., lashed out at Republican efforts to investigate a Democratic fundraising apparatus on Wednesday afternoon, characterizing the ongoing fraud probe as the most recent instance of GOP retribution against Black women in power.

“Over and over again, Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has harassed Black women with bogus lawsuits,” Sewell said on Wednesday morning.

Sewell’s criticisms come as as Republican lawmakers probe ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising and campaign organization, and its CEO and president, Regina Wallace-Jones, for potentially accepting illegal donations.

In particular, House Republicans are demanding that ActBlue turn over international communications, probing whether the organization knowingly misled lawmakers and dodged subpoenas to hide weaknesses in its screening process to weed out illegal, overseas donations.

DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT IN THE HOT SEAT AS GOP LAWMAKERS DEMAND ANSWERS OVER DODGED SUBPOENA

The review by lawmakers coincides with an April request from President Donald Trump to investigate the group.

“There is evidence to suggest that foreign nationals are seeking to misuse online fundraising platforms to improperly influence American elections,” the White House said in a press release.

Wallace-Jones has called the investigation baseless, maintaining that ActBlue applies high scrutiny for its donations processing.

JASMINE CROCKETT CLAIMS TRUMP IS ‘TERRIFIED OF SMART, BOLD BLACK WOMEN’ AFTER PRESIDENT’S ‘LOW IQ’ JAB

“Our approach is multilayered, with checks and confirmations occurring throughout the donation process to verify donors and donor information,” she told Fox News Digital in a statement earlier this year.

Among other safeguards, Wallace-Jones said the organization requires Card Verification Values (CVVs) for credit card donations, uses IP addresses, a kind of digital footprint, to identify foreign-sourced contributions, applies an industry-standard Address Verification System (AVS) and manually reviews donations.

To Sewell, the investigation into ActBlue and Wallace-Jones is tainted by other investigations into black women who have crossed Trump in the past.

“This investigation is just one more example of Republicans and President Trump using power of his office to harass and intimidate anyone willing to challenge him. The Trump Department of Justice has used its power to intimidate and victimize communities of color, especially Black Americans,” Sewell said.

ACTBLUE CHIEF HEADS TO CAPITOL HILL HOT SEAT AS DONOR FRAUD PROBE INTENSIFIES

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“We should not forget the harassment of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook, the harassment of the New York Attorney General, Tish James and the harassment of our colleague Congresswoman LaMonica McIver,” Sewell said, listing off a number of similar cases.

“It is not surprising that this Republican-led committee is now attacking ActBlue and its CEO, Ms. Wallace-Jones,” Sewell said.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is continuing to deny looming questions over an Ethics Committee investigation into her financial filings, showing a significant drop in her net worth.

Scrutiny of Omar’s finances intensified after financial disclosure filings appeared to show her estimated net worth falling from a range of roughly $6 million to $30 million in one filing period to between about $18,000 and $95,000 in a later disclosure.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has publicly voiced his interest in the House Ethics Committee opening an investigation into both Omar’s personal finances and her connection to the ‘Feeding Our Future’ fraud scheme, a scandal that federal prosecutors say cost taxpayers roughly $250 million.

JAMES COMER RAISES FELONY QUESTIONS OVER ILHAN OMAR’S FINANCES AFTER DISCLOSURE DISCREPANCY

Omar dismissed suggestions that she is facing an Ethics Committee investigation.

“No,” Omar told Fox News Digital, laughing, when asked if she is under an Ethics Committee investigation. “No. We go over this all the time.”

She was pressed about continued reporting surrounding the discrepancy —  the possibility of the roughly $29 million drop in her financial disclosure. 

“There’s also the possibility that it might rain on this sunny day,” Omar replied.

Along with Comer’s efforts to launch an investigation into Omar, Vice President JD Vance said just last month that the U.S. Department of Justice will be opening a probe into the Minnesota Democrat’s alleged fraud as part of the administration’s new anti-fraud taskforce. 

OMAR CAMP BREAKS SILENCE ON FRAUD PROBE, BLAMES WALZ, TRUMP AS NEW CLAIMS CLASH WITH EARLIER STATEMENTS

Omar has declined ever being aware of the scheme happening behind doors with the organization, which claimed to be helping supply children in need of meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Justice Department described the scheme as the “single largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country,” The Associated Press reported. The orchestrator of the non-profit, Aimee Bock, was sentenced to 42 years in prison for her involvement in spearheading the fraud scheme.

Republicans have pointed to Omar’s MEALS Act, part of a federal pandemic relief measure which she sponsored, as a factor they say contributed to conditions that allowed the fraud to occur. They argue her bill was a mass contributor to the fraud occurring as it broadened USDA waiver authority at meal sites. It has also been claimed that this same act helped to dismantle anti-fraud safeguards that verified the people actually being serviced in federal nutrition programs.

ILHAN OMAR’S OFFICE SAYS SHE’S ‘NOT A MILLIONAIRE’ AFTER $30M FILING REVISED DOWN TO UNDER $100K: REPORT

In a previous statement to Fox News Digital from Omar, she claimed that President Donald Trump’s USDA Secretary, Brooke Rollins, imposed the regulations for the framework of the program. 

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While Omar continues to reject suggestions time-after-time that she is facing an Ethics Committee investigation, Republicans have shown little sign of backing away from their demands for a proper investigation into Omar’s finances and fraud allegations. 

A vulnerable House Democrat in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District is facing scrutiny over expenses eclipsing over $40,000 in payments to a furniture and interior design company for refurbishing a district office.

In the second quarter of 2023, Davis reported $27,300 in taxpayer-funded “habitation expenses” and another $13,030 for “office supplies and furniture,” according to congressional disclosure records — second overall among the 435 members in the House of Representatives.

“Upon my first election to Congress, we immediately set to work establishing our congressional office within the new district, starting from scratch with no furniture and limited supplies. After subsequent redistricting, we expanded our offices to serve our constituents better,” Davis told Fox News Digital. “These expenses underscore not only the rising costs we are facing nationwide but also the financial impact of redistricting.”

AOC SPENT OVER $53K IN CAMPAIGN FUNDS ON LUXURY HOTELS IN 2025: ‘CARPETBAGGER’

Only one other member, Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., appeared to have higher habitation expenses than Davis in 2023.

Taff Office, which currently operates as “Young Office” after a merger in 2025, is an interior design company designing “spaces that inspire, motivate and engage.”

When asked about the expenses, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) argued the expenses fall under the appropriate parameters of Davis’ duties.

“One of the most basic functions of a Congress in maintaining an office to serve the people in their district. Congressman Davis has some of the best constituent services in the country. Maybe if Republicans followed his example they wouldn’t feel the need to once again redistrict the state in an effort to save their flailing House majority,” Madison Andrus, a spokesperson for the DCCC said.

However, during the 2022 election cycle, the DCCC used habitation expenses as an attack against then-Rep. Steve Chabot- R-Ohio, who spent a small fraction of the $40,000+ that Davis did. A Fox News Digital review of an oppo research book that the DCCC compiled against Chabot, shows that he spent less than $7,000 between 2011 and 2022.

A spokesperson for the GOP-run Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) called Davis’ expenses out of touch with the challenges faced by state residents and framed them as a part of a larger pattern of spending. 

“North Carolina families struggle every day to make ends meet while Congressman Don Davis is wasting their hard-earned money on $2,300 Ubers and $40,000 office renovations. This isn’t just reckless spending—it’s a pattern of abusing the taxpayer dollars Davis was entrusted to protect. North Carolinians have had enough and will boot Don Davis from office come November,” Torunn Sinclair, a spokesperson for CLF, said. 

DEM RISING STAR WHO CALLED TRUMP ‘CON MAN’ SPENT OVER $120K ON LUXURY HOTELS, TRANSPORTATION AND SECURITY

While not the highest habitation expense among lawmakers, Davis’ 2023 record comes amid reports of other high costs expensed to taxpayers during his years of public service. In comparison, Congresswoman Valerie Foushee, another North Carolina Democrat who was sworn into office in 2023, appears to have spent under $3,000 in habitation expenses that same year.

Reporting from The Center Square in March uncovered that Davis took $4,500 in per diems over the course of 19 days where he did not participate in any votes, accepting the allowances granted to cover lodging and travel costs for the lawmakers’ trips to the state capitol.

Since his election to Congress, Davis has also received criticism for spending nearly $10,000 on a trip to the U.S. southern border in 2024, racking up almost $7,000 in airfare costs.

Members of Congress are required to report expenses covered by the government, like costs for running an office.

Among the categories of items covered, a habitation expense covers “minor, minimal expenses incurred for decorating offices.”

FEDERAL ELECTION COMPLAINT ALLEGES AOC MISUSED CAMPAIGN FUNDS FOR PSYCHIATRIST SERVICES

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“This category includes furniture items such as chairs, tables, etc., which cost less than $500. Furniture that costs more than $500 and less than $25,000 should appear under the expense category or budget object code for furniture and fixtures less than $25,000,” the House website reads.

The use of habitation expenses has varied widely depending on lawmakers’ needs, but has also landed some lawmakers in hot water for overly flamboyant expenses.

Former Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., famously received criticism in 2015 for spending and then repaying $40,000 in taxpayer funds to refurbish a district office in the style of Downtown Abby, according to the Associated Press.

Davis will be facing Laurie Buckhout, a “retired Army Colonel and decorated combat commander” in November’s general election.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett erupted at Republicans, calling them a “majority… White” party and accusing them of using a member of Martin Luther King Jr.’s family as a prop to shield themselves from allegations of racism while interrogating the Southern Poverty Law Center’s funding of hate groups.

Crockett, who is leaving office next year after a failed Senate bid, lambasted Republicans for expressing outrage at the SPLC while not addressing the “literal elephant in the room” — a reference to Martin Luther King Jr.’s more conservative niece, Alveda King.

Crockett disparaged civil rights activist Alveda King as a right-wing prop while accusing Republicans of trying to trick the public into thinking a “Doctor King” was criticizing the SPLC’s work. King later questioned whether Crockett was calling her a “bastard” of the King name.

“The vast majority on that side of the aisle… are White men. White men are lecturing people of color because the vast majority, actually any semblance of diversity comes from this [Democratic] side of the aisle,” Crockett said.

FIRST ON FOX: SPLC’S TAX-EXEMPT STATUS UNDER THREAT AFTER FIERY CAPITOL HILL HEARING

She said people of color don’t feel welcome in the GOP and “that’s why you have to parade someone who has the name ‘Doctor King’ attached to them so people can be confused.”

Notably, GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt, a fellow Black Texan, was on the committee’s dais and pointedly questioned SPLC leader Bryan Fair earlier in the day. Hunt often rebukes talk of race-based partisanship by quipping that he has been “Black my entire life.”

Crockett said Republicans were hypocritical in accusing the SPLC of funding hate groups, citing a debunked assertion about President Donald Trump’s comments following the 2017 White supremacist rally in Charlottesville.

She noted Trump had said there were “fine people on both sides,” but omitted that he later clarified he was referring to a community group opposing the removal of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s statue, a gathering that occurred before the neo-Nazi violence erupted later that day.

Crockett then claimed people on social media were wondering who the “Doctor King” was who was speaking out against the SPLC as the hearing progressed, and that Republicans were trying to make the public think the historic Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be on their side.

NEARLY ALL SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN ST. PAUL CHURCH STORMING AS MLK’S NIECE SAYS TACTICS ‘NOT THE WAY’

Crockett said Republicans would be better served calling the Obama-supporting Martin Luther King III or his sister Bernice King to the hearing — suggesting they understand the civil rights icon’s teachings and positions better than Alveda.

Before her time expired, she accused King and Republicans of “caping” for murdered activist Charlie Kirk — quoting a controversial statement by the Turning Point USA founder about the Civil Rights Act.

She also claimed Republicans hauled Fair and King before the committee because they wanted to distract from their failure to hold a hearing examining associates of deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

When House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, gaveled-out Crockett’s time and passed the floor to Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., the Republican gave King a chance to respond.

“I am a bit emotional,” King said of what Crockett had claimed. “I’m going to watch what I say.”

Crockett did not appear to look back at Alveda King and was briefly seen closing her notebook as she prepared to stand up.

JASMINE CROCKETT’S HISTORY OF PLAYING THE RACE CARD GOING AFTER CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERAL CRITICS

“It seems as though you (Crockett) have suggested that I am bastard to the King family legacy. I am legitimately the daughter of Reverend Alfred Daniel Williams King and Dr. Naomi Ruth Barber King,” Alveda King said.

Rev. A.D. King was Martin Luther King Jr.’s brother.

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“We are a family who loves God. And I love you, God bless you,” King said before yielding back to Fry.

Fry then announced that, off-camera, Crockett had quickly left the room before King could substantively respond to her remarks.

Trump administration officials fired back at critics of the planned White House UFC fight, arguing they can simply avoid the event rather than use an 11th-hour lawsuit to block thousands of spectators from gathering on the South Lawn.

“It would be easy enough to simply avert their gazes for the weekend,” Department of Justice attorneys wrote in a court filing this week. “Instead, they seek to enlist the power of a federal court to impose their idiosyncratic preferences on the rest of the country and ruin an event designed to celebrate the United States of America.”

Preparations for the UFC match have been underway on the South Lawn of the White House for weeks, including the installation of a roughly 90-foot-tall steel arch, dubbed the “claw.” The Public Integrity Project filed a lawsuit over the weekend on behalf of two Virginia residents in an effort to block the event, sparking the government to urge U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta to reject the plaintiffs’ bid.

The suit targets the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior to seek an emergency injunction to stop the event, which is expected to attract 4,000 spectators to the White House.

DANA WHITE DENIES AMERICA 250 UFC FIGHT AT WHITE HOUSE WILL BE ‘POLITICAL,’ ‘NOT AT ALL’ ABOUT POLITICS

In the brief, DOJ attorneys wrote that more than $60 million has already been spent, attendees have made travel plans, and the fighters have already begun final weight cuts.

They also noted the event has been planned for months, with President Trump first announcing the match in July 2025.

“This is an obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory lawsuit brought simply to prevent President Trump from hosting what will undoubtedly go down as one of the most historic sporting events in our Nation’s history during our semiquincentennial celebration,” a White House official told Fox News Digital.

“This iconic event is no different than the various other White House-hosted events on the South Lawn and properly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mall throughout the year,” the White House official added.

A PIECE OF THE UFC WHITE HOUSE EVENT’S SETUP IS SITTING IN PENNSYLVANIA AMISH COUNTRY

Plaintiffs argued that the event will interfere with the White House and National Mall area while describing its setup as “hideous.”

The plaintiffs argued that organizers ignored federal permitting rules, skipped environmental reviews and triggered conflict-of-interest concerns invoking National Park Service regulations and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). They also said the “claw” needed to be built with congressional authorization. 

Officials responded that the plaintiffs are not forced to watch the fight and their opinions are not “superior” to those who support the match.

“All these hopes could be dashed at the very last moment, however, by the whim of two people who believe they have superior taste and want to spoil the event for everyone else,” the DOJ attorneys wrote.

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The plaintiffs must respond with their final brief by 9 p.m. Wednesday. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Public Integrity Project for comment.

Fox News’ Kerri Urban and Mark Meredith contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration is lifting the hood on federal health benefits programs that cover millions of Americans, ordering insurance carriers to tighten fraud controls as part of a broader crackdown on waste and abuse, Fox News Digital learned.

“Working alongside the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, OPM is taking additional steps to safeguard the premiums paid by federal employees and taxpayers, protect beneficiaries, and ensure health insurance companies are meeting the highest standards of accountability,” said Office of Personnel Management (OPM) director Scott Kupor to Fox News Digital.

OPM functions as the federal government’s human resources agency, overseeing civilian personnel policy and administering benefits for federal employees, retirees and their families.

OPM, partnered with the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, is sending new compliance expectations on Wednesday to insurance carriers in the Federal Employees Health Benefits and Postal Service Health Benefits programs, directing them to strengthen fraud prevention, payment reviews, pharmacy benefit oversight, subcontractor accountability, audits and reporting, Fox News Digital learned. 

READ: DR. OZ PUTS ALL 50 GOVERNORS ON NOTICE OVER BILLIONS LOST TO MEDICAID FRAUD

The push also targets pharmacy benefit managers, the drug-pricing middlemen that administer prescription drug benefits for health plans and negotiate with drugmakers and pharmacies.

The FEHB program cost the government and enrollees about $70 billion in fiscal 2024 and covered more than 8.2 million federal employees, family members and other eligible individuals, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

“OPM is a valuable partner and leader on the Task Force. The steps taken today will protect taxpayers and our federal workforce,” White House Task Force Executive Director Scott Brady told Fox News Digital.

OPM is also building a data science and audit team with the agency’s inspector general to review anonymized claims data and detect fraud, waste and overbilling more proactively.

HOUSE GOP LAUNCHES NEW TASK FORCE, PROBES ALLEGED $250B MEDICAID FRAUD IN OHIO

The Government Accountability Office said in a July 2025 report that OPM should do more to manage fraud risks in the FEHB program, citing risks including benefit card sharing, improper inducements, insufficient or fraudulent documentation, kickbacks, marketing fraud, theft of personally identifiable information, provider ineligibility and self-referrals.

The announcement marks the latest crackdown in medical programs following the launch of a nationwide probe into Medicaid.

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CMS directed all 50 states to submit plans to revalidate high-risk Medicaid providers, including providers subject to less rigorous enrollment standards or operating without a National Provider Identifier in April.

Vice President JD Vance, who is leading the task force, amplified the call in May, saying during a news conference that states could lose federal funding if they fail to aggressively pursue Medicaid fraud.

The push comes amid heightened focus on large-scale fraud cases, including Minnesota’s $250 million “Feeding Our Future” scheme, which became a national flashpoint in recent months. 

The flatlined bid to reauthorize the nation’s controversial spying powers may have a pulse again after President Donald Trump made a key concession to Democrats. 

Congress was on its way to reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which is set to expire Friday, but that momentum was halted when Trump tapped his current director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte, to serve as a temporary chief for the nation’s spy agencies. 

Pulte, who is set to take over the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) on June 19, has proven the prime sticking point in a process that has already been marred by disagreements over FISA’s controversial Section 702. Critics have panned him as having no experience in a role that will require him to oversee the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies.

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

“This is not a problem between Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans, this was the administration throwing a live hand grenade into a critical reauthorization 10 days out,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said.

Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Senate Intelligence Committee chair Tom Cotton, R-Ark., produced a compromise, three-year reauthorization with reforms to Section 702 that likely would have advanced absent Trump’s decision to tap Pulte. 

Given the logjam, Trump on Wednesday announced that he was actively seeking a replacement to lead ODNI and requested that Congress produce a short-term extension to keep the program running in the meantime.

“I would say this, [Pulte is] going to be there for a short while, while we pick somebody else,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “We’re interviewing five different people. They’re all very good, very different, and we’ll put somebody there.”

WHY TRUMP PICKED BILL PULTE TO LEAD US INTELLIGENCE AS CRITICS QUESTION HIS QUALIFICATIONS

That move could help some Senate Democrats get over the hump. 

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said that he believed that at least knowing that Pulte would be out could be enough to dislodge some Democrats to support an extension. 

“I think knowing who the DNI will be, if it’s somebody that people have confidence in, that makes the FISA question a lot easier,” Kaine said.

For others, Trump’s ambiguity on how long Pulte will stick around remains a troubling prospect.

“That’s a problem,” Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said. “If Mr. Pulte is gonna be there for an indefinite period, then I can’t vote for an extension. If there’s some timeline, measurable, defined, then I would consider it.”

Lawmakers are currently mulling a possible three-week extension to the program, which has given conservatives and Democrats heartburn.

TRUMP MOVES TO SLASH INTELLIGENCE OFFICE AHEAD OF PERMANENT CHIEF’S ARRIVAL

It’s one of the rare horseshoe issues in the Capitol where privacy hawks on both sides of the aisle want steep reforms, particularly for warrant requirements to prevent Americans from getting ensnared in information collected on foreigners under Section 702. 

That reality means that some Republicans and Democrats wouldn’t vote for the compromise deal anyway — six Republicans joined nearly every Democrat to block a procedural move to reauthorize the program last week. 

“Why don’t we surveil the foreigners and not surveil Americans? It’s a new concept,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said.

That means that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., will need all the help from Democrats that he can get. 

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“We need Democrat votes,” Thune said. “And, as I’ve said before, I think irrespective of what you think about Bill Pulte, providing the reforms that are included in the 702 reauthorization is a safeguard, regardless of who’s in that job, or which party is in power here.” 

But others contend that the Friday deadline isn’t the hard end of the program.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said on the Senate floor that the case to rush a reauthorization to the floor by the end of the week “is not true.” 

“Existing law allows Section 702 collection to continue under an order from the FISA court for another year, even without congressional reauthorization,” Durbin said. “Congress can and must take the time to get this right.”

Unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) whistleblower and former Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch accused intelligence agencies Tuesday of hiding billions of dollars in secret government spending from Congress, as lawmakers renewed demands for records they say federal officials continue to withhold.   

His investigation uncovered what he described as “slush funds” — pools of money allegedly operating outside normal congressional oversight channels — worth billions of dollars annually that were allegedly used to support activities operating outside normal oversight channels, Grusch said speaking at a Capitol Hill event alongside members of the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets. 

“This is also a real fraud, waste and abuse issue,” Grusch said. “During my investigation, I found slush funds to the tune of billions of dollars per annum for these activities.”

TASK FORCE TO EXPOSE ‘FEDERAL SECRETS’ ON JFK ASSASSINATION, EPSTEIN, UFOS PACKED WITH GOP REBELS

The allegations come as lawmakers and the Trump administration have intensified efforts to declassify government unidentified aerial phenomena records, releasing hundreds of pages of previously secret files and renewing pressure on agencies to disclose what they know about unexplained aerial incidents.

Grusch, who served on the Pentagon’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force and later as the National Reconnaissance Office’s representative to the task force, first gained national attention in 2023 when he testified before Congress about alleged government efforts to recover and study unidentified craft. 

The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget includes nearly $132 billion in military and national intelligence spending, much of it contained in classified programs accessible only to a limited group of cleared officials and lawmakers.

Asked what the government knows about nonhuman intelligence, Grusch claimed the government is aware of “several” different alien species. 

“It’s a continuum from corporeal bipedal type life to, you know, what I would consider is like sentient plasma life,” Grusch said. “But there are several that this government is aware of.” 

He did not elaborate on the claim or provide evidence during the event.

Grusch specifically accused the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Pentagon’s primary military intelligence agency, of obstructing congressional oversight efforts, arguing that records requested by lawmakers have not been fully provided despite what he described as lawful requests from Congress. He urged the agency to release additional documents for review and declassification.  

The DIA could not immediately be reached for comment. 

The Pentagon has consistently said investigations have not uncovered verified evidence of extraterrestrial technology, and previous government reviews have disputed claims that secret crash-retrieval programs exist.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers joined Grusch during the press conference, arguing that agencies have continued to resist congressional efforts to obtain information related to unidentified anomalous phenomena.

“We would ask questions, and they would then push back. We would ask more questions, and the pushback became more significant,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla. “We would try to put language in an amendment, in a bill, and they would oppose it.”

“There must be real penalties for officials who knowingly withhold information from Congress,” added Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo.

Moskowitz also tied the debate to broader concerns about Pentagon accountability.

“There’s trillions of dollars missing at the Pentagon. Where does that money go?” he said.

The Pentagon has failed seven consecutive annual audits, though defense officials have said those findings reflect longstanding challenges tracking assets and accounting systems across the department.

REP TIM BURCHETT CONVINCED THAT ALIENS EXIST, SAYS HE’S ‘SEEN TOO MUCH’ IN GOVERNMENT BRIEFINGS

Grusch said additional witnesses remain reluctant to come forward because of concerns about retaliation and legal exposure.

Burlison called on President Donald Trump to waive nondisclosure agreements for individuals with knowledge of alleged government UAP programs and grant immunity to those willing to testify.

“Grant immunity to anyone who has already come forward, and everyone who will come forward,” Burlison said. “Open the door and let them speak.”

“Congress is requesting specific records and videos,” Burlison added. “These agencies and contractors know that we know that they exist, and we’re going to get them released.”

Burlison said lawmakers have continued pressing agencies and defense contractors for records they believe remain classified despite recent disclosure efforts.

He said his office obtained MQ-9 footage of a UAP incident off the coast of Yemen that was delivered through what he described as a “Tom Clancy-style dead drop.”

Lawmakers argued that additional disclosures may depend on persuading more witnesses to come forward.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who chairs the House task force examining the issue, said lawmakers are discussing immunity protections for individuals with knowledge of alleged craft locations, recovered materials or advanced technologies.

The renewed push comes as lawmakers seek greater access to information tied to some of the government’s most closely held programs.

Federal investigators recently alleged that former CIA official David Rush used a fraudulent “special access program” as part of a scheme involving more than $40 million in gold bars and millions in government funds, drawing renewed attention to how highly restricted government programs can operate with limited outside visibility.

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The event comes weeks after the Trump administration released a major tranche of previously classified UAP records, including military reports, sensor data and witness accounts that had long remained hidden from public view.

Lawmakers and disclosure advocates have pointed to those releases as evidence the government is becoming more transparent about UAP investigations, while arguing that significant amounts of information remain classified.

One week after President Donald Trump‘s endorsement-winning streak in high-profile Republican primaries was snapped, the president’s immense clout over the GOP was on the line again, this time in South Carolina.

And the president easily passed the test.

The candidate Trump endorsed in the Palmetto State’s GOP gubernatorial primary, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, finished first in a crowded field of candidates and clinched one of the two tickets in the race for the nomination, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

Evette, who repeatedly spotlighted Trump’s support, now advances to a Republican runoff election in two weeks against South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, the second place finisher, in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Henry McMaster. 

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Since no candidate topped 50% of the primary vote to land a majority, Evette and Wilson will battle for the nomination in the June 23 runoff, and the winner will be considered the clear favorite in the general election in the solidly red southeastern state.

Meanwhile, in the South Carolina GOP Senate primary, longtime Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham did win a majority of the vote, and will avoid a runoff, the Associated Press reported.

Graham, who was endorsed by Trump, was facing primary challenges from five candidates, including conservative businessman Mark Lynch, who took aim at the senator over his support for the war in Iran. Lynch was backed by some MAGA leaders who have been critical of the president.

Graham’s campaign and allied political groups spent nearly $20 million to highlight Trump’s support. And the president joined Graham and Evette for a primary eve tele-rally.

While he wasn’t on the ballot, Trump’s immense clout over the GOP was facing another key test in South Carolina.

The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past month, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that grabbed plenty of national attention.

But his 11th-hour endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa a week and a half ago — which came on the same day he also backed Evette — in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to muscle the three-term congressman to victory.

TRUMP-ENDORSED FEENSTRA CONCEDES TO MAHA-BACKED LAHN IN GOP GOVERNOR PRIMARY UPSET

Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

In the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, the major contenders had long been highlighting their support for Trump and his agenda, in hopes of landing his support.

Trump, after staying neutral for months, endorsed Evette, praising her as an “America First Patriot” and a “WINNER” in his announcement.

After Trump backed Evette, Mace said that her very vocal push last year for the Justice Department to release the files related to its probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contributed to the president’s backing of her rival.

“I know I put the likelihood of an endorsement on the line when I demanded transparency on the Epstein files,” the lawmaker wrote. “I demanded it because you deserved the truth — ALL OF IT,” Mace emphasized in a post on X.

Trump, in a social media post endorsing Evette, also said he expected Evette to choose Henry McMaster Jr., the governor’s son, as her running mate for lieutenant governor.

The comment by the president led to blowback in South Carolina political circles and speculation that McMaster, who succeeded then-Gov. Nikki Haley when she stepped down to serve as U.N. ambassador during Trump’s first term and who is in his 10th year as governor, was trying to give his son a political boost.

But McMaster denied any deal or pressure, and Evette has said she wouldn’t name any running mate until after the primary is over.

And on Friday, the younger McMaster took his name out of contention, saying it was “incredibly humbling” to be mentioned as a possible lieutenant governor candidate, but that “now is simply not the right time.”

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But the episode didn’t appear to sidetrack Evette.

Either Evette or Wilson will face off in November against state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, who captured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Nancy Lacore, a retired Navy vice admiral who was fired by Pete Hegseth, and Mac Deford, a local attorney, advanced to a runoff election on Tuesday evening amid a crowded Democratic primary to fill a congressional vacancy left behind by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.

Because no candidate garnered more than 50% of the vote needed to win outright, the primary now heads to a runoff that’s slated to take place on June 23. 

Once having cleared the primary, the final candidate will look to become just the second Democrat to hold South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District in over 40 years by highlighting her military record as well as how she was removed from her post by War Secretary Pete Hegseth.

FOX NEWS PROJECTS DEMOCRATIC REP. DON DAVIS WILL WIN NORTH CAROLINA’S 1ST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

The vacancy first came about when Mace, a firebrand conservative, announced her decision to run for governor of the Palmetto State.

During her time in Congress, Mace has attracted attention for her willingness to break with her own party on high-profile issues. She was one of the eight Republicans who voted with Democrats to remove former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in 2023 and one of four GOP lawmakers who forced a vote on releasing the Epstein Files earlier this year.

Mace said she would look to continue her work as a political maverick at the state level.

“South Carolina needs a governor who will drag the truth into sunlight and flip the tables,” Mace said during her announcement speech.

WATCH: MACE SAYS TRUMP’S ENDORSEMENT HASN’T SEALED SC GUBERNATORIAL RACE: ‘IT’S A DOG FIGHT’

S.C.’s first, a relatively safe Republican district, has been held by the GOP for much of the past 40 years. Aside from Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C., who held the seat from 2019 to 2021, Republicans have controlled the district since 1981.

Mace last won re-election in 2024 in a 58.2% to 41.6% victory over Democratic challenger Michael Moore, a businessman.

To turn the tables and flip the seat, Lacore has pitched herself as an anti-politics civil servant.

Lacore originally served as a Navy pilot and finished her career as a three-star admiral before being removed by Hegseth, a decision Lacore has characterized as “without cause.” Her firing came as the Trump administration carried out efforts to reform the Department of Defense and coincided with the dismissals of other high-level figures like Lt. Gen. Kennedy Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and Rear Adm. Milton Sands, commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command.

All three were relieved of their duties on Aug. 22, 2025.

NAVY VETERAN ROCKY ROCHFORD SEEKS TO TURN TAMPA BAY RED, UNSEAT 20-YEAR HOUSE INCUMBENT

“For 35 years, I served in the United States Navy with the belief that service, honor and integrity matter; that these are the qualities of true leaders,” Lacore said in a campaign video.

“But it’s not what our political leaders believe today.”

She has raised $1.4 million as of late May, according to FEC records.

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Deford, for his own part, presented himself to voters as a pragmatic candidate. On his website, he highlighted a track record serving as the Town of Mount Pleasant’s Associate General Counsel and advising it through the COVID-19 Pandemic, a housing initiative and navigating federal funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“This isn’t a political stop for me. This is home and I want to serve as your next representative in Washington,” Deford said in a campaign video.

According to FEC records, Deford raised $547,800.

BLUE HILL, Maine — He’s been facing one of the roughest stretches of his bid for the U.S. Senate, but Graham Platner on Tuesday captured the Democratic Party’s Senate nomination.

Platner, a military combat veteran and oyster farmer who is backed by progressive champions Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, defeated two longshot rivals in Maine’s Democratic Senate primary, the Associated Press reports.

“Susan Collins said she would only serve two terms, she’s now running for her sixth,” Platner told the crowd at the Blue Hill YMCA after he was declared the winner.

“She has worked in politics longer than Joe Biden,” Platner said, positioning his campaign as a rebuke to the political establishment of both parties. “The truth is, Susan Collins doesn’t serve us. She serves Donald Trump. She serves the Epstein class.”

The embattled Platner, who is facing numerous controversies, will now challenge moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who was unopposed for the GOP nomination, in left-leaning Maine in this year’s midterm elections. The race is one of a handful across the country that will determine whether the GOP keeps control of its slim Senate majority.

THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

Platner, who advocates an economically populist agenda as he takes aim at corporate influences and advocates for the working class, also topped two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in the primary. The governor’s name remained on the ballot even though Mills, who had been backed by longtime Democratic Senate Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, suspended her bid earlier this spring after significantly trailing Platner in fundraising and polling.

“We’re going to win in November and we’re going to take power back for the people in this country,” Platner predicted Sunday night, at his final rally ahead of the primary.

Platner has been playing defense the past month, amid multiple controversies. They include inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, recent reports that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married, and new allegations last week from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes. Platner has called the latest allegations of violence untrue.

On Monday, a day before the primary election, a former high-level staffer from the Planter campaign wrote in the Washington Post that Platner “is not someone who would be good for Maine or for the country.”

While the mounting controversies triggered some Democrats in the nation’s capital to question whether Platner was damaged goods, the candidate this past weekend thanked Maine voters for continuing to support him.

“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 not far from his hometown in Down East Maine. “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 accusations are made against me. Maine, you have my back.”

PLATNER TO SUPPORTERS: ‘MAINE, YOU HAVE MY BACK’

Platner, who has acknowledged his battle with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from his three tours of duty in the war in Iraq with the Marines and one tour with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after some of them 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 from an ex-girlfriend raise questions about Platner’s timeline regarding knowledge of the tattoo.

Khanna, who organized Friday’s rally with Platner, was asked by Fox News Digital whether he’s concerned if the current allegations, and any potential future ones, 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 infantryman seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it.”

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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.”

In his speech on Tuesday night, Platner attempted to frame himself as a changed man. 

“If you believe, as I do, that we can change our politics and change our country, then you must also believe that people can change,” Platner told the crowd. “And the reason I believe that is because I have lived it. And the reason that I have lived it is because of my wife.”

Maine voters Fox News reporters spoke with ahead of the rally were divided on whether Platner’s controversies would 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.”

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.”

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.”

SEE IT: DEM SENATORS DODGE ON BACKING PLATNER AS MAINE CANDIDATE’S SCANDAL CLOUDS FINAL DAYS BEFORE PRIMARY

Platner is facing plenty of incoming political fire from Republican groups, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) who released a scathing statement after Platner’s primary victory.

“Today marks the beginning of the end for Graham Platner,” NRSC Chair Sen. Tim Scott posted on X. “He will be exposed, his agenda destroyed, and Mainers will reject him. No amount of DC Democrat support or left-wing billionaire backing will save him. The choice in Maine is clear and nothing will be taken for granted.”

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 recently wrote on X, pointing to the latest allegations against the candidate.

Despite the allegations and the incoming fire from the GOP, no Democratic politicians who have backed Platner have rescinded their endorsements.

“We need to unite and realize that the goal is defeating Susan Collins. And everyone from Schumer to Sanders is unified around that goal,” Khanna told Fox News Digital.

Platner has drawn large crowds and built a healthy fundraising war chest, and Democrats see Maine as a crucial pickup opportunity as they aim to win back the Senate majority.

But beating Collins won’t be easy. Six years ago, public opinion polls indicated the senator was headed to defeat, but Collins defied expectations and won re-election by topping then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.

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.

The senator voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, in 2021 soon after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. And early last year she opposed the confirmation of now-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

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But she is also remembered for her 2018 vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, which eventually helped the court’s conservative majority overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling which had legalized abortion nationwide.