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Michigan Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel is backing a growing push to recount all votes cast during the state’s Democratic convention, admitting her own votes were improperly tallied.

The Michigan Democratic Party held its convention on Sunday, April 19, where more than 6,000 delegates gathered to vote on candidates to represent the party for statewide offices, including secretary of state, attorney general and university board of trustees members, in the general election in November. State Sen. Sylvia Santana called for an independent audit of the convention’s elections, alleging an investigation she led found “material errors” with the voting systems.

“I learned in the days immediately following the convention that the Election Buddy app did not correctly attribute my votes or my congressional district, and I immediately notified the impacted candidates and the state party chair,” Nessel wrote in a statement, affirming state Sen. Sylvia Santana’s calls for an independent audit.

But in her statement, Nessel shut down any effort to draw a “false equivalency” between failures in the Democratic Party’s internal voting systems and statewide elections.

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“Those who traffic in election conspiracies will seek any and every opportunity to undermine public confidence in our elections, and while an audit is warranted in this circumstance, these results have no bearings on the veracity of state-run elections,” Nessel wrote in the statement.

The internal drama within the Michigan Democratic Party comes as Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her administration continue to push back against a Justice Department request for Wayne County’s 2024 voter data. The request from the Trump administration is part of a broader probe into alleged voter fraud in the county, highlighting concerns over election integrity.

Santana, who lost her bid to be a member of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees, filed a 53-page complaint about the convention’s voting process, alleging that 200 individuals cast votes remotely, which is prohibited under the convention’s rules. Cathy Albro, a former U.S. House candidate, had previously told The Detroit News that she voted in the convention’s electronic voting system from her home.

Santana’s investigation also found 302 voters who were not on the master voter list, and that 208 voters were registered to the same number with at least one other voter. The investigation also alleged votes being incorrectly tallied or not tallied at all.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, who was vying to be the state’s top law enforcer, lost to Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit for the party’s attorney general nomination by a 59% to 41% vote. She took to Facebook to urge an independent audit of the election, backing Santana’s complaint.

“After reviewing the results of the MDP Endorsement Convention, it became clear that votes were incorrectly recorded, people voted who were not onsite, and some votes were not recorded at all,” McDonald posted on Facebook. “I strongly support Senator Santana’s request for an independent audit, and urge my Democratic colleagues across the state to support it as well. It is critical that every voter and every campaign have confidence in the vote.”

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The Michigan Democratic Party said in a statement to Fox News Digital that all Democratic candidates who participated in the party’s endorsement convention have until the end of May 4 to submit their appeals, but said it will not comment on the specifics of those appeals.

“Pursuant to our rules and bylaws, appeals are reviewed through an independent process conducted by an Appeals Committee,” a spokesperson for the Michigan Democratic Party said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The Committee will review submitted appeals and determine next steps. We are committed to following the appeals process and ensuring it is fair and independent.”

Meanwhile, the Michigan Republican Party is criticizing the Democratic Party over allegations of voter fraud.

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“Losing candidates are starting to take legal action against the Democrat Party, claiming the election were STOLEN from them after an investigation revealed that hundreds of ineligible voters took part in their recent endorsement convention,” MI GOP posted on X. “Democrats can’t even secure their own internal elections. What a mess!”

Fox News Digital reached out to McDonald, Santana, and Savit for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: Two men were sentenced Monday for charges related to orchestrating a sprawling $522 million fraud scheme that targeted Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers — using kickbacks, fake medical orders and DNA samples collected from patients across the country.

Reyad Salahaldeen, 57, of Buford, Georgia, was sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. Mohamad Mustafa, 28, of Duluth, Georgia, was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to paying illegal health care kickbacks, according to the Justice Department.

“Under the guise of health care, these two fraudsters attempted to steal more than half a billion dollars from taxpayers,” the Justice Department said.

Federal prosecutors said the scheme led to roughly $84 million in payouts from Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers, highlighting the scale of fraud authorities say is draining taxpayer-funded health programs and driving a broader federal crackdown.

JURY CONVICTS FORMER NFL PLAYER KEITH J GRAY IN $328 MILLION MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME INVOLVING KICKBACKS

The scheme relied on a network of marketers who targeted individuals — many covered by Medicare — and persuaded them to take genetic tests by promoting them as free or medically important screenings, including for cancer risk.

Prosecutors said the tests were often not medically necessary and were ordered by medical providers who had not treated the patients and did not use the results in their care.

That allowed the laboratories to bill government health programs for costly tests that would not otherwise have been approved, officials said.

Both men were also ordered to pay substantial restitution. Salahaldeen was ordered to repay more than $84.5 million, while Mustafa must pay more than $64.3 million.

Salahaldeen also was ordered to forfeit more than $3 million from bank accounts, along with a 2019 GMC Yukon and properties in Texas and Georgia.

Mustafa was born in the United States, while Salahaldeen is a Palestinian national who became a lawful permanent resident in 2004, according to officials.

The scheme ran from 2018 through August 2020 and used a network of marketers making telemarketing calls, door-to-door outreach and health fairs to collect DNA samples and insurance information from patients.

Court documents say Salahaldeen controlled multiple laboratories across New Jersey, Georgia and Texas, including Express Diagnostics and BioConfirm Laboratories.

Prosecutors said marketers were paid illegal kickbacks to obtain genetic testing orders from medical providers who had not treated the patients and did not use the results in care.

Authorities said Salahaldeen falsified requisition forms, letters of medical necessity and other records to make the tests appear legitimate.

MAN CHARGED IN $90M MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME; DOJ SAYS SUSPECT MAY HAVE ENTERED US ILLEGALLY

Mustafa, who co-controlled some of the laboratories, helped carry out the scheme by paying kickbacks and creating sham contracts and invoices to disguise illegal payments as legitimate marketing services.

In total, the labs billed roughly $522 million in fraudulent claims. Government health programs and private insurers paid out approximately $84 million, officials said.

Authorities said Salahaldeen attempted to evade arrest after learning of the charges, traveling from North Carolina to Texas and attempting to cross into Mexico using another person’s identification before being apprehended at the border.

A TIMELINE OF THE ‘LARGEST COVID-19 FRAUD SCHEME’ IN THE UNITED STATE

Federal officials say many of the largest schemes are no longer isolated — but driven by organized networks coordinating across multiple states.

Authorities have pointed to major cases in recent years, including a COVID-19 pandemic-era fraud scheme in Minnesota that prosecutors allege siphoned more than $240 million in federal funds meant to feed children.

That case, known as Feeding Our Future, has led to dozens of charges and sentences of up to 28 years in prison.

Prosecutors say the scheme relied on shell nonprofits, fake meal counts and falsified records — tactics similar to those used in the genetic testing fraud case.

The case is part of a broader federal crackdown on health care fraud. Eleven additional co-conspirators — including marketers, nurse practitioners and doctors — already have been sentenced, receiving penalties ranging from probation to nearly four years in prison.

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Justice Department officials said the case reflects an intensified push to combat fraud under Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President JD Vance.

Since 2007, the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program has charged more than 6,200 defendants responsible for over $45 billion in fraudulent billing, according to the department.

Attorney information for Salahaldeen and Mustafa was not immediately available.

President Donald Trump’s new nominee for surgeon general is exposing divisions in the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, the health-focused coalition elevated inside the administration by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“The new surgeon general nominee, Dr. Nicole Saphier, may have a great pro-life testimony, but she gets an F when it comes to all things MAHA,” said Turning Point USA health and wellness podcaster Alex Clark — a comment shared by other MAHA activists like Kelly Ryerson, an anti-pesticide advocate also known online as “Glyphosate Girl.”

“DOGE the Surgeon General!!! We want medical freedom!!!! If not Casey – we take no one!” added Vani Hari, also known online as “Feed Babe” and a prominent figure inside the MAHA movement. 

She recently told The Atlantic that failing to confirm Means would “ruin the soul of MAHA.”

TRUMP SURGEON GENERAL NOMINEE CONFIRMATION HEARING POSTPONED AS SHE GOES INTO LABOR

After Trump’s initial pick for surgeon general, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, was withdrawn in 2025, Trump selected Casey Means, a Stanford-trained physician, wellness author and entrepreneur, and vocal MAHA proponent who was close to Kennedy as he helped develop the Trump administration’s health agenda. 

Means’ nomination was withdrawn Thursday, and she was replaced with radiologist and former Fox News contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier amid a stalled confirmation process leading up to the eventual pivot.

Trump announced that Means’ nomination would be withdrawn from his Truth Social platform Thursday and replaced with Saphier amid the stalled confirmation process, in part caused by Means’ pregnancy during the process and the need for extensive vetting, a source familiar with the nomination told Fox News Digital. 

Minutes before Trump announced the pivot to Saphier on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump called Means “a strong MAHA Warrior, at the recommendation of Secretary Kennedy, who understands the MAHA Movement better than anyone.” 

Kennedy also praised Means as news was coming down that she would be replaced by Saphier. 

Meanwhile, the pair also lambasted moderate U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., Chairman of the Senate’s powerful health committee in charge of getting the surgeon general nomination approved, for allegedly sabotaging Means’ nomination.

RFK JR. ‘WRONG’ ABOUT VACCINATIONS, GOP SENATOR SAYS

Delays and concerns about Means’ qualifications and views on vaccines, among other things, slowed down the process, until, according to a source familiar with the confirmation process, it was determined that not enough support would be garnered to secure Means’ appointment. 

Saphier has been described by Trump as “an INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR” who “will do great things for our Country,” and Kennedy has also publicly supported Saphier’s nomination. But MAHA activists became alarmed by the decision to withdraw Means’ nomination.

Clark described Saphier as a “catastrophic mistake” at a time when the MAHA coalition is “very fragile.”

“She is one of the most pro-vaccine advocates in medicine, even defending Hep B on the first day of life,” Clark wrote on X. “My position isn’t to replace Dr. Saphier. It’s to completely DOGE the Surgeon General role. If we don’t, we risk accelerating the loss of one of the most activated voting blocs the GOP is already watching slip away.”

“Doge the SG!!!!” Hari said in a post on X Sunday, lamenting that the pivot is just “more of the same.”

“We’re seeing a system that protects itself,” she added, according to The Washington Post. “A system that says it wants change but recoils the moment real change shows up.”

REMOVING ONE FOOD INGREDIENT FROM YOUR HOME IS FIRST STEP TO ‘DOING MAHA,’ INFLUENCER SAYS

“I am so proud of Casey, and the way she conducted herself during this process,” her brother, Calley Means, another early leader within the MAHA movement said on X before laying into Cassidy. “I am also proud to work for the Trump admin, who has marshaled the disruptive MAHA message and driven victories against dark forces personified by Bill Cassidy.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Saphier for comment on the criticism that she is not skeptical enough of vaccines, but did not hear back. 

White House spokesperson Kush Desai said Saphier has been “an outspoken voice” against “intrusive COVID-19 mandates, the politicization of science, and the federal government’s role in America’s chronic disease epidemic.”

“She will be a powerful asset … to deliver on every facet of (the president’s) MAHA agenda.”

Others aligned with the MAHA world appeared less concerned with Means’ departure, such as the Independent Medical Alliance, which is anti-pesticide, promotes questions about vaccine efficacy and supported two of Kennedy’s picks for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel.

TRUMP FDA NOMINEE TURNS VACCINE QUESTION ON DEM, RECALLING CONTROVERSIAL BIDEN DECISION

Dr. Joseph Varon, the group’s president and chief medical officer, said Saphier was “exactly who America needs,” describing her as “a real doctor, treating real patients, who has the spine to tell the truth even when it’s unpopular.”

Dr. Robert Malone, a leading contrarian to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and lockdown measures and a supporter of the broader MAHA movement, described Saphier as “moderate-MAHA” in a blog on his Substack.

Malone also attempted to assuage fears Saphier is too pro-vaccine.

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“This is the part MAHA readers care about most, and it is the part where Saphier’s record is most genuinely mixed,” Malone wrote on his blog. 

“She is pro-individual-vaccine on the merits. She is supportive of parental autonomy on schedule. She is critical of universal pediatric mandates absent benefit data. She is explicitly sympathetic to MAHA’s vaccine-safety-surveillance reform agenda,” he continued. “She is not, in any reading I can construct from the documentary record, an anti-vaccine voice in the medical-freedom register that, say, Children’s Health Defense operates in. She is also not, in any reading I can construct, a CDC-establishment-defending voice of the kind Cassidy is looking for.”

Kennedy, known for being a vaccine skeptic, faced backlash when he attempted to make formal changes to the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule — changes ultimately blocked by the courts. 

Fox News Digital reached out to MAHA Action, whose founder Tony Lyons fought against moderate GOP Senators, like Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Ak., who were not supportive of Means’ nomination, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

FIRST ON FOX: A woman was allegedly sent back to a federal prison after objecting to rooming with a biological male sex offender at a Rhode Island halfway house, according to a public records request obtained by Fox News Digital.

The conservative America First Legal asked the Bureau of Prisons on Monday in a public records request, obtained by Fox News Digital, for information about the re-incarceration of Sarah Cavanaugh, who had been serving out the remainder of her sentence at Houston House, a halfway house in Rhode Island operated by the nonprofit Community Resources for Justice. 

The request raised concerns about whether Bureau of Prisons contractors were complying with President Donald Trump’s day-one directive that agencies make sure biological men are not detained in women’s prisons, part of the administration’s broader effort to tighten policies surrounding transgender people.

“Men should not share intimate spaces with women; this includes in our federal prisons,” Emily Percival, AFL senior counsel, said in a statement. “The BOP has a duty to provide for the safekeeping, care, and protection of federal inmates.”

BLUE STATES CALLED OUT BY WOMEN’S GROUP FOR IGNORING RISKS POSED BY TRANSGENDER INMATES

Percival accused the Bureau of Prisons of “[shirking its] duty when it allowed its contractor to send a woman back to prison after she raised concerns with sharing a room with a biological male convicted of a heinous sex crime.”

Cavanaugh, who had been sentenced to about six years in prison in 2023 for a stolen valor conviction, was transferred to Houston House by the Bureau of Prisons after the agency determined she was a good candidate for the move. While there, Cavanaugh learned last August that she would be assigned a new roommate named Haley Lynn Rose, according to AFL’s records request. After searching the name online, Cavanaugh discovered the individual was named Anthony Ninfo, a male who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in 2024.

Cavanaugh raised concerns with staff, expressing discomfort about sharing a room with a man convicted of a sex offense, AFL’s filing said. Staff told her to follow up with the facility’s management, but the following day she was instead given an accusatory incident report charging that she had violated conditions of being at the halfway house, according to AFL.

The incident report said, according to AFL, that Cavanaugh created “a hostile environment for the [transgender felon], and [overstepped] boundaries by inquiring about the gender identity, genitalia, charges, and room assignment of another Houston House resident.”

TRUMP IS RETURNING SANITY TO THE GENDER CONVERSATION

The report stated that “asserting [sic] preferences regarding room assignments is inappropriate.”

As a result of the incident, Cavanaugh’s placement at the halfway house was revoked, and she was returned to prison for six months, AFL said.

The legal group wrote in its complaint that the alleged incident was at odds with Trump’s executive order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which states that only two sexes exist and that inmates must be separated by sex.

The case comes amid ongoing legal challenges from civil rights groups over the implementation of Trump’s order. While some provisions have faced lawsuits, courts have allowed certain aspects affecting prison housing policies to move forward.

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Citing the Freedom of Information Act, AFL asked the Bureau of Prisons for records related to staff interactions with Cavanaugh, the incident report issued to her, actions taken against her, and the Bureau of Prisons’ contractual relationship with Houston House.

The Bureau of Prisons said in a statement to Fox News Digital that it could not provide more information on Cavanaugh because of privacy reasons.

“For privacy, safety, and security reasons, the BOP does not release information regarding the conditions of confinement for any incarcerated individual,” a BOP spokesperson said. “However, we can share that the BOP is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all individuals in our population, our employees, and the public. Humane treatment of the men and women in our custody is a top priority. The BOP is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, impartiality, and professionalism in the operation of its facilities.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Houston House and Community Resources for Justice for comment.

A coalition of civil rights groups filed a new lawsuit on Monday seeking to halt parts of a Texas law that would allow police officers in the Lone Star State to arrest migrants suspected of crossing into the U.S. across the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.

The law is set to take effect next week after a federal appeals court vacated a lower court ruling last week that had prevented its enforcement since 2024. In that ruling, he appeals court vacated an injunction that had blocked the law, finding that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue.

Senate Bill 4 established a state-level crime for entering the country illegally and authorized state magistrates to order certain individuals to leave the country if they are convicted.

Courts have long maintained that immigration enforcement has historically been treated as the responsibility of the federal government, but Texas Republicans attempted to challenge that precedent when they approved S.B. 4.

TEXAS BILL REQUIRING SHERIFFS TO COLLABORATE WITH ICE GIVEN INITIAL APPROVAL BY STATE HOUSE

The Texas Civil Rights Project, American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Texas argued that the law is unconstitutional, noting that immigration law is exclusively the responsibility of the federal government and that federal law should preempt the state law.

The groups are attempting to block four provisions of S.B. 4 — the creation of a crime for re-entering the country illegally, even if a person has since obtained legal status such as a green card; granting state magistrates authority to issue deportation orders; the creation of a crime for failing to comply with a magistrate’s deportation orders; and the requirement that magistrates continue a prosecution even if a person has a pending immigration case under federal law, such as an asylum claim.

“Our fight against S.B. 4 isn’t over until justice wins,” Kate Gibson Kumar, an attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project, said in a statement. “S.B. 4 is not only unconstitutional, but a vile law that uses our Texas resources to harm communities across our state. The Texas Civil Rights Project will keep fighting to protect Texas communities from the wrath of S.B. 4.”

Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, argued that S.B. 4 is “cruel and illegal,” adding that the groups “will keep fighting it until it is permanently struck down.”

“Every court to have reached the merits of laws like S.B. 4 has found them to be unconstitutional,” he said.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The law is scheduled to go into effect on May 15 unless another court takes action.

“S.B. 4 would transform our police and judges into immigration agents — threatening neighbors who have families here, who have lived here for years, even those who have legal status,” said Adriana Piñon, legal director at the ACLU of Texas. “Immigration enforcement is exclusively the federal government’s arena, and no state has ever claimed the power Texas threatens to wield here. We are taking this back to court to defend our Texas communities.”

TRUMP DOJ DROPS BIDEN-ERA CHALLENGE TO TEXAS BORDER SECURITY LAW

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Monday’s lawsuit is the latest legal challenge to the Texas law, which was passed by state lawmakers amid an uptick in migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border during the Biden administration.

Another lawsuit had been led by some of the same advocacy groups that filed Monday’s challenge. The Biden administration also initially sought to halt the law in 2024 before the Trump administration terminated the Department of Justice’s involvement in the lawsuit last year as part of the president’s mass deportation agenda.

Scott Singer, the former Republican mayor of Boca Raton and a candidate for Congress in Florida, is touting a significant campaign fundraising haul while outlining to Fox News Digital the reasons why he believes there is reason for optimism for the GOP in November. 

Singer’s first-quarter fundraising numbers in the 2026 cycle showed him significantly outraising incumbent Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., by a nearly 3-to-1 margin, along with slightly more cash on hand, despite being a first-time candidate.

As a result of Florida’s new redistricting push, Singer recently announced he will be running in the redrawn 25th congressional district, and it is unclear which district Moskowitz will decide to run in, but Singer tells Fox News Digital he is “very pleased” with the financial support he’s gotten from almost 3,600 contributors

“We’re very pleased that we had an amazing fundraising quarter, one of the best of any Republican challenger in the nation,” Singer said. “I think it’s going well because people are really enthused about our candidacy. I think people are ready for change. They’re upset with the progress of Congress.”

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With most pundits predicting a tough time for Republicans in the upcoming midterms as they attempt to hold a razor-thin majority in the House and tight majority in the Senate along with historical headwinds, Singer says he sees “great reason for optimism” as he campaigns in his race.

 “We have a strong economy, the strongest we’ve had in years, record growth in GDP inflation before the latest blip, which is temporary because of the Iran conflict,” Singer explained. “Inflation was at the lowest level we had for years and voters understand that it was the one unchecked runaway inflation under President Biden that put us in this situation.”

VOTERS SAY REPUBLICANS OUTDO DEMOCRATS ON THESE KEY ISSUES: FOX NEWS POLL

Singer continued, “President Trump and the administration have done so much to bring prices down across the board, and cutting regulations will continue to do that. The biggest tax cut in American history is reaching American taxpayers right now, with huge refunds going to individuals and the average refund for 12 million small businesses of $7,000 and that was done with every Democrat in Congress voting against it.”

Singer told Fox News Digital the GOP is now the “party of the middle” class thanks to tax-cutting policies for tips and overtime, and said he believes those “real benefits” will continue to take effect over the next year. 

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“I think people are going to be more optimistic,” Singer said. “If you look at so many objective indicators and not the panic that some media outlets put out there, things are great and when you interview voters and ask them about policies, they lean more to the right. They support the Republican agenda. That’s why I feel very optimistic, and I think other candidates, if we focus on the agenda and less on what the media would have us buy into comments about personality, it really affects what we’re doing on paychecks and what we are doing on the border.”

Republicans currently hold a razor-thin majority in the U.S. House of Representatives heading into the 2026 midterms, one of the narrowest controlling margins in nearly a century, with Democrats widely believed to be holding an edge, especially given the party in power historically sees losses in midterm elections.

Aggressive redistricting by both parties in states across the country has complicated the situation even further.

Democrats have been hammering President Trump and the Republican Party on high gas prices and the economy, and a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee pushed back on the Republican agenda in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Florida Republicans knew they couldn’t win on their cost-raising, billionaire-first, wildly unpopular agenda that’s crushing working families and small businesses, which is why they’re desperate to gerrymander the maps and rig the midterms,” DCCC spokesperson Nebeyatt Betre said. “Any Republican who claims the GOP’s price-spiking policies are popular only proves the fact they have no idea what voters are feeling right now.” 

New Jersey Democratic congressional candidate Rebecca Bennett walked away from questions about political violence against President Donald Trump in a video circulating online, as a person with her repeatedly told the questioner to “get a life.”

The video was shared by the Libs of TikTok account and shows a man approaching Bennett and asking whether she condemns attempts to harm the president. Bennett does not respond and continues walking as a woman accompanying her addresses the questioner.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Bennett, do you think that people should stop trying to kill the president?” the man is heard asking.

As he continues, the woman accompanying Bennett can be heard attempting to drown him out by singing.

REPUBLICANS CRITICIZE DEM CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE’S ’86 47′ POST AS CALL FOR ‘POLITICAL VIOLENCE’

“Oh my God. Dude, get a life. Get a life, dude,” the person says in the video.

Bennett is then seen walking away and heading toward a vehicle, partially obscured at times by a blue sign, as the questioning continues.

Bennett’s campaign told Fox News Digital that she “has and always will condemn political violence against President Trump.”

PATRICIA HEATON URGES ‘FRIENDS ON THE LEFT’ TO TONE DOWN EXTREME RHETORIC AFTER WHCD SHOOTING

The campaign also pointed to a post Bennett shared on X on April 26.

“Last night’s attack at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was an act of political violence, and I condemn it unequivocally,” Bennett wrote. “Political violence has no place in our democracy.”

“I’m grateful to the Secret Service agents and law enforcement officers who responded with extraordinary courage, who acted immediately to neutralize the threat,” she added. “Their bravery kept hundreds of people safe last night, and I’m relieved that everyone went home to their families.”

DEM IN TRUMP DISTRICT RACE SCRUBS SOCIAL MEDIA OF POSTS PRAISING PROGRESSIVES: ‘SCAM ARTIST’

“My thoughts are with everyone who was at the dinner last night.”

The Navy veteran and current member of the Air National Guard made news last year as a Democrat running for Congress who positioned herself as a moderate in a bid to unseat sitting Republican Thomas Kean Jr. in a pro-Trump district.

A Fox News Digital review of Bennett’s X account — created in July 2011 and converted from @BigRedBecks to @RebeccaForNJ07 — shows several deleted posts that appear to diverge from that “moderate” label, including praise for progressive Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

“Love her,” Bennett wrote in a now-deleted post about Warren in 2019.

Bennett also deleted posts praising former Vice President Kamala Harris after she was announced as then-former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020.

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During the civil unrest that followed the death of George Floyd in 2020, Bennett wrote in a now-deleted post that she agreed with a comment from former Obama campaign strategist David Plouffe calling for investigations into law enforcement responses.

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

Joe Kaufman knows what it’s like to lose a close race in a historically Democratic District. In fact, in the 2024 election cycle, Kaufman ran in the closest congressional race in the state, narrowly losing in the 23rd district to incumbent Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., a two-term congressman who has sought to build a moderate profile.

Florida has just completed its redistricting process, and this time around, Kaufman is confident that he can win, despite the Republicans facing headwinds.

Kaufman confirmed to Fox News Digital that in 2026, he will be running in the new 25th District, although it remains unclear exactly who his opponent will be or if he faces a primary challenger.

Moskowitz said on Monday that if he runs, it will be in the 25th District, while it appears that incumbent Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who would be seeking her 12th term in Congress, is also weighing running in the same district.

DEMOCRAT PRAISES STEVE SCALISE FOR QUICK ACTION DURING WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER SHOOTING

Kaufman brings a battle-tested strategy and message to the race, on the heels of his near-victory in 2024:

“Yes, we had 48% of the vote. It was the closest race in all of Florida and the highest percentage of any Republican to ever run for that seat. But back then, I got in very late in the game and this time around our numbers are much better, and we’ve been able to form those coalitions that we needed to last time. We’ve done that now, and I will win this seat this time.”

Kaufman bills himself as a “terrorist hunter” and brings strong foreign policy credentials to the table.

“I do counter-terrorism research, writing and lectures.” He says he’s been involved in “the shutdown of terrorist charities and the imprisonment of terror-related individuals. Recently, I led the shutdown of a pro-Hamas conference that was to take place in Coral Springs, and the organizers, including CAIR and the South Florida Muslim Federation, they were upset, so they sued me and the Marriott Corporation in federal court. They sued us not once, but twice and I’m proud to say that we won not once, but twice.”

“He says in regard to foreign policy, “I’ve been very involved these past few years in what’s been taking place. 17 years ago, I was honored to co-found a group called Cyrus Force with his majesty, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who we believe is going to be soon to be a future leader of Iran.”

Despite being a foreign policy hawk, Kaufman is opposed to putting troops on the ground in Iran.

“No, I don’t support ground troops, at least not from the United States. I don’t want to see what took place in wars past happen here with seeing Americans come back in body bags. I feel the same way about our friends in Israel. 

“But there are third parties that want to get involved, and I say, give them the green light to do so. So, if there’s any ground troops…they shouldn’t be from America or Israel. It should be from these third parties.”

Kaufman is a strong advocate for vocational training in high school, and a critic of the Affordable Care Act.

“Well, for one thing, I support putting vocational training in all of the high schools in America. And it’s a project I want to initiate as a congressman. Too many kids today are staying home with their parents after they graduate high school. They need to have real job skills so they could make money, get out of their parents’ homes, be able to have their own families, and eventually, purchase their own house of their own. 

“Also, I don’t like the Affordable Care Act. It was never affordable. It’s been taking hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies, thanks to the Democrats. And I think we need a new health care system that costs the American government less and costs the American taxpayer less and better quality. And I think we could have that without Obamacare.”

OBAMACARE PREMIUMS SET TO SPIKE AGAIN AS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FACES 2026 RATE HIKE PRESSURE

Historically, the party of the incumbent president loses seats in midterm elections the vast majority of the time. In what is widely believed to be a difficult year ahead for Republicans, Kaufman acknowledges the current engagement in Iran and the lingering effects of Biden-era inflation as challenges.

“Well, a lot of it has to do with the war overseas, but I believe that that’s going to be short term. I think that’s, that’s going to end soon. Also, with regards to inflation, we’re still dealing with the Biden years where Joe Biden initiated very heavy inflation for our country.

“And thank you, President Trump, for doing the things that would bring inflation down. So I’m looking forward to low inflation, better affordability and very soon an end to the war, and results overseas that allow us to have peace in the Middle East and more peace in world.”

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Kaufman says the Democratic Party is fundamentally broken, and Republicans can win on messaging in 2026.

“Well, the Democrats, they’ve allowed people, an untold amount of people, to cross our borders, some of which have been terrorists and members of terror cells. They’ve hurt the values in the United States. They’ve destroyed our healthcare system with an Affordable Care Act that was never affordable. They’ve done everything possible to destroy our nation, and we need to make that change.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., didn’t use the free government tax-filing system she had spent years promoting when it became available in her state, records show.

As far back as 2016, Warren pushed for a free IRS online tax preparation and filing service, a precursor to what became Direct File. The senator touted it as a way for taxpayers to save time and money. When Direct File launched a pilot program serving Massachusetts for the 2024 tax-filing season, however, Warren’s publicly released tax return indicated that she opted to use a private accountant instead.

Warren was ineligible to use Direct File during the 2024 tax-filing season because she chose not to take the standard deduction that year. The standard deduction under the program is a restriction critics say illustrates why the program was too limited to serve many taxpayers.

“The Direct File pilot program has been a huge win for taxpayers,” Warren said in April 2024. “This year, thousands of taxpayers saved hours of their time and the $150 typically spent on TurboTax and other junk filing fees — money that could be spent on groceries or rent … I’m excited to continue to work with the IRS and the Treasury Department to permanently extend and expand this free and easy tax filing solution for Americans.”

HAWLEY, WARREN TEAM UP TO BACK TRUMP, CRACK DOWN ON DEFENSE CONTRACTOR PAYOUTS

Warren has characterized herself as one of the top legislative architects of the Direct File system.

“For years, Senator Warren has been the Direct File program’s biggest champion — yet her own tax returns show she hired a private accountant,” David Williams, president of the Taxpayer Protection Alliance (TPA), a right-of-center fiscal advocacy group, told Fox News Digital. 

“Direct File was ill-equipped to handle investment, property and interest income — limiting the tax credits and deductions Americans deserve. At its core, the government would not have any incentive — as the tax preparer, collector, and auditor — to maximize those deductions,” he added. 

The Trump administration moved to suspend Direct File in 2025, and the IRS later told states the program would not be available for the 2026 filing season.

Even after her own return showed she used a private accountant and not Direct File for the 2024 tax-filing season, Warren continued to push for the system. On April 15, Tax Day 2026, Warren took a recently-introduced bill to the Senate floor seeking to revive the program. 

“Filing your taxes should be easy and free … Let’s save people time and money, and show the American people that government can work for them,” Warren said.

SEN WARREN UNLOADS ON TRUMP’S FED NOMINEE KEVIN WARSH IN EXPLOSIVE HEARING SHOWDOWN

Usage of the Direct File was low during the 2024 tax-filing season, with only 161,042 of the estimated 19 million eligible Americans submitting returns through it, according to an IRS report.

Among those who did use the service, however, 90% rated their experience as “excellent” or “above average,” according to the IRS. Large majorities of respondents reported that Direct File was easy to use and had high quality customer service support.

The TPA, however, says that 25% of Direct File users rated their experiences negatively, citing its analysis of user responses obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request.

THE SIMPLE TAX HABIT THAT COULD SAVE YOU THOUSANDS OVER YOUR LIFETIME

Critics of Direct File, such as conservative economist Stephen Moore, have argued that allowing the IRS, which has an incentive to maximize tax revenue, to prepare taxes for Americans creates a conflict of interest and that the program isn’t truly free, given its administrative costs. Proponents like the left-of-center advocacy group Public Citizen, meanwhile, argue that eliminating filing costs could save taxpayers billions of dollars per year at a relatively minor public expense.

Firms such as Intuit and H&R Block lobbied aggressively to kill Direct File, which many believed would cut into their profits.

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Warren’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent Monday.

FIRST ON FOX: Congress’s powerful Ways and Means Committee is expanding its investigation into an alleged “foreign-aligned influence network” that happened to be at the heart of the anti-American, pro-communist protests unleashed on the country’s streets on May Day.

Just after 1 p.m. on Friday, a black minivan pulled up to the curb on Union Square East in Lower Manhattan, and David Chung, organizing director of a national nonprofit, the People’s Forum, started quickly unpacking megaphones and bright yellow pre-made protest signs, including the message, “TRUMP IS THE SYMPTOM. CAPITALISM IS THE DISEASE. SOCIALISM IS THE CURE!”

Below the denunciation of the U.S. free enterprise system was the name “PARTY FOR SOCIALISM AND LIBERATION,” a self-declared Marxist communist group that worked closely with the People’s Forum as part of a network of 600 groups with $2 billion in collective funding behind protests on May 1, known as May Day. The scene repeated itself in cities across the country, with foot soldiers from the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Washington, D.C., chapter among the first to arrive for May Day protests, pulling identical bright yellow pre-made signs out of a black Subaru Outback parked on 21st Street NW.

600 GROUPS WITH $2B IN REVENUE MOBILIZE 3,000 MAY DAY PROTESTS IN A ‘RED-BLUE’ ALLIANCE, PROBE FINDS

Fox News Digital has now learned that House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith is escalating an investigation into an alleged malign influence of Neville Roy Singham, an American-born Marxist tech tycoon living in Shanghai, funding the People’s Forum and two other pro-communist, pro-China nonprofits headquartered in the U.S., BreakThrough BT Media Inc. and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, which regularly publish pro-China propaganda criticizing the U.S. as the “belly of the beast” and an “imperialist” power.

On Monday, Smith sent letters, obtained by Fox News Digital, to the three groups, raising “significant concerns” about “foreign influence or control” in the U.S. and the “financing arrangements and the structure of a foreign-aligned influence network, not protected speech or association.”

According to a Fox News Digital investigation published into the so-called “House of Singham,” the wealthy tech mogul has pumped a documented $278 million into a network of nonprofits, including the three groups, since 2017, pressing anti-American, pro-communist ideology in the U.S. and globally.

Smith repeatedly describes the three groups as part of an “interconnected network of organizations,” telling each nonprofit, “The Committee is considering whether legislative or regulatory reform is necessary to ensure that tax-exempt status is not used to facilitate or obscure foreign influence across an interconnected network of organizations.”

POWER COUPLE OF CHAOS: HOW A TYCOON AND ACTIVIST BUILT A ‘REVOLUTIONARY BASE’ AT THE HOUSE OF SINGHAM

While the congressional investigation isn’t a direct response to the May Day protests, the deepening investigation reveals a wider concern among lawmakers and Trump administration officials in the Treasury, Justice and State departments. They tell Fox News Digital they are concerned that overseas interests are exploiting U.S. nonprofit laws to create an infrastructure and industry that asserts “foreign malign influence” in the U.S., operating through tax-exempt organizations, donor-advised funds, shell companies, fiscal sponsorships and media platforms.

In his letter to the People’s Forum, Smith alleged that Singham and his wife, CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans, had funneled money into groups “through shell companies and donor-advised funds that, by design, obscure the true source of contributions.”

REVOLUTIONARY TOURISM: INSIDE THE $600M MARRIAGE OF DARK MONEY AND FAR-LEFT AGITPROP

The Missouri Republican lawmaker has ordered each organization to turn over internal documents related to the investigation by May 18, including communications with Singham, records of foreign-linked donations exceeding $5,000, contracts tied to fiscal sponsorship arrangements, communications with foreign principals and lists of grant recipients located outside the U.S.

The letters to the People’s Forum, BreakThrough and Tricontinental reveal a congressional strategy in which lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Oversight Committee have been trying to use their jurisdiction over tax-exempt organizations to examine whether nonprofit law is equipped to deal with the infrastructure that influence-peddlers allegedly build to bankroll activism, amplify propaganda and influence elections.

At a hearing earlier this year into the role of malign foreign influence in the U.S., Smith rebuked the groups for “sowing discord” in the country.

Smith’s letters also show the common defense mounted by the groups, whose lawyers argue that the inquiry is political, exceeds the committee’s jurisdiction, improperly invokes the Foreign Agents Registration Act, called FARA, and threatens First Amendment rights. Smith rejected those arguments, writing that “none of those challenges withstands scrutiny.”

TOP GOP SENATOR CALLS OUT CODE PINK, THE PEOPLE’S FORUM ALLEGEDLY PUSHING CCP PROPAGANDA IN US

According to the letters, Washington, D.C., attorney Andrew Herman is representing BreakThrough and Tricontinental, along with Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, a far-left 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that is also representing the People’s Forum. Herman and Verheyden-Hilliard didn’t respond to requests for comment.

According to digital records, the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund shares the same address at a Florida Avenue NW townhouse that is used by the ANSWER Coalition, a self-described communist group that also operates out of the People’s Forum headquarters on W. 37th Street in Midtown Manhattan. 

When approached outside the People’s Forum in late January, People’s Forum Executive Director Manolo De Los Santos, ANSWER Coalition and Party for Socialism and Liberation co-founder Brian Becker and BreakThrough editor-in-chief Ben Becker refused to answer questions about Singham’s funding to their groups. De Los Santos is a researcher at Tricontinental.

MAY DAY DEMONSTRATIONS EXPECTED TO DRAW THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AS LEFT-WINGERS PROTEST ‘BILLIONAIRES’

At the center of the congressional investigation is the influence of Singham. In 2017, Singham sold Thoughtworks, a company that he established, to a private equity firm, Apax Partners, for an estimated $785 million. He then used cash from the sale to build a network of nonprofits that promulgates anti-American Marxist ideology. A spokeswoman for Apax Partners told Fox News Digital that the firm wouldn’t reveal the identities of the investors that purchased Thoughtworks.

In his letters, Smith describes Singham as a former U.S. technology executive “now residing in Shanghai with documented [Chinese Communist Party] affiliations,” and he identifies the three Singham-funded organizations as three nodes in a complex “foreign-aligned influence network.” In a video unearthed by Fox News Digital, Singham expressed support at a conference co-sponsored by Tricontinental at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Shanghai, expressing support for the CCP, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Xi’s “new world order.”

In letters to BreakThrough News and Tricontinental, Smith said that he was investigating whether the groups are “acting as an agent of a foreign principal.”

FAR-LEFT NONPROFITS IN THE HOT SEAT AS LAWMAKER EXPOSES THEM FOR ‘SOWING CHAOS’ IN US

According to a Fox News Digital investigation, Singham has funneled $22.44 million to the People’s Forum between 2017 and 2022 through GS Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc., a donor-advised fund affiliated with Goldman Sachs. A spokesman for Goldman Sachs told Fox News Digital that the philanthropy terminated its relationship with Singham in early 2024.

Meanwhile, the Fox News Digital investigation found that Singham pumped $16.76 million into Tricontinental Ltd., through the Goldman Sachs philanthropy fund, and he funneled $1.098 million to BreakThrough BT Media Inc. from the Goldman Sachs fund, $2.1 million from the Justice and Education Fund, another Singham-funded nonprofit, and $60,600 from the Progress Unity Fund, another organization in the wider Singham network. 

Chung, the People’s Forum organizing director, was listed as chair of the Justice and Education Fund in its 2024 tax filing, with De Los Santos, from the People’s Forum and Tricontinental, and Karina Garcia, a leader with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, also on its board.

Smith focused on the People’s Forum’s role as a so-called “fiscal sponsor,” collecting tax-deductible donations for like-minded projects, writing that the group provides “fiduciary oversight, financial management and administrative services” for affiliated entities, an arrangement he said “may allow foreign-influenced funds to flow to downstream organizations.”

The committee’s demands show its investigative blueprint to follow the money, map global relationships and determine whether malign interests are exploiting America’s tax-exempt system to obscure foreign influence across a network, not just within one organization.

Back on the streets, Chung, the organizing director for the People’s Forum, stage-managed the group’s protesters as they weaved across New York City’s streets, crossing over Union Square West, chanting, “One struggle, one fight!”

Soon after, BreakThrough posted the video clip, cropping Chung out of the shot.

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Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan, Louis Casiano and Jesse Watson contributed to this report.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is eyeing New York for potential redistricting gains as Republicans race to redraw congressional maps in several Southern states ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Jeffries unveiled the New York Democracy Project on Monday to explore redrawing the Empire State’s congressional map to benefit Democrats, who hold 19 of the state’s 26 congressional seats. The initiative is part of his efforts to push blue states to consider new partisan gerrymanders after the Supreme Court restricted the use of race in drawing electoral districts last week — a move that could put more than a dozen Democratic-held seats in jeopardy.

Jeffries also mentioned Colorado, Illinois and Maryland as top places where Democrats will seek to gerrymander more seats ahead of 2028 in an interview with Politico. 

“This is just the beginning,” Jeffries said in a statement on Monday. “Across the nation, we will sue, we will redraw, and we will win.”

‘FULL OF S—‘: NEW YORK REPUBLICAN ACCUSES STATE DEMS OF HYPOCRISY IN REDISTRICTING PUSH

“House Democrats will not allow a MAGA majority to be built on rigged maps and the dilution of Black voting strength,” the top Democrat added. “Ultimately, this will end poorly for Republican extremists. It’s the American people who get to decide who wins the majority in Congress, not Donald Trump.” 

Though Democrats face several hurdles in drawing a new congressional map in New York this year, Gov. Kathy Hochul said that she would work with the state legislature to redistrict before 2028. 

“New York has always led the fight for voting rights, and we’ll lead again,” Hochul said of the possible new gerrymander after the Supreme Court’s ruling last week.

Jeffries said Monday that he directed Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., to meet with the state legislature to discuss redrawing the state’s congressional map. Passing a constitutional amendment as early as 2027 to allow the state legislature to draw a Democratic-friendly gerrymander is an option under consideration, according to his statement.

RON DESANTIS UNVEILS NEW FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL MAP THAT WOULD GIVE THE GOP AN EXTRA FOUR SEATS

New York Republicans sharply criticized the redistricting initiative on Monday.

“Jeffries, Hochul, and other New York Democrats insult the intelligence of voters, who strongly supported redistricting reforms in 2014, including a ban on partisan gerrymandering,” New York Republican Party chairman Ed Cox said in a statement. ” Democrats tried to torpedo that reform but the people rejected their efforts in 2021. I am confident that they will do so yet again.”

Jeffries’ announcement came shortly after Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., signed a new GOP-friendly congressional map that could net Republicans as many as four seats in the Sunshine State.

The top Democrat has sharply criticized DeSantis for calling a special session to redraw Florida’s map, which he argued is “blatantly illegal” in a statement on Monday. Jeffries has also pledged to aggressively target vulnerable GOP lawmakers in Florida as Democrats look to retake control of the House this November.

“Democrats have brutally thwarted the MAGA midterm power grab, and we will continue to push back aggressively,” Jeffries said in a statement. “See you in court.”

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President Donald Trump has urged Republican-led states to swiftly pass new congressional maps before the midterm elections to give the GOP an advantage in districts that could help decide House control. So far, Republicans have passed GOP-friendly maps in Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Missouri, while Democrats have drawn new Democratic-heavy seats in California and Virginia.

A number of Republican states, including Louisiana and Tennessee, are moving forward with redistricting efforts to eliminate Black-majority districts held by Democrats following the Supreme Court’s ruling. In Tennessee, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who is running to be the state’s next governor, has pitched a new map that would allow Republicans to hold every district.

After resigning in the face of a House ethics probe, disgraced former Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has been cut off from doing business with the federal government or receiving federal grants, aid or contracts.

This comes as Cherfilus-McCormick, a Florida Democrat, is charged with stealing $5 million in COVID-19 FEMA funds and making illegal campaign contributions. Cherfilus-McCormick resigned from Congress in late April after Republicans vowed to force a vote to expel her from the chamber. Though she resigned, Cherfilus-McCormick has denied any wrongdoing and is still running to regain her congressional seat this November.

Now, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, announced that Cherfilus-McCormick has been suspended, a federal designation that temporarily bars her from receiving contracts, grants or other federal funds. Her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, along with other associates and affiliated entities named in the federal indictment, has also been suspended by DHS.

“Former Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick abused Americans’ trust in the most egregious way possible,” DHS General Counsel James Percival said in a statement. “She manipulated the COVID-19 crisis to funnel over $5 million of FEMA relief funds to her and her family members.”

DEM CONGRESSWOMAN INDICTED FOR ‘PARTICULARLY SELFISH’ ALLEGED THEFT OF FEMA RELIEF FUNDS FOR CAMPAIGN USE

“This is outright fraud,” Percival added, continuing, “That’s exactly what a federal grand jury and the U.S. House of Representatives found.”

Percival said he is “proud that my office is taking the first step to ensure she is held accountable and American taxpayers’ money is protected from further misuse.”

Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted by a Miami grand jury in November 2025 for allegedly stealing $5 million from FEMA. The decision to resign from office came just before the House Ethics Committee was scheduled to recommend she be punished for misusing disaster relief funding that she allegedly funneled through several companies into her campaign coffers.

The committee found that she had committed 18 campaign finance violations, five counts of false financial disclosures, three counts of misusing official funds and one count of lack of candor.

Cherfilus-McCormick maintained her innocence, asserting that “This was not a fair process.”

She said in a press release that the House Ethics Committee “refused my new attorney’s reasonable request for time to prepare my defense.” She wrote, “I simply cannot stand by and allow my due process rights to be trampled on, and my good name to be tarnished.”

FLORIDA DEM FILED FOR RE-ELECTION DAYS BEFORE RESIGNATION AS HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE RAMPED UP PRESSURE

“Rather than play these political games, I choose to step away so that I can devote my time to fighting for my neighbors in Florida’s 20th district. I hereby resign from the 119th Congress, effective immediately,” she wrote.

DHS said that Cherfilus-McCormick’s suspension aligns with President Donald Trump’s executive order establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. The Trump Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which is led by “fraud czar” Vice President JD Vance, has been directed by the president to combat fraud, waste and abuse in federal benefit programs, “restore integrity to taxpayer-funded safety-net programs” and ensure that benefits go only to eligible Americans.

Vance said last week that the task force has been “working around the clock to root out fraudsters who have taken advantage of Americans’ generosity for far too long.”

KLOBUCHAR VOWS FRAUD CRACKDOWN, AUDIT OF MN GOV’T AS GOP BLASTS WALZ TIES

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He pointed out that since the task force was launched, it has exposed 447 California hospices suspected of more than $600 million in fraud, while the U.S. Small Business Administration has referred more than 560,000 fraudulent COVID-era loans totaling $22 billion to the Treasury for collection.

Fox News Digital reached out to Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaign for comment.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new congressional map into law Monday that could flip as many as four additional U.S. House seats to red, escalating a redistricting fight in the second-largest red state to combat the long-running Democratic sweep in the deep-blue Northeast.

“Signed, sealed and delivered,” DeSantis hailed in a Monday X post, sharing an image of Florida’s newly redrawn districts.

The GOP-controlled Legislature passed the proposal just days earlier and the Senate approved it, one week after DeSantis’ office delivered the plan to lawmakers.

DeSantis and Republican allies have pointed to Florida’s population growth as justification for redrawing the map, which is expected to draw immediate legal challenges from Democrats and left-wing voting rights groups.

RON DESANTIS UNVEILS NEW FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL MAP THAT WOULD GIVE THE GOP AN EXTRA FOUR SEATS

Florida Republicans hold a 20-8 advantage in the state’s congressional delegation under the map DeSantis signed four years ago. The new map could expand that edge to 24 seats by reshaping districts now held by Reps. Kathy Castor, D-Fla.; Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.; Darren Soto, D-Fla.; and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.

The map would leave Republican red across most of Florida, with four Democratic strongholds relegated to major metro areas.

Those for Democrats have said they intend to seek re-election, though some are weighing runs in newly configured districts.

FLORIDA DEMOCRAT PREDICTS DOOM FOR HIS PARTY IN THE STATE FOR ANOTHER 70 YEARS

Moskowitz has not made a “final decision,” but said that if he runs, he would seek the 25th District, a coastal South Florida seat that includes many Jewish voters and roughly half of his current district, he told Politico on Monday.

The district backed President Donald Trump in 2024 but is still viewed by some Republican consultants as competitive.

DeSantis has pushed for new congressional lines since last summer, citing several reasons, including the possibility that the Supreme Court could further restrict how race can be considered in redistricting.

The governor’s office has said the new map was drawn in a “race neutral” manner. That approach led to major changes in a South Florida district previously held by former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., who resigned earlier this month.

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Democrats dispute DeSantis’ argument, pointing in part to Central Florida, where Hispanic voters — many of them Puerto Rican — were split across several districts.

Florida’s Fair Districts amendment bars districts drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent.

New York City Public Schools are under investigation by the Trump administration over allegations that a group of pro-Palestinian teachers sought to sow “hatred towards Jewish students” during classroom instruction.

The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights announced its investigation into the nation’s largest public school system nearly two weeks ago after receiving reports that teachers were organizing seminars propping up the Palestinian resistance and labeling Zionists as “genocidal white supremacists.”

“No child should be taught by his or her teachers to hate their peers. Neither should Jewish children be taught that being Jewish somehow makes them inherently guilty or proponents of hate and violence,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a statement. “Discrimination has no place in our schools, and, unlike the previous Administration, the Trump Administration will not turn a blind eye to antisemitic harassment.”

The Education Department’s investigation into New York City Public Schools comes as NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani enters his fifth month in office. Mamdani has previously been heavily scrutinized for his anti-Israel rhetoric, having accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing war crimes and said Palestinians are facing a “genocide” perpetrated by the Jewish state. He also revoked an executive order that blocked New York City officials from boycotting or divesting in Israel and another executive order that expanded the definition of antisemitism.

TRUMP ADMIN WON’T TOLERATE ANTISEMITISM IN SCHOOLS, SAYS LEO TERRELL AS NYC SCHOOLS UNDER MICROSCOPE

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office.

At the center of the Education Department’s investigation is a group of educators known as NYC Educators for Palestine. The group’s mission statement centers on the belief that “education should be a tool for liberation not occupation” and that teachers should work “both inside and outside the classroom” to achieve Palestinian justice.

The Education Department noted the group’s teaching seminars focused on “Palestinian, Zionism, and Resistance” as a potential Title VI violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. During these seminars, which were taught to children as young as five, the educators focused on the “contemporary and historical Palestinian resistance.” Complaints alleged that the seminars depicted Zionists as “genocidal white supremacists” and that it gave credence to support Hamas and its “martyrs.”

‘ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT’ SECTION OF STUDY GUIDE FOR NEW YORK HIGH SCHOOLERS DRAWS OUTRAGE

NYC Educators for Palestine also organized a “Teach-In for Palestine” set for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The “teach-in” was advertised for students as young as six.

Fox News Digital reached out to NYC Educators for Palestine for comment.

A spokesperson for New York City Public Schools denied the group’s affiliation with the school district.

JEWISH STUDENTS ‘SCARED’ AFTER MAMDANI WINS NYC MAYOR RACE, CALLING IT ‘HUGE BLOW’

“The group referenced is not connected to New York City Public Schools,” a spokesperson said.

But a parent told Fox News that it seemed teachers were “so radicalized and so focused on sending messages like this [pro-Palestine] rather than focusing on really crucial skills like literacy and critical thinking.”

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The Education Department’s investigation into New York City Public Schools is just the latest investigation into allegations of antisemitism running rampant in public school districts across the country in the wake of the Gaza War.

Last August, the Trump administration launched an investigation into Baltimore City Public Schools for alleged antisemitic harassment. The investigation is still ongoing.

More than 60 colleges and higher education institutions have been notified by the Trump administration of pending investigations into the schools’ failures to properly address antisemitism on campus.

Fox News’ Lauren Green contributed to this report.

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s ongoing hospitalization is related to serious health repercussions of his heroism in New York City following the 9/11 terror attacks nearly 25 years ago, and the Republican stalwart’s condition appears to be improving, Fox News Digital has learned.

Giuliani was in the final year of his two-term mayorship when terrorists hijacked airliners and crashed them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, killing thousands. He was two blocks away when the first tower fell at 9:59 AM ET on that otherwise sunny Tuesday and felt the effects first-hand, close-up.

GIULIANI BLASTS DE BLASIO’S TENURE AS MAYOR

Giuliani spokesman Ted Goodman told Fox News Digital on Monday that the 81-year-old ex-mayor and former presidential candidate is currently recovering from pneumonia and still being monitored at a Florida hospital as a “precautionary measure.”

“On September 11, Mayor Giuliani ran toward the towers to help those in need, which led to a restrictive airway disease diagnosis,” Goodman said in a statement he also later posted to X.

DEMOCRATS WHO RALLIED AT ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS MOCKED FOR CHEERING KING CHARLES IN CONGRESS

“This disease adds complications to any emerging respiratory issue, and the virus quickly overwhelmed his body, requiring mechanical ventilation to maintain his blood pressure.”

Sometimes called “World Trade Center Cough,” restrictive airway disease is a lung condition caused by inhalation of heavily-alkaline dust from materials like concrete, as well as asbestos and glass that was pulverized when the towers collapsed and shrouded about one-fifth of Manhattan Island in some level of dust-induced darkness.

Thousands of first responders have battled or died from the disease, leading famous Tri-State figures like comedian Jon Stewart to publicly take up the mantle of their cause.

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Goodman said Monday that Giuliani is now breathing on his own and has primary medical providers at his side.

“Mayor Giuliani is the ultimate fighter—as he has demonstrated throughout his life—and he is winning this battle,” he said.

“His family deeply appreciates the outpouring of love and support. The mayor believes in the power of prayer, and we are feeling that strength today. He remains in critical but stable condition. Keep the prayers coming.”

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche insisted Sunday that the indictment against former FBI Director James Comey rests on more than just an “8647” Instagram picture, saying new evidence would come to light in court to support the government’s claim that Comey’s post amounted to a criminal threat against the president. 

Blanche provided the remarks during a “Meet the Press” interview as he was grilled about the credibility of the high-profile case and whether it was politically motivated. The charges hinge on whether prosecutors can prove the former FBI director’s intent, a key legal threshold. Blanche signaled the Department of Justice will present broader evidence in court to support the charge while rejecting claims the prosecution was driven by Trump’s past clashes with Comey.

“You prove intent like you always prove intent,” Blanche said. “You prove intent with witnesses. You prove intent with documents, with materials. … This is not just about a single Instagram post. This is about a body of evidence that the grand jury collected over the series of about 11 months.”

The term “86” is understood as slang to get rid of someone or something, rooted in restaurant usage for an unavailable item or refused customer. Prosecutors allege that, paired with “47” — a reference to Trump as the 47th president — Comey’s post amounted to a threat.

HOW JAMES COMEY’S INDICTMENT COULD GO SOUTH FOR THE DOJ

Blanche noted that threatening the president was a common criminal charge. But he said the DOJ does not prosecute everyday mentions of “8647,” such as paraphernalia featuring the numbers being sold on Amazon, and that other factors were in play in Comey’s case.

“Rest assured that the career assistant United States attorneys in North Carolina, the career FBI agents, the career Secret Service agents that investigated this case didn’t just look at the Instagram post and walk away. … So I am not permitted to get into the details of what the grand jury heard or found,” Blanche said. “But rest assured that it’s not just the Instagram post that leads somebody to get indicted.”

The DOJ brought two charges against Comey in federal court in North Carolina last week alleging an Instagram post he made last year of seashells on the beach amounted to a threat to harm or kill Trump.

The post prompted an outcry from social media users, who accused Comey of threatening Trump, his longtime political nemesis, leading Comey to immediately delete the image and issue an apology. Comey said at the time he did not realize the number “86” was associated with violence.

FORMER FBI DIRECTOR JAMES COMEY MEETS WITH SECRET SERVICE AFTER CONTROVERSIAL ’86 47′ POST

Then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem responded by announcing that U.S. Secret Service would investigate the post, and Comey voluntarily met with federal agents at the time for an interview, though no charges were brought.

The case marks the Justice Department’s second recent prosecution of Comey, after a separate indictment alleging he lied to Congress was tossed on procedural grounds. The DOJ is appealing that decision. 

Blanche was also questioned over whether Comey was charged because Trump explicitly called for the DOJ to bring criminal charges against him and other political foes in a Truth Social post last fall, calling them “guilty as hell” and saying “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

“Do the American people think that nothing was done on those cases until President Trump posted that Truth in September?” Blanche asked. “No, these are ongoing investigations.”

The latest indictment against Comey has faced widespread criticism as Democrats and some Republicans argue the charges present a free speech problem and do not rise to the “true threat” standard established by the Supreme Court. Comey’s attorney said in court that he plans to ask the judge to toss out the charges because they were selective and vindictive. Still, the DOJ and Trump allies are standing firmly behind the charges as they warn critics to wait to hear evidence before jumping to conclusions.

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Comey’s arraignment is slated for May 11 in Greenville.

Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ and Comey’s lawyer for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Jon Husted has secured a record-breaking 75 endorsements from Ohio’s 88 county sheriffs, marking the largest show of support from law enforcement in the state’s history, including a “clean sweep” of Independent sheriffs and a show of support from across party lines.

“They’ve seen at the national level people like Sherrod Brown denying the border crisis, when millions of people poured across our border who were unvetted,” Husted told Fox News Digital. “That included people who were bringing drugs and human trafficking.”

He explained his belief that the immigration and crime policies put in place under the Biden administration made law enforcement hesitant to support Brown, Husted’s Democratic opponent in November who is aiming to return to the Senate after being ousted in 2024 after 18 years in the chamber.

Local sheriffs feel abandoned by previous federal policies, according to Husted.

“They would tell me that they would arrest people who were in the country illegally, they would have them in their jails, they would call Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and ICE would just say ‘let them go,'” Husted claimed.

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Husted argued that the current return to pro-enforcement policies in the Trump administration has changed the game for those on the ground. 

“These are the people on the front line,” Husted said. “That’s what they experience. They know the difference between where Sherrod Brown is on those issues… and where I’ve been. Now they see the opposite. When they arrest somebody who has committed a crime, who’s in the country illegally, they just call ICE, ICE comes and gets them, and they do the process of deportation.”

The list of officials backing Husted includes a sheriff who previously stood with Husted’s opponent, Sherrod Brown. Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn, who endorsed Brown in the last cycle, is now firmly behind Husted.

“Jon Husted has proven he will stand up for law enforcement,” Wasylyshyn said in a press release. “In this race, he’s earned my support. I’ve seen his leadership, and I’m confident he will continue to support those of us working to keep our communities safe.”

Additionally, the sheriff from Brown’s home county of Richland is supporting Husted.

Husted also framed the issue of crime as a struggle for everyday Ohioans, noting that “working families” don’t have the luxury of private security like some of the high-profile celebrity critics of crime crackdowns.

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“If you’re, you know, a working family of four, you make $80,000 a year, you don’t live in a gated community with officers and security,” Husted said. “You live in neighborhoods where, in many cases, criminals try to come and steal cars, bring drugs and things like that. And they don’t want that. That’s why working families support law and order. They support the rule of law. They want people to follow the law, and they want law enforcement to enforce the law.”

The senator’s campaign pointed to Husted’s long-standing record of funding law enforcement. Throughout his service, he led efforts to invest more than $274 million into Ohio law enforcement for body cameras, training and wellness programs. He also pioneered the creation of a statewide law enforcement recruitment hub to address critical staffing shortages.

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“Jon Husted has been an ally to law enforcement when others have turned their backs,” said Van Wert County Sheriff Thomas Riggenbach. “He has always stood with those of us on the front lines, making sure we have the resources and support we need to do our jobs.”

For Husted, the endorsements are more than just numbers; they are a validation of his career-long alignment with police. “I’ve been behind the police my whole life,” Husted said. “They’re on the front lines of fighting crime, and they know I’ve always had their backs. I support them, and they support me—and together, we’ll keep Ohio safe.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Brown campaign for comment.

The Ohio Senate race is viewed as a key battleground because Democrats see it as a winnable pickup that could erode the GOP’s narrow 53–47 majority, while Republicans need to hold it to prevent their already slim margin from tightening further.

Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker is urging state officials to pursue criminal investigations into federal immigration enforcement agents involved in Operation Midway Blitz, citing a report released by a commission he created to investigate federal agents’ conduct during the months-long investigation.

Pritzker’s Thursday press conference unveiling the Illinois Accountability Commission’s recommendation to pursue criminal investigations into ICE and other federal agents came just over a month after he first vowed to seek criminal charges against Trump administration officials and law enforcement officers he said had “broken the law.”

“Our communities and our people were subjected to an unprecedented campaign of harassment, intimidation and brutality,” Pritzker said at the news conference. “They deployed tear gas and smoke grenades against peaceful protesters and peaceful crowds and in peaceful neighborhoods. They committed flagrant and egregious abuses of power and force that went unchecked.”

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The report was compiled by eight members who were appointed to the commission by Pritzker. Members of the commission include retired judges, a retired law enforcement official, former prosecutors and a nonprofit leader. The report pinpointed more than a dozen incidents involving federal agents as alleged instances of misconduct that warrant further investigation, including the death of Silverio Villegas González, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was shot and killed by ICE agents.

The more than 150-page report accused the Trump administration of lying about the motivation behind Operation Midway Blitz and that it “distorted key facts about events involving federal immigration agents.”

“High-level White House, DHS and other federal officials enabled and encouraged misconduct by ICE and CBP agents during Operation Midway Blitz by urging agents to ‘go hard,’ defending and mischaracterizing incidents of use of force, shielding agents from accountability, lifting safeguards, and effectuating harmful policies,” the report alleged.

The report alleged that federal agents engaged in “unconstitutional uses of force” which consisted of “extreme physical force, indiscriminate use of chemical agents, shootings, beatings, and other violent acts.”

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“Governor Pritzker continues to refuse to do his job to protect his citizens from illegal alien crime and instead chooses to smear our law enforcement,” Department of Homeland Security Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said. “Where is the investigation into his own policies that allowed Sheridan Gorman’s killer to be released from jail to go on and commit her heinous murder?”

Bis slammed Pritzker’s calls for criminal prosecution as “nothing more than a political stunt.”

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“Federal officers acting in the course of their duties can only be investigated by other Federal agencies,” Bis said. “The states do not have the authority to run such an investigation.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the Office of the Illinois Attorney General for comment.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger left the door open to imposing taxes on services like gym memberships, digital subscriptions and dog grooming when asked about the possibility during a recent interview.

“I think every idea, as long as it’s reasonable and makes some amount of sense, should be discussed,” Spanberger told a local ABC affiliate.

“I think there are worthy conversations to be had about what revenue generation looks like into the future as our economy changes in so many ways.”

The comment comes as Spanberger tries to leave the door open to exploring new sources of revenue for Virginia while also fending off accusations from the White House that have painted her as a tax-happy Democrat.

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“So sad! She is adding so many taxes: a food and beverage tax, digital services tax, utilities tax and more. People are leaving that would never have even thought of doing so!” Trump said in a post to Truth Social.

“This went from a thriving and powerful place to a commonwealth run by a person who has no concept of low taxes and economic strength.”

Those criticisms stemmed from a handful of bills introduced in the Virginia state legislature that, if implemented, would extend taxes to: storage facilities, counseling, dry cleaning, vehicle repair, website design, data storage and digital subscription storage.

The bills, which were first introduced by lawmakers during the tenure of Spanberger’s predecessor, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, never reached the floor of the General Assembly for a vote before the end of the state’s legislative session on March 14.

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Notably, apart from a bill that will raise the minimum wage incrementally to $15 an hour by 2028, Spanberger has yet to sign off on any new state-based increases — a record she believes Trump is misrepresenting.

“The array of taxes that the president asserts move forward in Virginia is sort of ludicrous,” Spanberger said.

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But Spanberger also noted that she could revisit ways to raise revenue from shifting industries that have changed the tax calculus.

“You used to buy a DVD; there used to be sales tax. Streaming is different. So, I recognize there’s value in having these conversations,” Spanberger said, highlighting one such area of change.

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Spanberger said that any decision along those lines would ultimately depend on the specific language of a proposal.

“Whether I would ever sign a bill is wholly dependent on what is actually in the bill and how it is outlined,” Spanberger said.

Federal prosecutors’ stunning indictment of a left-wing activist group for alleged financial crimes is reverberating in Georgia’s 2026 Senate race, with Republicans targeting Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., for his past ties to the organization. 

The Department of Justice brought criminal charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center in April for allegedly defrauding its donors by secretly transferring money to extremist groups with the goal of infiltrating and monitoring their activities. 

Ossoff, the most vulnerable Senate Democrat running for re-election in 2026, is endorsed by the law center’s 501(c)(4) arm. The group contributed more than $700,000 to his campaign account in 2020, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.

The Georgia Democrat has also praised the group’s purported efforts to combat racism.

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“Thank you for decades of work defending civil rights in the United States,” Ossoff said in a video celebrating the nonprofit group’s 50th anniversary in November 2021.

“I’m deeply concerned, like many of you, by the rising level of polarization, hatred and mistrust in our society,” he added. “We must recommit to the path of love, tolerance and peaceful coexistence if we are to flourish as a nation and as a world.”

During that time, federal prosecutors allege that instead of combating extremism, the SPLC was providing financial support to organizations that spread it.

Between 2014 and 2023, the Alabama-based organization paid more than $3 million to informants belonging to the United Klans of America, the Aryan Nation and other neo-Nazi groups, according to the 11-count indictment, which included charges of bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. The group allegedly concealed the payments by setting up bank accounts under fictitious names and did not inform federal law enforcement about their activities.

One informant, who the law center paid more than $270,000, was a member of an online group that helped plan the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, according to the indictment. Federal prosecutors said the informant attended the rally at the direction of the SPLC and “made racist postings” on behalf of the left-wing nonprofit.

Thirty-two-year-old Heather Heyer died after a man drove his vehicle through a crowd of counter-protesters while injuring nearly 20 others.

“The SPLC was not dismantling these groups,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a news conference in April. The group, he added, “was instead allegedly manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred.” 

SPLC interim CEO Bryan Fair slammed the charges as politically motivated and has argued the since-defunct program “saved lives.” 

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The Republican National Committee (RNC) hammered Ossoff’s ties to the law center.

“If Jon Ossoff is too spineless to reject the Southern Poverty Law Center’s endorsement and return their money, he’s complicit in funneling millions to violent extremist groups like the KKK,” RNC spokeswoman Emma Hall said. “Anyone who doesn’t condemn these indicted fraudsters is wrong for Georgia — plain and simple.” 

Ossoff has not commented on the grand jury indictment. His campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Ossoff is facing a crowded field of GOP challengers ahead of November.

Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter, R-Ga., and former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley are vying for the Republican nomination in an increasingly bitter three-way contest. President Donald Trump has yet to intervene and a significant chunk of the state’s Republican voters are undecided, according to recent polling.

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The GOP candidates have raised just a fraction of the Ossoff campaign’s $31.7 million war chest.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report changed its race rating to “lean Democrat” in Ossoff’s favor earlier in April, citing an “increasingly sour national environment” for Republicans.