NationalWatch

Democrats have a narrow path to win back the Senate majority from the Republicans in this year’s midterm elections.

And part of their playbook is flipping Maine — a historically moderate state that votes blue in presidential elections but whose two senators are a Republican and an Independent who caucuses with Democrats.

Graham Platner‘s candidacy is cratering as he faces calls from top Democrats in Maine and across the country to quit his Senate bid a day after Monday’s explosive rape allegation emerged against him. And the latest controversy decreases the party’s odds of recapturing the Senate in November.

“The forced implosion of Graham Platner does not make life any easier” for Democrats, a Republican strategist who works on Senate races told Fox News Digital.

DEMOCRATS ABANDON PLATNER AFTER BOMBSHELL ALLEGATIONS

Platner, a military combat veteran turned oyster farmer who was, until Monday, backed by top progressives, is the party’s nominee in the race against longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in blue-leaning Maine.

The showdown is a high-profile, combustible and expensive ballot box battle, and one of a handful that will determine if the GOP holds onto its slim Senate majority in the midterms.

If Platner suspends his campaign before 5 p.m. next Monday, July 13, the Maine Democratic Party will be able to replace him on the general election ballot with another candidate from the party, whom they would need to select by July 27.

Beating Collins, who is seeking a sixth six-year term in the Senate, 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 defeating then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.

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Fast-forward to present day and the 73-year-old Collins should be vulnerable, with her party facing a rough political climate fueled in part by persistent inflation and President Donald Trump’s approval ratings hovering well into negative territory.

But the Platner implosion is a gift to Collins and her party. Republicans quickly took aim at other Democrats on the 2026 ballot and attacked them for previously backing Platner.

A veteran Democratic strategist told Fox News Digital the path to take back the majority isn’t any easier due to the drama in Maine, but added, “it depends on who replaces Platner.”

The bombshell in Maine came a day after a political grenade exploded in the Democratic Senate primary in battleground Michigan, when state Sen. Mallory McMorrow suspended her campaign.

McMorrow, who has seen her national profile expand in recent years and was running as a progressive in an ideological space between left-wing candidate Abdul El-Sayed and establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens, suspended her campaign amid faltering poll numbers and fundraising that weren’t keeping pace with her two main rivals.

The Aug. 4 primary showdown between El-Sayed, endorsed by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Stevens, who is backed by Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is seen as the biggest battle yet between the far-left and establishment for the future of the Democratic Party.

The winner will face off in the midterm elections in November against former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who is on a glide path to the GOP nomination. The winner will succeed retiring Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat. 

The seat is a top Republican target and is a must-hold for the Democrats as they aim to win back the Senate majority from the GOP.

Schumer and the party establishment, which are spending big bucks to back Stevens, view her as more electable than El-Sayed, who has sparked controversy with his past comments. They worry that El-Sayed as the party’s nominee would jeopardize the Democrat-controlled Senate seat by pushing the party too far to the left in a state that Trump carried two years ago by just over one percentage point.

With the race in Maine, the only state that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried in the 2024 presidential election that Senate Republicans are aiming to hold, looking more problematic for the Democrats, the stakes in Michigan also just got a lot higher.

Republicans currently control the Senate 53-47, which means the Democrats need a net gain of four seats in the midterms.

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The Democrats’ playbook relies on flipping Maine and battleground of North Carolina, plus flipping two more seats in red-leaning states like Ohio, Alaska, Iowa, or Texas.

At the same time, Democrats need to hold their open seats in Michigan and New Hampshire, and Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff needs to win re-election in the critical red-leaning swing state of Georgia.

Besides providing the GOP more political ammunition, the mess in Maine is further inflaming tensions between the far-left and the Democratic establishment.

Moderate Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania on Monday night took aim at Sanders, whose early endorsement of Platner last September helped boost the populist Senate candidate.

FETTERMAN DEMANDS SANDERS APOLOGIZE FOR BACKING ‘PREDATOR’ PLATNER

“I would really call Bernie Sanders to apologize for pushing this kind of predator more than anyone,” Fetterman said Monday on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.”

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The Republican strategist, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, said the Democrats’ intra-party sniping “is just further complicating their path to the majority.”

Iran attacked commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz Monday and Tuesday, reigniting tensions after President Donald Trump said the U.S.  had given Tehran “a week off” during funeral ceremonies for slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

A U.S. official confirmed that three commercial vessels were struck by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz between Monday and Tuesday. 

The attacks targeted commercial shipping transiting one of the world’s busiest maritime choke points. British maritime authorities confirmed a vessel was struck by a projectile near the coast of Oman Monday, while Iranian state media reported the ship had ignored warnings from Iranian forces. The attack reportedly caused a fire on board but there were no immediate reports of fatalities.

On Tuesday, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that another tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz had been struck by an unidentified projectile. UKMTO said the vessel sustained what was believed to be structural damage but reported no casualties or environmental impact. The agency said it was continuing to investigate the incident and advised vessels transiting the strait to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity.

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The attacks threaten one of the world’s most important energy corridors and raise fresh questions about whether the fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire can survive long enough for the Trump administration to negotiate a broader peace agreement. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, making any disruption to commercial shipping a potential risk to global energy markets and U.S. strategic interests.

That followed two ships being hit Monday.

A U.S. official confirmed one ship hit Monday as the Al Rekayyat, a Qatari liquified natural gas carrier. Iran acknowledged the attack, with state media saying the tanker ignored “repeated warnings” and continued to transit through the southern route of the strait near Oman with U.S. assistance.

A second vessel, the Saudi-flagged crude tanker Wedyan, also sustained damage near the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official confirmed. The cause of the damage was not immediately clear, and Fox News Digital has reached out to the vessel’s operator, Bahri, and the Saudi Embassy in Washington for comment.

The White House and the Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment. Central Command, which leads military operations in the Middle East, declined to comment. 

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The renewed attacks also cast doubt on the Trump administration’s diplomatic strategy. Just days earlier, the White House had paused negotiations while Iran observed funeral ceremonies for slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in hopes of resuming talks after the mourning period concluded.

Speaking during a Fourth of July address at Mount Rushmore, Trump said Iran was “dying to settle” after months of military pressure and declared the U.S. had given Tehran “a week off for a funeral because we’re nice.”

Trump did not elaborate on what the pause entailed, but U.S. and Iranian officials had delayed negotiations until after the conclusion of Khamenei’s multi-day funeral procession, which is scheduled to end with his burial in Mashhad.

Monday’s attack on commercial shipping raises fresh questions about whether the diplomatic opening Trump described can survive renewed hostilities in one of the world’s most strategically important waterways.

Iran has insisted it should play a leading role in managing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and has sought to collect fees from commercial vessels transiting the strategic waterway. The Trump administration has rejected that position, insisting the strait remain open to free international navigation.

In recent days, Iran warned that commercial tankers using routes not approved by Iranian authorities would face a “forceful response,” and the latest strike comes after multiple attacks on commercial shipping since the U.S.-Iran conflict began earlier this year.

The latest attacks are the newest test of the fragile ceasefire established under a memorandum of understanding signed in June that launched a 60-day negotiating period aimed at reaching a broader peace agreement between Washington and Tehran. The accord called for reopening the strait during the negotiations and an end to military operations while the two sides negotiated a final deal.

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On June 25, Iran attacked the Singapore-flagged cargo ship M/V Ever Lovely with a one-way drone while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast, prompting U.S. retaliatory strikes on Iranian missile, drone and coastal radar sites. U.S. Central Command called the attack “a clear violation of the ceasefire.”

Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had begun to recover in recent days following the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, though shipping remained well below historical levels. Ship-tracking firm Kpler reported daily traffic had stabilized at roughly 30 to 60 vessel crossings, down from around 140 per day prior to the U.S. offensive against Iran known as Operation Epic Fury.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he plans to lift U.S. sanctions on Turkey and signaled he is prepared to move forward with the long-stalled sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets, marking a dramatic reversal in U.S. policy toward the NATO ally years after Ankara was expelled from the program for its purchase of a Russian missile defense system.

Speaking alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a bilateral meeting at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Trump said his administration would remove sanctions imposed on Turkey’s defense sector.

“I can tell you we’re going to be taking the sanctions off, OK?” Trump said. “I don’t want him to waste his time answering that question. It’s time. We don’t sanction friends.”

TRUMP BETS ON FORMER NATO TROUBLEMAKER AS TURKEY’S STRATEGIC VALUE SURGES

Asked whether he would sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey despite existing legal restrictions tied to Ankara’s purchase of the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, Trump indicated he was open to doing so.

“Many people, including the people sitting right here think why wouldn’t we do that?” Trump said. “Turkey has been in many ways much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal.”

Pressed on concerns about Turkey’s continued possession of the S-400, Trump dismissed them.

“I have no concerns about anything.”

The remarks represent Trump’s clearest indication yet that he intends to restore defense ties with Turkey, building on months of efforts to revive military cooperation with one of NATO’s largest armed forces after years of strained relations.

Turkey was removed from the multinational F-35 program in 2019 after taking delivery of the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, prompting Washington to argue that operating the Kremlin-built system alongside America’s most advanced stealth fighter could expose sensitive U.S. technology. Congress subsequently imposed sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA.

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Congress long has been one of the biggest obstacles to restoring Turkey’s access to the F-35, with bipartisan lawmakers arguing that Ankara should not receive America’s most advanced fighter aircraft while it continues to possess the Russian-made S-400 air defense system and pursues policies they say run counter to U.S. interests.

Beyond political opposition, the Trump administration also faces legal hurdles. 

While the president has authority over sanctions policy, Congress enacted additional restrictions after Turkey’s purchase of the S-400. Section 1245 of the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act bars the transfer of F-35 aircraft to Turkey unless the executive branch certifies that Ankara has met statutory requirements related to the Russian missile system.

In recent days, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers urged Trump not to move forward with an F-35 sale, arguing that doing so without satisfying those legal requirements would violate U.S. law and undermine national security. 

Lawmakers also have warned that Turkey’s continued possession of the S-400, support for Hamas and tensions with fellow NATO allies Greece and Cyprus raise broader concerns about restoring Ankara’s access to the stealth fighter.

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The Pentagon has maintained that the S-400’s sophisticated radar could collect data on the F-35’s radar signature and electronic profile during routine operations, potentially allowing Russia to better detect and defeat the aircraft in a future conflict if that information were shared with Moscow.

When the Trump administration removed Turkey from the F-35 program in 2019, the White House said “the F-35 cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities.” 

Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord similarly warned at the time that allowing Turkey to operate both systems would jeopardize the long-term security of the F-35 program because “much of the F-35’s strength lies in its stealth capabilities.”

After Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner was accused of drunkenly raping a woman, a litany of progressive Democrats are tucking tail and heading for the hills as their ringing endorsements of the continuously embattled candidate come back to haunt them.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said at an April rally that Platner is, “My kind of man.”

She issued a statement Monday night after allegations emerged that Platner drunkenly raped 41-year-old Maine resident Jenny Racicot in 2021.

“Now more than ever we need leaders in Washington who reflect our values. There can be no tolerance for sexual assault,” Warren’s statement said.

“Working families are counting on Democrats to win the Senate election in Maine to unrig our economy and hold Donald Trump accountable. With so much at stake, the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside as the Democratic nominee and address these serious allegations outside this Senate race.”

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

A spokesperson for Warren did not answer specific questions about whether the senator regretted backing Platner, who has not dropped out of the race as of Tuesday morning, through his numerous prior scandals.

Progressives supported Platner despite a months-long series of damning scandals, including the revelation that the candidate had a Nazi-linked tattoo on his chest. He was also exposed for infidelity to his wife, making lewd Reddit comments about masturbating in portable toilets on a now-deleted account and mocking a Purple Heart veteran.

He also faced accusations last month of physical misconduct and violence against an ex-girlfriend who was then smeared as a conservative political operative.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has so far been silent on the rape allegations. In a June statement, he said he would “do everything I can to make sure that Graham Platner is the next Senator from the state of Maine.” That could now be put to the test.

The left-wing commentariat played a massive role in propping Platner up.

Fox News Digital reached out to Sanders’ office for comment, but did not hear back at time of publishing.

TOP PLATNER ALLY TURNS ON HIM AFTER BOMBSHELL RAPE ALLEGATION ROCKS CAMPAIGN: ‘RED LINE’

Former Obama aides Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor, who now host the “Pod Save America” podcast, were chief among those supporting Platner’s rise in the Democratic Party.

“Graham Platner isn’t just our best and only chance to beat Susan Collins, he’s a good, decent man who’s struggled and grown and is always trying to do better,” Favreau said on X in April, well after the Reddit post and Nazi tattoo scandals.

Favreau changed his tune Monday night.

“Platner needs to drop out ASAP – these are awful, credible allegations,” he posted. “Said on the pod after the (also credible) June NYT story that his biggest problem going forward would be credibility. It’s now abundantly clear that he just hasn’t been honest about his past and can’t be trusted as a candidate for office.”

Vietor defended Platner after Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., who is Jewish, condemned the candidate’s Nazi-linked tattoo and Reddit posts as “disqualifying” in May.

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“Have you called or met with him to discuss it?” Vietor asked Auchincloss on X.

Vietor had also interviewed Platner after those scandals.

But he, too, reversed course on Monday night.

“This story is really bad, well-documented and credible, and obviously the right course of action for Platner is to drop out as soon as possible so that Maine democrats can get a replacement on the ballot,” he said.

Pfeiffer followed suit.

“The allegations against Graham Platner are well-documented, very credible, and highly disturbing. He should drop out ASAP,” he said, on X.

Lovett didn’t make a statement, but posted a clip of Monday’s episode of “Pod Save America,” where despite his apology, Vietor jumped straight back to politics and remarked that he was, “very worried now about the prospect of winning this seat” but said the Democratic Party, “could ultimately be in a stronger place politically.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Crooked Media, the parent company of “Pod Save America,” but did not hear back.

PLATNER’S LATEST ACCUSER CLAIMS THE DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE ‘ABSOLUTELY’ RAPED HER

Some not only failed to condemn Platner, but instead took offensive positions.

“Graham Platner may drop out. (I hope he doesn’t, but.) Meanwhile, the Abuser in Chief just keeps on keepin’ on,” author Stephen King wrote on X, referring to allegations against President Donald Trump over the years.

King followed-up with another post claiming everyone in politics in Washington, D.C. is corrupt.

“Tell you what–if you knew the whole truth about everyone in the Senate and House of Reps, those chambers would be dead empty. Jesus said, ‘Let him without sin cast the first stone.'”

Far-left media personality Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks spent much of Monday blaming everyone but Platner for the scandal, including the media and the “Israeli lobby.”

“Congratulations to national media on politically assassinating Graham Platner,” he said in one post. “If he drops out and Democratic Party tries to give us two candidates who are both for Israel and corporate pacs [sic], they’ll face a revolt like they’ve never seen. Days of bull—- false choices are over.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Uygur.

Ryan Grim, formerly of The Intercept, spent ages defending Platner online.

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“Democrats need people like Platner if they are going to come to terms with the true nature of our country, with what we have done to people at home and abroad, and pull together the coalition needed to heal and reshape it,” he said in a June post regarding an opinion piece that promoted Platner.

He reported on X Monday night that Platner “lost his base,” but did not address the rape allegations or his support for the candidate directly.

Grim did not return a Fox News Digital comment request.

Others prominent Democrats who abandoned the Platner ship include Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.

President Donald Trump escalated his public feud with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, further fueling a rift between the two leaders in the lead up to the NATO summit in Turkey this week. 

“RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED,” Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday alongside a photo of Meloni looking at him.

Trump landed in Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday for the NATO summit, where Meloni is also in attendance. The two leaders have long had a warmer relationship than Trump has shared with many other U.S. allies, with Meloni notably the only European leader to attend his 2025 presidential inauguration.

A spat began in June, however, after Trump said Meloni “begged” him to take a photo at the G7. Meloni pushed back on the claim. 

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“Trump’s statements against Meloni speak for themselves,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Monday while at a Sky TG24 event. “We are convinced that transatlantic relations go far beyond individual statements.”

The latest exchange followed an earlier flashpoint at the G7 in June, when Trump mocked Meloni’s interest in taking a photo with him. 

“She wanted a picture with me so ​badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her,” Trump said at the time to La7 TV channel. “She’s probably happy I talked to her. I didn’t have to talk to her.”

Meloni fired back: “I can only say it is disappointing that he does not show the same determination with the enemies of the West and of the United States, whose leaders he instead treats with far greater indulgence.”

TRUMP’S PERSONAL FEUDS WITH ALLIES FROM ITALY TO ISRAEL REVEAL HOW PERSONALITY DRIVES HIS FOREIGN POLICY

“There is one thing he should remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg,” she added.

While there is no U.S.-Italy bilateral meeting scheduled in Turkey this week, Trump and Meloni may rub shoulders at the NATO leaders’ dinner, plenary sessions, and leaders’ gatherings.

There have been looming tensions between the two leaders after Meloni distanced herself from the U.S. amid mounting domestic and political pressure over the widening Middle East conflict.

Trump also criticized Meloni for failing to assist the U.S. without letting U.S. forces use Italy’s landing strips and runways, calling it “a great logistical inconvenience.”

“She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon (But so did NATO, for that matter!),” he wrote.

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Italy remains a key U.S. security hub in Europe, hosting nearly 13,000 active-duty American troops across six bases as of the end of 2025.

A spokesperson for Meloni declined to comment when contacted by Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital also reached out to the White House for comment.

With just under four months to go until this year’s midterm elections, a top Senate Republican remains confident of the GOP’s chances.

Sen. Tim Scott, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, recently told Fox News Digital this spring that he’s “incredibly optimistic” the GOP can not only hold but expand its current 53–47 majority in the upper chamber.

But his counterpart at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, is equally confident her party can flip control of the Senate, telling Fox News Digital earlier this year she sees “all the makings of a blue wave” heading into November.

CRUCIAL SENATE BATTLE ROCKED AFTER MAJOR PLAYER DROPS OUT OF RACE

Republicans — as the party currently in power — were already up against traditional political headwinds that led to a loss of congressional seats during midterm election years. Add to that the challenging climate fueled by persistent inflation, high gas prices tied to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran and President Donald Trump’s underwater approval ratings. It’s all a perfect storm that spells unfavorable outcomes for the GOP.

But Democrats have problems of their own as they try to win back control of the Senate, including a party brand that public opinion polling indicates is extremely unpopular.

Add to that high-profile victories this spring and summer by left-wing and socialist candidates over establishment rivals in Democratic primaries that are giving Republicans extra ammunition to portray all Democrats as extremists, or as Trump calls them, “communists.”

Here’s a look at a dozen competitive Senate seats in play that could potentially flip the balance of power in the chamber.

North Carolina

Republicans are defending an open seat in the southeast battleground state, with GOP Sen. Thom Tillis retiring at the end of this year.

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The GOP is rallying around former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley, who has Trump’s backing after serving alongside the president’s daughter-in-law and Fox News host Lara Trump in the lead up to the 2024 election.

Democrats, meanwhile, landed their top recruit when former two-term Gov. Roy Cooper launched a Senate campaign last summer. Cooper enjoys tons of name recognition in North Carolina and is 6-0 when it comes to running statewide races.

North Carolina voted for Trump for his second term, but the top nonpartisan political handicapper, Cook Political Report, rates the race Lean Democrat, with Inside Elections ranking it as a toss up.

Maine

Moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins is running for re-election for a sixth six-year term in blue-leaning Maine.

Collins is the only Republican senator running for re-election this year in a state that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried in her 2024 presidential election bid against Trump. And Collins has seen a deterioration of her poll numbers among Mainers from her last re-election six years ago.

But the longtime senator, who has been a top DSCC target for multiple election cycles, has proven tough to beat.

And she could prevail again as her Democratic challenger, nominee Graham Platner, is facing calls from top Democrats in his home state and in Washington to immediately end his campaign, in the wake of an explosive report on Monday afternoon that contained an allegation of rape from a woman he previously dated.

The Marine Corps veteran and oyster farmer who had been backed by top progressive champions, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif, had already been facing for weeks GOP attacks over controversial comments he made over a decade ago on a now-deleted Reddit account, a well-publicized Nazi-linked tattoo on his chest, infidelity and allegations of sexual misconduct.

But hours after a report from Politico on the latest allegations went viral, longtime Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer called them “incredibly disturbing – violence, abuse and sexual assault are absolutely unacceptable.”

In a statement with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Schumer emphasized, “Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins. The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot.”

If Platner quits the race by next Monday, July 13 at 5pm local time, the Maine Democratic Party can replace him on the general election ballot by selecting a new nominee through its party process, with the replacement required to be chosen by July 27.

Michigan

The GOP is also aiming to flip an open seat in the battleground state of Michigan, where Democrat Sen. Gary Peters is retiring.

Former Rep. Mike Rogers, who won the 2024 GOP Senate nomination in Michigan but narrowly lost to Rep. Elissa Slotkin, is making a second straight bid and is the all-but-certain Republican nominee.

Democrats are dealing with a titanic two-way fight between center-left Rep. Haley Stevens, who is backed by Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and former Wayne County Health Department Director Abdul El-Sayed, a left-wing candidate endorsed by Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

The primary battle, which until Sunday also included progressive state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, has already exposed numerous Democratic Party divisions and provided Rogers, who is backed by Trump, with plenty of ammunition.

Michigan’s primary will be held on August 4.

Ohio

Democrats scored a major recruiting victory last year when former Sen. Sherrod Brown announced he would challenge Republican Sen. Jon Husted.

A former lieutenant governor, Husted was appointed to the Senate a year ago after then-Sen. JD Vance stepped down to serve as vice president to Trump.

Ohio, once a premier general election battleground, has turned solidly red over the past decade, and Democrats view Brown as their only competitive candidate in the race to serve the remaining two years of Vance’s term.

Brown lost re-election in 2024 by roughly four points while Trump carried Ohio by 11 points.

The Cook Report and fellow nonpartisan ranker Sabato’s Crystal Ball rate the race as a toss-up, with Inside Elections ranking it as tilt Republican.

New Hampshire

Republicans see another flip opportunity in New Hampshire, where a long-held Democratic Senate seat in New England’s only swing state is opening thanks to the retirement of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who is the first woman in U.S. history to be elected governor and senator.

Four-term Rep. Chris Pappas is expected to capture the Democratic Senate nomination in the state’s early September primary.

There’s a primary race on the Republican side between two former senators seeking a return to Capitol Hill.

Former Sen. John E. Sununu, an older brother to former Gov. Chris Sununu, has the backing of the president and has a double-digit lead in public polling. But Trump’s first-term ambassador to New Zealand, former Sen. Scott Brown, remains in the race.

Alaska

Democrats were given a big boost in the red-leaning state when former Rep. Mary Peltola announced in February that she would challenge GOP incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Peltola lost re-election in 2024 in the at-large district that covers the entire state by three points, while Trump carried Alaska by 11 points.

Meanwhile, there’s a court battle ongoing over the Senate bid by another Dan Sullivan, a former teacher who announced his campaign in May and recently registered as a Republican.

Georgia

Republicans view first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat seeking re-election in 2026.

The Peach State is a true battleground swing state.

Georgians voted for Joe Biden to be president in the 2020 elections, but then swung red to vote for Trump for a second term in 2024. From 2005 until 2020, the state had two Republicans representing them in the U.S. Senate before electing two Democrats to go to Washington, D.C. when Trump’s first term ended.

Ossoff, first elected in that 2020 race, built a massive war chest while the GOP faced a nasty three-way primary battle for its nomination in the crucial sunbelt battleground state.

In November’s midterms, Ossoff will face Republican Rep. Mike Collins, who was backed by Trump days ahead of last month’s GOP primary runoff election.

While a recent Fox News poll indicated Ossoff holding a double-digit lead, Republicans plan to run an aggressive campaign against the senator.

Iowa

Republicans are defending an open seat in Iowa, a onetime swing state that’s shifted to the right over the past decade.

But the GOP rallied around Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is backed by Trump, in the race to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst.

Hinson, a former local TV news anchor who flipped a Democratic-held seat in 2020, is seen as a rising star in the party.

State Rep. Josh Turek, a Paralympian, won a contested and expensive Democratic primary over more progressive state Sen. Zach Wahls.

Texas

State Rep. James Talarico is hoping to become the first Democrat since 1988 to win a U.S. Senate election in right-leaning Texas.

Talarico, who hauled in an eye-popping $27 million in fundraising the first three months of this year, defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the March primary to secure the Democratic nomination.

The Democrat will face off in November against Trump-backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. 

The MAGA firebrand, carrying plenty of political baggage, ousted longtime Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas in an expensive and combustible GOP nomination battle that went into overtime.

Minnesota

The retirement of Democratic Sen. Tina Smith is giving the GOP hopes they can flip the seat in the blue-leaning state.

And Republicans landed what they say is a top-tier recruit in former NBC sports reporter turned conservative pundit and activist Michele Tafoya, who is part of a crowded GOP field in next month’s primary.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a progressive, is facing off against more moderate Democratic Rep. Angie Craig in the race for their party’s nomination.

Florida

Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, who as Florida’s attorney general was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year to fill the seat once held by now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is on a glide path to the GOP nomination in next month’s primary.

Moody will likely face off in November against Democratic challenger Alex Vindman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, whistleblower in the 2019 Trump-Ukraine controversy and brother of Rep. Eugene Vindman.

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Polling in recent months suggests a competitive race between Moody and Vindman in right-leaning Florida.

Nebraska

Republican incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts, a former governor, is seeking a full six-year term in the Senate representing red-leaning Nebraska.

He’ll face off in the midterms with former union leader Dan Osborn, an independent candidate who is making his second straight run for the Senate.

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Democratic nominee and former pharmacy technician Cindy Burbank is likely to drop out of the race and support Osborn in the general election.

Federal lawyers are leaving the Trump administration and landing in Democratic state attorneys general’s offices in large numbers as blue states ramp up their legal fight against the president’s second-term agenda, a Fox News Digital review found.

Employment data analyzed by the New York Times indicates that more than 10,000 federal attorneys — approximately one-fifth of all lawyers employed by the federal government — have left their posts since 2025 began. Of these, a Fox News Digital review identified well over 100 who have since begun working for Democratic attorneys general’s offices, with legal filings showing that some of those lawyers are now involved in cases challenging the Trump administration.

Fox News Digital reviewed public LinkedIn profiles, state staff directories, statements from public officials and court filings to identify attorneys who left federal service after January 2025 and later appeared in Democratic attorneys general’s offices or relevant litigation records. The review does not establish why any individual attorney left federal service or joined a state office.

The true number of federal attorneys who have moved to Democratic attorneys general offices under the second Trump administration is likely higher, given that public LinkedIn accounts are not ubiquitous among federal workers.

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“Oregon DOJ is a destination for some of the most talented public servants in the country, including experienced lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice who are choosing to bring their skills to serve Oregonians at the state level,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, a Democrat, told Fox News Digital. “They’re already making a difference — on consumer protection, federal overreach cases, criminal justice, environmental protection and on litigation like our National Guard case.”

As Rayfield alluded to, many of the attorneys who left federal service after January 2025 have since worked directly on cases aimed at combating the Trump administration. Court filings reviewed by Fox News Digital uncovered scores of individuals who previously worked as lawyers under the Trump administration whose names now appear on legal actions taken against it. 

These include a lawsuit filed by Massachusetts opposing the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict transgender healthcare for minors, a suit filed by California challenging its termination of research grants, an amicus brief filed by Democratic attorneys general in a case seeking to stop Trump from firing FTC commissioners, and multiple cases seeking to rein in the president’s National Guard deployments, among others. 

Even those whose names don’t directly appear on filings can help Democratic attorneys general challenge major pieces of Trump’s agenda and defend state-level policies contrary to the president’s interests.

Many of these lawsuits featured multiple teams of lawyers representing a host of different Democratic states. Democratic attorneys general have publicly disclosed that close cooperation between fellow blue states is a key part of their strategy to resist the Trump administration.

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Speaking to The Guardian in March, Democratic attorneys general disclosed that they have been meeting regularly since 2024 to discuss how they can best resist the Trump administration through joint lawsuits and public engagement. Staff from Democratic attorneys general’s offices reportedly communicate daily regarding how they can hold the federal government to account, discussing items such as which state should lead a given case.

“I’m really proud to be part of this [attorney general] — and, of course, Democratic [attorney general] — coalition that is doing the work every single day to protect our rights, and most importantly, the rule of law,” Massachusetts state Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said at a press conference in June 2025. “We can’t take our sight off of that.”

California’s attorney general, meanwhile, called the cross-state collaboration “critical.”

Federal lawyers working in the areas of civil rights, immigration, environmental law, public corruption and antitrust were overrepresented among those who left to work for Democratic attorneys general. 

Government employees generally fall into two camps: career civil servants who are intended to carry out nonpartisan work on behalf of the government and political appointees who are granted greater leeway to work on explicitly political projects. The attorneys identified in Fox News Digital’s review overwhelmingly appear to have held career, rather than political, federal roles before joining Democratic-led state offices. 

Many of the lawyers leaving federal service are taking one, or even two, decades of service with them, constituting a significant transfer of legal talent from the national government to Democratic states.

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One such lawyer worked in the Justice Department for roughly 20 years, beginning as a legal intern and ultimately rising to the position of assistant general counsel, leading multiple teams of attorneys. Now, after leaving the DOJ in August 2025, the lawyer works as a senior assistant attorney general in Colorado, helping the state fight the Trump administration in disputes over federal grants.

They were far from the only high-profile departure under the second Trump administration.

Others who jumped ship included, but were not limited to, the assistant chief counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services, the director of transparency at the Department of Homeland Security, multiple U.S. attorneys’ office division chiefs and another near-20-year veteran of the DOJ who now leads the Maryland attorney general’s efforts to hold the Trump administration accountable.

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“Experienced federal prosecutors and lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice are choosing state service, choosing Oregon, and choosing to fight for the people here,” Rayfield added. “We’re fortunate to have them joining the already incredibly talented, proven team here at the Oregon Department of Justice.”

A spokeswoman for New Jersey’s attorney general, meanwhile, told Fox News Digital that it recently added multiple members to its leadership team, including its new insurance fraud head, by recruiting federal lawyers. 

The timing marks a notable change from the first Trump administration, when some of the same attorneys who have since left then remained in federal service, though the reasons for individual departures vary and are not always publicly known.

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“In the Trump era, the conservative movement has become much less able to attract competent elites. Education polarization is a long-term phenomenon, but Trump’s populist style and policy platform has supercharged it, given his disproportionate appeal to the less educated,” political commentator Richard Hanania told Fox News Digital. “This matters, because intelligence and experience are important for any administration trying to achieve its goals.”

“Simply having people who agree with you isn’t enough,” he added.

Bloomberg Law reported in May that the exodus of federal attorneys was seriously harming the Trump administration’s ability to defend its immigration policies, with roughly a third of those in the Office of Immigration Litigation — including many in senior roles with critical expertise — having left since January 2025.

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The Trump administration, however, denies that its efficiency has been rocked by the mass exit of lawyers.

“Even with a thousand fewer prosecutors than the previous administration, this Department has indicted nearly 50,000 more criminals than the previous administration had in the same timeframe,” a DOJ spokeswoman told Fox News Digital. “Our country has the lowest murder rate in 125 years, we’ve arrested more than 90 key cartel leaders, captured eight on the FBI’s Top 10 most wanted list, and removed millions of deadly doses of fentanyl from our streets — all on top of achieving a record 24 victories on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket.”

“These achievements are nothing short of astonishing, and they have all been accomplished even with the supposed ‘exodus’ of anti-Trump prosecutors the media idolize,” she added.

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While more than 10,000 federal attorneys have left government since January 2025, agencies have also hired roughly 3,200 attorneys during that period and the Trump administration has made multiple public pushes to encourage or recruit ideologically aligned lawyers to apply for roles. 

The bulk of the lawyers who have left federal service since Trump took office for a second time were at agencies such as the DOJ, the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency. California, Maryland, New York and Colorado were some of their most common destinations after leaving the Trump administration.

“Those who were fired from the Department were fired for a reason. Those who resigned or took the fork in the road option likely aligned more with the priorities of President Biden and would naturally leave, which is common during transitions,” the DOJ spokeswoman continued. “The Administration gave career employees the fork in the road option to intentionally reduce the size of the government and eliminate unnecessary layers of staff who don’t effectively contribute to the mission of aggressively tackling crime.”

The White House referred Fox News Digital to a Truth Social post written by President Donald Trump where he claims that many of the lawyers who have departed from his administration were “Radical Left Deep State Lunatics, who are destroying our Country, and Weaponizing Government.”

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“This has allowed DOJ to run more efficiently and hire talented attorneys who wholeheartedly believe in our mission to keep the American people safe,” the spokeswoman said.

Fox News Digital reached out to every Democratic state attorney general’s office for comment.

A streamer who broadcasts to more than 1 million followers on a popular online platform set off a viral firestorm after invoking Mayor Zohran Mamdani‘s name as he declared Islam would take over New York City.

“Allahu Akbar!” the extremist internet personality Sneako yelled amidst a group of Egypt soccer fans while drums were banged and horns were blown. Egyptian flags waved among the crowd as they chanted along.

Sneako, whose real name is Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy, has been described as a provocateur and palled around with the online antisemitic far-right during his rise to social media stardom. Before that, he was all-in on his support for the political far-left and supported the presidential campaign of socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in 2016. He reportedly converted to Islam in 2023.

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But Friday night, after Egypt dethroned Australia in the World Cup, he may have made his most controversial splash yet while live broadcasting on the streets of New York City on the video streaming platform Kick.

Mockingly wiping tears from his eyes, Sneak said: “Oh no, oh no. F— you!”

“This is the Islamic Republic of New York-istan,” he continued. “Islam will be in every household. Inshallah the whole world will be Muslim.”

“Welcome to Mamdani’s New York. You see this city? You see how it looks? Inshallah, your city looks just like this too,” he shouted among the crowd.

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“Inshallah” is Arabic for “God willing,” and “Allahu Akbar” is Arabic for “God is great.”

Mamdani is the first Muslim mayor of New York.

The clip of Sneako quickly circulated the web, garnering tens of millions of views across platforms including Instagram and X, while thousands of people slammed him for the pronouncement.

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One of the sharpest replies came from Rob O’Neill, the Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden in an early morning raid on the terrorist’s compound in 2011.

“These guys sound WAY different when you wake them up at 2am,” he said.

A pair of massive personalities on X, who have a history of bad blood, even teamed up to demand a harsh punishment for the streamer.

“Deport him NOW!!!” conspiracy theorist Alex Jones said in reply to the clip, which elicited a response from X owner and former Jones opponent Elon Musk.

“Yes,” Musk simply replied.

When Musk purchased X — then Twitter — and vowed the return of free speech to the platform, Jones had been permanently suspended. At first, Musk was hesitant to reinstate Jones given the Sandy Hook controversy that surrounded the radio show host. Eventually, however, Musk relented.

One X user labeled the streamer as a “Disgusting creature.”

“Send this dude to Iran if he hates America so much,” said another.

Sneako appeared to cryptically address the controversy in a post of his own on X Sunday night.

“Every knee will bow,” he posted. “Every tongue confess.”

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On Monday, he took a shot at Musk for echoing Jones’ deportation post.

“Go back to Africa,” he told Musk, who is native to South African. “This is my country.”

Mamdani’s office did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Sneako’s comments.

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is being accused by Georgia’s top child welfare official of using vulnerable children and the state’s embattled foster care system for campaign credit after releasing a new ad touting his work on the state’s troubled system.

Georgia Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) Director Candice Broce criticized the new foster care-focused ad released last week as the Georgia Democrat seeks re-election in one of the nation’s most closely watched races. In the ad, titled “Our Kids,” Ossoff highlights “a scathing report” and “yearlong bipartisan investigation” alongside Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., into the Georgia foster care system. 

Ossoff presents his probe and new legislation as part of his record protecting children and holding the system accountable. However, Broce says the Democrat is overstating his role and turning a serious child welfare issue into a political victory lap.

“For five years, I’ve been in the trenches fighting for vulnerable children and foster care reform alongside thousands of DFCS workers. Trust us when we say Jon Ossoff is nowhere to be found,” Broce said in a post on X. “Ossoff didn’t get more funding for DFCS after calling us incompetent and resource-strapped. He didn’t secure more federal support for child advocacy centers despite the State’s requests.”

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“He didn’t fix federal law putting group homes out of business,” she continued. “He hasn’t streamlined adoptions for kids placed with loving families. Jon’s ad sounds great, but his words are meaningless to the men and women in the arena.”

Ossoff’s team fired back, however, calling Broce an “unqualified partisan political hack” and accusing her of “dangerous incompetence.” They pointed to Ossoff’s oversight work highlighted in the advertisement that Broce criticizes, which the spokesperson said found children in Georgia’s foster care system were likely sex trafficked while in state care, among other issues. 

“The Office of the Child Advocate, juvenile court judges, former foster children, nonpartisan advocates, investigative reporting, and Senator Ossoff’s yearlong investigation have laid bare the deep and dangerous dysfunction at DFCS,” an Ossoff campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

The campaign also cited testimony from juvenile court judges who accused Broce of suggesting that children with special needs be held in juvenile detention while DFCS searched for placements. Broce has denied the allegations, describing them as politically motivated and arguing they distort a broader discussion about how to keep foster youth with complex behavioral issues, runaway histories and trafficking risks safe amid placement shortages.

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“Candice Broce is a partisan political hack irresponsibly placed in charge of care for the state’s most vulnerable kids,” the Ossoff spokesperson said. “Instead of whining that her dangerous incompetence was made public, she should fix her broken agency.”

Broce rejected the attacks on her qualifications, pointing to her background as a health care attorney, former chief deputy executive counsel and chief operating officer to Gov. Brian Kemp, and saying roughly 40 state agencies, including DFCS, reported to her in that role. 

At the same time, she did not dispute that Georgia’s foster care system has faced serious challenges, but argued Ossoff used those problems for hearings, reports and campaign messaging without delivering meaningful help to fix them.

“If you’re going to beat us down, show up with something to make it better,” Broce said. “He didn’t do that.” 

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Broce said Ossoff could have used his federal role to pursue resources on Medicaid, behavioral health access and placement capacity, rather than simply spotlighting DFCS failures.

“What’s actually bipartisan is the over $100 million in state funds we’ve gotten from Republican and Democrat legislators who support the issues we’re tackling and believe we deserve more resources,” Broce said. “If he decides today that he actually wants to help us and vulnerable Georgia kids, we’d welcome him with open arms.”

However, Ossoff’s team contests it is not even “Senator Ossoff’s job to fix the state agency [Broce] leads” in the first place, and said Broce was whining that “it’s Senator Ossoff’s job to fix the state agency she leads.”  

“While Sen. Ossoff led oversight, passed an anti-trafficking law, and helped save foster care funding President Trump cut, unqualified partisan hack Broce whines it’s Senator Ossoff’s job to fix the state agency she leads,” Ossoff’s representatives told Fox News Digital.

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Broce’s criticism of Ossoff included a contrast between his record and that of Georgia’s other U.S. Senator, Democrat Raphael Warnock. Broce called the difference “stark,” pointing to Warnock’s community events for vulnerable mothers and children and adoption-related measures as examples of practical support she says Ossoff has not delivered.

“Compare his child welfare record to Warnock’s. It’s crystal clear which U.S. Senator from Georgia cares about vulnerable families and kids, and it’s not Jon,” Broce said in her X post.

Ossoff, who ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination, is seeking a second term in November against Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who won the Republican nomination after defeating former football coach Derek Dooley in a mid-June GOP runoff election. Warnock will not face reelection again until 2028.

President Donald Trump is arriving at the Turkey-held NATO summit with fresh frustration toward several European allies for their responses to the U.S.-led operations against Iran, opening a new front in his long-running campaign to pressure the alliance over burden-sharing.

The summit, which takes place Tuesday and Wednesday in Ankara, Turkey, is expected to focus on defense spending, Ukraine and NATO’s long-term strategy toward Russia. 

But it will bring Trump face to face with some of his biggest foes in NATO, including Spain, whose Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called the U.S. war in Iran “illegal, absurd and cruel.”

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said Wednesday that Trump remains “disappointed” by allies that declined to allow U.S. forces to use military bases or overflight rights during the operation, as well as by political statements criticizing the strikes.

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“The president has expressed disappointment in both a couple of our allies’ unwillingness to support us using our bases in their countries,” Whitaker said. “And, as importantly, he’s also incredibly disappointed in the political statements that came out around the time of the launch of Epic Fury.” 

The disagreements are expected to loom over a summit where Trump will once again press allies to increase defense spending, while also raising broader questions about whether NATO members are prepared to back the United States during conflicts beyond the alliance’s traditional focus on Europe.

Trump’s frustration has been evident publicly as well. 

Ahead of the summit, he said he was attending largely because of his relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, while again criticizing some NATO allies over defense spending and questioning their commitment to the alliance.

“Except for the fact that it was being held in Turkey by President Erdogan, I don’t think I would have gone to it,” Trump told reporters at the White House June 24.

During the same appearance, he renewed criticism of Spain and other NATO allies over their refusal to support U.S. operations against Iran, declaring, “There’s a problem with Spain.”

Whitaker said the operation also highlighted disparities in military capabilities across the alliance, noting that while some NATO members possess “exquisite capabilities,” others lack the capacity to contribute meaningfully to a large-scale U.S.-led military operation.

The administration’s frustration stems from a series of decisions by European allies during Operation Epic Fury. 

The United Kingdom initially declined to allow U.S. forces to launch strikes against Iran from British bases before later reversing course after Iranian attacks escalated. Spain denied the use of its territory and airspace for combat operations while Sánchez publicly criticized the U.S.-led campaign.

Italy also sought to distance itself from the operation, insisting U.S. flights from bases on Italian soil were limited to logistical support rather than combat missions, while Germany served as a key logistics hub but stopped short of publicly endorsing the military campaign.

European governments defended their positions by citing domestic legal constraints and concerns about being drawn into a wider Middle East conflict. Britain later allowed U.S. strikes after initially withholding approval, while Spain continued opposing the campaign, Italy restricted its support to noncombat operations and Germany limited its role to logistics.

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Several allies later agreed to support maritime security operations aimed at restoring commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, but administration officials say the initial reluctance to back the U.S. campaign continues to shape Trump’s view heading into the summit.

While the Middle East is not expected to dominate the formal agenda, they underscore broader questions Trump is bringing to Turkey about burden-sharing and whether NATO allies are prepared to back the United States beyond the alliance’s traditional focus on Europe.

The tensions over Iran build on years of Trump’s criticism of NATO, which he has repeatedly accused of relying too heavily on the U.S. During both his first and second terms, Trump has questioned whether Washington should continue defending allies that fail to meet spending commitments and has at times floated withdrawing from the alliance altogether.

“If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them,” Trump said March 6. “If the United States was in trouble and we called them … you think they’re going to come and protect us? They’re supposed to. I’m not so sure.”

Trump is expected to use the summit to press allies to meet NATO’s new benchmark of spending 5% of GDP on defense.

“The United States spends more money on NATO than any other country, by far, to protect them, without getting any benefit from so doing,” he wrote on Truth Social Thursday.

Whitaker suggested the administration increasingly views burden-sharing as extending beyond defense budgets alone.

“We believe that those that are doing more should get benefits from doing more,” he said.

Whitaker confirmed the administration was considering countermeasures for allies that don’t meet defense spending goals. He added that countries contributing more could receive advantages ranging from priority in defense procurement to greater engagement with U.S. leaders.

While the summit is expected to focus publicly on defense spending, Ukraine and NATO’s long-term strategy toward Russia, analysts say the fallout from Operation Epic Fury is likely to shape private conversations between Trump and several European leaders.

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Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Ian Brzezinski said during a press briefing the recent conflict has created “two scorecards on the table” for the summit— NATO’s traditional priorities of strengthening deterrence against Russia and Trump’s assessment of which allies proved most supportive of the United States during the Iran conflict.

“We have low expectations because of the issues not on the agenda, but that are driving the atmospherics,” Torey Taussig, director of the Transatlantic Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council, said.

FIRST ON FOX: A scathing whistleblower letter alleges corruption inside New York City’s powerful hotel workers union, including claims that union leaders accepted gifts from hotel executives, manipulated lease arrangements and improperly influenced union business in a culture of quid pro quo dealings — claims that were corroborated by union sources who spoke with Fox News Digital.

The letter, reviewed by Fox News Digital, asserts that top officials within the New York Hotel Trades Council and UNITE HERE Local 6, including President Richard Maroko, participated in actions that violated internal policies, fiduciary obligations and possibly federal law. The union denies all allegations of impropriety and organized two internal investigations carried out by third-party lawyers who found the whistleblower’s claims to be unsubstantiated.

Fox News Digital spoke with the whistleblower and multiple sources with knowledge of the union’s inner dealings but is not identifying them by name due to fear of retaliation.

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“Mr. Maroko had personal knowledge of, and either directly participated or directed others to misappropriate millions of dollars of retail income,” the letter states. “He accepted and allowed his Elected Officers to accept gifts of Hotel Rooms, Liquor, Gourmet Food and Electronic Items from Hotel Officials on a Quid Pro Quo System.”

‘Completely tossed’

A source with intimate knowledge of union operations told Fox News Digital that there was a sudden shift in HTC’s culture after Maroko ascended to the presidency in fall 2020.

“For 25 years, maybe 24 years, there was a standard then that was really adhered to. [The former president] was very disciplined about it as far as receiving gifts and what you did and didn’t do,” the source, who has decades of experience working with the union, said. “And the past five years when the new president came in, that was completely tossed.”

“Pretty soon,” the source said, referring to when the rules were relaxed when Maroko took over. “It wasn’t like they flipped the switch, but… it just wasn’t important to him. I brought a bunch of things to his attention that he just wasn’t interested [in].”

Crain’s New York Business reported in June that the Hotel Association of New York City, a trade group representing hotel interests, retained former Southern District of New York public corruption chief Brendan McGuire to investigate allegations contained in the letter.

“Two exhaustive, independent investigations, including one by a former federal prosecutor, have concluded that these anonymous claims are frivolous, lack any factual basis, and were clearly an attempt to derail contract negotiations between the union and hotel management,” HTC spokesman Austin Shafran told Fox News Digital. “Thankfully, these efforts failed as our union secured the best contract in its history that will provide unprecedented wage increases and benefits to tens of thousands of hotel workers. Nothing will ever deter the union from working every day to better the lives of our members and their families.”

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Key components of the letter are supported by documents and accounts from multiple individuals with firsthand knowledge and insight into the day-to-day operations inside the union’s 8th Avenue headquarters in New York City, a Fox News Digital review found.

The whistleblower letter alleges that hotel industry figures, including former Highgate labor executive Robert Lafferty and former Hyatt labor executive Michael Grosso, provided union officials with gifts including food, top-shelf liquor and electronic items.

The two investigations organized by the union, however, found no evidence of improper gift-giving.

Highgate is one of the largest lodging operators in the nation and Hyatt is a major hotel owner.

“Hyatt is committed to conducting business in a fair and ethical manner,” a Hyatt spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement. “As soon as we became aware of these allegations, we promptly engaged an independent third party to conduct a thorough investigation, which found the allegations to be unsubstantiated.”

The spokesperson added, “The individual departed Hyatt before these allegations were raised and no longer has any role with Hyatt.”

‘Hundreds of millions of dollars’

In addition to providing gifts to union officials, a former union leader told Fox News Digital that the duo of hotel executives served as “inside guys” who could keep HTC union leadership informed about what was going on in boardrooms so that they could protect their own power.

These favors, according to the longtime union leader, preceded contracts that benefited hotel owners to the detriment of workers.

“If I could cut away one department [from being unionized], you’re talking about millions of dollars per year over the life of a contract, and if Lafferty could deliver that to the owners, then what he’s now doing is changing the entire economic structure of hundreds of millions of dollars in a real estate transaction,” the former union leader told Fox News Digital.

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“The union’s ability to make your property profitable or not is all its leverage. So that’s the inside that’s what’s going on there,” they continued. “If you look at every time Lafferty made a deal with [Maroko] on one of these new properties, you’re going to see that all these weird deals are made where bargaining unit members are cut out. How come at your properties there’s no front desk agents? How come at your properties food and beverage isn’t under the union contract, but it is everywhere else?”

‘Eating lobster rolls at the union office’

Fox News Digital has reviewed photos that appear to show hotel industry figures or their associates entering union offices with shopping bags. Two people familiar with the union’s internal operations told Fox News Digital the gift-giving was not isolated and that accepting items from hotel management would have violated longstanding union norms and policies.

Two internal investigations conducted by third-party lawyers on behalf of the union could not corroborate claims of improper gift-giving made by the whistleblower.

The longtime union member and leader attested to an unusual relationship between Lafferty, Grosso and the HTC’s leadership when speaking with Fox News Digital.

“What I witnessed was Lafferty would come upstairs and have, like, really different access than most people,” the source said. “You don’t get buzzed in and meet me at the conference room. That doesn’t happen … This is like the count room in a casino. You don’t just get to walk around.”

The source explained that allowing someone like Lafferty to have such open access to union offices is unheard of as management and labor have conflicting interests, and access would enable the former to potentially outmaneuver the latter in negotiations. Union leadership, per the source, allowed Lafferty into their legal office, where he could have seen plans for organizational activity.

Fox News Digital could not independently confirm that Lafferty viewed union plans or that he used them in labor negotiations.

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The former union leader went on to explain that, while they initially thought Lafferty was simply “moving up in the world” with his frequent visits, they eventually noticed that he would often bring over luxury food items from an establishment operated by Highgate to share with union officials.

“In what universe does that look good, a bunch of union reps hanging out with management eating lobster rolls at the union office?” the source said.

Another source, who had worked with the union for decades, confirmed the former leader’s account.

“They had unfettered access to the building, which I couldn’t believe, they just came and went and that was just so like opposite of what we’re about and any business for that matter,” the source told Fox News Digital. “And they had unfettered access to the, I used to call it the Bermuda Triangle, they would go to legal, they would go to the union officials and they would go to [Maroko.]”

The HTC spokesman denied that there was anything unusual about the meetings.

“Yes, the union regularly meets with hotel management for negotiations and to resolve issues, and those individuals had no different access than any other hotel representative,” Shafran said.

The longtime union leader said that it is inappropriate for union officials to accept meals paid for by management as it may create an appearance of impropriety or amount to an illegal gift if not properly reported. Neither Grosso nor Lafferty have been convicted of illegal gift-giving as of publishing.

Photographs reviewed by Fox News Digital also appear to show Grosso carrying large shopping bags into union offices.

The HTC acknowledged the veracity of these photographs, but claimed that the bags only contained a pie, not expensive food and drink.

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Following his allegedly uncharacteristically cozy relationship with union leadership, Lafferty was given a job as the chief operating officer of HTC’s Health Benefit Fund, where he pulls in a total compensation of over $650,000 per year, according to the most recent financial disclosures.

“Lafferty underwent a rigorous background check and was supported equally by both union and management representatives, as well as the CEO of the Funds,” the HTC spokesman told Fox News Digital.

Before Lafferty left Highgate, the whistleblower’s letter alleges that Lafferty and Maroko pressured an arbitrator on the union’s independent conflict resolution board to render a decision favorable to Highgate. A federal district court later upheld the arbitrator’s rationale in the matter as well-grounded.

Maroko allegedly threatened the job of both the arbitrator and his son unless he ruled that Highgate would be absolved of monetary obligations to union members after it ceased managing a property, passing those obligations to the financial institution seeking to take over the hotel.

Maroko’s newly minted compensation package, worth nearly $1 million annually, has also come under scrutiny recently by the Center for Union Facts, an organization critical of labor unions. CUF argues that Maroko is using his members’ dues for self-enrichment.

Also in contention is Maroko’s decision to rent a building owned by UNITE HERE Local 6 to HTC at a rate allegedly far below what the space would go for on the open market. Maroko, who leads both labor entities, is accused of depriving UNITE HERE Local 6 of up to $3 million in rental revenue by allowing HTC to use its real estate at a severely discounted rate, according to the whistleblower letter.

Two sources told Fox News Digital that the lease was not approved by the union’s executive board.

“The lease was signed over 40 years ago and renewed over 20 years ago,” Shafran, the HTC spokesman, told Fox News Digital. “The current administration had nothing to do with this lease and, notwithstanding that, the terms are fully legal. The lease payments were accurately and routinely reported in public filings and consistent with applicable federal law.”

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‘No evidence’

Fox News Digital is also told that the union launched an in-house investigation into the letter, which it received months ago. Sources who spoke with Fox News Digital say it was a farce that dismissed the seriousness of the situation and left out key information while the union maintains the review clears it of any wrongdoing.

Vincent Pitta, the chairman of the law firm that conducted the first investigation, declined to comment on it, stating that it was “created after a preliminary and expedited review” of the whistleblower’s allegations pending the union’s retention of a former prosecutor to conduct another investigation. Pitta also said that the document “was a client-attorney privileged document which was stolen from our client’s offices.”

A copy of the union’s in-house investigation obtained by Fox News Digital claims that its lawyers questioned 16 people across 23 total interviews, reviewed reams of documents and found that the allegations within the whistleblower report were “completely devoid of merit” and “frivolous.”

The internal review purports to have found no evidence of internal gift-giving.

“We found no evidence during our investigation that supported the allegations that HTC and/or Local 6 officers accepted gifts of free hotel or discounted hotel rooms, expensive bottles of liquor, gourmet food or electronics from hotel management representatives,” the report reads. “This provision of a pie and other pastries by a hotel representative during business meetings with the Union did not constitute any improper conduct whatsoever on the part of any Union or hotel management representatives and is permissible under federal laws and regulations.”

Additionally, the review claims to have found that the allegedly below-market rental agreement offered to HTC was actually determined by a third-party firm and was thus not set by Maroko.

“Our investigation revealed that just two years ago, the lease between Local 6 and the Funds was re-negotiated based on a market value study conducted by an outside company retained by the Funds. The Funds’ management trustees then retained another outside company as an independent fiduciary to review all terms of the proposed, re-negotiated lease,” the union review claims.

Pitta declined to provide documentation showing how his firm came to these conclusions. 

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Regarding the arbitration process, the internal investigation claims that the whistleblower conflated two separate arbitration processes as one alleged scheme that involved highly technical questions and produced no damages or penalties, did not lead to later lender-liability awards and did not harm hotel lending. It also said all relevant witnesses denied coercion and that the arbitration process gave both sides a fair chance to present evidence, citing a federal court ruling.

“Because the [arbitrator] acted within the scope of his authority and did not exhibit a manifest disregard for the law or issue an Award that violates public policy, the Court finds that the Award should be confirmed,” a federal court wrote, explaining why it upheld the findings of the arbitration process.

One union source close to the situation who claims to have had direct knowledge of the alleged misconduct, however, told Fox News Digital that they were not interviewed as part of the internal probe.

“I kept on saying, ‘When are they going to interview me?’ and [Maroko] wanted no part of that. They wouldn’t interview me because, from the beginning, I explained to him that it’s all true,” they said.

Shafran, however, maintains that the whistleblower never came forward and thus could not be interviewed.

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The summary of a second internal investigation conducted by a third-party law firm obtained by Fox News Digital further maintains that the whistleblower’s letter is factually unfounded. Citing internal messages and interviews with union leadership, the investigation acknowledges that a hotel industry representative entered the union’s office, but maintained that the bag of purported gifts he brought only contained a “pie or cake.”

Additionally, the investigation purports to have interviewed three people involved in the arbitration dispute, all of whom denied foul play. The report concluded that the allegations may have been a plot to provide the hotel industry with leverage during labor negotiations.

A union representative declined to provide Fox News Digital with the primary source evidence supporting the findings of either of its investigations.

Fox News Digital reached out to Grosso and Lafferty for comment.

‘Not shocking’

A veteran hotel industry leader who has dealt extensively with HTC told Fox News Digital that the allegations detailed related to improper gift-giving in the whistleblower letter were “not shocking.” They did, however, call the allegations of arbitration tampering “surprising and alarming.”

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“It’s a letter, it’s not signed, it’s allegations, it’s not proof positive,” the industry veteran went on, speaking about the whistleblower letter generally. “But its allegations are alarming, and it should absolutely be looked into because if any or all of these are true, it’s a big deal.”

To date, the allegations made by whistleblowers have yet to be corroborated by any independent review or legal authority. Neither Grosso nor Lafferty have been charged with crimes connected to their alleged misconduct.

The House Judiciary Committee released a scathing report detailing how the left-leaning South Korean government, which some lawmakers say is “aligned with China,” has systematically discriminated against American-owned companies.

The report heavily mentions the case of Coupang, a Seattle-based U.S. company dubbed the “Amazon of Korea,” though it has no relation to Amazon. Coupang has faced strict scrutiny from the Korean government after a data breach. Coupang recently was fined roughly $410 million by South Korea, the largest privacy fine in South Korea’s history.

The Judiciary Committee outlined the timeline of how Coupang came under heavy fire by the South Korean government, from a secret laptop recovery mission to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service calling for Coupang Korea interim CEO Harold Rogers to be charged with perjury. He has yet to be formally charged or indicted and did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Last June, a Chinese national who was a former senior engineer at Coupang began accessing data and consumer information outside of Korea for several months. Coupang’s security team confirmed the breach in November, and the Judiciary report detailed that the former employee admitted to stealing an authentication key to gain access to the data.

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Once confirmed last November, Coupang reported the breach to the Korea Internet & Security Agency and said roughly 3,000 accounts had been accessed, according to the report.

In December, the committee said that Coupang was instructed to retrieve the stolen data, which was stored on a laptop and at the bottom of a murky river in China. The report alleged that Coupang was told by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service to retrieve the laptop, leading to a covert mission in Chinese territory to recover the data.

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Fox News Digital obtained a video of the laptop ultimately being retrieved. The footage showed a man in scuba gear in a muddy river holding up a Coupang bag which contained the device and consumer data. Fox News Digital has not independently authenticated the footage. 

Following the recovery, CEO Park Dae-jun resigned from the top job at Coupang Inc., and Harold Rogers was then appointed interim CEO of Coupang Corp., the South Korean subsidiary of the parent company, Coupang Inc.

In late December, Rogers and Coupang executives appeared before the South Korean assembly, where he testified under oath that South Korea’s National Intelligence Service instructed the company to retrieve the stolen data.

The Judiciary Committee report backs Rogers’ claim, but South Korean officials quickly berated him at the December hearing, and the South Korean government denied that instruction was given to enter Chinese territory and obtain the laptop.

The committee report details documentation of a meeting that took place between Coupang and South Korea’s National Intelligence Service where “officials ‘told [Coupang] that they were part of the joint government investigation,’ and that Coupang was ‘legally required’ to ‘work with them.’”

After the denial, South Korean officials called for Rogers to face perjury charges, due to his testimony under oath, and the company would later be fined a historic $410 million in June.

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“We regret the circumstances that led to the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation, and we remain committed to finding a constructive resolution so Coupang can once again serve as a bridge to strengthen the U.S.-Korea alliance, accelerating trade and investment that benefits both countries,” a spokesperson for Coupang Inc. told Fox News Digital.

The Judiciary Committee alleged that the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) “has been particularly aggressive in using competition policy to attack American companies,” and that “South Korea has used digital laws and regulations as a way to target American companies and limit their ability to operate successfully in South Korea.”

Despite Coupang and the Judiciary Committee’s pushback, a South Korean embassy spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the country “is fully committed to ensuring a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for all companies regardless of their nationality.”

“The Government of the Republic of Korea regrets that the interim staff report published by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee published appears to be largely based on the unilateral assertions of Coupang and respectfully disagrees with several characterizations in the report,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

The spokesperson went on to explain that the South Korean Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) imposed the penalties in accordance with their law and that the sanctions remain well below the statutory maximum – despite being the largest issued in Korea. 

The spokesperson added that Coupang was given due process throughout the investigation and retains the right to challenge the decision in court, which the company has said it will do while reaffirming South Korea’s commitment to its strategic partnership with the United States, saying their government will continue engaging with the U.S. Congress to strengthen bilateral economic ties. 

Coupang stock plummeted as the events unfolded, and has tanked more than 45% since the company announced the breach and the South Korean government began retaliating.

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The Judiciary report said the “decrease has negatively affected U.S. investors, including public pension funds, mutual funds, and everyday Americans just trying to save for retirement.”

South Korea’s government recently took a sharp turn to the left after Yoon Suk-yeol, a conservative from the People Power Party, was impeached in December 2024, largely because of his decision to implement martial law over “anti-state forces” that he said were led by the nation’s Democratic Party.

President Lee Jae-myung, a Democrat, narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election but won the presidency in 2025. The Democratic Party in South Korea already holds a substantial majority in the National Assembly, and the country is now operating with a full Democratic majority.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., sounded the alarm on South Korea’s distancing from the U.S. during an interview with Fox News Digital in April. Issa sits on the House Judiciary Committee as the most senior member after Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

“South Korea is still an important strategic partner, but their last election led to a left-wing government closely aligned with China that, among other things, has begun attacking American companies,” Issa said.

He explained that Coupang is “owned by and founded by a Korean-American and they have been systematically attacked quite frankly, probably because they’re an American company and effectively a unicorn in South Korea,” Issa added. “We’re seeing that South Korea has adopted the European digital rules which are very much designed to localize rather than accept the great companies that have spread very well around the world because they’ve earned it.”

Issa joined a group of more than 50 GOP members of Congress in a letter to the South Korean ambassador to the United States, Kyung-wha Kang, over what they deemed to be “discriminatory” business practices that are targeting American companies.

A Competere Foundation model in June estimated a $525 billion loss in economic activity in U.S. states over the next decade, including a $123 billion loss for California, a $48.7 billion loss for Texas, a $33.9 billion loss for New York and a $27.4 billion loss for Washington, should South Korea continue to implement policies that would be harmful to U.S. businesses operating in the country.

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Proposed pending legislation in South Korea’s assembly, would broaden the power of the KFTC, the same agency members of Congress are currently criticizing for unfairly treating American businesses.

Shanker Singham, international trade and competition economist and CEO of the Competere Foundation, said, “Korea is already an increasingly unfriendly place for U.S. companies to do business,” adding the “looming regulations will make that environment even worse.”

Spencer Pratt sparked widespread online reaction over Independence Day weekend after posting a sharp rebuke of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for using the July 4 holiday to criticize America’s history.

Pratt, a former reality TV star who drew attention with his surprise Los Angeles mayoral run, continued his political commentary by targeting Mamdani, who marked the nation’s 250th Independence Day by delivering an immigration-themed address from George Washington’s desk. Flanked by eight recently naturalized U.S. citizens, Mamdani criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, Elon Musk and what he described as the “arena of supremacy” in the United States.

“As we mark 250 years, what do we see?” Mamdani asked. “We see a city of contradictions within a nation of contradictions. We see the wealthiest country in the history of the world — one where children go to sleep hungry while the world’s first trillionaire hungers for more. We see monopolies that dominate every industry and oligarchs who buy elections. We see masked agents terrorizing our streets, eating food cooked by our undocumented neighbors before spiriting them away in unmarked vans. We see a nation whose immense wealth has been built by those with calloused, dirt-streaked hands — those who toil on factory floors and chisel into stone — and we see a nation that has allowed so much of that wealth to be held instead in the soft hands of a precious few.”

In a viral response video, Pratt bashed Mamdani, saying, “Notice how the communists always attack your history.”

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Wearing a T-shirt reading “the anti-socialists social club” and sitting behind a foldout table beside an RV at the site where his home burned down in the Los Angeles Palisades fire last year, Pratt remarked, “We all had to sit and watch that vile, commie mayor sit on the wrong side of our founding father’s desk to try to lecture us about our own history.”

“The communists must attack your history,” he continued. “Why? Because history is what anchors you, it’s what makes us attached to something.”

He referred to communism as “an evil, anti-human religion,” seeking to “destroy what makes us human.”

“The communist destroys your history so he can take your home and rebuild it in his image. That’s why it is your patriotic duty to celebrate today unashamed. It’s ok to love America, not only is it ok to love America, it’s necessary to love America. We are the only bulwark against tyranny on this earth,” said Pratt.

Amid the burned ruins of his Los Angeles home, Pratt urged Americans to “think of your country like a home. What makes your home special?… It’s the memories you have there.”

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“Erasing history is how you demoralize people, how you unmoor them and detach them from their society so you can take it from them and rewrite it in your image,” he said.

Pratt granted that America’s history is not perfect, saying, “our history is messy, our history is violent” but “bad times are part of what makes us stronger, a part of what makes us who we are.”

Turning his fire back to Mamdani, Pratt said, “he has no place to rewrite our history and lecture us about what our country stands for.”

“As a country, we are batting 1,000. Not only is it a miracle that this radical experiment in self-governance even survived past 1776, but we are the champions of the world, be proud of that, be proud of your history,” he said.

During his address, Mamdani, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Uganda, said that every American has “the power to determine what America means.”

“The powerful have always known their answer. America, in their view, is an arena of supremacy where only a select few are allowed freedom,” Mamdani said. “Where not all are created equal. America, if you ask them, becomes less the more people it welcomes. America, they will tell you, belongs only to those with the right accent or the right shade of skin. The rest of us, they insist, should be grateful for merely being allowed to visit. How small they are, how weak, how unoriginal. At every moment in our past, those who led through exclusion and isolation have tried to win power and enrich themselves by turning us against one another.”

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He also remarked, “We are told that America is exceptional because we are richer, stronger, more powerful than everyone else. The truth, my friends, is that America is exceptional because here nothing is fixed into place.”

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“The frontier may be closed, we may have walked on the moon, but the work of fulfilling the values first enshrined in the Declaration of Independence — that work endures, my friends, and it belongs to us all. It belongs too to our newest Americans, those standing here with me today.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment and had not received a response by publication.

The high-stakes fight between the left-wing and the center-left establishment for the future of the Democratic Party is moving to a much larger stage.

After victories by far-left and socialist candidates in dark blue congressional districts in New York City and Colorado the past two weeks drew national attention, the spotlight now shifts to battleground Michigan.

That’s where moderate Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., who is backed by Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the establishment; and former Wayne County Health Department Director Abdul El-Sayed, a left-wing candidate endorsed by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.,and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., are colliding in a crucial Senate showdown.

The winner of the Aug. 4, 2026, Democratic primary will face-off in the midterm elections in November against former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who is on a glide path to the GOP nomination. The winner will succeed retiring Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat. 

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The seat is a top Republican target and is a must-hold for the Democrats as they aim to win back the Senate majority from the GOP, which currently controls the chamber with a slim, but manageable, 53-47 margin. The leading nonpartisan political handicappers at Cook Political Reporter rate the Senate race in Michigan as a toss-up.

Matt Bennett, one of the leaders at the Third Way, a leading center-left Democratic organization, told Fox News the primary in Michigan “is much more significant” than the intra-party ballot box showdowns the past two weeks in “very, very blue districts” in New York City and Denver.

The showdown in Michigan became a two-way race on Sunday, after progressive state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, once the third major Democrat in the primary, suspended her campaign.

“I may be suspending this campaign, but I am not leaving the fight,” McMorrow pledged in a statement Sunday as she ended her Senate bid.

McMorrow, who has seen her national profile expand in recent years and was running as a progressive in an ideological space between El-Sayed and Stevens, suspended her campaign amid faltering poll numbers and fundraising that weren’t keeping pace with her two main rivals.

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McMorrow pledged to fully support whichever Democrat wins the primary and will ultimately face-off with Rogers, who is running for the Senate for a second straight cycle after losing in 2024 to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin by a razor-thin margin.

Following McMorrow’s announcement, Stevens praised her fellow Democrat by calling her an “important voice” for policies that benefit Michigan families. Stevens then argued that she is the strongest Democratic candidate to win the primary and defeat Rogers in November.

“As we enter the final month of the primary election, I’m excited to continue to make my case to Michiganders why I’m the strongest Democrat to defeat Mike Rogers this November, lower costs, protect manufacturing jobs, and stand up to Trump’s abuses of power,” she added.

As she runs for the nomination, Stevens has been backed by millions in super PAC spending, including big bucks from Israel-aligned groups.

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In his statement, El-Sayed praised McMorrow for having the “courage” to challenge what he described as a rigged political system, accusing Democratic Party insiders of spending millions to influence the primary. While he did not name specific groups, the remarks appeared to reference corporate PACs and establishment party leaders such as Schumer.

He then invited McMorrow’s supporters to join his progressive movement to combat big money in politics and defeat the political establishment.

“Throughout this campaign, Senator McMorrow showed what it looks like to fight back against politics that rigs the system against too many of us. While we have policy disagreements, I never questioned whether Senator McMorrow would fight for a better America for my daughters and hers,” he said.

“The same party insiders she had the courage to challenge have been bullying anyone who opposes their chosen candidate. After spending $30 million to drown Senator McMorrow and me out, they’re now spending even more to attack me. It’s everything we are standing up against.”

“I welcome her supporters to our movement to stand up against money in politics, to put money back in pockets, and pass Medicare for All. We cannot allow the establishment to decide our nominee for us.”

THESE MIDTERM RACES WILL DETERMINE WHETHER REPUBLICANS HOLD THEIR SENATE MAJORITY

El-Sayed, who, if elected, would make history as the nation’s first Muslim senator, is an epidemiologist who unsuccessfully ran for governor as an insurgent candidate in 2018. He has made support for “Medicare-for-all” a major component of his campaign.

The far-left candidate has also called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and is a vocal critic of Israel amid its war with Hamas — even characterizing Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” against Palestinians.

And El-Sayed, who served as a top surrogate on Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, has vowed not to accept PAC donations.

Schumer and the party establishment view Stevens as more electable than El-Sayed, who has sparked controversy with his past comments. They worry that El-Sayed as the party’s nominee would jeopardize the Democrat-controlled Senate seat by pushing the party too far to the left in a state that President Donald Trump carried two years ago by just over one percentage point.

A victory by El-Sayed over Stevens in next month’s primary would give the far left a major win on a statewide stage, and further boost their momentum in the battle for the Democratic Party’s future.

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But Bennet warned against placing too much emphasis on the results in Michigan, as he pointed to other factors in the race.

“I don’t think that even if El-Sayed wins, that means the national party is moving dramatically to the left, as the left will insist if that happens,” he told Fox News Digital. “Some of this is idiosyncratic. There’s a huge Arab American population in Michigan. The Israel issue is more resonant there than it is in other places. And candidates matter.”

Fox News’ Hannah Brennan contributed to this story.

As NATO allies prepare to meet in Turkey, at the top of their agenda will be drone warfare and Russia’s testing of the NATO alliance.

Using its shadow fleet of old sanction-busting ships, Russia appears to have launched drones at European military bases and airports to test the reaction time of NATO allies and their air defenses, according to a new report published by the International Institute of Strategic Studies, or IISS.

Between August 2024 and February 2026, 144 suspected drones were recorded near sensitive military and nuclear sites in Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, and Denmark, and over American air bases in the UK in November 2024.

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“There’s no doubt in my mind that the Russians are using the shadow fleet vessels as a platform to get different types of drones in closer to various European countries,” said Ret. Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, who served as the commanding general of US Army Europe until 2018. 

In Germany there were more than 1,000 suspicious drone sightings in 2025, over German defense companies and military bases where Ukrainian soldiers were training in Germany.

“Whoever is doing it is testing the reaction of the authorities, is testing how the public will respond, will they panic, will they blame their politicians and the authorities,” asked Elisabeth Braw of the Atlantic Council. “Also they are testing perhaps to see how we as European countries or how European countries might react in a real crisis there.”

This spate of unmanned aerial vehicles occurred in air space over a dozen NATO states and Ireland, the report states, “forcing repeated closures of major commercial aviation hubs, disrupting military operations and penetrating the perimeters of some of Europe’s most sensitive defence installations.”

In 2025, mystery drones targeted military bases in the Netherlands and Belgium where the US is thought to base its B61-12 nuclear gravity bombs and France’s ballistic-missile submarine base at Île Longue.

“It’s a combination of espionage,” Hodges said. “But also psychologically to create a lot of anxiety in populations to scare them so that they would put pressure on their governments not to support Ukraine.” 

RUSSIAN GENERALS’ ASSASSINATIONS EXPOSE GROWING RIFT INSIDE PUTIN’S SECURITY APPARATUS

The Russian drone campaign appears designed to probe the response times and decision-making thresholds of allied air defense and civil-military command structures. 

It also seeks to identify vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, including dual-use civilian facilities, military logistics hubs supporting Ukraine, and sites associated with the Alliance’s nuclear deterrence. 

Additionally, the campaign aims to impose economic and psychological costs on European societies by disrupting civilian aviation, undermining public confidence in airspace security, and fostering distrust and panic. Finally, it appears intended to normalize low-level airspace violations that remain below the threshold likely to trigger a direct Allied military response.

Those sightings peaked in late 2025, and forced the temporary closure of several European airports, including in Germany, Spain and Denmark.

Sweden is the only European country to accuse Moscow directly after a drone launched at sea from a Russian spy ship flew near a French aircraft carrier.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied accusations of Russian sabotage and surveillance across Europe.

“What’s the point of all this,” Putin asked of reporters recently. “Name even one proven fact.”

AMERICA’S POWER GRID, FOOD SUPPLY AND MORE ARE UNDER THREAT FROM DRONES

But IISS tracked the locations of Russia’s shadow fleet of ships used to evade sanctions and linked them to recent high-profile drone incidents, concluding that Russia could use the ships as a platform to launch the drones while creating deniability. Drones often don’t trigger radar.

On Jan. 3, 2025, a Russian shadow fleet vessel, the Arctica, sailed along the Danish coast, while 20 drones flew over the port of Koege, Denmark, before disappearing at sea.

On Sept. 22, drone sightings led to the closure of Copenhagen Airport. The IISS found several shadow ships were in the area at the time, including the Arctica and the Boracay.

And it is not just in Europe. Dozens of unexplained drone sightings also have taken place in the U.S. in the past several years.

In December 2023 at Virginia’s Joint Base Langley-Eustis unauthorized aircraft appeared in the skies above the base for 17 days straight, evading military tracking and forcing the Pentagon to bring in specialized assets — including a NASA WB-57 high-altitude jet — to investigate.

In March drones flew near Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, home of the B- 52 H Stratofortress bomber, where drones came in a pattern to suggest they were attempting to avoid the operator or operators being located. Lights on the drones suggested the operators may be testing security responses at the base.

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Panicked sightings of drones near critical infrastructure along the East Coast of the United States in late 2024 led to the Trump administration ordering the declassification of these investigations shortly after the inauguration to ease public concern, concluding the drones were mostly those of hobbyists and that there was no evidence of a foreign threat related to the majority of reported sightings.

The IISS says these are no hobbyists threatening NATO allies in Europe, with the most likely culprit launching the drones from shadow vessels at sea.

China publicly announced it launched a ballistic missile from a nuclear-powered submarine into the Pacific Ocean Monday — a rare acknowledgment of its sea-based nuclear capabilities that came as U.S. allies deepen security ties in the Indo-Pacific and NATO leaders prepare to meet amid growing concerns over Beijing’s military ambitions.

China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy said the missile, carrying a dummy warhead, was fired from a Type 094 Jin-class ballistic missile submarine during what Beijing described as a routine annual training exercise.

The launch highlights one of the Pentagon’s biggest long-term concerns: China’s ability to field a more survivable nuclear force capable of threatening the U.S. and its allies from the sea. Unlike land-based missile launches, a ballistic missile fired from a submerged nuclear submarine demonstrates one of the most survivable elements of a country’s nuclear arsenal because the vessels are significantly harder to detect and destroy before they can launch a retaliatory strike.

The growing capability also means China could eventually threaten the U.S. homeland from a wider range of patrol areas, reducing the need for its submarines to venture into more vulnerable waters.

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Chinese officials said the launch landed in a designated area of the Pacific Ocean and was conducted in accordance with international law.

“It is a routine arrangement in China’s annual military training program. It is consistent with international law and customary international practice and is not directed at any specific country or target,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a news conference Monday.

“The whole process was safe, standard and professional. We hope relevant countries will not read too much into it.”

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The launch came on the eve of NATO’s summit in Ankara, Turkey, where alliance leaders are expected to focus primarily on the war in Ukraine, defense spending and collective security, while also addressing the growing strategic challenge posed by China. In recent years, NATO has expanded its engagement with Indo-Pacific partners including Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, reflecting concerns that security in Europe and the Pacific is increasingly interconnected.

It was the first such test since 2024, according to Chinese state media, occurring at noon local time Monday.

New Zealand, which had just signed a defense pact with Fiji, claimed the missile landed in the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, where testing atomic weapons is prohibited.

China said the missile carried a dummy rather than a nuclear warhead, and New Zealand did not accuse Beijing of violating the Treaty of Rarotonga, which establishes the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone and prohibits nuclear explosive devices within the region. Instead, officials criticized the launch as inconsistent with the spirit of maintaining the Pacific as a nuclear-free region.

Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, said China had informed Australia ahead of the test but added, “Australia has been clear with China that we regard this as destabilizing to the region.”

China’s rapid military buildup added to the concern, according to Wong, who described it as “lacking in the transparency and reassurance as to intent that the region expect.”

In a joint cabinet statement, Japan raised “serious concern over the intensification of China’s military activities and strongly urged China to reconsider its actions.”

The Pentagon has repeatedly warned that China is rapidly modernizing and expanding its nuclear forces, projecting that Beijing will continue increasing the size, sophistication and survivability of its arsenal through the next decade. China’s military has also expanded naval patrols beyond the first island chain while increasing military pressure on Taiwan and asserting territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The Pentagon projects China will field more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, up from an estimated stockpile in the low 600s through 2024.

Officials say Beijing is expanding all three legs of its nuclear triad — land-based missiles, strategic bombers and nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines — while improving its ability to survive a first strike and retaliate.

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At the same time, the People’s Liberation Army Navy is the world’s largest by number of battle force ships, while it has fielded advanced hypersonic weapons, expanded long-range missile forces and invested heavily in artificial intelligence, cyber capabilities and space-based systems that U.S. officials say are designed to challenge American military advantages in the Indo-Pacific.

U.S. defense officials have also warned that China continues to refine the capabilities needed for a potential conflict over Taiwan, including joint operations involving naval, air, missile and amphibious forces. 

Annual military exercises around Taiwan have grown larger and more complex, reflecting Beijing’s efforts to increase military pressure while rehearsing operations that could support a blockade or invasion.

The U.S. has maintained a sea-based nuclear deterrent for decades through its fleet of Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, which routinely conduct operational deterrent patrols and periodic test launches of Trident II D5 ballistic missiles. The Navy is now replacing those submarines with the next-generation Columbia class, which is expected to begin entering service later this decade.

Unlike China, however, the U.S. regularly publicizes scheduled Trident missile tests and has long operated a mature fleet of ballistic missile submarines that defense officials consider the most survivable leg of America’s nuclear triad.

The Pentagon and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it had carried out 20 federal warrants and 10 arrests last Wednesday in connection with sex trafficking operations in Los Angeles by the Hoover Criminals Gang (HCG), a group known for its human exploitation.

Officials identified 51 victims in connection with the arrests, some of whom were as young as 14.

“[Homeland Security Investigations] remains steadfast in our mission to protect victims and pursue justice against human traffickers,” Special Agent Eddy Wang said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

DOJ SAYS 11 MIGRANTS INDICTED IN MULTI-STATE SEX TRAFFICKING, DRUG, FIREARMS CASE

The arrests are a part of Operation Broken Blade, an effort to target trafficking in Los Angeles’ Figueroa Corridor, a strip of neighborhoods south of the city, according to the agency. They also highlight the continued threats law enforcement face, even as illegal border crossings have plummeted during the second Trump administration.

Since the end of 2024, border crossings have fallen precipitously, going from over 144,000 encounters in December 2024 to just 13,500 in May — a 90% reduction.

Even so, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other federal agencies remain engaged in intercepting more organized smuggling operations that threaten to bring drugs, weapons and people illegally into the country.

In April, for example, CBP announced it had prevented a car carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, 16 AK rifles, 24 rifle magazines, 16 rifle stocks, 20 pistol grips, and other weapon parts from crossing the border.

As a part of those continued efforts, Acting Assistant DHS Secretary of Public Affairs Lauren Bis said that DHS has made disrupting sex trafficking rings a priority.

“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS is dismantling human and sex trafficking rings,” Bis told Fox News Digital.

MEXICAN NATIONAL SENTENCED IN BORDER CHILD SMUGGLING CASE INVOLVING THC-LACED CANDY

Bis noted that the suspects arrested last week will also face charges that go well beyond their human exploitation.

“This operation in Los Angeles resulted in the arrest of ten gang members, who now face federal racketeering charges including sex trafficking, money laundering, firearms offenses and narcotics offenses,” Bis said.

The agency described many of the suspects as “career criminals” with histories that include robbery, kidnapping and burglary.

Wednesday’s operation is the second round of arrests made under Broken Blade, an initiative originally launched in August 2025 by Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles in cooperation with CBP, the Los Angeles Police Department and the California Highway Patrol.

FEDS DISMANTLE ALLEGED GUN TRAFFICKING RING THAT FUNNELED DOZENS OF FIREARMS FROM GEORGIA TO CHICAGO GANGS

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The 10 suspects are expected to stand trial in March 2027, according to DHS.

“The actions taken today by HSI are another decisive blow against those who have exploited the vulnerable people of our community, and they will now face the consequences of those actions,” Wang said.

Former Vice President Mike Pence publicly praised President Donald Trump on Monday for successfully securing the release of pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, a prominent underground Christian leader detained by Chinese authorities.

In a post on X, Pence said Trump “should be commended” for raising the case directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a state visit to Beijing, adding it was “Truly Treasure in Heaven to see this godly man of faith set free.”

Pence also called on Beijing to release jailed Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai, adding, “#FreeJimmyLai.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP REVEALS XI JINPING’S RESPONSE TO POSSIBLY RELEASING IMPRISONED CHINESE CRITIC JIMMY LAI

Jin, the leader of Beijing’s unregistered Zion Church, was detained in October along with 17 other church leaders.

He safely arrived in Los Angeles to reunite with his family, less than two months after Trump pressed Xi on his detention, according to Frances Hui of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.

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In a statement to the Associated Press, Jin’s family thanked Trump and acknowledged the swift release would not have been possible without Xi’s intervention.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., took to X to thank Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, echoing Pence’s call for Lai’s release.

“Great news! Thank you @POTUS and @SecRubio for your leadership in securing Pastor Ezra Jin’s freedom,” Scott wrote in the post. “Still, we cannot stop fighting to hold COMMUNIST CHINA accountable for ALL of their crimes.”

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“My friend Jimmy Lai remains unjustly imprisoned simply because he stood up for freedom,” Scott continued. “Jimmy Lai is 78 with diabetes and has been in solitary confinement for YEARS. I will never stop fighting for Jimmy Lai and I won’t give up until Jimmy is out of prison.”

America’s milestone anniversaries have given generations of Americans an opportunity to reflect on the nation’s history, values and progress.

From the Centennial in 1876 to the Bicentennial in 1976, celebrations have had parades, fireworks, historical reenactments, speeches and other patriotic traditions honoring the Declaration of Independence and the nation’s founding in 1776.

As Americans celebrated the country’s 250th anniversary on July 4, those traditions carried into the semiquincentennial with the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, President Donald Trump’s address marking the occasion, military flyovers, performances by the U.S. Army Band and a Guinness World Record-breaking fireworks display with more than 850,000 fireworks.

Fox News Digital looks back at the nation’s biggest birthday celebrations.

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1826: America’s Jubilee (50th Anniversary)

The nation’s first major milestone came in 1826, marking 50 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

Communities across the country organized celebrations and leaders in Washington, D.C., invited former Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, two of the last surviving signers of the Declaration of Independence, to attend, but both declined due to poor health, according to the National Archives Foundation. However, history took an extraordinary turn when Jefferson and Adams both died on July 4, just hours apart.

Many Americans saw Jefferson and Adams’ deaths as a remarkable coincidence that added to the symbolism of Independence Day. A memorial service honoring Jefferson and Adams was held in Washington, D.C., while dinners, patriotic events and other commemorations helped establish the tradition of celebrating America’s birthday.

1876: Centennial (100th Anniversary)

The nation celebrated its 100th anniversary in Philadelphia with the 1876 Centennial Exposition, the nation’s first official World’s Fair, which highlighted America’s post-Civil War industrial growth and introduced millions of visitors to groundbreaking new technologies.

The six-month exposition attracted nearly 10 million visitors from around the world to see international arts, cultures and technologies on display, according to the National Archives.

The exposition featured Machinery Hall, where visitors saw new inventions, including Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephone and Thomas Alva Edison’s automatic telegraph. The fair also had a Women’s Pavilion that highlighted the scientific and artistic achievements of women during the suffrage movement.

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President Ulysses S. Grant approved sending the original Declaration of Independence to Philadelphia for display at the Centennial Exposition, according to the National Archives. Concerns over the document’s deteriorating condition later prompted efforts to preserve the nation’s founding document.

1926: Sesquicentennial (150th Anniversary)

Fifty years later, Philadelphia again hosted a World’s Fair to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

The 1926 Sesquicentennial International Exposition featured historical recreations and patriotic attractions celebrating the nation’s founding. Organizers built an 80-foot replica of the Liberty Bell illuminated by 26,000 light bulbs that became one of the exposition’s signature attractions, according to The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.

THE LESSON WE CAN LEARN FROM BICENTENNIAL HISTORY IS TO PARTY LIKE IT’S 1976

Although organizers projected 30 million visitors, fewer than 5 million paid admissions were recorded, and the exposition closed with enormous debts, according to Smithsonian magazine and The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.

1976: Bicentennial (200th Anniversary)

America’s 200th birthday arrived during a period of recovery following the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal.

Philadelphia’s bid to host a Bicentennial World’s Fair was canceled in 1972, leaving the city’s Bicentennial commemoration to move forward as national organizers encouraged celebrations across the country, according to the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.

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About 66,000 recognized events were held across the country, according to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum. Signature celebrations included Operation Sail, which brought more than 200 tall ships to New York Harbor, and the American Freedom Train, which traveled more than 25,000 miles across the country carrying historic artifacts, documents and works of art.

“Two down and two to go” blared the new wanted poster targeting the two remaining fugitive sons of infamous Mexican cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman-Loera, who is serving life-plus-30-years in Colorado’s federal supermax prison.

On Monday, ICE posted a new wanted poster for two members of “Los Chapitos” — Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, two of El Chapo’s sons with his first wife, Alejandrina Maria Salazar-Hernandez.

After El Chapo’s final capture in 2016, control of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel shifted to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. Following Zambada’s arrest during the Biden administration, leadership passed to Guzman’s four sons.

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Both the Trump administration in the U.S. and the Sheinbaum administration in Mexico have said they are focused on cracking down on cartel’s new leadership.

“Two down and two to go with $10 million reward,” the wanted poster read, with Xs over the faces of the already captured Joaquin Guzman Lopez and Ovidio Guzman Lopez.

The two captured Chapitos are reportedly cooperating with authorities and have not yet been sentenced, but Ivan and Jesus remain “armed and dangerous,” according to ICE.

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The two fugitives are charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and operating a continuing criminal enterprise.

Two of Guzman’s four sons have already been captured through Operation Take Back America, an initiative seeking the “total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations” in order to protect U.S. communities from violent crime.

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Andrew Boutros said in a recent statement that efforts to capture El Chapo’s sons are the latest steps “in our efforts to bring to justice drug lords and other dangerous criminals who poison the American public with illegal and harmful drugs and who otherwise engage in violence and corruption to carry out their and their enterprises’ wide-reaching criminal activities.”

US MILITARY KILLS TWO ALLEGED NARCO-TERRORISTS IN LATEST EASTERN PACIFIC STRIKE ON DRUG-TRAFFICKING VESSEL

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In his plea agreement, Guzman Lopez admitted that he and his cartel associates committed violence against law enforcement officials, rival drug traffickers and members of their own organization to protect the Sinaloa Cartel’s trafficking operations.

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Fox News Digital reached out to ICE and DHS for additional comment and information on the mission to capture the two at-large Chapitos.