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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a multimillion-dollar strategy to combat antisemitism, drawing criticism from prominent Jewish leaders who described the announcement as an attempt to deflect attention from the mayor’s own rhetoric while avoiding one of the defining sources of modern anti-Jewish hostility: the demonization of Israel and Zionism.

Mamdani announced what his administration called the nation’s first municipal strategy dedicated to combating antisemitism, declaring that Jewish New Yorkers “should feel cherished and celebrated in the most Jewish city in America.”

The mayor cited New York Police Department statistics showing that although Jewish residents constitute approximately 12% of the city’s population, antisemitic incidents account for more than half of its confirmed hate crimes.

EXCLUSIVE: ISRAELI PRESIDENT HERZOG BLASTS MAMDANI, PRAISES TRUMP, SOUNDS ALARM ON IRAN

“This is not only unacceptable, it’s something we all have an obligation to change,” Mamdani said. “And City Hall will lead the way.”

His administration said it is increasing hate crime prevention funding by $26 million, an increase of more than 800% from the previous year. The plan includes $6.4 million for community organizations working to prevent hate violence and would restart an interagency security and infrastructure initiative disbanded in 2024.

The city also pledged $2 million for the Queens Holocaust Memorial Garden and $2.5 million for the Brooklyn Center for New Jewish Culture, alongside expanded education, reporting resources and security support for Jewish institutions.

The way that money would be distributed also drew scrutiny. Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, senior rabbi of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, said that only $1 million is dedicated specifically to security while millions more would be directed through community initiatives.

MAMDANI IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER FIRST VETO DERAILS BIPARTISAN EFFORT TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM: ‘DISAPPOINTED’

“All of this money is pure pork barrel politics,” Steinmetz told Fox News Digital. “Outside of a million dollars in security, it is all being spent on community initiatives that will reward his supporters.”

The Jewish leaders who spoke with Fox News Digital welcomed the security investments but argued that physical protection alone cannot address an environment in which Jews increasingly feel pressured to distance themselves from Israel.

From Manhattan’s East Side to its West Side, three prominent rabbis shared another concern: Not one had been contacted by the mayor or his administration while the strategy was being developed, despite collectively leading some of the borough’s largest Jewish congregations.

Those concerns raise basic questions about how the strategy was constructed: which Jewish leaders and institutions helped shape it, how did the administration decide where the funding would go, and how were organizations selected to receive it? Fox News Digital asked those questions, along with Steinmetz’s criticism of the funding process, to the mayor’s office but had not received a response at the time of publication.

The mayor’s strategy acknowledges rising antisemitism since Oct. 7 and expands Holocaust education, but does not directly address the hostility Jewish students have experienced on college campuses or examine when anti-Israel activism crosses into antisemitic harassment and intimidation. The three rabbis interviewed by Fox News Digital identified that omission as a significant weakness in the city’s strategy.

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan and president of the New York Board of Rabbis, said the plan omits what he considers the central driver of contemporary antisemitism.

CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM EXTENDS BEYOND STUDENT PROTESTS AND INTO CLASSROOMS, ADL WARNS

“If the purpose here is to combat and reduce antisemitism, the plan omits the central driver of contemporary antisemitism, which is an obsessive loathing of Israel,” Hirsch told Fox News Digital.

That hostility, he said, is directed “not only” toward the state of Israel but toward “the Zionist idea, the right of Israel to exist, the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in the land of Israel.”

“To write a 30-page report and never mention the state of Israel, let alone address the vicious anti-Zionism, partially fomented by the mayor himself, is evading the issue,” Hirsch said. “It’s not dealing head-on with the issue itself.”

ANTISEMITIC VIOLENCE REACHES DEADLIEST LEVEL SINCE 1994, NEW GLOBAL REPORT FINDS

Hirsch welcomed the additional security funding, while emphasizing that Jewish institutions must routinely absorb expenses other communities do not face.

“The security obligations in every Jewish institution in the city are, in effect, an additional surtax on New York Jews that nobody else pays,” he said. “And so any funds for security are welcome.”

He also supported educational initiatives and Holocaust museum visits but said the city must teach more than the history of Jewish persecution.

“What I would like to see is a focus in New York public schools on the nexus, the connection between anti-Zionism and antisemitism,” Hirsch said.

“One of the key lessons from the Holocaust,” he added, is that “Jewish self-determination and Jewish empowerment are the answer to Jewish powerlessness that gave rise to centuries of antisemitism that culminated in genocide.”

Steinmetz also said the mayor is using the strategy to avoid examining the consequences of his own language.

“Rather than taking responsibility for combating antisemitism, Mamdani is using this plan to deflect attention from himself,” Steinmetz said. “His rhetoric has been reckless.”

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Steinmetz said statistics measuring physical crimes capture only part of what Jewish New Yorkers experience.

“Far more common is the nasty look and whispered insult,” he said. “You cannot talk about a trip to Israel at the water cooler. Jews feel like they have to hide parts of themselves to be accepted.”

The mayor has long been an outspoken critic of the Israeli government and has faced scrutiny from Jewish leaders over his descriptions of Israel, Zionism and organizations that support the Jewish state. Critics argue that separating antisemitism from anti-Zionist rhetoric ignores how Jewish identity is experienced by much of the city’s Jewish population.

Rabbi Yosie Levine of The Jewish Center on Manhattan’s Upper West Side thanked the mayor for recognizing the severity of the problem but called for a corresponding change in his language.

“I want to thank the mayor for his commitment to combat antisemitism,” Levine told Fox News Digital. “Acknowledging the problem is an important first step.”

ISRAELI MEDICS TRAIN US SYNAGOGUES HOW TO RESPOND TO ATTACKS, AS HIGH HOLIDAYS APPROACH

“At the same time, we would welcome an equally clear commitment to stop using rhetoric that vilifies Jewish leaders and the Jewish state,” Levine continued.

“When you turn Zionism into an accusation, you turn Zionists into the accused.”

A spokesperson for the Jewish Federations of North America, referred Fox News Digital to a joint statement issued by UJA Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.

While the organizations recognized “positive elements” in the plan, including increased security funding and the expansion of established programs, they warned that it “fails to address a central issue that the mayor himself has perpetuated: rhetoric that demonizes and delegitimizes Israel inevitably leads to the targeting of Jewish New Yorkers.”

“Those who truly seek to address antisemitism must unequivocally reject such rhetoric and help ensure that Jewish New Yorkers are never made to feel suspect, excluded or unsafe in their own city,” the statement continued.

Mamdani said the administration’s efforts would ultimately benefit every community because “our safety is bound up together.”

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“Fundamentally, what is lacking is even an acknowledgment that obsessive loathing of Israel is generating much of this antisemitism,” Hirsch said. “It would have been much more mature and, frankly, much more useful to lay out that fact.”

“Simply to omit it and avoid it is a wasted opportunity,” he concluded. “I’m disappointed in the mayor, and he should have done better.”

FIRST ON FOX: A top Republican senator whose phone toll records were secretly subpoenaed during Jack Smith’s investigation of President Donald Trump sued the former special counsel in his personal capacity Wednesday, arguing he was never lawfully empowered to wield the authority behind the Arctic Frost investigation.

The lawsuit, Senator Marsha Blackburn v. John L. Smith, argues the prosecutor lacked lawful authority to serve as special counsel and violated the lawmaker’s rights by obtaining the records. Blackburn is asking a federal court to declare Smith’s appointment unconstitutional, order the records destroyed and award $1 in nominal damages.

The case therefore seeks to test not only Smith’s tactics, but the legitimacy of the authority he claims to have exercised as special counsel appointed by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland during the Biden administration.

“This lawsuit is solely about holding Mr. Smith accountable and ensuring that our nation’s justice system can never again be weaponized against the American people,” Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital.

JACK SMITH HIT WITH CRIMINAL REFERRAL AS GOP MOVES TESTIMONY FIGHT TOWARD PROSECUTION

“Through his Arctic Frost witch-hunt that targeted conservatives across America and even the president of the United States, Jack Smith perpetrated one of the worst abuses of government power in our nation’s history,” she said.

Blackburn’s suit argues that Smith lacked lawful authority to hold the office he purported to exercise, while separately seeking to impose personal liability on him for the way that purported authority was used against her.

JACK SMITH THRUST BACK INTO SPOTLIGHT AT BLANCHE HEARING OVER EXPOSED SENATORS’ MESSAGES

The case opens a new legal front against Smith one day after his contentious Senate Judiciary Committee testimony, during which he acknowledged approving subpoenas for members of Congress despite understanding that nondisclosure orders prevented them from challenging the seizures under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.

Smith is a longtime prosecutor who most recently served as special counsel overseeing the Justice Department’s investigations into President Donald Trump. Earlier in his career, he prosecuted cases before the International Criminal Court and led the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, which brought bribery charges against former Virginia Republican Gov. Robert F. McDonnell in a case where the Supreme Court later unanimously vacated the conviction.

Arctic Frost was the codename for the FBI investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents and alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election before the probe was handed over to Smith by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Blackburn and her data were swept up in the probe after Smith’s team subpoenaed toll records from her and several other Republicans—a move that sparked outrage at Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing over whether obtaining the records without notification violated the Constitution.

In May 2023, Smith’s office issued a grand-jury subpoena seeking Verizon toll records, while a separate nondisclosure order barred the company from notifying affected customers—including Blackburn—that its information had been turned over.

While the records did not reveal the contents of conversations, they showed whom Blackburn communicated with, when and for how long, according to the complaint. The lawsuit alleges that Smith’s office obtained a court-approved nondisclosure order without informing the judge that the subpoena sought records belonging to a sitting U.S. senator.

JACK SMITH’S TRUMP PROBE SWEPT UP FOX NEWS, OTHER MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS AS INVESTIGATION WENT BEYOND LAWMAKERS

More broadly, Smith’s team issued 197 subpoenas to 34 individuals and 163 businesses seeking information involving at least 430 Republican individuals and entities, according to Senate Judiciary Committee records.

Tuesday’s hearing also began with a scathing rebuke from Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who accused Smith’s prosecutors of sweeping up communications between journalists at Fox News and other media organizations and sources connected to the first Trump administration.

For his part, Smith repeatedly hit back at allegations of corrupt or partisan prosecution, saying at one point his “investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation.”

Blackburn’s suit is being brought by the nonpartisan New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) on her behalf, and the Tennessee senator thanked the group for its partnership.

JACK SMITH’S SENATE PHONE RECORDS PROBE TURNS TO VERIZON’S HANDLING OF SUBPOENAS

Blackburn’s attorneys argue that Smith exercised special counsel powers without lawful constitutional or statutory authorization. Separately, the complaint names Smith in his personal capacity and seeks to hold him liable for alleged violations of Blackburn’s constitutional and civil rights arising from the subpoena and nondisclosure order.

“Jack Smith was illegally named Special Counsel in November of 2022, with Attorney General Merrick Garland handing a private citizen the sweeping powers of a special counsel,” NCLA said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

“Then-President Biden did not nominate Smith, nor did the Senate confirm Smith as either Special Counsel or in any other position. And no statute authorized his appointment.”

“NCLA’s complaint asks the court to declare Smith’s appointment unlawful under the Constitution’s Appointments Clause and to hold Smith accountable, in his personal capacity, for his gross abuses of power.”

VETERAN DEM BREAKS PARTY LINE AS JACK SMITH SPYING SCANDAL GRIPS CAPITOL HILL

The suit alleges the subpoena violated Blackburn’s constitutional and civil rights and that the nondisclosure order prevented her from challenging the demand under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.

“This lawsuit is not only about the faux authority granted to Smith through an unconstitutional appointment. It is also about ensuring that the Department of Justice—the very body responsible for enforcing federal law on behalf of our nation—acts only within its constitutional bounds,” NCLA counsel L. Margaret Harker said in a statement.

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The lawsuit seeks a declaration that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional, the return and destruction of Blackburn’s phone records, and $1 in nominal damages. NCLA says the limited damages request reflects Blackburn’s stated goal of obtaining judicial accountability for what the complaint alleges were constitutional violations committed while Smith exercised special counsel powers.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Smith’s counsel for comment.

After spending years railing against fraud, Utah Republican state Rep. Trevor Lee has resigned after being charged with fraud himself.

The Utah Attorney General’s Office filed criminal charges against Lee on Monday, accusing him of forging documents and engaging in fraud in order to obtain a home loan. Prior to the charges, Lee had pushed legislation aimed at combating unemployment fraud and publicly praised efforts to expose the sweeping fraud scandals that have rocked Minnesota in recent years.

In one video obtained by prosecutors, the CEO of a Utah water company “stated that Lee had requested cash advances totaling $93,000 to show increased income to assist in purchasing his home, and that Lee said he would make (the CEO) ‘whole’ by securing (his) company a government contract with Hill Air Force Base,” according to the charging document.

SWING-STATE’S FRAUD RECKONING RAISES MINNESOTA-STYLE ALARM AS WILD SCHEMES EXPOSED

Another company claimed that Lee improperly used an offer letter from them to make it seem as if his income was higher than it was.

“Lee devised a scheme to obtain a $1 million home loan by false pretenses. To execute it, he communicated fraudulent documents to Kind Lending through the mortgage process — a forged Enevive employment contract, a loan application overstating his Enevive income, and a Blue Logic offer letter he knew misrepresented his employment,” prosecutors wrote.

Investigators say Lee admitted during an interview that he personally forged the Enevive CEO’s signature on the employment contract to obtain the loan and knew the offer letter did not reflect income the company could actually pay him.

EXCLUSIVE: NICK SHIRLEY FIRES BACK AT MINNESOTA CRITICS: ‘NUMBERS DON’T LIE, AND CONVICTIONS DON’T LIE’

Lee’s social media feed is full of positive references to Nick Shirley, a content creator who attracted national attention after releasing videos alleging fraud involving Somali-run childcare centers and other publicly funded programs in Minnesota.

“Nick is going to stop a Gavin Newsom presidency single handily (sic.),” Lee said in one post. In another post, Lee offered Shirley assistance after he was charged a fee for filming at the Utah state capital building.

“Keep up the good work Nick,” Lee said in his most recent post directed at the YouTuber, dated July 11.

In addition to the praise of Shirley, Lee also introduced pieces of legislation designed to crack down on unemployment assistance fraud in 2023 and 2024.

BRAZEN SOCIAL MEDIA FRAUD SCHEMES WREAK HAVOC AS TRUMP OFFICIAL ISSUES STARK WARNING FOR ‘FRAUDFLUENCERS’

Lee resigned from the legislature shortly after the charges were filed.

“Due to personal circumstances that require my attention, I no longer feel I can give my constituents the time, attention and service they deserve,” he said. “I will always be grateful for the people I have met, the relationships I have built and the opportunity I have had to serve the people of Utah.”

Even if the fraud charges hadn’t come, Lee’s time in the legislature was approaching an end as he had lost his GOP primary election in June.

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Lee did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

The political right celebrated after a White House X account posted a graph showing that legal immigration to the U.S. from nations with Muslim majority populations has all but halted.

The account highlighted a 96 percent cut in legal immigration from majority-Muslim countries since 2024 and attached a graph from the Cato Institute, a notoriously pro-immigration think tank.

The graph showed a drastic decline in quarterly admissions of immigrants from those countries beginning in January 2025, when President Donald Trump officially took office. It also declined in late 2024, the last year of former President Joe Biden’s tenure in office.

AMERICA NEEDS WORKERS, BUT TRUMP’S POLICIES ARE SHARPLY CUTTING LEGAL IMMIGRATION

At its peak, immigration from Muslim-majority nations was over 22,000 people per month between July and October of 2024, according to the graph. But by the beginning of January of this year, that number had dropped to almost zero.

Online, the political right cheered the drastic shift.

“Absolutely incredible victory for the American people, thanks to POTUS,” Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, said.

“These are the wins we need to continue to deliver on,” said Brandon Herrera, the GOP nominee for Congress in Texas’ 23rd District.

“4 percent to go! Thank you, President Trump,” said Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla.

“Let’s pump up those rookie numbers for every category of immigrant,” columnist Kurt Schlichter said.

100 DAY SPRINT TO THE MIDTERMS KICKS OFF AS REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS CLASH FOR CONTROL ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Some turned the graph into a referendum on the results of Republican leadership, and urged conservatives to vote during the 2026 midterm elections despite concerns about cost-of-living, the Iran war, and other issues for which Trump has been knocked by members of his own party.

“I voted for this—and will again,” said user David Harrison.

“The next time you get the urge to ‘punish the GOP.’ Remember that Democrats will reverse this overnight,” said Turning Point Action’s Ben Larrabee.

“People screaming that Trump and the GOP aren’t doing anything about this problem [are] hardest hit, like squarely between the eyes,” online personality James Lindsay said of the graph.

JONATHAN TURLEY: SUPREME COURT HANDS TRUMP A BORDER VICTORY LIBERALS CAN’T SPIN

“Vote like Western Civilization depends on it, because it does,” said Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet.

Not everyone was thrilled with the decline in legal immigration from this demographic, though, including David J. Bier, who is the director of immigration studies at Cato and who took credit for the research behind the graph.

“Thanks for citing my work. You are violating the law and harming Americans while making the country less safe, less free, and less prosperous,” he said in reply.

Despite Bier’s claim, no court has decided that Trump’s move to reduce immigration from Muslim-majority countries is “illegal,” though there have been challenges in district courts.

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During his first term in office, Trump faced a challenge to his proposed travel restrictions from Muslim-majority countries. The policy was enjoined by the federal district court for the District of Hawaii, and upheld by two federal appellate courts. However, the Supreme Court ultimately decided in Hawaii vs. Trump that Trump’s policy was legal.

Pitching his administration’s conservative record as a national blueprint for Capitol Hill, Gov. Ron DeSantis rallied Republicans in Osceola County Tuesday night, portraying Navy veteran Dan Green’s bid for Florida’s 9th Congressional District as part of a broader push to bring aggressive Florida-style governance to Washington.

Speaking before a crowd in St. Cloud, south of Orlando, DeSantis pointed to his administration’s high-profile battles on education policy, state spending reductions and corporate pushback and urged voters to bring that same combative, policy-driven mandate to the halls of Congress.

SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS AFTER DESANTIS GIVES ‘SOROS’ PROTESTER A PIECE OF HIS MIND: ‘AIN’T MY FIRST RODEO’

“I will say that I’m looking forward to y’all getting the congressman elected that has served this country and that has served for the right reasons. Now, I am a big believer that we need term limits for members of Congress. But until we do that, you can show your current guy the term limit by kicking him out of office.

“So, I think what we need is what we’ve done in Florida. It can be a model for people like Dan going to Washington, other states, you name it, because it’s not just about peacocking and putting social media press releases out and never getting anything done. We have fought every big fight that there has been to fight in the state of Florida, and we have won every big fight that there is to fight in Florida.”

DeSantis rallied the conservative faithful with a recap, alleging major victories over left-wing institutions, agencies and agendas.

“Just think about it. We beat Dr. Fauci on COVID. We beat Disney on gender ideology. We beat Soros on crime by removing two of his prosecutors. We beat Martha’s Vineyard on illegal immigration.

“We just beat the Muslim Brotherhood by banning Sharia law. We beat the teachers unions by enacting universal school choice for all Florida families. We beat SEIU by doing paycheck protection.

“Every single time there was a fight, we would beat and win the fights. And that’s ultimately what it’s all about. Because leadership — when it’s popular, when it’s easy — anyone can do that. ‘I’ll just go with the flow,’ all this other stuff. It really matters when it is tough and when you’re going to face arrows.”

TRUMP’S HANDPICKED DESANTIS SUCCESSOR WINS CROWDED GOP PRIMARY FOR FLORIDA GOVERNOR

DeSantis repeatedly emphasized that his top priority was sticking to the courage of his convictions, not seeking political expediency or going along to get along.

“I remember during COVID, I was doing things, and people said, ‘Oh, he’s not shutting down the beaches. Why does he have these people in school?’ And all this other stuff. You know, people come after you, and a lot of people told me that I was frittering away my governorship, that I wouldn’t be able to win in ’22, and all this other stuff. I don’t know if that was true. Who knows, right? 

“But when you get in a position to lead, you either do it or you should just sit down. My job was not to be worried about my own political hide. My job was to be worried about protecting the liberty, jobs, and businesses of the people I was elected to serve. So, we started the fire, and we gave them his right.”

It is clear that the two-term governor considers his famed battle with Disney to be a particular feather in his cap.

“Nobody in the history of the state had ever taken on Disney in anything. A lot of people told me I was making a mistake,” DeSantis said.

“But the reality is, do we want a society in which our 6-year-olds are being told they can change genders, or do we want a society rooted in truth? If you want a society rooted in truth, even if the biggest, most powerful corporation in the state is against you, you’ve got to stand up and you’ve got to fight. And we fought, and we won.”

As the federal debt has topped a staggering $40 trillion, DeSantis made the case that he has taken the state on a markedly divergent course.

“Just look at the results. For four straight years, Florida has reduced its budget. Is any other state in the country reducing spending? We’ve done it four years in a row,” DeSantis said.

“I was just able to announce today if you take all of Florida’s debt for all of our history up until the time I became governor, just in my tenure, we will retire 54% of the state’s debt, more than cutting it in half. 

“We’ve been ranked No. 1 for education freedom, and our public university system is ranked No. 1. We have the lowest in-state tuition of any state in the United States, and it’s the exact same cost today to students and families that it was the day I took office. 

“It did not go up one penny under my tenure. Is there anything else that didn’t go up? The dollar menu at McDonald’s is all $2.99 now. Everything else has gone up, but that has not gone up.”

And DeSantis touts Florida as a national leader in lowering taxes for its citizens and called for voters to back Amendment 3 in Florida, which would pave the way for elimination of non-school property taxes.

“If you look at tax relief, we’ve done $10 billion over my tenure — more than anyone. Some of it is permanent, like no tax on baby items, back-to-school items and no tax on business rent. But, really, the big enchilada is going to be on the ballot in November when you have a chance on Amendment 3 to vote yourself more control over your own home and not let them tax you to death. So vote yes on 3.

As Republicans face headwinds heading into the midterms in a little over a month, DeSantis drew a parallel between this year’s election, and the 2018 election, which propelled him to the governor’s mansion by a narrow margin.

“We’ve done all this stuff, but I think the lesson is this: When I won eight years ago, it was kind of similar to how it is now. People were saying it was a ‘blue year.’ There was a lot of wind in the face of Republican candidates,” DeSantis recalled.

“A lot of people thought Florida was a swing state — that we were purple — where one point had decided all these races for the previous decade. A lot of people didn’t think I could even win given those circumstances. And even if I won, they said, ‘Well, the state’s going to go blue. You’ve got all these people moving from Puerto Rico, the Northeast, anything.’ So, I’m running. It wasn’t easy, and we won.”

DeSantis maintains he has never taken a poll as a means to determine a position on an issue.

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“It was a close race, so I had a choice to make: Do I try to tiptoe around the tulips, not offend anybody, and just try to walk this tight line? Or do I say, ‘You know what? I won the election. I got 100% of the executive power, and I didn’t get elected to follow. I got elected to lead,'” DeSantis said.

“So, I am going to fly the banner of bold colors, not pale pastels. I’m going to do what I believe in. I am not going to take any polls. I have not to this day ever polled a single issue in my entire time as governor.

“The reason is simple. … It depends on how you ask the question, right? I can tweak the words and get a different result. But also, what does a poll actually mean? Like Popeye said, ‘I am what I am,’ right?”

A Honduran illegal immigrant facing multiple child sex crime charges is back in federal custody after authorities in Fairfax County, Virginia, previously released him from an immigration detainer, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Oscar Evaristo Nunez on Sept. 15, during a targeted enforcement operation, DHS announced Wednesday.

Nunez was initially arrested over a year ago on Aug. 27, 2025, on charges of aggravated sexual battery involving children and offenses related to the non-consensual filming of an undressed minor, according to DHS.

ICE lodged a detainer with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center two days later, but DHS said local authorities did not honor it and released Nunez without notifying the agency.

GUATEMALAN MAN CHARGED WITH CHILD PORN POSSESSION RELEASED BY FAIRFAX COUNTY DESPITE ICE DETAINER, DHS SAYS

The case has become the latest point of contention between the Trump administration and Virginia officials over cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

“Another criminal illegal alien has been taken off the streets by the brave men and women of ICE, with no help from sanctuary politicians in Fairfax County,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a news release. “This illegal alien from Honduras had been arrested for child sex crimes in August last year, but Fairfax County refused to honor ICE’s detainer and let this creep back out onto the streets.

“Once again, ICE did the job that these heartless sanctuary politicians won’t do: enforce the law and protect American lives. DHS is calling on Governor Abigail Spanberger and her fellow sanctuary politicians to stop putting the needs of illegal aliens over the safety of the American people.”

‘OUT OF CONTROL’ KILLINGS IN SPANBERGER’S VIRGINIA REACH ‘INSANE’ POINT AS MIGRANT CHARGED IN STABBING SPREE

Spanberger, a Democrat, was not governor when Nunez was arrested and ICE lodged the detainer in August 2025. She took office in January 2026.

Spanberger has moved Virginia away from some forms of state participation in federal immigration enforcement since taking office, including directing state agencies to terminate agreements with ICE under the federal 287(g) program.

A representative for Fairfax County did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

DHS said Nunez illegally entered the U.S. near Arizona around September 2003.

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Nunez remains in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.

Republican congressional candidate Scott Singer is making the case that party, not just policy, will be decisive in his closely watched South Florida showdown with Democrat Rep. Jared Moskowitz, arguing that the incumbent’s moderate, pro-Israel image is at odds with his voting record and the direction of the Democrat Party.

Singer, the former mayor of Boca Raton, told Fox News Digital that he believes his record of cutting taxes and reducing crime at the local level, combined with unwavering support for Israel, gives voters a clear contrast in Florida’s newly redrawn 25th Congressional District.

“Well, it is a tough cycle, but people understand the real Jared Moskowitz, one who votes with the squad 90% of the time, voted to put [Rep.] Ilhan Omar [D-Minn.] on the Foreign Affairs Committee, has passed no bills in Congress, but traded $4.5 million worth of stocks since he’s been there. This district, after redistricting, is now a Republican plus five district,” Singer told Fox News Digital.  

GOP’S SINGER ‘VERY PREPARED’ TO OUST DEM MOSKOWITZ IN TOSS-UP FLORIDA RACE THAT COULD DETERMINE HOUSE MAJORITY

“It takes in all of Boca Raton, where I was mayor for eight years, cut taxes, red tape, and crime, and goes down to Miami Beach, where I was born, and Fort Lauderdale, where I was raised,” he continued. “Moskowitz doesn’t live in the district, he’s not from the district. 

“But beyond that, the Republican plus five, a trend in Jewish voters, of which we have 25% … in our district, moving more conservatively, and people who are opposed to socialism and communism, which he will not denounce, understand that this is a critical race for House leadership, and they want someone like me, a local leader with a record of results.” 

Singer’s business-friendly fiscal conservatism is the cornerstone of his campaign, and provides the policy framework for his priorities on Capitol Hill.

“Well, it gives me the record of results one would need. As mayor of Boca Raton, not only did we have the lowest property tax rate of any full-service city in Florida, I cut the tax rate seven times. I cut red tape, 21 streamlining initiatives,” he said. “I cut crime by more than 25% from what were 40-year lows. Those are a record of results that people can relate to, because we improved the quality of life, improved the job base, lowered taxes, and made our streets safer.”

UNEARTHED AUDIT EXPOSES VULNERABLE DEM’S HANDLING OF COVID RELIEF FUNDS: ‘GROSS OVERSIGHT’

Singer continued: “That’s what we want right now in America. We want secure borders, not like the porous borders that Jared Moskowitz supported under [former] President [Joe] Biden that have increased crime and ravaged communities. They want tax relief, not the tax hike that he voted for. $4 trillion, including taxes on Social Security, tipped workers, small businesses and families that are hurting. Now he’s trying to come around with a modest talk of the gas tax reduction. 

“He had the chance to vote on taxes and repeatedly has voted for higher taxes. People want a leader with a record of results. That’s what I bring.”

While Moskowitz has carefully cultivated a moderate image during his tenure in Congress, Singer disputes that characterization. 

“No, he’s not. He’s been voting in lockstep. He’s already said he’ll vote for whoever the Democratic leadership is. And you can see that we’ll have committee chairs like [Rep.] Rashida Tlaib [D-Mich.] and AOC [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.], if heaven forbid, the Democrats win Congress,” Singer said. “He already voted for Ilhan Omar on Foreign Affairs, despite his talking about her statements being bad, he voted to keep her in charge of foreign affairs in our country.” 

FLORIDA GOP NOMINEE BLASTS 20-YEAR DEM INCUMBENT AS A ‘SOCIALIST’ RUBBER-STAMP WITH ‘PRECIOUS LITTLE TO SHOW’

Added Singer: “He’s voted for tax hikes again … He says he’s strong on Israel, but he voted against US-Israeli cooperation, when other Democrats were willing to cross the aisle. And then just a few weeks ago, he would not denounce socialism, even though other Democrats would. He’s trying to have it out both ways, but his record is really Democratic, really liberal, 90% with the squad.”

Both Moskowitz and Singer both position themselves as strong supporters of Israel, but Singer argues that membership in today’s Democrat Party makes effective advocacy for Israel difficult.

“I’m a stronger supporter for Israel. I would never have put Ilhan Omar on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I would not have, like he did, voted against U.S.-Israel cooperation in the NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act],” Singer said. “I would have not voted to undercut President [Donald] Trump’s efforts and our military’s efforts with the War Powers Act vote months ago when the U.S. and Israel were fighting against a common enemy. 

“He’s done all of those things because Democratic leadership requires him. And he admitted three weeks ago to Jewish Insider that he’s being ostracized in his own party. He doesn’t have any more chits to give in. He has to go with the way the majority is going, and that expanded squad is going to tamp out any voice he has. 

“In my party, support for Israel is a feature, not a bug, and I don’t have to moderate my views or vote in accordance with the majority…I can be a strong supporter for Israel without reservation. Jared’s admitted he can’t be and won’t be.”

Finally, while Singer said he is a strong supporter of the Trump administration’s military engagement in Iran, he would like to see an end to the conflict soon.

“I think we need to have a resolution of this. I think we need to emerge victoriously. We have to remember that nuclear Iran is an existential threat,” he said. “We have seen how dastardly, vicious, murderous this regime has been over 47 years. Their foreign policy is death to America. They’ve killed Americans, they’ll kill more. 

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“And even since this conflict started, they’ve started attacking other nations who weren’t combatants trying to widen the conflict. They support terror across the world. It’s hurt America, it’s hurt Americans, it’s hurt our allies like Israel, and it’s hurting the free world. We need to stop this. 

“And I am optimistic we’ll see a resolution soon. And that’s a small price to pay. Even if we have some hiccups there, it’s a smaller price to pay to ensure Iran does not have a nuclear weapon.”

Michigan voters have concerns about both candidates in the U.S. Senate race and that leads to a tight contest, according to a new Fox News poll.

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has a slim 1-point edge against Republican Mike Rogers, 50-49%, among Michigan likely voters. The survey, released on Wednesday, is the first Fox News Poll this season among likely voters, so a direct comparison can’t be made to previous polls.

Yet among registered voters, the preference is almost identical, 51% El-Sayed vs. 48% Rogers. That’s a reversal since August, when Rogers was ahead by 4 points among registered voters, 51% to El-Sayed’s 47%.

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS QUESTION WHETHER AI’S PROMISE OUTWEIGHS ITS RISKS

The analysis below is among likely voters, unless otherwise noted.

More of El-Sayed’s backers feel certain of their choice (87%) than Rogers’ (80%). Overall, 15% say they could switch their pick before voting, including 18% of Rogers’ supporters and 12% of El-Sayed’s.

FOX NEWS POLL: SQUEEZED BY COSTS, FRUSTRATED VOTERS TURN TO THE DEMOCRATS

Here’s why the race is tight.

Roughly equal numbers of Michiganders say they are extremely concerned Rogers is too close to President Donald Trump (39%) as say El-Sayed’s views are too liberal (36%).

And their favorable ratings are also close: 47% view El-Sayed positively compared to 44% for Rogers. Among registered voters, positive views of El-Sayed increased by 5 points since August while Rogers’ declined by four points.

El-Sayed’s best groups include those that traditionally go Democratic: women, Black voters, and those with a college degree. He’s also ahead with voters under age 45 and the small subgroup of union households.

The groups giving Rogers some of his strongest support include men, rural voters, White evangelical Christians, married voters, and Whites without a college degree.

Both candidates receive near-universal backing from their party. Rogers receives 95% among Republicans, while it’s 93% for El-Sayed among Democrats. In addition, Rogers gets 99% of MAGA Republicans and 88% of non-MAGA Republicans, while El-Sayed garners 98% of DSA Democrats and 90% of non-DSA Democrats. The small number of independents narrowly favor El-Sayed.

This year’s political landscape favors El-Sayed: the Democrats hold a 5-point advantage when voters are asked which party they want to control the Senate, 52% to 47%. But to capitalize on that, he’ll need to consolidate Democratic support after a contentious primary, as 11% of likely voters who backed his primary opponent Haley Stevens say they plan to vote for Rogers.

“The Michigan Senate race is unique in that short-term political forces favoring the Democrats are somewhat offset by concerns about the Democratic candidate,” says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts the Fox News Poll with Democrat Chris Anderson. “The bad news for Rogers is El-Sayed has made progress shoring up Democratic support and has room to grow given voter concerns about the economy.”

Four in ten Michiganders say they are falling behind financially, and they back El-Sayed by 25 points. But the largest share, nearly half, describe their family as holding steady, and they favor Rogers by 13 points, while the small number who are getting ahead prefer Rogers by 36 points.

Still, for 7 in 10 voters, the cost of living will be extremely important to their Senate vote, and they back El-Sayed by 13 points. He also has advantages among the 4 in 10 focused on U.S. policy toward Israel (+8 points) and AI technology (+17 points). Conversely, Rogers is favored by 26 points among the 44% focused on immigration.

Half of Michigan voters consider Trump extremely important to their Senate vote, and they favor El-Sayed by 22 points.

In 2024, Trump won Michigan by less than two percentage points, while Rogers lost to Democrat Elissa Slotkin by less than half a point.

Voter frustration with the administration is a drag on Rogers, as nearly 6 in 10 disapprove of the president’s performance. While 40% approve, not all support Rogers (93%). He remains competitive with support from 19% of Trump disapprovers overall, even as 28% who only “somewhat” disapprove of Trump prefer El-Sayed.

In the gubernatorial race to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Democrat Jocelyn Benson leads Republican John James 54% to 45% among likely voters.

Twelve percent of those backing Rogers in the Senate race cross party lines to favor Benson.

Conducted September 24-28, 2026, under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with a sample of 1,203 Michigan registered voters randomly selected from a statewide voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (114) and cellphones (794) or completed the survey online after receiving a text message (295). Results based on the registered voter sample have a margin of sampling error of ±2.5 percentage points and for the subsample of 1,028 likely voters it is ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics of respondents are representative of the registered voter population. Likely voters are based on a probabilistic statistical model that relies on past vote history, interest in the current election, intention to vote, age, education, race, ethnicity, and marital status. Results among subgroups are only shown when the sample size is at least N=100. 

Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.

Elon Musk is taking on a new role in the Trump administration, this time helping the Pentagon determine which weapons and technology American troops will need to fight the wars of the future.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that Musk will co-lead Project Meridian, a new Pentagon initiative tasked with looking years and even decades ahead to identify emerging domains of warfare and the capabilities the U.S. military will need to dominate them.

Musk, the former leader of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will lead the effort alongside defense tech billionaire Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich under the direction of War Department Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael.

EXCLUSIVE: HEGSETH TO DOUBLE CUTS TO GENERALS, ADMIRALS IN MAJOR PENTAGON SHAKEUP

“The best forecasters of future conflict do not solely reside inside the Pentagon,” Hegseth said during his State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico. “There are obvious biases and risks to asking ourselves to both ask the questions and answer them.”

Hegseth said the initiative would begin immediately, and he would meet with Musk, Luckey and Gingrich in a secure site just 200 yards from the stage after his speech.

Project Meridian will have 120 days to “ruthlessly map the trajectory of wars, domains and technologies,” culminating in a public rollout of its findings and a classified annex.

Hegseth described a sweeping mandate that stretches “from under the Earth to beyond the moon.” 

Rather than developing new military strategies or policies, the group will seek to identify “the domains that we must conquer and capabilities we must master” and focus on “discovering, developing and fielding” weapons and systems that could be needed by future generations of American troops.

Musk and Luckey enter the effort with firsthand experience developing technology for the U.S. military. Musk’s SpaceX is a major Pentagon contractor, while Luckey founded Anduril Industries, a defense technology company specializing in autonomous weapons and other advanced military systems.

Their industry experience positions both men to bring an unusually close view of emerging technology and the modern battlefield to the Pentagon’s long-range planning. It could also raise potential conflict-of-interest questions as executives whose companies compete for defense business help identify the capabilities and technologies the military should pursue.

BATTLEFIELD ROBOTS OPEN NEW FRONT IN INNOVATION WAR WITH MAJOR US ADVERSARY

Meridian was one piece of a broader push announced by Hegseth Wednesday to remake the military around autonomous warfare and rapidly emerging technology.

Hegseth announced the creation of Autonomous Warfare Command, or AUTOWARCOM, a new four-star combatant command with what he described as “service-like authorities” to scale autonomous and robotic capabilities across the joint force.

The War Department will also begin phasing in new occupational frameworks across the military departments to create dedicated career paths for what Hegseth called a new generation of “autonomous warfighters.”

“We should have been thinking about Autonomous Warfare Command ten years ago,” Hegseth said, explaining that Meridian is intended to look far enough ahead to anticipate the next technological transformation before the military falls behind.

The announcements came during the second iteration of what the War Department has dubbed Hegseth’s annual State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico.

The setting was the same as last year, but the audience was markedly different. Hegseth summoned generals, admirals and other senior military leaders from around the world to Quantico for his first address, where he laid out sweeping changes to military standards, personnel and what he called the “warrior ethos.”

This time, Hegseth addressed a younger generation of military leaders, including top-performing E-6 enlisted service members and O-3 officers from across the force. He called them the military’s “current and future leaders on the front lines” and said the address would become an annual opportunity to assess the state of the force and lay out his vision for its future.

Hegseth used Wednesday’s speech to unveil six new initiatives, ranging from the military’s embrace of autonomous warfare to an effort to make U.S. bases and defense supply chains less vulnerable to foreign disruption.

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The secretary also used the address to deliver some of his most pointed rhetoric yet about his effort to reshape the culture of the military and about the news media.

“We are no longer the woke department or the weak department,” Hegseth said. “No fatties, no trainees, no weirdos, no beardos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors.”

Hegseth later accused some journalists of engaging in “partisan activism” that jeopardizes military operations and service members, calling such reporting “fundamentally anti-American.”

“It’s sick. It’s a national betrayal. It’s treason, actually,” Hegseth said.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Wednesday announced plans to build a modern, self-sustaining military fortress, saying the site will be selected through a merit-based competition among governors pitching their states as potential locations.

The megaproject, dubbed the “Next Great American Base,” was unveiled during an address at Marine Corps Base Quantico as part of Hegseth’s six strategies to modernize the military.

The initiative rejects what Hegseth described as the legacy approach to spend heavily on advanced weapons systems while service members live on aging bases with outdated barracks.

“For too long, our military has been bogged down by the same old tired Washington playbook: spending trillions on exquisite weapons systems, while our troops live in aging bases, outdated barracks, and with inadequate infrastructure. That era is over,” Hegseth said.

EXCLUSIVE: HEGSETH TO DOUBLE CUTS TO GENERALS, ADMIRALS IN MAJOR PENTAGON SHAKEUP

“To back up our warfighters, when we bring the troops home, we won’t just reshuffle troops onto legacy posts. We are going to build them beautiful new bases from the ground up,” he added.

The ambitious undertaking will feature a brand-new military installation spanning hundreds of thousands of acres and housing up to 25,000 service members.

“We are talking hundreds of thousands of acres with organic power generation, modern air defenses, and cutting edge technology — a fortress,” he said.

The installation is expected to provide first-class living conditions, high-end training grounds and essential services such as health care and child care, while operating entirely off the commercial grid with independent power sources.

Hegseth added that the base will support President Donald Trump’s executive order on “Beautiful Civic Architecture,” which calls for federal public buildings and military installations to be designed in timeless and classical styles.

“We owe our warriors nothing less than the gold standard,” Hegseth said.

SENATE REPUBLICAN PUSHES MERIT-BASED MILITARY PROMOTIONS, TARGETS BIDEN-ERA DEI POLICIES

To determine the site location, the Department of War said it is launching a transparent, merit-based competition in which state governors can pitch their proposals directly to top military leadership at the Pentagon.

The winning state will be chosen based on its ability to remove regulatory hurdles and bureaucracy to speed up construction, while offering the best package of land, community support, top-tier housing, schools and other services.

“The state that cuts the most red tape and offers the best package of land and support will win the historic honor of hosting the most lethal, modern, and beautiful military installation on the planet,” a press release stated.

Pitch deliberations will be recorded and made public to eliminate “political favoritism,” according to the Pentagon.

“No backroom Washington deals. No political favoritism – just a straight-up, merit-based contest to see which state will partner with us to build the most modern, beautiful, and lethal military installation on the planet,” Hegseth said.

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The project is the fourth announcement among six major strategic initiatives unveiled by the secretary.

According to the Department of War, the other initiatives focus on restoring male physical standards and combat roles, improving the comprehensive review of military standards, overhauling complaint processes, reforming senior leadership and focusing on core training and maintenance.

Louisiana Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill is escalating her fight against abortion pills entering states that ban abortions through two lawsuits — one targeting the providers accused of distributing the drugs and another challenging the blue-state laws shielding them from prosecution.

Murrill, along with Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, sued New York, California and Massachusetts at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, alleging their shield laws block cooperation with investigations into abortion-pill providers. The attorneys general also filed a separate lawsuit in Louisiana against more than 30 people and organizations accused of advertising, prescribing, dispensing or shipping abortion pills into their states.

“This is drug dealing and it’s illegal,” Murrill told Fox News Digital. “And we’re going to continue to do everything that we can to enforce the laws in our states.”

The two lawsuits, filed Wednesday, are the latest move in a widening state-by-state fight over abortion. That conflict has grown since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which struck down Roe v. Wade and gave elected officials the power to set abortion policy in their states.

HAWLEY SENDS CRIMINAL REFERRAL OF ‘LEFT-WING DARK-MONEY’ GROUP OVER MAILED ABORTION DRUGS

Murrill said the Supreme Court case targets the blue states’ legal protections that have thwarted Louisiana’s previous efforts to prosecute out-of-state doctors.

“These shield laws are very comprehensive,” Murrill said, arguing that California and New York prohibit officials from assisting other states seeking to enforce judgments stemming from abortion-related conduct.

Louisiana has already indicted New York physician Margaret Carpenter and California physician Remy Coeytaux over allegations that they prescribed abortion drugs that were sent into Louisiana. New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom have refused to extradite the doctors.

The Supreme Court complaint cited Louisiana’s unsuccessful effort to extradite Carpenter, saying Hochul declared there was “no way in hell” she would comply with Louisiana’s request. The filing said New York later strengthened its shield law, including by allowing prescribers of abortion drugs to keep their names off prescription labels.

Newsom similarly rejected Louisiana’s request to extradite Coeytaux in January, saying California would not help other states punish doctors for providing abortion access that is legal in California.

CALIFORNIA ABORTION PILL SUPPLIERS PLOT WORKAROUNDS AHEAD OF SUPREME COURT MIFEPRISTONE DECISION

When Murrill vowed to sue, Newsom responded on X telling her to “Go f— yourself. California will never help you criminalize healthcare.”

“I think that if I sent guns into their states illegally, they would certainly try to come after me,” Murrill told Fox News Digital. “I said specifically at the time that we would be coming for them and we are.”

“We are going to take down those laws using every tool that we have at our disposal,” she continued.

The second lawsuit directly targets what Murrill calls the “pill pipeline.”

The 100-page complaint alleges providers used online questionnaires to obtain information from customers before abortion drugs were mailed into states where their distribution is prohibited. The states allege some organizations openly acknowledged that their conduct violated those states’ laws while relying on shield laws to protect themselves from legal consequences.

Murrill said investigators have conducted controlled purchases and received pills packaged in small bags, sometimes in quantities she said exceeded what would ordinarily be prescribed.

“We’ve seen it for ourselves,” Murrill said. “There’s no supervision, there’s no healthcare, there’s no communication whatsoever. It’s all done online.”

Murrill argued that the system can allow people other than pregnant women to obtain the drugs, pointing to cases Louisiana authorities said involved women being pressured or deceived into taking abortion medication.

PRO-LIFE LEADER SOUNDS ALARM AFTER DOCTOR GETS 6 MONTHS FOR FORCING ABORTION PILLS ON GIRLFRIEND

“We have a situation in one town in Louisiana that we’ve documented and investigated where a father did not want his teenage daughter to keep a pregnancy,” Murrill told Fox News Digital. “And so he basically put the medication in a smoothie, forced her to drink it. She did ultimately give birth to that baby at 23 weeks and is still in a NICU fighting for its life.”

The attorney general also said Louisiana wants more help from the Trump administration.

“Obviously we think the FDA could be doing more and we’ve asked them to do that,” Murrill said.

Louisiana has separately challenged federal rules that eliminated an in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser backed the litigation, accusing blue states of using their laws “to obstruct justice” and urging the Justice Department to settle Louisiana’s separate FDA litigation.

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“Democrats’ pro-abortion extremism has brought this country to a crisis point. Abortion activists flagrantly sell dangerous drugs across state lines and women and children pay the price, with more and more survivors of ‘death in a pill’ bravely coming forward,” Dannenfelser said in a statement.

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Fox News Digital reached out to New York, California and Massachusetts’ governors’ offices for comment.

Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Wednesday that a federal grand jury had indicted ten lawful permanent residents accused of voting illegally or attempting to do so in multiple Minnesota elections, including the state’s August 2026 primary.

The ten defendants — who are originally from Liberia, Canada, South Africa, Brazil, Bosnia, Germany, Ghana, and Lithuania — allegedly lied to election officials and told them they were U.S. citizens so they could register to vote.

They were accused of voting in the 2022 and 2024 general elections, according to court records.

“Voter fraud erodes the public’s trust in our electoral system, and it’s vital to our democratic process that we do everything that we can to restore that trust,” Blanche said in a press conference announcing the charges. “The most basic way the Department of Justice can accomplish this restoration of trust is by working to make sure the only people voting in an election in the United States are American citizens who are eligible to vote.”

FEDERAL INDICTMENT HANDED DOWN IN MINNESOTA RELATED TO ISSUE SOME DEMS CLAIM NEVER HAPPENS: ‘HOTBED FOR FRAUD’

The 10 defendants were charged separately. They are Bhator Konah Bryant, 61, of Liberia; Edvile Vaidoto Edmunds, 59, of Lithuania; Joshua Frederick Kofi Edzie, 63, of Ghana; Alan Barbu Kargbo, 48, of Liberia; Paul Kras, 78, of Germany; Fadil Rasim Ozegovic, 58, of Bosnia; Aparecido Donizetti Padovan, 62, of Brazil; Chris Adam Pettiquoi, 43, of Liberia; Christian Liam Schenk, 47, of Canada; and Hester Sophia Weihmann, 69, of South Africa.

Bryant appears to be the only defendant who wasn’t charged with voting illegally, only falsely claiming citizenship in 2024 in order to register.

Making a false citizenship claim to vote is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while voting by a noncitizen is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Blanche also expressed frustration that the media has, in his view, not taken the Justice Department’s work prosecuting election fraud cases seriously to this point.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION GRANTED WOMAN GREEN CARD MONTHS BEFORE SHE ILLEGALLY VOTED IN 2024 ELECTION: DHS

“I don’t know what the number is that will work for you guys. Whether it’s 106, maybe it’s 120,” he said, referring to a hypothetical number of investigations. “”At some point it has to become meaningful to to the media.”

Blanche said that since President Donald Trump has returned to office, the Justice Department has charged more than 90 people with voter fraud offenses, including 50 illegal immigrants in the past five weeks.

Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said there have been 10 voter fraud-related convictions and that there are more than 1,600 active investigations into similar conduct across the country.

Mullin did not answer a reporter’s question about how the department plans to use the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database, known as SAVE, to identify voters who may be ineligible ahead of the midterms.

STATE DEPARTMENT CONSIDERS SHARING PASSPORT RECORDS FOR VOTER CITIZENSHIP CHECKS

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that the administration may use the database for voter-eligibility checks while litigation continues. SAVE has historically been used to help government agencies verify whether noncitizens applying for public benefits are eligible to receive them.

States’ use of the SAVE database is voluntary, but federal law generally bars states from conducting systematic voter-roll purges within 90 days of a federal election. With the midterms less than a month away, the Supreme Court’s ruling is expected to have limited immediate impact.

During the same press conference on Wednesday, Blanche also announced that the Justice Department had filed a judicial misconduct complaint with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals against several Minnesota federal judges who spoke with The New York Times about cases the department said were still pending.

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The article, published on Sept. 17, centered on an interview with Judge Patrick J. Schiltz, who said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violated nearly 100 orders from the federal district court in Minnesota during the height of Operation Metro Surge, which saw hundreds of federal agents in the streets of Minneapolis throughout January of this year.

Schiltz, a George W. Bush appointee, told The Times that the alleged violation of these orders likely came down to incompetence and staffing shortages at the Justice Department.

Blanche said Schiltz airing various complaints about the Trump administration to The Times was a violation of judicial canons and his ethical duties.

“We have asked the Eighth Circuit to conduct an investigation, and in the meantime, we ask that these judges recuse themselves from every case involving DHS, either criminal or civil in nature, because of the obvious bias they have shown in this article,” Blanche said.

Shiltz issued this response to Fox News, “As legal-ethics experts have confirmed, I was acting well within the ethical rules that apply to federal judges in speaking to the New York Times.  Indeed, in February of this year, the Committee on Codes of Conduct issued an advisory opinion to emphasize that federal judges may ‘speak[] and writ[e] on core judiciary matters such as advocacy for the rule of law and judicial independence.’ That is exactly what I did.”

Senate Democrats shut down Republicans’ bid to deal with two key issues for voters heading into the midterms.

Republicans tried and failed to pass a bill that would marry differing policy issues: banning lawmakers from using their insider knowledge to trade stocks and implementing voter ID policy nationwide — the latter of which the GOP has so far failed to accomplish with their SAVE America Act.

The Stop Insider Trading Act cruised through the House earlier this month, where a majority of House Democrats voted against it. Though voters are highly supportive of both, Democrats in the House and Senate argued that the stock trade ban wasn’t strong enough, while the voter ID element was too aggressive.

But the efforts to shut down the votes appear to build on a growing trend ahead of the November midterms — Democrats don’t want to hand Republicans two massive wins going into a must-win election for both parties.

SCHUMER PREACHES AFFORDABILITY IN DEM MIDTERM PITCH WHILE SABOTAGING GOP FIXES FOR SOARING COSTS

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., argued that Republicans knew the bill would never pass, and that they “designed it that way.”

“They don’t want this bill to become law,” Schumer insisted. “So they put a poison pill in that they knew would tank it.”

“It’s really trickery. Skullduggery,” he added. “If Republican senators really cared about stopping stock trading by members, they wouldn’t have loaded it up with a poison pill voter ID bill, which Senate Democrats have defeated already twice.”

They are two issues, though worlds apart, that have routinely failed to launch in Congress.

Senate Democrats have blocked voter ID and the SAVE America Act — and its several iterations throughout the year — multiple times, while banning lawmakers from trading stocks has largely been stifled by intraparty quarrels on both sides of the aisle.

SCHUMER SAID ‘DEMOCRATS SUPPORT VOTER ID’ — THEN EVERY SENATE DEMOCRAT VOTED AGAINST GOP BILL

Still, they are issues that Americans overwhelmingly support.

A poll from the University of Maryland published in 2023 found that 86% of Americans on both sides of the political spectrum supported banning lawmakers from trading stocks. And a 2025 poll from the Pew Research Center found that 83% of Americans favored “requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification to vote.”

It’s the first of two bills Republicans will try to pass on Wednesday to tackle voters’ concerns heading into the midterms, where President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, and its effect on the economy, could make or break the GOP’s grip on power in both chambers.

DOZENS OF HOUSE DEMOCRATS REJECT BILL FUSING CONGRESSIONAL STOCK BAN WITH FEDERAL VOTER ID

The stock trading bill was pushed by Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., who is in a tightening bid for re-election.

The other bill will create standards for AI companies and data centers to bear the brunt of electricity costs, a key issue that has emerged in this midterm cycle that has candidates in battleground states scrambling to craft policy positions against the hulking, windowless structures.

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That bill is being pushed by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, who is running in one of the most contested races this cycle. Democrats contend that the GOP’s attempt to push through the data center bill is nothing more than a political lifeline for Husted’s campaign.

“Both pieces of legislation strike at the very heart of issues that the American people care deeply about, passionately about,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said. “And we’ll see if the Democrats are willing to take yes for an answer.”

LEWISTON, MAINE – With just about a month left until the midterm elections, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) told Fox News Digital that fraud is an issue motivating voters to the polls, and in Minnesota, his home state, he thinks the issue could yield some “surprises” at the ballot box.

“Fraud is a lot more important to the U.S. taxpayers than being a Republican or a Democrat,” Emmer said. “People want good government. They want to know that they’re paying for good government, that they are not having their hard-earned taxpayer dollars being siphoned off and stolen and sent out of the country. They’re also asking, why hasn’t anyone called this out and held these people accountable? And I think you’re going to see that at the ballot box on November 3rd.”

Emmer, the House Majority Whip, was in Maine with Republican House candidate Paul LePage, the first stop of his planned 56-district nationwide blitz across the United States rallying voters for Republicans as the party tries to hold on their razor-thin majority in the House against daunting historical and political headwinds.

Emmer’s home state of Minnesota was the epicenter of fraud’s explosion into the national conversation late last year, prompting Gov. Tim Walz to abandon his re-election bid. Emmer expressed optimism that Republicans in Minnesota will resonate with voters on fraud in a state where a Republican hasn’t won a statewide election since 2006.

KLOBUCHAR’S FRAUD FIGHT CLAIM TAKES HIT AFTER GOP OPPONENT COMBS THROUGH RECEIPTS: ‘WHERE WERE YOU?’

“Fraud in Minnesota is the number one issue,” Emmer said. “We’ve got a completely incompetent, I would argue corrupt in some instances, governor and an attorney general who took campaign funds from Somali fraudsters that he was actively trying to protect from getting caught in their fraud. This is a big deal for Minnesotans.”

Emmer said voters are looking for an “honest system that actually works for the people” and not “the criminals” and the Republican candidates for Senate, governor, attorney general, and auditor in Minnesota have all made fighting fraud a central issue of their campaigns.

NEW AUDIT IN WALZ’S BACKYARD EXPOSES MASSIVE FRAUD RISK TIED TO POST-GEORGE FLOYD ACTIVISM

“You easily could have Michelle Tafoya being the next U.S. Senator from the state of Minnesota, a republican, you could have Lisa Demuth as the Republican governor and already, the attorney general candidate, Ron Schutz and the state auditor candidate Scott Jensen, the polling showing that they are leading,” Emmer said. “So yes, Minnesota is going to be one of those places where you see surprises. I think you’re gonna see surprises in Michigan as well and other places all across the country.”

Emmer sat down for a roundtable discussion on fraud with LePage, Maine’s former governor running for Congress in the state’s 2nd Congressional District, where the Minnesota Republican railed against the lack of accountability for fraud in his home state.

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“They need to be held accountable and that’s the one thing that’s missing again in Minnesota. You’ve got all of these fraudsters being charged and convicted, not one public official has been charged at all, and that’s got to change, and I hope it changes in Maine and other places, because it’s high time that people be held accountable for ripping off the generous American people,” Emmer told the panel.

The Trump administration has made combating fraud a central focus this year, creating a Justice Department Fraud Division and a White House task force led by Vice President JD Vance. The White House says the task force has uncovered roughly $245.7 billion in fraud since its creation, while also stopping an additional $62.9 billion annually and enforcing $59.1 billion through criminal charges, settlements and penalties.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is fast becoming a central figurehead in the 2026 midterm election cycle, and a polarizing one at that.

Some moderate candidates are shunning the progressive rising star’s endorsement, Axios reported this week, while others in tight races are welcoming her with open arms.

Several Democratic strategists who spoke with Fox News Digital said they were not shocked that some on the left are keeping her at arm’s length.

“It wasn’t especially surprising, like, her numbers with independent voters aren’t always great, and it’s very circumstantial depending upon where you would want to deploy somebody with that type of background and somebody who, you know, a lot of Americans have an impression of already — sometimes positive, sometimes negative,” Mike Nellis, a former political advisor for ex-Vice President Kamala Harris, told Fox News Digital. “I always just encourage people, like, you do what you gotta do, cause it’s hard to play coalition politics.”

DEMOCRAT CHALLENGING MIKE LAWLER WON’T COMMIT ON CAMPAIGNING WITH AOC, MAMDANI OR REJECTING DSA

And there are at least two candidates who appear to think the original “Squad” member is more of a liability.

HASAN PIKER SAYS HE’D ‘ABSOLUTELY’ CAMPAIGN FOR AOC IN 2028 AS EL-SAYED DISTANCES HIMSELF

Cait Conley, who is running to unseat Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., in a district nearby Ocasio-Cortez’s, told CNN’s State of the Union “I’m good” when asked if she would campaign with Democratic socialists like her or New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Conley’s campaign did not return a request for comment by Fox News Digital by publication time.

And Sam Forstag in Montana reportedly removed all mention of Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement from his campaign website. He told Axios, “I don’t intend to be having a lot of folks from out of state campaigning with me over these next 40 days.”

Forstag’s campaign did not return multiple emailed requests for comment by Fox News Digital.

JAMES CARVILLE PREDICTS 2028 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY WILL TEST TRUE STRENGTH OF PARTY’S SOCIALIST WING

“In the final days leading up to an election, you want to make your message specific and local and repeatable and national celebrities just don’t help with that,” a veteran Democratic strategist who works on House and Senate campaigns told Fox News Digital.

The strategist, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, said “AOC is more of a celebrity” than most of the other potential 2028 Democratic presidential contenders. “I think AOC is one of the few Democrats who has transcended to just culture generally, which makes her visits heavier in the discourse.”

And that celebrity status is being used in other key races. Ocasio-Cortez joined forces with fellow progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders to headline a trio of rallies for left-wing candidate Abdul El-Sayed in July, a couple of weeks before the Democratic Senate primary in the key battleground state of Michigan.

El-Sayed ended up narrowly edging more moderate Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., in a nomination battle that highlighted the ongoing battle between the left and the center for the ideological future of the Democratic Party.

While Ocasio-Cortez has yet to return to Michigan since the early August primary, El-Sayed’s campaign says they’d welcome her return to the campaign trail.

“There are a lot of Michiganders who can’t wait to have AOC back in town,” El-Sayed campaign communications director Roxie Richner told Fox News Digital.

AOC BACKS FLORIDA DEM ANGIE NIXON FOR US SENATE: ‘I’M PROUD TO ENDORSE HER’

El-Sayed and former House Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., are facing off in the race to succeed Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. The midterm showdown is a must-hold for the Democrats as they try to win back the Senate majority from the Republicans.

Ocasio-Cortez also appeared in Florida recently alongside far-left Senate candidate Angie Nixon, who is running an underdog campaign against Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla.

A Democratic victory there is a longshot, but Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign trail travels come as speculation mounts about her own future political plans.

The Democratic socialist is widely seen as a potential successor to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., when he is through in the upper chamber. But there’s also buzz about a potential 2028 presidential campaign — something Ocasio-Cortez has not confirmed nor denied.

“I think she’s a unique political talent. She’s clearly got, like, a large group of people in the country who would get behind her, and those are the beginnings of what you need to build an operation to run for president. So I think she’d be stupid not to think about it,” Nellis said. “At the same time, you know, do you take a 5% chance of being the Democratic nominee…or do you take like a much better than fifty-fifty chance of being the next United States Senator from New York? If it were me advising her, I’d probably tell her to run for Senate.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign for comment on the Axios report.

A unanimous federal appeals court ruled Monday that a jury should decide whether Seattle’s DEI initiatives created a racially hostile work environment for a White employee, while emphasizing that federal anti-discrimination law protects workers regardless of race.

The three-judge panel did not rule on whether Seattle’s DEI programs violated the Constitution or federal anti-discrimination law. Instead, it found that the allegations were enough to let a jury decide whether the way the city carried out those initiatives created a racially hostile work environment. The ruling leaves the larger constitutional questions about Seattle’s race-based programs unanswered.

“Workplace training programs designed to address racial barriers are not inherently discriminatory, and nothing in Title VII prohibits employers from either discussing historical and ongoing discrimination against persons of color or seeking to address such discrimination,” wrote Judge Mary Murguia, who was appointed by President Barack Obama.

“Accordingly, race-conscious training programs may violate Title VII when they create a racially hostile work environment.”

TRUMP ADMIN’S PUSH TO SCRAP DEI IN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TAKES LANDMARK STEP WITH NEW HIRING RULE

Joshua Diemert, who worked for Seattle’s Human Services Department, alleged that over several years he had been subjected to repeated race-based comments and workplace incidents, including being asked by supervisors what he could contribute “being a straight White male,” being told it was “impossible” to discriminate against White people and being encouraged to give up a leadership role so a person of color could be promoted.

He also attended DEI trainings where speakers allegedly said “White people are cannibals,” that racism is in “White people’s DNA” and that “White people are like the devil.”

Laura D’Agostino, an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation who argued the case, said the panel ruled only that Diemert lacked standing and did not decide whether Seattle’s race-based affinity groups and training programs were constitutional.

INDIANA ATTORNEY GENERAL SUES HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS ASSOCIATION OVER RACE-BASED BOARD QUOTA

“This decision does not give government employers a green light to classify employees by race. The Ninth Circuit expressly reiterated that government racial classifications are constitutionally suspect and subject to strict scrutiny,” D’Agostino said. “It simply concluded that Mr. Diemert had not established the personal injury necessary for the court to reach that constitutional question in his case.”

D’Agostino said the ruling shows that Title VII does not give protections to racial-equity training when it becomes the source of harassment.

“Calling something racial-equity training does not place it outside the protections of federal civil rights law. Employers can address discrimination without creating or tolerating a racially hostile environment for their employees,” D’Agostino told Fox News Digital.

The court ruled the case wasn’t about any one remark or training session. Instead, it concluded a jury should decide whether the alleged comments, DEI trainings and workplace incidents, taken together over several years, created a racially hostile work environment.

“The evidence was sufficiently numerous, frequent, and severe that his hostile work environment claims must be decided at trial,” D’Agostino said.

A spokesperson for the city of Seattle said they are reviewing the decision and discussing potential next steps for the city.

WHITE DEVELOPER SUES BALTIMORE MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL CLAIMING HE WAS FIRED BECAUSE OF HIS RACE

Ilya Shapiro, of the Manhattan Institute, said the decision leaves constitutional challenges to similar DEI programs on the table despite the standing ruling.

“Although the court affirmed the dismissal of Diemert’s equal-protection claim, it did so because he didn’t present evidence sufficient to show personal injury, not because equal-protection claims aren’t viable,” Shapiro told Fox News Digital.

Shapiro said the “race-conscious” programs are standing on “dubious legal ground.”

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The decision also reinforced that federal anti-discrimination law applies equally to employees regardless of race. Citing the Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, the panel noted that Title VII “draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs.

Eric Wessan, Solicitor General for Iowa, said Monday’s ruling is a major wake-up call for DEI classes and trainings across the country, arguing that they breed hostile work environments.

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“I think the easiest way to think about it is if the same stuff was happening, but he was another race other than White,” Wessan told Fox News Digital. “How obvious would it have been that that was a hostile environment? And I think in this case, the answer is, it would have been pretty obvious.”

“I’m not surprised that the hostile environment claim can go forward. And that’s really important too, because a lot of these DEI policies across the country do create hostile work environments for White employees. And for a long time, there was no pushback against that.”

Independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn repeatedly said his family is “treading water” financially because of rising grocery and gas prices last week, but federal campaign finance records show his campaign has paid more than $500,000 to members of his family since launching his Senate bid.

Speaking at a Capitol Hill press conference on Sept. 24, Osborn said, “My family, we’re treading water here, and it feels like every day it’s hard to keep your head above water” because of the economy and rising grocery and gas prices. 

Later that day, during an NBC News interview, he made nearly identical remarks, again describing his family as “treading water.”

Americans for Public Trust, a government ethics watchdog that has previously scrutinized Osborn’s campaign spending, estimates Osborn and members of his family received nearly $480,000 from his campaign and affiliated PACs through the first quarter of 2026. The organization told Fox News Digital that figure does not include additional campaign spending disclosed in Osborn’s second-quarter filing, which was filed in July. Fox News Digital’s review of that filing found additional payments to family members that pushed the total above $500,000.

NEBRASKA SENATE CANDIDATE SEEMS TO CONFIRM AUDIO CLAIMING TRUMP SUPPORTERS’ LIVES ‘SUCK SO F—ING BAD’

The largest share of those payments went to Osborn’s wife, Megan Osborn, who has worked for the campaign since its launch. Campaign finance records also show payments to the candidate’s daughter, Georgia, who Osborn has described publicly as a part-time dancer who still needs help paying her bills. His daughter has been paid by the campaign for work including event staffing and campaign activities, alongside other relatives and entities tied to his family.

Amid the scrutiny, Osborn’s wife stepped away from consulting firms she had a stake in, which were receiving thousands of dollars from Osborn’s campaign coffers, including from his 2024 war chest, even though that campaign was defunct.

“It’s rich for Osborn to be co-opting the real financial pain of Nebraskans when he and his family have been profiting from his campaign since it launched,” Americans for Public Trust Executive Director Caitlin Sutherland told Fox News Digital. “He was all too comfortable using his campaign to enrich his immediate and extended family and only hastily restructured when he was caught. Nebraskans know better than to fall for this type of self-serving behavior.”

DEM SENATOR FACES DOJ PROBE AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF SPENDING CAMPAIGN FUNDS ON LUXURY LIFESTYLE

Earlier this year, Osborn and his wife announced they were restructuring how she was compensated by the campaign after Americans for Public Trust filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging Osborn had steered campaign funds to relatives through a network of consulting firms and affiliated political action committees. The complaint alleged the payments violated federal campaign finance law, while the Osborn campaign rejected the allegations and argued the payments were for legitimate campaign work.

While paying family members is not illegal, it must be for bona-fide campaign services. Critics have challenged the political expertise and background of Osborn’s wife and other family members. 

As part of the restructuring, Osborn’s wife stepped away from two consulting firms that were receiving campaign payments — including Independent Campaigns LLC, in which she held a one-third ownership stake — and instead became the campaign’s full-time operations manager with a monthly salary.

Osborn told the Omaha World-Herald at the time that his wife had been “instrumental” to the campaign and said he would not let political opponents dictate who ran it.

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But Sutherland argued the restructuring did not resolve the broader questions raised in the complaint.

“Dan Osborn only restructured how he pays his wife after we filed a complaint with the FEC that he was running afoul of campaign finance laws,” Sutherland told Fox News Digital at the time. “However, questions still remain regarding his payments to his daughter, his brother-in-law, and two sisters-in-law, and his control over two federal PACs. Rest assured, Osborn may have changed tactics, but he isn’t off the hook in his attempt to funnel campaign cash to his entire family.”

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger who has touted his working-class bonafides on the campaign trail, is facing backlash from both sides of the aisle over a viral ad that critics are labeling as tone-deaf pandering. 

“If Republicans spend $46 million on these TV ads, who’s gunna be convinced by that?” Jackson is asked in the ad as he sips a boba tea.

Jackson then looks around and smiles before saying “the 1%ers” as a photo of his opponent, Sen. Susan Collins, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk are shown on the screen.

The ad’s caption reads “sips boba tea” alongside a boba and wide-eyed emoji.

SUSAN COLLINS TEARS INTO BRIBERY ALLEGATIONS AS NEW CLAIMS EMERGE DURING CRITICAL SENATE BATTLE

The ad’s post on X was widely mocked by Democrats and Republicans and has been viewed over 2 million times.

“Maine is the oldest median age electorate in the nation,” Democratic strategist Steve Schale posted on X. “I know I’m not a DC strategist but I really, really don’t get it.”

“Troy Jackson needs to win but videos like this are unhelpful and cringey,” liberal influencer Harry Sisson posted on X. “Please change it up! No boba tea!”

“The same people that ran Mallory McMorrow’s campaign into the ground are telling you to do this goofy s—,” left-wing podcaster Kyle Kulinski posted on X. “Just get out there and tell the truth and speak from the heart for economic justice and against war and stop with all this bulls—. C’mon man. You’re smarter than this.”

DEM SENATE NOMINEE BREAKS SILENCE AFTER SUSAN COLLINS’ OFFICE WAS VANDALIZED WITH VULGAR MESSAGE

“It’s a little bit funny to be desperately trying to position as working class masculine male and have gen-z women run your socials like they would run their own personals,” Republican communicator Matt Whitlock posted on X.

“… ,” National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Southern regional press secretary Reilly Richardson posted on X.

” Weird,” GOP communicator Steve Guest posted on X. “Looks like the first time that Troy Jackson has ever had boba.”

“Boba tea! Just like regular people! ” journalist Chris Cillizza posted on X.

“Want to remind you that Democrats were openly proud of how masculine their Maine campaign was going to be and then they ran this ad,” former Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh posted on X.

Fox News Digital reached out to Jackson’s campaign for comment.

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A recent poll indicates Collins is ahead of her Democratic challenger in a crucial Senate showdown in blue-leaning Maine that could determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.

Collins, who is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate, stands at 49% support among likely voters, with former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee, at 46%, with 5% undecided in the New York Times/Siena poll. Collins’ three-point edge is within the survey’s margin of error.

The survey, which was conducted Sept. 15–22, is one of the first to indicate Collins ahead of Jackson since he replaced former Senate nominee Graham Platner in late July.

Platner, a combat veteran and oyster farmer, won the June Democratic Senate primary in a landslide. But a month later he dropped out following an explosive report containing an allegation of rape from a woman he previously dated. Platner denied the report but stepped aside. Collins slightly trailed Platner in most polling at the time he ended his campaign.

Jackson, who campaigned alongside Platner earlier this year as he unsuccessfully ran for governor, won a special nominating convention to fill the party’s vacant Senate nomination.

The poll release came as Collins pushed back against a report by ProPublica that the FBI sought to launch a pay-to-play investigation examining Collins and others. The investigation was later dropped and no one working for Collins was charged.

Collins ripped the report as “offensive” and a “partisan hit job” orchestrated by Democrats.

Jackson took to social media to claim that “Susan Collins is blatantly corrupt.”

Collins’ advantage over Jackson in the new survey comes even as 55% of those questioned said they prefer Democrats to control the Senate next year, with 43% saying they’d like the GOP to retain the majority.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

The U.S. military is scheduled to end its mission in Iraq on Wednesday, bringing to a close a military operation that has lasted more than two decades — despite an ongoing war in Iran sparked earlier this year.

The Iraq mission began with the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and later evolved into a campaign to help Iraqi forces defeat the Islamic State group after the terrorist organization’s rapid rise across Iraq and Syria.

In recent years, however, the remaining U.S. military presence has increasingly served as both a counterweight to Iran’s influence and a frequent target of Iran-backed militias.

The Iraq agreement was reached before the U.S. and Iran entered direct conflict earlier this year and under a different administration and military leadership — leaving the final phase of the withdrawal to unfold in a dramatically different security environment than the one envisioned when the timeline was negotiated.

TRUMP REVEALS WHEN US MILITARY WILL LEAVE IRAQ AFTER 23-YEAR MISSION

The deadline stems from an agreement reached by Washington and Baghdad in 2024 under President Joe Biden to wind down the U.S.-led coalition’s military mission after Iraqi officials concluded their security forces were increasingly capable of handling the fight against ISIS.

It follows the U.S. military’s 2021 departure from Afghanistan, also under the Biden administration, which ended another two-decade American war and left no U.S. troops in the country. The withdrawal, however, was chaotic, widely viewed as ‘botched’ and resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and dozens of civilians.

HOW IRAN ATTACKS ARE FORCING THE PENTAGON TO RETHINK ITS DECADES-OLD MIDDLE EAST BASE STRATEGY

The Pentagon declined to confirm to Fox News Digital whether the timeline remains on track or provide details about any continuing U.S. military involvement in Iraq after Wednesday. The Iraqi Embassy did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The danger to U.S. forces persisted through the final months of the mission. Army Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, was killed at Erbil Air Base in July during the controlled detonation of a downed Iranian attack drone.

About 2,500 U.S. troops had remained in Iraq as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led coalition established in 2014 after ISIS seized large swaths of Iraq and Syria. American forces had previously withdrawn from Iraq in 2011 before returning three years later to help Iraqi and partner forces combat the terrorist group.

That threat has since diminished significantly.

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessed this summer that ISIS in Iraq “almost certainly remains severely degraded,” focused largely on its own survival and unable to capitalize on instability from the war with Iran, according to the latest Lead Inspector General report on Operation Inherent Resolve.

CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper told lawmakers in May that ISIS attacks in Iraq and Syria had fallen 70% since 2023 and were at their lowest level since 2013.

The U.S. mission had already shifted accordingly. Rather than routinely fighting alongside Iraqi forces, American troops increasingly trained, advised and provided intelligence to local forces expected to carry out counterterrorism operations with limited or no direct U.S. involvement.

The Pentagon also began moving the infrastructure for that fight out of Iraq. Operation Inherent Resolve shifted its headquarters to Amman, Jordan, this year, allowing U.S. personnel and assets to redeploy while Iraqi forces assumed greater responsibility for counterterrorism operations.

But the declining ISIS threat has coincided with a different challenge for Baghdad: powerful Iran-backed armed groups that have resisted efforts to surrender their weapons.

US-BACKED EFFORT TO DISARM IRAQ’S IRAN-LINKED MILITIAS HITS SETBACK, EXPERTS SAY

The Iraqi government had initially sought to bring armed groups operating outside state control to heel by the same Sept. 30 deadline. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi argued that the departure of U.S. forces would eliminate a key justification for the militias to remain armed.

Several powerful Iran-backed groups, however, have resisted calls to disarm. Two prominent factions initially agreed to surrender their weapons by the deadline, while other armed groups refused, according to a U.S. government report released this summer.

Baghdad has since pushed back its timeline. Zaidi said last week that the government now aims to complete the process by June 30, 2027, beginning with a 90-day period in which armed groups would halt attacks in exchange for assurances that U.S. forces would not target them. The groups would then gradually surrender their weapons or be brought under state control.

The holdouts remain heavily armed. U.S. military officials said the groups retain rockets, missiles, drones and, in some cases, air defense systems capable of threatening American personnel and facilities across the region.

The DIA reported that Iran-aligned militias launched hundreds of attacks on U.S. forces and diplomatic facilities in Iraq after the war with Iran began.

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That leaves the end of the U.S. mission arriving as the threat that brought American forces back to Iraq has substantially diminished, while Baghdad’s effort to disarm some of the groups that have targeted those forces remains unfinished.

Democrats are pitching themselves as the answer to the economic woes Americans are facing in their pursuit of power in Congress, but they have made a habit of blocking the GOP’s attempts to tackle cost of living issues.

Affordability has become the centerpiece of the Democrats’ campaign messaging heading into Election Day in November, and they’ve wielded it like a political cudgel that left-wing candidates from Michigan to Texas are using to browbeat Republicans.

But in the Senate, it requires cooperation and compromise to tackle those issues, and Republicans say that their colleagues across the aisle have bedeviled that process. They’ll have one last shot Wednesday to address a sliver of the issue with a bill targeting data centers and voters’ pocketbooks, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus are poised to block it.

FIRST DATA CENTER BILL CLEARS HOUSE AS BOTH PARTIES SCRAMBLE FOR ANSWERS ON AFFORDABILITY

“I think right now, the whole thing is just, you know, play politics with all these issues and get to the election,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital. “I think that, you know, what you’re seeing is that this is the party of no, can’t take yes for an answer, and is interested in just trying to politicize everything going into the election.”

When asked if blocking the data center bill, and another that would ban members of Congress from trading stocks, could turn the table on Democrats’ messaging, Thune said “Well, it makes it pretty hard for Democrats to make that argument.”

Democrats don’t believe that blocking the bill from Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, would hurt their affordability message, particularly because the legislation lacks teeth — many of the requirements for large-load customers, like data centers, to repay their electricity usage are optional.

Schumer trashed the data center bill as being purely politically motivated to bolster a vulnerable candidate staring down a tough race in November against former Sen. Sherrod Brown, even though only three House Democrats voted against it earlier this month.

ANXIETY GROWS OVER EMERGING ELECTION ISSUE, BUT GOP SAYS WASHINGTON ISN’T THE ANSWER

“Because we don’t vote for frauds,” Schumer said when asked why Senate Democrats wouldn’t vote for it. “It’s voluntary. Not a single company has to comply with it.”

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital that if “you guys do your job and explain that the the bill does nothing,” the political ramifications would be low for Democrats.

“It does nothing, and so people know that, but there’s more political risk for them than for us,” Murphy said.

When asked if there was a concern that shutting the bill down could hamper their best weapon on the campaign trail, Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., told Fox News Digital, “Absolutely not.”

“The American people can see through just the politics of this. They know that this bill is good for Senator Husted, but not necessarily for them, because it’s not — it doesn’t have anything that would actually force change,” Kim said.

REPUBLICANS FEAR THEY ‘HAVEN’T DONE A DAMN THING’ TO LOWER PRICES AHEAD OF MIDTERM RECKONING

Not all Democrats want to outright kill the GOP’s latest affordability push, however.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., isn’t totally against allowing the legislation to proceed, but he wants a guarantee from Thune that his bill, the Power for the People Act, would get an amendment vote to add some regulatory heft to the measure.

“You want to address the affordability issue, you need to do something real,” Van Hollen told Fox News Digital. “As soon as Senator Thune says he’ll have a vote on Power for the People Act, then for sure, we should go forward.”

It’s not the only attempt at grappling with affordability issues that Democrats have sunk, or at least kneecapped, near the finish line before the midterms.

Republican leaders wanted to get a deal on permitting reform, which would lower costs on energy projects and reform the regulatory process writ large, on the floor during this final sprint before the election, but Democrats walked away from the deal last week.

“I would tell you, all the chemistry, I think, was perfect for getting this deal done,” Sen. Alan Armstrong, R-Okla., who has led the permitting reform push told Fox News Digital. “And that doesn’t happen very often on such a complex issue. So it’s very disappointing.”

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The deal is reportedly back on, but won’t be handled until after the election during Congress’ lame duck period, where several agenda items have been punted that may never see the light of day.

Still, Republicans will need Democrats to get anything post-election, and the track record of bipartisanship over the near two years that they’ve controlled the chamber has ebbed and flowed.

“I mean, we got 53 Republicans, you got to have 60. I’d have busted the filibuster a long time ago and we would’ve had a lot more done,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital. “But we wasted a year and a half of President Trump.”