NationalWatch

FIRST ON FOX: A pair of former top executives at the Southern Poverty Law Center used a network of checking accounts to secretly funnel $4.1 million to extremists, including one nicknamed “The Aryan Barbarian,” in a long-running pay-to-hate scheme, federal officials told Fox News Digital.

The SPLC’s former chief financial officer Teenie Hutchison and ex-Intelligence Project chief Heidi Beirich allegedly created the accounts at Synovus Bank in 2008, making the beleaguered nonprofit’s trusted bank a hub for diverting supporters’ donations to sketchy groups, sources said. The network ultimately supported secret payments to as many as 50 confidential “field sources,” called “Fs,” embedded within extremist organizations around the country. Some 13 field sources have so far been identified in court filings.

“The SPLC found its niche, and its leaders built a fiefdom with donations they got like crazy,” former NYPD intelligence official, attorney and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro said.

Former SPLC Chief Executive Officer Margaret Huang allegedly signed a letter acknowledging the operation to Synovus bank officials in September 2021 before ending her tenure at the SPLC in July 2025.

SPLC supporters have characterized the payment recipients as “informants,” and they included a right-wing extremist behind the infamous 2017 “Unite the Right” protests in Charlottesville, Va.

“The government can run informants,” said Mauro. “Private industry cannot.”

The new revelations show the federal investigation of the SPLC is significantly larger than initially reported and was orchestrated at the organization’s highest level. Beirich was previously believed to be involved in the alleged payments, but this is the first time federal officials have confirmed her involvement.

The new details about the SPLC case emerge as the Trump administration’s Justice Department intensifies scrutiny of influential nonprofit organizations. Earlier this week, Fox News Digital reported exclusively that federal prosecutors launched a grand jury investigation into Shanghai-based Marxist tech mogul Neville Roy Singham over possible illegality in his funding of left-wing activist groups. Together, the two federal investigations signal an aggressive effort by the administration to examine whether certain organizations are using their nonprofit status to conceal financial operations.

A spokesperson for Synovus Bank told Fox News Digital that the lender, based in Columbus, Ga., is working with federal investigators in the “ongoing investigation.” 

“As a matter of policy, we do not comment on specific client relationships,” the spokesperson said. “We have cooperated fully with the ongoing investigation and will continue to do so.”

Hutchison, Beirich and Huang didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment. In late May, the SPLC filed a motion to dismiss the case. On June 9, days after the U.S. government filed a superseding indictment against the SPLC, the nonprofit’s interim president and chief executive officer, Bryan Fair, denied any wrongdoing by the SPLC during a fiery hearing before the House Judiciary Committee.

The allegations sit at the center of a federal case accusing the SPLC of bank fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Sources familiar with the investigation say additional charges will likely be filed against individual executives and former executives of the nonprofit.

Fox News Digital’s investigation unpacks the government’s theory of the alleged operation through the traditional three stages of money laundering: placement, layering and integration. In the first stage of placement, U.S. officials say Hutchison and Beirich created and controlled a hidden financial infrastructure at SPLC that became the entry point for $4.1 million in allegedly illicit payments made to so-called field sources.

In the second stage, layering involves moving money through multiple accounts, transactions and entities, like a series of bank accounts Hutchison and Beirich allegedly set up for fake companies, designed to obscure the money’s origin. Finally, in the third stage, integration occurs when the proceeds or products of an operation become absorbed into legitimate activities, like the organization’s “Extremist Files,” and become difficult to distinguish from ordinary business operations.

According to federal prosecutors, the SPLC’s alleged operation involved all three stages.

DOJ LAUNCHES GRAND JURY PROBE INTO MARXIST MOGUL NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM’S FUNDING OF LEFTIST GROUPS

Without naming the finance and intelligence chiefs, a grand jury indictment made public in April revealed that “Employee-1” and “Employee-2” in 2008 created a secret network of nine bank accounts at “Bank-1” and “Bank-2” that funneled millions of dollars to far-right extremists from 2014 through 2023. The initial indictment put the amount at $3 million, but it was increased to $4.1 million in a superseding indictment.

The indictment notes that “individuals at the SPLC” were the ones who “secretly funneled donated money to the Fs,” including “Employee-1,” a “person who would become the Chief Financial Officer, and “Employee-2,” a “person who would become the Director of the Intelligence Project.”

Federal officials told Fox News Digital that Hutchison, who moved from the position of treasurer and corporate secretary to chief financial officer, is “Employee-1.” They said “Employee-” 2 is Beirich, who started in 1999 as a newly-minted Ph.D. student, and was named deputy director of the Intelligence Project in 2004 and later director of the Intelligence Report.

The duo allegedly created a banking account structure under names that didn’t identify the SPLC. The nine shell entities were dubbed “Center Investigative Agency,” “Fox Photography,” “Imagery Ink,” “J&J Electronics,” “Kelly’s Marine,” “North West Technologies,” “Tech Writers Group” and “Turner Personnel” and “Rare Books Warehouse.”

Federal prosecutors allege the accounts were used to pay informants while concealing the source of the money. The government’s theory is that the accounts became the financial infrastructure supporting a sprawling money laundering operation.

Federal prosecutors allege the accounts remained active for years, surviving leadership transitions and internal turmoil at one of the nation’s most influential civil-rights organizations.

TOP SPLC OFFICIAL ALLEGEDLY FUNNELED $1.2M TO NEO-NAZI INFORMANT WHO WAS SECRET ROMANTIC PARTNER

Over two decades, Beirich became one of the nonprofit’s most influential figures, shaping how “far-right extremism,” “White supremacy” and “neo-Nazi hate” were documented, defined and communicated.

She testified before Congress, and appeared regularly on television and radio. Journalists, academics and policymakers frequently turned to her for analysis of White-nationalist groups, anti-government movements and domestic extremism. By 2017, ABC News described her as “the woman tracking hate in America.”

In contrast, Hutchison maintained a low profile and was rarely photographed, working quietly behind the scenes. In 2017, she was on the renewal document for the nonprofit’s “Mississippi Charitable Registration” as the SPLC’s treasurer and secretary, the custodian of financial records and one of the nonprofit’s two “check signers.”

The SPLC listed its official bank as Sterling Bank, a Synovus Bank subsidiary based in Montgomery.

In October 2019, Beirich co-founded a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit, “Global Project Against Hate and Extremism,” with a mailing address just three miles away from SPLC headquarters in Alabama’s capital.

Two months later, Beirich left SPLC after 20 years, according to her LinkedIn profile, just as the dragnet was closing in on the alleged pay-to-hate operation she’d been running for years. According to the SPLC’s tax filing that year, she last earned a salary of $173,090 and a bonus of $25,721.

The alleged violations continued after Beirich’s and Hutchison’s tenures at SPLC.

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

One of the alleged recipients of secret SPLC payments was Erich Gliebe, the former chairman of a neo-Nazi organization, National Alliance. Known as “The Aryan Barbarian” during his time as a boxer, Gliebe allegedly received more than $140,000 from the SPLC between 2016 and 2023.

At the same time he was allegedly collecting payments, Gliebe was featured in SPLC materials describing extremist figures and organizations. An SPLC “Extremist Files” profile dedicated to Gliebe contained a link through which visitors could donate to the organization.

Gliebe didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Daniel Harvill, a Virginia attorney who represented National Alliance members in litigation involving Gliebe, described Gliebe as an ineffective leader.

“Gliebe was a joke,” Harvill told Fox News Digital. “He didn’t know how to run a business or political organization. There was a large pile of stupid among them.”

Harvill said bitterness from that litigation may have contributed to Gliebe becoming an SPLC informant.

Court filings indicate that larger accounts associated with the alleged operation remained active until August 2020, when the hidden account structure finally drew scrutiny from bank officials. Synovus Bank did an internal investigation, according to court filings. That review became a pivotal moment in the government’s case.

According to the indictment, around Sept. 9, 2021, the SPLC “President and Chief Executive Officer” and the SPLC “Board Chair” admitted in writing to Bank-1 – Synovus Bank – that the fictitious accounts were “opened for the benefit of the Southern Poverty Law Center operations and operated under the Center’s authority.”

They signed a document also stating that “pursuant to the discussion we had earlier this week…the accounts had been opened and operated for the benefit of the organization.” The CEO was Huang, federal sources told Fox News Digital.

Huang’s acknowledgment now sits near the center of the government’s legal theory that the account structure wasn’t the work of rogue employees but operated under organizational authority.

The nonprofit and its sister organization, the SPLC Action Fund, had hired Huang the year earlier, describing her as an “internationally renowned human and civil rights leader,” previously serving as executive director of Amnesty International USA.

It isn’t clear who the board chair was at the time of the signing, but former Goldman Sachs executive Bennett Grau was a board member at the time. Grau didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment.

Huang’s role in signing the admission hasn’t been publicly disclosed before.

SPLC INDICTMENT BUILDS MOMENTUM FOR BESSENT’S TREASURY TO PROBE PARTISAN NONPROFITS

SPLC last listed Hutchison on its IRS 990 filing for the period ending on Oct. 31, 2022. According to that IRS filing, she last earned $237,749 and a bonus of $32,697.

In early July 2025, Huang announced her resignation as president, stepping down “to prioritize family life.” The board of directors named constitutional scholar and former SPLC Board Chair Bryan Fair as interim president and CEO.

The role of senior SPLC officials in this alleged operation raises significant red flags for law enforcement, federal officials told Fox News Digital, saying the alleged activity reflects a structured ecosystem directed from the top. Investigators describe an operation in which financial flows, informants, public content and political work by the SPLC and its sister organizations were closely linked, with senior officials like Hutchison and Beirich positioned to control the money, narrative and influence of the SPLC.

INDICTED SPLC CHIEF FACES HOUSE GRILLING OVER ALLEGED SECRET PAYMENTS TO KKK MEMBERS

The court proceedings represent a form of vindication for some targets of the SPLC. 

Back in October 2017, the SPLC and three other groups – Media Matters, ReThink Media and the Center for New Community – released a publication titled “Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists.” In interviews at the time, Beirich confirmed that Democratic billionaire George Soros’s Open Society philanthropy had provided funding for the production of the report.

The report included Maajid Nawaz, a British Muslim reformer who founded the Quilliam Foundation to combat Islamist extremism. The next year, in 2018, he sued the SPLC for defamation, winning a $3.375 million settlement and a public apology.

Nawaz recently told Fox News Digital that the SPLC’s alleged system of paying extremists is corrupt, and he feels vindicated by the federal prosecution against the nonprofit.

“They were funding both sides,” Nawaz said. “If you control the rules of the game… you’re able to control where the hate comes from… and then control the reaction.”

“They were taking money to fight hate,” he said, “and then funding the very hate they took money to fight.”

As the SPLC mounts its defense, Nawaz said, “This indictment demonstrates clearly that the SPLC should now cease to exist. It should come to an end.”

Fox News Digital’s Bonnie Chu and Adriana James-Rodil contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE – Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters predicted Wednesday that Republicans will “knock it out of the park” at the party’s first-ever midterm convention, casting the Dallas gathering as a “Trumpapalooza” aimed at firing up GOP voters in a difficult midterm climate.

Gruters spoke exclusively with Fox News Digital a day after President Donald Trump announced the Sept. 9-10 convention in Dallas, an unusual effort to put Trump and the GOP’s 2026 message center stage before voters decide control of Congress.

“It gives us a chance to highlight all the wonderful things this president has done in our effort on this great American comeback to highlight the ideas, policies and people that’s making it happen,” Gruters said.

TRUMP MAKES MAJOR 2026 ANNOUNCEMENT

National political conventions, where party delegates from around the country formally nominate their party’s presidential candidates, normally take place during presidential election years.

But with Republicans facing a rough political climate as they aim to protect their narrow control of the Senate and their razor-thin House majority in this year’s elections, they see the midterm convention as an effective vehicle to get their message out.

“We can win. It’s going to start here at the convention. I’m super excited about it,” Gruters emphasized.

And pointing to primary victories in recent weeks by far-left and socialist candidates over the Democratic Party establishment, Gruters said “we’re going to be able to highlight and contrast where the Republican Party is versus what the left is, and the fact that they’re getting pushed and now controlled and being run by these radical leftists that want to fundamentally change our country.”

SOCIALIST SURGE: DSA-BACKED CANDIDATES WIN AGAIN, THIS TIME IN COLORADO

Party leaders are also hoping the convention will help to energize MAGA voters who don’t always vote when Trump isn’t on the ballot.

Gruters called Trump the “best showman that’s ever existed in politics, bar none… He knows how to deliver these low-propensity voters. He knows how to get people up, motivated, excited about the midterms, and that’s what we’re going to need.”

Currently, the president’s approval ratings remain well underwater, with many Americans rating him poorly on his handling of the economy and on the issue of affordability.

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Director of Rapid Response Kendall Witmer told Fox News Digital on Tuesday evening, “The American people can’t afford their bills or to fill up at the pump because of Donald Trump, and Republicans’ response is to throw a multi-million dollar televised celebration for Trump that will only remind Americans of his failed promise to them and tie already flailing Republican swing-seat candidates to a historically unpopular president.”

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

The DNC, which significantly trails the RNC in fundraising, considered holding a midterm convention but decided earlier this year not to move forward with the costly event.

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Witmer emphasized that “Democrats are already hitting the trail and speaking directly with American voters about our plans to cut costs and make health care affordable.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is courting New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and other progressive power players as 2028 speculation builds around another possible White House bid.

The phone call with Mamdani last week, first reported by Axios and confirmed by Fox News Digital, along with other closed-door meetings with progressive groups, suggests Harris is trying to shore up support from factions of the party that didn’t support her during her 2024 run.

Additionally, Harris met with progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., behind the scenes at a Black women empowerment summit in Chicago, Axios first reported, and Fox News Digital confirmed.

Harris reportedly has also been reaching out to pro-Palestinian groups after she faced pushback from those groups during her 2024 presidential run. Harris reached out to at least one group that was part of the “Uncommitted Movement” that developed as a result of President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel and Gaza conflict.

KAMALA HARRIS DROPS BIGGEST HINT YET ON 2028 WHITE HOUSE RUN

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani and Harris’ office for comment.

News of the Harris and Mamdani call sparked criticism from conservatives online.

“Kamala Harris 2020 was desperate, Kamala Harris 2024 was pathetic, Kamala Harris 2028 will be unhinged,” GOP political strategist Nathan Brand posted on X.

Mamdani’s influence in the party has only grown since he was sworn into office in January, as highlighted by a clean sweep of socialist-aligned candidates he endorsed winning their races in the New York Democratic primary last month.

CARVILLE WARNS DEMOCRATS ANTI-ISRAEL ‘LOUDMOUTHS’ COULD COST ELECTIONS

“The fact that she’s courting people like Mamdani, these socialists and communists, it goes back to the radical leftists, because the Democrats are in big trouble as a party,” RNC chair Joe Gruters exclusively told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

“They’re in the death spiral, because now they have these people inside their tent,” he continued. “This is who the Democratic Party is today: these radical leftists that want to fundamentally transform our country. And that’s why we have to fight. That’s why we have to come together, unite, and we have to win. We have to win to save the country. We have to win to move our policies forward. There’s a lot at stake. Certainly, Kamala Harris, the meeting with Mamdani and these radicals shows you where the left continues to go where they want to go, but listen, she has to kowtow to these radicals to try to win.”

Earlier this year, Harris made stops in the crucial primary state of South Carolina less than a week after she dropped a tantalizing comment at the first major cattle call of Democratic presidential contenders.

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“I might. I might. I’m thinking about it… I’ll keep you posted,” Harris said in April at the National Action Network’s 35th Anniversary Convention, when asked by the event founder, the Rev. Al Sharpton, if she would seek the presidency in 2028.

Harris, who replaced then-President Joe Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee but later lost the election to President Donald Trump, was greeted by the crowd with chants of “run again.”

BOYERS, Pa. — Deep inside a limestone mine more than 230 feet underground, the Trump administration marked what it called the “Last Day of Paper” for federal retirements Tuesday, giving Fox News Digital rare access to the long-secretive Pennsylvania facility where millions of government records helped keep the retirement process trapped in an analog system for decades.

“It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before, which I think is the reaction that I generally hear from lots of people… I believe that many [government employees] have just been constrained by a system that does not allow innovation and does not allow some element of risk-taking,” U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told Fox News Digital in a sit-down interview.

“The only thing I did that was different than any other predecessor was we gave people permission to actually solve the problems that I knew needed to be solved,” he continued. 

FEDERAL HR OFFICE PULLS BACK CURTAIN ON SWEEPING NDA PLAN AIMED AT CURBING GOVERNMENT LEAKS

For decades, retirement applications were physically mailed between federal agencies before arriving at OPM’s Retirement Operations Center in Boyers, where workers manually processed roughly 10,000 retirements each month and houses over 400 million paper records. OPM celebrated moving from the paper system to digitized records, explaining the millions of documents languishing in the mine will be shredded.

OPM functions as the federal government’s human resources department, overseeing the policies, benefits and personnel systems that affect millions of civilian federal employees and retirees.

Kupor said the Biden administration and previous officials had discussed modernizing the online retirement application, but the effort never gained momentum. 

“The idea of the online retirement application was an idea,” he said. “I think what happened was it never got traction.”

The federal retirement system has relied on a largely paper-based process since it opened in the 1980s. 

Over the years, officials launched multiple modernization efforts, including pilot programs and attempts to digitize retirement applications. Despite those initiatives, the government remained dependent on paper until the Trump administration accelerated adoption of OPM’s Online Retirement Application following Musk’s public criticism of the system.

The underground operation became a national symbol of government bureaucracy after Elon Musk revealed its existence last year, calling it “like a time warp,” while in the Oval Office.

“Now people can retire as soon as they want, instead of waiting 6 months for paper to be carried into a mine,” Musk exclusively told Fox News Digital. 

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

Kupor shared that both Musk and U.S. Chief Design Officer Joe Gebbia deserve an “enormous amount of credit.”

“It’s a great example to me of the more meta level of what Elon and the DOGE team was doing, which is rethink processes from ground zero, be creative in terms of what the solutions are and recognize that, look, you have to actually make significant change if you want to ultimately drive efficiency in the government,” said Kupor.

Iron Mountain provides secure archival storage for numerous museums, archives, cultural institutions and government agencies. Its holdings include materials for Getty Images, CBS, Disney, artifacts related to the Flight 93 National Memorial—near Shanksville, Pennsylvania—and Holocaust-related collections, Fox News Digital learned.

TRUMP SAYS ANTI-FRAUD EFFORTS ARE UNCOVERING BILLIONS IN WASTE, CLAIMS SAVINGS COULD BALANCE BUDGET

“We have a great team who does a lot of security, and obviously we’re in a building here with other very highly secure agencies. There’s a number of kind of three-letter agencies who also have records here,” said Kupor.

“I think by far the benefits of obviously getting off paper going to electronic records. Way outweigh any potential risks we might have from a security perspective,” said Kupor when asked about any security concerns the physical copies presented.

Kupor argued that government innovation is key to reducing costs for taxpayers.

PENTAGON ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATION INTO LEAKS, WHICH COULD INCLUDE POLYGRAPH TESTS

“I think the president has done and told us is take the skills that you have around innovation and creative thinking and apply that to modernization for the government and if we do that, we’ll not only improve the quality of service, but that is where we get efficiency,” said Kupor.

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“That’s how we actually deliver more for the American people without constantly going to have to go back to the till and ask Congress for more money.”

President Donald Trump is taking his first presidential flight aboard a newly retrofitted Boeing 747 serving as Air Force One on Wednesday, traveling to Medora, North Dakota, to mark the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and promote a conservation push tied to America’s 250th birthday.

“This will be the first flight of what I think is maybe the greatest commercial plane ever built. I said to Boeing, what’s the best one? He said, ‘this is the best plane ever built, and you’re going to have the privilege of flying it,'” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews.

Trump is traveling aboard a $400 million Boeing 747-8i donated by the government of Qatar and refurbished for presidential use. Trump is also set to meet with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and other officials in Medora, where he will mark the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and promote Roosevelt’s conservation legacy.

NEW AIR FORCE ONE TAKES FLIGHT AS TRUMP UNVEILS REVAMPED PRESIDENTIAL AIRCRAFT

“I’m excited about the first flight. It’s something nobody’s ever seen anything like it. Even you people, with all your experience and all of your talents, you will never see anything like it. They just completed it. They made it appropriate for a president,” Trump added. “That means the security and all of the different bells and whistles they put on very complex stuff.”

He said the previous plane was around 36 years old and Americans should be proud of the new plane.

“It would be parked next to the new ones like this. It really didn’t look appropriate for our country… you can do two things. You can low-key it or you can show it,” added Trump.

NEW AIR FORCE ONE TAKES FLIGHT AS TRUMP UNVEILS REVAMPED PRESIDENTIAL AIRCRAFT

Trump and Burgum will arrive to the museum with a ceremonial Rough Riders horseback escort before touring the presidential center later on Wednesday. 

Roosevelt was known for his passion for the outdoors – dramatically expanding federal protection of natural resources and public lands. He established national parks, created national monuments, and strengthened the U.S. Forest Service.

“The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired,” Roosevelt famously said, which is inscribed on the museum’s wall.

BIDEN-APPOINTED JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP TO RESTORE SLAVERY, CLIMATE CHANGE REFERENCES AT NATIONAL PARKS

Trump will sign the “Great American Outdoors Act Reauthorization,” which centers around previous legislation signed by the 45th and 47th president but renews funding in honor of America’s 250th birthday.

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The act continues investing about $1.9 billion per year for deferred maintenance projects, such as repairing roads, bridges, trails, campgrounds, visitor centers, and water systems on public lands.

As the Trump administration weighs implementing tariffs on Mexican beer, a new report argues the move would hurt the very American workers it is intended to protect by squeezing one of the U.S. beer market’s most profitable segments.

The report, authored by Unleash Prosperity co-founder Stephen Moore and economist David Ozgo, comes as the Trump administration continues to expand its tariff agenda, which officials say is aimed at re-shoring manufacturing, reducing trade deficits and strengthening American industry.

“There probably are some products for which tariffs are appropriate — products where there might be national security implications,” Ozgo told Fox News Digital. “But obviously, beer is not one of those products.”

While Mexican beer is brewed south of the border, Ozgo said most of the jobs it supports, like distribution, wholesaling and retailing, are in the United States.

‘WE WERE RIGHT’: WINE IMPORTER TOOK TRUMP’S TARIFFS TO THE SUPREME COURT AND WON

The report backs that claim with data showing the U.S. beer business supports roughly 1.74 million jobs, but only about 5% are directly involved in brewing. Most workers are employed by wholesalers, retailers, restaurants and suppliers that handle beer after it is brewed, jobs that remain in the U.S. even when the beer is imported.

“If you end up slapping tariffs on Mexican beer, you’re not protecting American workers,” Ozgo said. “What you’re really doing is cutting into the most profitable segment of the beer market right now and in turn putting U.S. jobs at risk.”

According to the report, Mexican beer already sells for about 52% more than mass-market domestic lagers in grocery and liquor stores. The authors say those higher prices mean bigger profits for U.S. distributors, retailers, restaurants and bars, helping support more American jobs than cheaper domestic lagers.

Those higher prices create more value across the U.S. economy, the report notes.

FROM BOURBON TO BORDEAUX: TRUMP’S TARIFFS SPILL INTO GLOBAL BOOZE MARKETS

The authors estimate that every gallon of Mexican beer generates about $26.27 in economic value. About $19.42 of that — roughly 74% — goes to U.S. businesses and workers through distribution, retail, transportation, marketing, taxes and other domestic economic activity. By comparison, leading domestic beers generate about $15.76 in total value per gallon.

Ozgo said tariffs would ultimately force brewers to either absorb the added costs, reduce investment, or pass the costs on to consumers through higher prices.

“Either the company itself has to eat the cost of the tariff, or they pass the cost to the consumer,” he said. “Either outcome isn’t very good.”

The report also argues that moving production of Mexican beer to the United States could undermine the brands’ authenticity and value, pointing to Anheuser-Busch InBev’s decision to move production of Beck’s beer from Germany to Missouri, which led to consumer litigation after the company continued marketing the beer as German.

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It also notes that Constellation Brands, which imports Corona, Modelo and Pacifico, operates under a Justice Department consent decree requiring those brands to be produced in Mexico.

“Consumers really, really value authenticity,” Ozgo said. “When you move an import into the United States and you continue to market it as an import, you end up losing value.”

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The Trump administration has argued more broadly that tariffs are intended to encourage domestic manufacturing and strengthen American industry, though officials have not specifically outlined a final policy regarding Mexican beer imports.

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Read the full report:

Dan Koh, a candidate for Congress in Massachusetts’s 6th Congressional District, deleted a handful of Black Lives Matter (BLM) posts from then-Twitter, according to the Wayback internet archives tool.

Koh’s resurfaced posts, which come as he wages a campaign to become the next representative for Massachusetts’s 6th Congressional District, suggest efforts to distance himself from BLM even as Koh highlights other elements of “racial justice.”

“JusticeForGeorgeFloyd,” Koh wrote on May 29, 2020.

“Pretty sure centuries of systemic racism exemplified by the murder of George Floyd has something to do with the ‘situation,’” Koh said in one of the posts, reacting to a press briefing about the riots that had broken out in Minnesota in 2020 shortly after Floyd’s death at the hands of a law enforcement officer.

The posts, which originally went up on May 29 and May 30 in 2020, have since been deleted.

TLAIB-BACKED SENATE CANDIDATE IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER DELETING ‘DEFUND THE POLICE’ SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

In another post published on April 20, 2021, Koh wrote simply, “JusticeForGeorgeFloyd.”

Notably, Koh has not shied away from making racial equity an element of his campaign and displays it as a part of his platform on his website.

“President Trump is using the power of the federal government to target people of color at every turn. We must confront every action that systemically erodes justice and equality in American life, from attacks on fair housing and labor protections to efforts that undermine public education, environmental justice and civil rights enforcement,” the website reads.

MAYOR OF SANCTUARY CITY ADVANCES TO NOVEMBER ELECTION AMID ICE CRACKDOWN RESISTANCE

In the past, BLM has acted as a lightning rod issue, pitting criticisms of racial prejudice in law enforcement against support for police. It would later feed into sentiments like calls to “defund the police.”

Koh’s campaign did not say why he deleted the posts or whether he sees them as at odds with his current positions.

A spokesperson for the campaign did say, however, that Koh intends to make racial representation a facet of his time in office, if elected.

“For years, Dan has spoken up, including on social media and national TV, about the murder of George Floyd and the injustices Black Americans have faced — and as a Member of Congress, he will fight every day against Trump’s racist agenda that is trying to strip Black Americans of their rights and freedoms,” Olivia Brandon, a campaign spokesperson, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

In his time before running for office, Koh worked in the Biden White House, holding multiple senior roles and advising the administration on infrastructure-related matters. He has also worked as chief of staff to the U.S. Department of Labor and chief of staff for Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.

Koh is running to replace outgoing Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass. The seat, which has been safely Democratic for decades, last went to Moulton in a 69.9% to 35.2% victory over Republican challenger Robert May.

MASSACHUSETTS SENATE CANDIDATES TRADE SHARP ATTACKS IN FIERY DEBATE AS UNCUMBENT MARKEY SKIPS EVENT

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In turn, Moulton is pursuing a U.S. Senate seat in a primary challenge to Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.

Massachusetts will hold its primaries on Tuesday, Sept. 1. If he clinches the Democratic nomination, Koh will face off against Republican candidate Micah Jones.

The mother of an 18-year-old college freshman killed in March by a criminal illegal immigrant asked lawmakers Tuesday to look her in the eye and explain why “people here illegally matter more” than American citizens, delivering emotional testimony during a congressional hearing on sanctuary policies.

Jessica Gorman, whose daughter Sheridan Gorman was fatally shot after going to the Chicago lakefront with friends to see the Northern Lights, accused sanctuary city leaders and politicians of failing to protect her child during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on sanctuary policies.

“I want you to imagine that little girl on the ‘buddy bench,’ that innocent college freshman with a heart full of compassion and a head full of dreams that was gunned down by an illegal immigrant,” Gorman said. “I want you to imagine that was your daughter, not mine. What if she was yours?”

CHICAGO MAYOR ASKED ABOUT CITY’S IMMIGRATION POLICIES AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ALLEGEDLY KILLED COLLEGE STUDENT

Gorman’s remarks came as she invoked a childhood story about Sheridan “stalking” the “buddy bench” at recess, waiting to help classmates who felt lonely or left out.

She lamented that her daughter, who spent her life making others feel seen, had been failed by the people responsible for protecting her.

“I bring this back to the buddy bench. I think Congress needs one. Yes, I think every governor, every mayor, every sanctuary city official and politician shifting blame and interest, hiding behind their slogans and talking points should have to all sit on one,” Gorman said. 

“I challenge you all to sit down with me. Take my hand, look me in the eye, and then explain to me, because I just don’t understand. Explain why people here illegally matter more than your American citizens. Explain why sanctuary policies matter more than my Sheridan’s life. Explain why cooperation with ICE was too much to ask for, but asking our American parents to bury our children is somehow acceptable. Ask me — I need you to tell me.“

BIDEN BORDER OFFICIALS RELEASED ALLEGED KILLER OF CHICAGO STUDENT ‘DUE TO LACK OF SPACE,’ DOCUMENTS SHOW

Gorman identified the man accused of killing her daughter as Jose Medina, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who she said “should not have even been in this country.” She said Medina had previously committed a crime and had an outstanding warrant before he was left on the streets of Chicago.

“But this story is not about him,” Gorman told lawmakers. “The story is about my Sheridan.”

The hearing focused on sanctuary policies and whether jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities are putting Americans at risk. Republicans argued those policies allow criminal illegal immigrants to be released back into communities instead of being turned over to ICE, while Democrats pushed back by arguing such policies preserve trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement.

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., who chairs the subcommittee, opened the hearing by saying Republicans would continue highlighting the families of victims until sanctuary policies are “rectified.” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the ranking member, offered condolences to Gorman and another witness whose daughter was killed, but criticized the hearing as the committee’s fourth on sanctuary cities and argued Democrats should instead be examining the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.

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The hearing grew heated even before Gorman testified, when Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., introduced her and was interrupted by Democrats who said his remarks had turned from an introduction into a broader speech on immigration policy.

Gorman later told lawmakers she had never expected to become a public advocate, but said her daughter’s death forced her into the fight.

“I’m a lover, not a fighter,” Gorman said. “I’m not a public speaker. I’m not someone who ever speaks out about things. I have to.”

A moderate Democrat mounting his last campaign staved off a progressive challenger in Colorado, marking a small speed bump in the rapid far-left evolution of the Democratic Party. 

Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., a longtime fixture in Colorado politics, overcame a challenge from state Sen. Julie Gonzales, his progressive challenger, who has argued that Democrats need to be more aggressive in their pushback against President Donald Trump. 

Hickenlooper, who is vying for a second term in the upper chamber, said this would be his final campaign for the Senate. Gonzales hoped to speed up his exit with a campaign that went after the lawmaker’s moderate position and votes in favor of some of Trump’s nominees. 

DEMOCRATS TORN BETWEEN PROGRESSIVE FIRE AND CENTRIST CAUTION AS NOVEMBER ELECTIONS LOOM

“John Hickenlooper has been in office for over 20 years,” Gonzales said in her campaign launch ad. “I know that we’re not fooled by his so-called ‘commonsense approach,’ cause there is no sense in voting for Donald Trump’s nominees.”

Still, Gonzales’ defeat Tuesday night was a stumble for the progressive wave that has swept the Democratic Party during this midterm election cycle, which has seen new blood hungry for change challenging the old guard and party leadership in Washington, D.C. 

Hickenlooper, 74, who served two terms each as Denver’s mayor and Colorado’s governor before launching a failed bid for president, has been a stalwart fixture in the Centennial State, while Gonzales, 43, positioned herself as part of the new wave. 

THE PLOT TO STOP MAMDANI: DEMOCRATS SCRAMBLE TO BLOCK FAR-LEFT TAKEOVER IN NEW YORK

Their battle for the Democratic nomination came just a week after a trio of progressive candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani clinched their Democratic nominations. Notably, Mamdani-backed Darializa Avila Chevalier, a community organizer and socialist, toppled five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y.

And the battle between Hickenlooper and Gonzales was not the only intraparty fist fight between a moderate incumbent and progressive in Colorado. 

‘IT’S A MESS’: GOP TURNS ON HOUSE CONSERVATIVES AS VOTER ID BLOCKADE STALLS TRUMP’S AGENDA

Melat Kiros, a socialist, is squaring off against longtime Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District. Kiros also sported the endorsement of one of Hickenlooper’s colleagues: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Meanwhile, Hickenlooper will now face state Sen. Mark Baisley in November. Baisley, who ran unopposed in the Colorado GOP primary, initially launched a campaign for governor in the race to replace term-limited Gov. Jared Polis but dropped out of the contest to run for the Senate. 

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Fox News Digital did not immediately receive comment from the Hickenlooper and Gonzales campaigns.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are taking their political playbook nationwide. 

One week after DSA-aligned candidates scored ballot-box victories over establishment-backed contenders in two congressional primaries in New York City that grabbed outsized national attention, the group scored another major upset in a deep-blue U.S. House district in Denver, Colorado.

Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette, who was first elected to Congress in 1996 and took office in 1997, was defeated by DSA-backed Melat Kiros, a first-time candidate and former attorney who is 29 years old.

Kiros’ victory comes a week after Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old progressive community organizer in New York City, ousted incumbent Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, another DSA-aligned contender, won a congressional primary to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez.

VICTORIES BY MAMDANI-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES SPOTLIGHTS GROWING RIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY

The victories by Chevalier and Valdez, who were backed by socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, coupled with the win this week by Kiros, are further emboldening the progressive left as it takes on the center-left establishment in a high-stakes battle for the future of the Democratic Party. 

Hasan Piker, the controversial, far-left streamer, at the Kiros primary night event in Denver, told Fox News, “I think progressive politics, left populism, a politics that centers the needs of the working class, can work in every district, in every state. That’s why I kept saying over and over again, it’s coming to a city near you.” 

The latest DSA primary victory came in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, a Democrat-dominated seat anchored in Denver that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried by nearly 56 points in the 2024 election.

“Another Democratic Socialist is going to Congress!,” the DSA touted in a social media post. “Congresswoman Kiros will take the fight for a better world to D.C: to Abolish ICE, free Palestine, and win Universal Childcare and Medicare for All.” 

Kiros, who lost her job as a lawyer in New York after writing an essay critical of Israel, was also supported by Justice Democrats, the nearly decade-old political group known for heavily supporting “Squad” members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib as they toppled entrenched incumbents in their initial elections to Congress. 

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

University of Colorado regent Wanda James, who jumped into the Democratic congressional primary in April and was described as a spoiler, finished third, in single digits. 

Progressives also scored an impressive victory in the neighboring 8th Congressional District, a crucial swing seat which stretches along the I-25 corridor north of Denver. 

State Rep. Manny Rutinel tallied a convincing double-digit victory over former state Rep. Shannon Bird, a more moderate candidate. Rutinel will now take on Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, who flipped the seat in the 2024 cycle. 

The race is considered one of two or three dozen that will determine if the GOP holds onto its razor-thin House majority in the midterms. 

Immigration was a top issue in the Democratic primary in a district where roughly 40% of the population is Latino. Rutinel criticized Bird for a vote she cast last year opposing a measure limiting cooperation between local and state law enforcement and ICE. And Rutinel was boosted by big spending from allies, including prominent Latino groups. 

While Rutinel has tempered his previous support for top progressive issues, including Medicare for All and opposition to fracking, Republicans viewed him as the easier general election challenger than Bird. During the primary campaign, the right spotlighted pictures of him rallying alongside Mamdani.

“Democrats have chosen a far-left, radical socialist, Mamdani-wanna-be extremist — someone who supports eliminating oil and gas, defunding law enforcement, calling farmers and ranchers horrific, and threatening the industries that power our economy,” Evans charged in a statement. 

Another primary showdown highlighting the split between progressives and moderates, as well as the party’s generational divide, was the Senate nomination battle between incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper, 74, and former state Sen. Julie Gonzales, a 43-year-old progressive. 

Hickenlooper, a former Denver mayor and two-term governor, saw his once-large advantage over Gonzales, a one-time DSA member, narrow in the weeks ahead of the primary. 

Hickenlooper prevailed and will now be the clear favorite in the general election against Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley, who was unopposed in his primary. 

But Gonzales saw a silver lining in defeat, writing in a statement, “My heart is full, knowing that we’ve put the Democratic establishment on notice: keep taking folks like us for granted at your own peril.” 

Meanwhile, state Attorney General Phil Weiser topped U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in the expensive and combustible Democratic gubernatorial primary. 

Weiser, who ran to Bennet’s left on certain issues, closed the gap with the senator as he spotlighted his efforts to take on President Donald Trump, including filing or joining dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration as attorney general.

Longtime Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo, a veteran of progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, told Fox News Digital that “it is undeniable that progressives have built a coalition and have a message that can serve to buoy a candidate when they are an acceptable alternative to the status quo.” 

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While plenty of mainstream Democrats have racked up primary victories in recent weeks, it is the far-left that’s grabbing the media spotlight. And that’s giving Republicans more ammunition as they portray all Democrats as radicals. 

“The socialist takeover of the Democrat Party is no longer confined to deep-blue strongholds. The radicals are taking over battleground districts, putting must-win seats out of reach for Democrats and sinking their chances of flipping the House,” NRCC Spokesman Mike Marinella said as he pointed to Rutinel’s victory.

 Fox News’ Olivia Palombo and Matthew Donnell contributed to this report

The Trump administration on Tuesday said it would pursue enforcement action that could include withholding federal funding from Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools over its policies that the administration says prevent staff from notifying parents of a transgender student’s gender identity.

The Education Department said that Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools’ policy of not disclosing a student’s transgender status to their parents violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

The agency announced it was partnering with the Justice Department to take “appropriate enforcement measures,” including applicable judicial proceedings and potential loss of federal funding.

LOUDOUN COUNTY PARENTS NOT ‘SATISFIED’ AFTER SCHOOL OFFICIALS TESTIFY ON TRANSGENDER POLICIES

“Kansas City Kansas Public Schools’ sustained efforts to sidestep FERPA, conceal its true policies, and obstruct parents’ lawful access to their children’s education records represents a serious and deliberate breach of federal law,” said Frank Miller, Director of the Student Privacy Policy Office at the Education Department.

“A strong and coordinated enforcement partnership between the Department of Education and the Department of Justice will ensure districts are held accountable and fully honor parents’ rights,” he added.

According to the government, the district’s policy affirms that school personnel “should not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender status or gender nonconforming presentation to others, including parents.”

“Despite the Department’s proposed Resolution Agreement, which outlined specific actions the District should take to remedy their FERPA violations, the District continues to ignore federal parental rights law,” the Education Department said.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the district for comment.

SUPREME COURT MAKES MAKES RULING ON TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN’S SPORTS

The administration has threatened to pull federal funding from several other districts across the country over transgender policies.

Earlier this year, the Education Department said policies concerning transgender students in four Kansas school districts, including Kansas City and Kansas Public Schools, were violating federal law.

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President Donald Trump has issued an executive order aimed at barring transgender women and girls from competing in girls’ and women’s sports. The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that states may bar transgender women and girls from girls’ and women’s sports, upholding Idaho and West Virginia laws while not requiring states without such bans to adopt them.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The Trump administration says it has complete support from the Venezuelan government amid humanitarian efforts just months after the removal of former dictator Nicolás Maduro, which sparked rage among the president’s opponents.

After magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck the northern part of the South American nation last week, the American government stepped in to help in a move that the administration says has been welcomed by the Venezuelan government and citizenry alike.

“We have seen total compliance from the interim authorities in Venezuela as a result of the unprecedented response by the United States to these deadly earthquakes,” a State Department official told Fox News Digital Tuesday.

US MILITARY TOUTS WORK TO ASSIST IN VENEZUELA FOLLOWING DEADLY EARTHQUAKES

The death toll from the natural disaster stands at nearly 2,000 and continues to rise.

“Every request we have made has been immediately granted and in turn, we have seen an incredible outpouring of support from the Venezuelan people towards Americans on the ground,” the official continued.

TRUMP ‘SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING’ PLAN TO MAKE VENEZUELA AND ITS $40 TRILLION IN OIL PERMANENT PART OF USA

On Jan. 3, U.S. special forces successfully took Maduro into custody after a daring nighttime mission that overwhelmed the dictator’s armed guards. After penetrating Maduro’s palace, they took him into custody. He was relocated to the United States where he remains in jail awaiting trial on narco-terrorism and gun charges.

The progressive political left rushed to the defense of the brutal socialist authoritarian in the wake of his capture.

US CAPTURE OF MADURO THROWS SPOTLIGHT ON VENEZUELA’S MASSIVE OIL RESERVES

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., warned that the event risked violating international law, while Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., called the United States a “rogue state.”

“Trump’s illegal and unprovoked bombing of Venezuela and kidnapping of its president are grave violations of international law and the U.S. Constitution. These are the actions of a rogue state,” Tlaib wrote on social media.

“The American people do not want another regime change war abroad,” she added.

“Maduro’s illegitimate election does not give the president the power to invade without congressional approval, nor does it create a national security justification. That contention is laughable,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

The Trump administration has taken swift action to help the Venezuelan people amid the crisis, including mobilizing $150 million in humanitarian relief.

It has assembled a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) composed of more than 250 people, including three specialized Urban Search-and-Rescue (USAR) teams. The administration says the teams have conducted critical life-saving measures.

The U.S. military has assisted with logistics.

Venezuela’s Supreme Court installed Delcy Rodríguez as the country’s interim president.

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Since then, diplomatic relations with the country have been restored, though officials in Washington have made it clear that such cooperation is temporary, while emphasizing the U.S. does not view her presidency as a permanent solution.

Manny Rutinel, a Democratic candidate for Congress in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, won a primary race on Tuesday evening, securing his party’s bid to challenge incumbent Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo.

Rutinel, a member of the state’s House of Representatives, faces one of the country’s most competitive races that could help decide the balance of power in Washington, D.C., where Republicans hold a governing trifecta across the House, Senate and Oval Office.

Democrats see seats like this district as a prime opportunity to pry away the GOP’s narrow grip on the House, where they have a slim majority.

Evans, the current seat holder, won the election in 2024 by just 0.8%.

REPUBLICAN GABE EVANS WINS COLORADO’S 8TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, BEATING INCUMBENT YADIRA CARAVEO

Rutinel, a former state legislator, has pitched himself as a Democrat ready to protect government programs against GOP cuts and protect minorities against government overreach.

On his website, he lists protecting Social Security and Medicaid, expanding tax credits, ending Trump’s immigration crackdown, and lowering housing costs among his top priorities.

“I was raised on Medicaid. It’s deeply personal for me and now Donald Trump and Gabe Evans are trying to destroy it to give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies,” Rutinel said in a campaign video posted to Instagram.

“I’m afraid of Donald Trump continuing to destroy our democracy and our economy and making life impossible for working people and Latino immigrants across the country.”

REPUBLICANS TARGET 2 KEY DEMOCRATIC RACES WITH MAMDANI CONNECTION STRATEGY

Because his platform includes elements like expanding taxes on the rich and universal healthcare, Republicans have made efforts to paint Rutinel as in the same vein as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

“Those policies may sell in New York, but Coloradans aren’t buying it,” a spokesperson for Gabe Evans told Fox News Digital when asked about the similarities back in November.

Evan’s campaign echoed that thinking in its reaction to Rutinel’s win on Tuesday evening.

“Democrats have chosen a far-left, radical socialist, Mamdani-wanna-be extremist — someone who supports eliminating oil and gas, defunding law enforcement, calling farmers and ranchers horrific and threatening the industries that power our economy. As a former cop, Army veteran, grandson of Mexican immigrants, husband, father and the proud Representative of this district, I’ll continue fighting to protect and uplift Colorado’s hardworking families while keeping our communities safe and our economy strong,” Evans said in a statement.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) also issued a statement on Tuesday evening.

“The socialist takeover of the Democrat Party is no longer confined to deep-blue strongholds. The radicals are taking over battleground districts, putting must-win seats out of reach for Democrats and sinking their chances of flipping the House,” Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the NRCC said.

Moreover, the Congressional Leadership Fund, an arm of the House Republican fundraising apparatus, highlighted a video posted to Instagram of a Mamdani campaign rally, offering it as proof that Rutinel belongs in the same bucket as Mamdani.

The video briefly shows someone who appears to be Rutinel standing behind Mamdani.

SCOOP: HOUSE REPUBLICANS LINK MAYOR-ELECT MAMDANI TO VULNERABLE CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS

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“What does the CO-08 race have in common with the NYC Mayoral Race? Democrat Manny Rutinel is campaigning in both,” CLF pointed out in one of its ads.

Having secured his party’s nomination, Rutinel will face off against Evans in the general election on Nov. 3.

Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., a 30-year incumbent, lost to a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)-backed challenger in a high-profile primary on Tuesday evening.

Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old socialist, defeated DeGette in a Democratic primary for a deep-blue House seat anchored in Denver, according to The Associated Press, scoring a major victory for the socialist left on Tuesday evening.

The DSA had been aiming to cast DeGette’s loss as evidence of its growing momentum after a slate of socialist candidates won Democratic primaries in New York City last week.

“Today, the East Coast, next week the Mountain West,” the DSA wrote in a social media post last week.

SOCIALISTS CHEER ‘SHOCKWAVE’ PRIMARY NIGHT AS DSA-BACKED CANDIDATES WIN, ADVANCE ACROSS THE MAP

If elected in November, Kiros, who was born in Ethiopia, will likely join the ranks of the far-left group known as the Squad and become one of a handful of the House chamber’s outspoken socialists. 

The millennial challenger was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and the anti-incumbent leftist organization Justice Democrats. Controversial socialist streamer Hasan Piker, who has said Hamas is “a thousand times better” than Israel and praised the Chinese Communist Party, also backed Kiros’ insurgent primary run.

DeGette, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who supports abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), sought to win a 16th House term by flexing her leftist bona fides. She argued her seniority on an influential House committee would allow her to push for Medicare-for-All legislation — a longtime priority of the party’s far-left flank.

DeGette, who was endorsed by former CPC Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., also spotlighted her experience as an impeachment manager during Trump’s second impeachment trial in 2021.

Though DeGette and Kiros shared few policy disagreements, they diverged sharply over Israel and antisemitism. Kiros also sharply criticized DeGette for accepting corporate PAC contributions.

Kiros, a PhD student and lawyer, was fired from a New York firm in 2023 after publishing an open letter, arguing that pro-Palestinian student protesters calling for the elimination of Israel were not antisemitic and appearing to defend Hamas.

WATCH: HOUSE DEMS UNLOAD ON TEXAS DEMOCRAT OVER ‘DEMENTED’ ANTISEMITIC COMMENTS

She has also described the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks against the Jewish state as the “inevitable consequence of apartheid” and declined to characterize the deadly firebombing of protesters in Boulder last year who were urging the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza as antisemitic. 

“I don’t know what was in the heart of the perpetrator,” Kiros told Colorado’s 9News in a recent television interview. “All I know is that he went and attacked innocent people because of what they might have believed.”

A June 2025 bipartisan resolution condemning the attack as part of a “rise in ideologically motivated attacks on Jewish individuals” won every present lawmaker’s support, except for Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who voted present.

Kiros has also suggested the United States deserved 9/11.

“Inevitable in the sense that we destabilized a lot of the Middle East that forced people to believe that another act of violence was the only response,” Kiros told 9News when asked if she thought the terror attack was “the inevitable consequence of American foreign policy.”

“And again, just like I said before, our responsibility is to get rid of those conditions that lead to violence in the first place,” Kiros continued.

DeGette argued that Kiros’ embrace of Piker and her comments about antisemitism and 9/11 were disqualifying. 

“I’m shocked and disgusted that Kiros is doubling down on excusing terrorism and the murder of innocent people,” the 30-year incumbent wrote on Facebook earlier this month.

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Colorado’s 1st Congressional District is the most liberal seat in the state and voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris by 56 points in 2024.

The primary fight was further scrambled by University of Colorado Regent Wanda James, also running for DeGette’s seat. Though James did not pose the same threat as Kiros, her vote share could ultimately have swayed the contest. 

Jessica Killin won the Democratic primary in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District on Tuesday, setting up a November match-up against incumbent Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., for the Colorado Springs-based seat.

Killin, a former Army captain and former chief of staff to second gentleman Doug Emhoff, defeated fellow Army veteran and nonprofit leader Joe Reagan, according to the Associated Press. The result means she will take on Crank, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary and is seeking a second term representing the district, which is centered on Colorado Springs and most of El Paso County, including several military-heavy communities.

Killin entered the race as a first-time candidate with national support and strong fundraising, while Reagan, who ran for the seat in 2024, leaned on his local roots, combat service and nonprofit work helping veterans open businesses.

PROGRESSIVE MOMENTUM HITS SPEED BUMP AS VETERAN DEMOCRAT FENDS OFF CHALLENGER IN COLORADO

MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALISTS LOOK TO TAKE NEW YORK PLAYBOOK NATIONWIDE AFTER PRIMARY VICTORIES

The general election will test whether Democrats can make gains in a Republican-leaning district that includes Fort Carson and the Air Force Academy, along with fast-growing Colorado Springs suburbs.

The race drew national attention from Democrats because the Colorado Springs-based district, long a Republican stronghold, has shown signs of becoming more competitive. The Colorado Sun reported that Trump’s margin in El Paso County, which largely overlaps with the 5th District, fell from 22 points in 2016 to 10 points in 2024, while Republican margins in the House race have also narrowed over the past decade.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) added Killin to its Red to Blue program, signaling national Democrats viewed the Republican-held seat as a potential pickup opportunity, even though the district remains GOP-leaning.

The district’s current incumbent, Crank, is a former Capitol Hill staffer of seven years, who subsequently moved back home to Colorado where he served as Vice President for the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, Chief Operating Officer at nonprofit Americans for Prosperity and president of his own real estate investment company, according to his campaign website.

Crank’s background in broadcasting includes hosting both The Jeff Crank Show in Colorado and the American Potential Podcast.

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Killin aligned herself with a centrist Democratic push shortly before the primary, signing onto an initiative that described its signatories as “capitalist, not socialist” and emphasized public safety, fiscal responsibility, secure borders and national pride.

Meanwhile, Killin said during an online news conference that candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America “should not be the face of our party,” according to local news outlet Colorado Politics.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser defeated Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., in Colorado’s Democratic primary for governor Tuesday, blocking Bennet’s attempted move from the Senate to the governor’s residence and putting Weiser in position as the favorite to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.

Weiser’s win over Bennet, a three-term senator and former 2020 presidential candidate, marked a major upset in one of the most closely watched Democratic primaries of the year. The winner of the Democratic nomination is favored in November in a state where Democrats have dominated recent statewide elections.

The result also means Bennet is expected to remain in the Senate, avoiding what would have been a major vacancy fight had he won the governorship in November.

COLORADO DEPUTY COULD FACE MASSIVE FINE FOR SHARING INFORMATION WITH IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES

“Phil has dedicated his life to the law, justice, and public service,” says Weiser’s campaign website. “As your Governor he will continue to advance the rule of law, protect our democracy, and promote justice for all. Phil Weiser will continue to defend and protect every Coloradan across the state.”

The primary battle pitted two high-profile Colorado Democrats against each other — Bennet, a three-term senator and former 2020 presidential candidate, and Weiser, the state’s two-term attorney general.

Polis, a Democrat, is barred by term limits from seeking another term after eight years in office.

MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALISTS LOOK TO TAKE NEW YORK PLAYBOOK NATIONWIDE AFTER PRIMARY VICTORIES

Bennet entered the primary with support from much of Colorado’s Democratic establishment, with his campaign listing endorsements from more than 200 Colorado leaders, including Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Reps. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., Jason Crow, D-Colo., and Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., along with state legislative leaders and labor groups.

Weiser’s campaign, meanwhile, touted support from former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, former Rep. Ed Perlmutter, former Denver Mayor Federico Peña, former Sen. Tim Wirth and a long list of local officials, state lawmakers and progressive organizations.

Bennet argued during the race that he could be more effective fighting Trump and advancing policy as governor, while Weiser leaned on his experience as Colorado’s attorney general and his legal background as he made the case for his own campaign.

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Barb Kirkmeyer was leading the Republican primary for governor Tuesday evening as the Dem primary was called. 

Whether Kirkmeyer or one of her trailing opponents, Victor Marx or Scott Bottoms, the GOP nominee faces an uphill battle against Weiser in November.

Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., clinched her Republican primary after running unopposed to represent Colorado’s 4th Congressional District on Tuesday evening, setting herself up to pursue a fourth term.

Despite notable clashes with House GOP leadership and President Donald Trump, Boebert emerged from her primary largely unscathed, separating herself from the three other Republicans who voted with Democrats to advance the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

If reelected in the state’s Nov. 3 general election, she will be the only one remaining next Congress among fellow GOP rebels Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.; Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.; and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.

Greene, a once-outspoken backer of the president, resigned her seat at the beginning of the year when the two split on foreign aid, government transparency and federal spending.

THE REVOLT OF MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, NOW DONALD TRUMP’S FIERCEST CRITIC

Although he’s presently still in office, Massie lost a primary bid to a Trump-backed challenger earlier this year.

And Mace, who ran for governor in the Palmetto State, fell woefully short of capturing the GOP nomination after Trump declined to endorse her.

Despite outlasting her fellow GOP colleagues, Boebert hasn’t fully escaped Trump’s wrath. The president noted that Boebert had changed districts to run for a considerably safer seat and appeared ready to test the waters against her.

TRUMP THREATENS TO PULL BOEBERT ENDORSEMENT, CALLS CONGRESSWOMAN ‘WEAK MINDED’ OVER MASSIE SUPPORT

“Is anyone interested in running against weak-minded Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s fourth congressional district?” Trump said in a post to Truth Social in May.

“You remember Lauren moved to the district when it became obvious that she couldn’t win in her original congressional district. Boebert is campaigning for the worst ‘Republican’ congressman in the history of our country, Thomas Massie. Even though I long ago endorsed Boebert, if the right person came along, it would be my honor to withdraw that endorsement and endorse a good and proper alternative.”

Boebert announced her decision to switch districts in December 2023, before her vote on the Epstein Files.

Despite her disagreements with the White House, Boebert has said she remains an ally to Trump.

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“Below is my friend Thomas Massie,” Boebert said in a post to X, posting a picture of Massie alongside Trump.

“He loves America and is fighting to save it. Also below is my friend and President Donald Trump. He’s put his life on the line to save this great country. I support both of these men. I’ve worked with both to preserve freedom and liberty. And if that makes you angry, bless your heart,” Boebert wrote.

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked Virginia from enforcing a new law that would prohibit federal agents — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol — from wearing masks while carrying out enforcement operations, siding with the Trump administration in a dispute over federal authority.

Senior U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne granted the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) request for a preliminary injunction, preventing the law from taking effect Wednesday while the legal challenge proceeds. The injunction will remain in place while the case is litigated.

Payne found the federal government is likely to succeed on the merits because Virginia’s law attempts to regulate how federal officers enforce immigration laws, violating the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

MINNESOTA SENATE VOTES TO BAN ICE FROM WEARING MASKS, ALLOW RESIDENTS TO SUE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS

The judge also found the government demonstrated it would likely suffer irreparable harm because enforcing the law could expose federal employees to “real risk of physical harm” while carrying out immigration enforcement duties.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit the DOJ filed last week challenging two laws signed by Democrat Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

The DOJ argued the measures would subject masked federal agents to criminal penalties and threaten agreements between federal immigration authorities and local law enforcement.

DOJ ESCALATES BLUE-STATE ICE STANDOFF AFTER STATES REFUSE KEY FEDERAL REQUEST

“Law enforcement officers risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe, and they do not deserve to be doxed or harassed simply for carrying out their duties,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said when the lawsuit was filed.

“Virginia’s anti-law enforcement policies regulate the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents,” he added. “These laws cannot stand.”

The lawsuit argued Virginia was attempting to dictate how federal officers carry out law enforcement operations by restricting when they may wear face coverings, requiring them to display identifying information and placing conditions on cooperation agreements between local agencies and ICE.

MINNESOTA SENATE VOTES TO BAN ICE FROM WEARING MASKS, ALLOW RESIDENTS TO SUE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS

According to the DOJ, federal officers who violated Virginia’s mask and identification law could have faced a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail, a fine of up to $2,500, or both.

The lawsuit names Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano as defendants.

Payne’s order applies only to Virginia’s mask and identity law. The judge noted the Justice Department’s separate challenge to another provision governing immigration enforcement agreements will proceed on a different briefing schedule, with a hearing scheduled for Aug. 3.

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Spanberger, Jones and Descano have all taken steps to counter the Trump administration’s ICE agenda in Virginia.

In February, Spanberger rescinded an executive order issued by former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin directing state law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Spanberger’s office for comment on the development.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley J. DiMella contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Tuesday to announce the Republican Party will host its very first “Midterm Convention” this fall in Texas.

The two-day event, scheduled to take center stage on Sept. 9 and Sept. 10 in Dallas, aims to celebrate the “great American comeback” and highlight the ongoing achievements of the administration’s America First Agenda, the president said.

“It will be in Dallas, Texas — One of my favorite places in the World,” Trump wrote in the announcement. “It has never been done before, and will be a truly Historic Event.”

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In his post, the president touted a list of policy victories and economic milestones that will serve as the focal point of the convention, including eliminating taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security, as well as securing stronger borders and safer communities.

BIDEN JUDGE OVERRULED ON KEY TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICY

He also highlighted American energy dominance alongside dropping oil prices, progress on denuclearizing Iran, and driving affordability for Americans.

“We are delivering on the promises that politicians talked about for decades, but never got done,” Trump wrote.

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The president said the “rally like none other,” will feature “lots of great entertainment” and spotlight the nation’s first responders, innovators, entrepreneurs, manufacturers and job creators.

First lady Melania Trump pointed to a passage from her bestselling memoir Tuesday after the Supreme Court ruled that states may limit women’s and girls’ sports teams to biological females, saying the decision aligns with a position she has long supported.

In a post on X, Trump highlighted a passage from Melania that was published months before the court’s landmark 6-3 decision, which held that states may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause.

“As many of you may know, I fully support the LGBTQIA+ community. But we must also ensure that our female athletes are protected and respected,” the first lady wrote on X, pointing readers to page 156 of her memoir, “Melania.”

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“The U.S. Supreme Court has now legally confirmed this opinion: ‘Under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, may schools maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females? … The answer is yes,’” Trump continued, citing the court’s decision.

“America, we can support the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community and also protect opportunities for female athletes,” she added. “Respect everyone and keep girls’ sports fair. Both ideals are essential.”

The first lady’s comments came just hours after the Supreme Court established a new nationwide precedent allowing states to maintain women’s and girls’ sports teams for biological females.

U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE MAKES NEW TRANS ATHLETE FINDINGS AGAINST USA HOCKEY

In the consolidated cases West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, the justices ruled 6-3 in favor of West Virginia and Idaho, upholding state laws requiring student-athletes to compete on teams that correspond with their biological sex at birth rather than their gender identity.

Writing for the majority, the court held: “Consistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the States may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. They may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex.”

The decision marks a major victory for supporters of so-called “Save Women’s Sports” laws, validating similar legislation enacted in 27 states in recent years. The ruling also clears the way for those states to continue enforcing the laws without the legal uncertainty that surrounded them while the cases moved through the courts.

LAWYERS FIGHTING SJSU OVER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL RESPOND TO FEDERAL TITLE IX PROBE FINDINGS

Justice Sonia Sotomayor filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey praised the ruling, calling it “a monumental victory for every female athlete who has ever competed, or dreamed of competing, on a fair and safe playing field.”

Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador likewise hailed the decision, saying it confirmed states’ authority to “preserve fair competition and protect the opportunities that generations of women fought to secure.”

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The cases centered on West Virginia’s Save Women’s Sports Act and Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, both of which had been blocked after legal challenges brought by transgender athletes.

Fox News Digital’s Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.