Michigan governor hopeful pressed on past SPLC work after DOJ indictment: ‘What did Jocelyn know?’
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s campaign hit back at Republican attacks Friday after the state GOP demanded answers from the Democratic gubernatorial front-runner on her past work with the federally-indicted Southern Poverty Law Center. Benson is a former volunteer and later board member of the SPLC, which was indicted Tuesday on 11 counts over accusations it fraudulently paid members of extremist groups like the KKK and those tied to the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the SPLC paid members of these extremist groups so it could create a “work product that reported on these activities.” “Jocelyn Benson regularly touted her experience as a leader of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a group that the Department of Justice says secretly funneled money to the KKK and other hate groups they were purportedly tracking,” the Michigan Republican Party posted on its official X account on Friday. “What did Jocelyn know, and when did she know it?” JAY JONES TARGETED AS AGS URGE NATIONAL GROUPS TO DENY MEMBERSHIP OVER SCANDALS: ‘STAIN ON OUR INSTITUTION’ After her 2004 graduation from college in Massachusetts, Benson moved to Alabama to work for the SPLC, where she aided investigations of hate groups and hate crimes, according to the Harvard Law Review. She also visited the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma where civil rights figures like the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., marched and were badly beaten by law enforcement. An official with the Benson campaign confirmed she served as a volunteer researcher for the SPLC after college and later served on the Montgomery-based group’s board from 2014–2018. But when pressed on what Benson knew about the allegations in the DOJ’s indictment, her campaign pushed back on the Republican Party’s attacks. “Jocelyn Benson has spent her career advancing the unfinished work of the civil rights movement and expanding economic opportunity, including helping dismantle white supremacist and neo-Nazi extremist networks responsible for hate crimes across the country,” the campaign told Fox News Digital on Friday. “And while Donald Trump is trying to use his Justice Department to distract from his reckless economic policies that are driving up costs for Michiganders, Jocelyn remains focused on lower costs, raising wages, and protecting the rights and freedoms of the people in this state.” Republicans continued to press Benson for answers. MIGOP Chairman Jim Runestad told Fox News Digital that Benson’s tenure on the SPLC board coincided with the timeframe in which the DOJ alleged the group began “paying the KKK and other extremist groups.” DEM GOV’S NEW CAMPAIGN MESSAGE MAN ONCE SAID ‘RELIGIOUS RIGHT’ UNITED BY ‘WHITE SUPREMACY’ “Benson owes an explanation to the public in what she knows about the SPLC’s alleged criminal behavior, considering the criminal activity started around the same time Benson was named to the Board,” Runestad said. Benson has previously described her early work at the SPLC as focused on investigating extremist groups. In a 2025 interview with “Keen on America,” Benson recounted researching groups “claiming to be the reincarnation of [Adolf] Hitler,” saying she once sat alone in a hotel room in Spartanburg and feared those people “were going to find out who I was and come and kill me and no one would ever know about it and all the rest.” “And that was an act of courage, small and no one saw it, but it helped me build a bravery muscle that and several other points throughout my life so that 20 years later, 25 years later, when I’m standing up to the president of the United States, it wasn’t the first time I’ve had to take on those harrowing fights,” Benson went on in the interview. In prior comments, an SPLC official named Penny Weaver described Benson as coming to Montgomery “straight out of college as an unpaid intern, then worked for us.” “Benson worked as a waitress to support herself so she could continue to volunteer at the center,” Weaver said, adding that Benson begged to be able to volunteer for the SPLC. BLACK LIVES MATTER OKC LEADER CHARGED WITH WIRE FRAUD, MONEY LAUNDERING IN ALLEGED $3.15M EMBEZZLEMENT SCHEME The SPLC is a longstanding left-wing nonprofit that claims to fight White supremacy and racial hatred by reporting on extremist groups and conducting research to inform law enforcement about them with the goal of dismantling the groups. SPLC’s CEO, Bryan Fair, addressed the probe in a video message posted online, arguing the Trump administration has “made no secret who they want to protect and who they want to destroy.” “We are reviewing the charges,” a subsequent statement from Fair sent to Fox News Digital added. “However, after today’s Department of Justice press conference, we are outraged by the false allegations levied against SPLC – an organization that for 55 years has stood as a beacon of hope fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice to create a multi-racial democracy where we can all live and thrive. Taking on violent hate and extremist groups is among the most dangerous work there is, and we believe it is also among the most important work we do. To be clear, this program saved lives.” The complete list of these groups, according to a Justice Department press release, includes the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, Unite the Right, National Alliance, the National Socialist Movement, Aryan Nations affiliated Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club, National Socialist Party of America (American Nazi Party), and the American Front. Blanche and FBI Director Patel also argued Tuesday that the SPLC tried to hide its payments to groups the SPLC told its donors it was trying to combat, leading to several of the charges in the indictment. Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch and Alec Schemmel and Fox News’ Jake Gibson and David Spunt contributed to this report.
DeSantis under pressure as Florida redraw could tip House balance in GOP map fight
All eyes are on Florida next week, as it is likely the final battleground in the high-stakes fight between President Donald Trump and Republicans versus Democrats over congressional redistricting. A special session of the Florida legislature, called earlier this year by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to redraw the right-leaning state’s U.S. House districts, kicks off on Tuesday. At stake is which party will control the House of Representatives during the final two years of Trump’s second term in the White House. Republicans and Democrats over the past nine months have been redrawing the House district maps in states they control to gain partisan advantages heading into this year’s midterm elections, when the GOP will be defending its razor-thin congressional majority. DESANTIS AND JEFFRIES TRADE SHOTS OVER FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING Lawmakers in the GOP-dominated Florida legislature are meeting one week after voters in Virginia narrowly passed a referendum that, if it clears legal hurdles, will give the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature — rather than the current nonpartisan commission — temporary redistricting power through the 2030 election. It could result in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in Virginia’s congressional delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge. The vote in Virginia put more pressure on DeSantis to deliver a new map in Florida that could create between three and five more right-leaning congressional districts. “Florida has the right and the intention to do it. And my view is that they should,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Wednesday when asked if Florida’s maps should be redrawn in time for the midterms. A Florida-based Republican in the governor’s wider political circle who asked for anonymity to speak more freely told Fox News Digital, “Gov. DeSantis is under tremendous pressure to deliver an answer to Virginia for Trump and Speaker Johnson.” But that source added that despite pressure from the president’s political team, the map DeSantis may unveil on Monday on the eve of the special legislative session will likely aim for three rather than five additional right-leaning districts. The road ahead for DeSantis is not easy: the governor already pushed through a new House map four years ago, which helped secure the GOP’s current 20-8 majority in Florida’s U.S. House delegation. Redrawing the map again just four years later is harder. VIRGINIA VOTE GIVES DEMOCRATS MIDTERM MAP EDGE – SPARKS GOP BLAME GAME There are also legal hurdles DeSantis faces: It is illegal under Florida’s constitution to redraw maps for partisan gain, known as gerrymandering. Democrats have vowed lawsuits against any new map that may come out of Tallahassee. U.S. House Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries last week took aim at what some are dubbing “dummymander,” a play on words for “gerrymander,” and argued that redrawing the maps in Florida — where the GOP suffered setbacks earlier this spring in special legislative elections — would harm Republican members of Congress. “Our message to Florida Republicans is, ‘F around and find out,’” Jeffries told reporters as he referenced next week’s redistricting legislative session. Jeffries said the redistricting move would lead Democrats to increase their target list of vulnerable Florida House Republicans. He warned DeSantis and Republicans that “the electoral tide is turning in Florida.” DEMOCRATS NARROWLY WIN CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING SHOWDOWN IN VIRGINIA Pushing back, DeSantis said, “Please. Be my guest. I will pay for you to come down to Florida to campaign.” “I’ll put you up in the Florida governor’s mansion. We will take you fishing,” the governor added. DeSantis has argued that the last U.S. Census was full of flaws and claimed that it robbed Florida of an extra congressional seat. And the governor has also pointed to the major influx of new residents this decade who moved to Florida from other states in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Not all Florida Republicans are on board with the effort, due to concerns it may backfire. A Florida-based GOP strategist told Fox News Digital some Florida members of Congress “don’t want this.” And pointing to the legislature, where there are some grumblings, the strategist, who asked to remain anonymous to speak clearly, said “some don’t want to do it, but their hands will be forced.” Florida has already moved the filing deadline for congressional candidates back from April to June, but for candidates already running for Congress, the late-in-the-game map redraw brings plenty of complications. “Changing the map changes the race. Candidates have been interviewed for a job description that just got a requirement change,” veteran Florida-based GOP donor and bundler Dan Eberhart told Fox News Digital. Eberhart noted that “these candidates are going to have to call an audible really soon – changing districts and probably new competitors.” Florida may be the final battlefield in a political war that started a year ago. Aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterms, Trump last spring first floated the idea of rare, but not unheard of, mid-decade congressional redistricting. The mission was simple: redraw congressional district maps in red states to pad the GOP’s fragile House majority to keep control of the chamber in the midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats. When asked by reporters last summer about his plan to add Republican-leaning House seats across the country, the president said, “Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.” Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas called a special session of the GOP-dominated state legislature to pass the new map. But Democratic state lawmakers, who broke quorum for two weeks as they fled Texas in a bid to delay the passage of the redistricting bill, energized Democrats across the country. Among those leading the fight against Trump’s redistricting was Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB California voters in November overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that temporarily sidetracked the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and returned the power
Trump will ‘deliver’: RNC chair signals midterms confidence despite ‘doom and gloom’
EXCLUSIVE — Despite facing a rough political environment, Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters remains optimistic the GOP will successfully defend its slim Senate and razor-thin House majorities in this year’s midterm elections. “I think we’re on track. I still think that we have a chance to defy history and win the midterms,” Gruters said this week in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. Republicans — as the party currently in power — were already up against traditional political headwinds that lead to a loss of congressional seats. Add to that the challenging climate fueled by persistent inflation, rising gas prices tied to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran, and President Donald Trump’s underwater approval ratings. “I know it’s all doom and gloom out there, but we have the best messenger in President Trump that’s ever existed in the party.” The GOP is facing a low-propensity problem: MAGA voters who don’t always go to the polls when Trump’s name isn’t on the ballot. WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS NATIONAL POLL SAYS ABOUT DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS The RNC chair, a longtime Trump ally who the president picked last summer to steer the national party committee, said Trump will be “barnstorming the country” later this year, adding, “I think what he’s doing is rallying people. I think he could deliver these low propensity voters over and over again.” The RNC currently holds a massive fundraising and cash-on-hand advantage over the rival Democratic National Committee (DNC). Gruters, who was a certified public accountant (CPA) before taking over the RNC and who still serves as a Florida state senator, touted his party’s “superior resources.” “If we focus on what’s important to us, and that’s the making sure we have the resources, making sure we have good candidates, following the president and his messaging, I think we will be successful,” he predicted. Deep concerns over inflation boosted Trump and Republicans to sweeping victories at the ballot box in 2024, as they won back the White House and Senate and kept their House majority. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB But Democrats say their decisive victories in November’s 2025 elections, and their overperformances in special elections and other ballot box showdowns last year and, so far this year, were fueled by their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation. The latest Fox News national poll indicates that just 28% of voters give Trump a thumbs up on handling inflation, which voters rank as the most pressing issue. The survey also says Democrats have an eight point advantage over Republicans when it comes to handling high prices. During his first year back in the White House, Trump regularly touted lower gas prices when asked about his administration’s efforts on affordability. But the surge in gas prices – the national average for regular is hovering slightly above $4 per gallon – due to the Trump-ordered attacks on Iran, has given the Democrats plenty of political fuel. “Donald Trump started a war that no one wanted, and now Americans are paying the price. Gas prices are soaring and families who were already struggling in Trump’s economy are forced to stretch their budgets even further while footing the bill for this war,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. Martin charged that Trump “stuck everybody else with higher costs with no relief in sight. Americans literally can’t afford the Trump presidency.” TRUMP HITS KEY BATTLEGROUNDS TO SELL TAX CUTS, BOOST GOP AHEAD OF MIDTERMS But Gruters told Fox News Digital, “This conflict is temporary. I think the President knows exactly what he’s doing…I think by the time we hit November, I think we’re going to be in stride.” Democrats are energized, thanks to their ballot box victories and overperformances. “Nearly every week, we’re seeing red districts go blue with historic, game-changing victories up and down the ballot,” Martin emphasized. “We have momentum on our side, but we refuse to take a single day for granted. Democrats are all hands on deck ahead of November, because it’s time to send the Republicans packing.” Gruters isn’t buying the Democrats’ messaging. “These special elections are special for a reason,” he said. “The Democrats are motivated because of anger, because every time the president does something good, they get angrier.” And the RNC chair predicted, “by the time we hit the midterms, I think we’re going to be in full stride. We have great candidates, we have the right messaging, and I think we’ll be successful.”
Mississippi governor says he will call special session to redraw district maps after SCOTUS ruling
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Friday said he will call a special legislative session to redraw district lines after the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling in a key redistricting case. Reeves said the session would take place 21 days after the court rules in Louisiana v. Callais, a case that could reshape how states apply the Voting Rights Act. The case centers on Louisiana’s 2024 congressional map, which added a second majority-Black district and is being challenged as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The outcome could influence redistricting battles nationwide, particularly in Republican-led states, ahead of this year’s midterms. SCOTUS CONSERVATIVES SIGNAL READINESS TO CURB LATE-ARRIVING MAIL BALLOTS Reeves said the ruling could also affect a separate Mississippi case requiring the state to redraw its Supreme Court district lines. That lawsuit, filed by groups including the Southern Poverty Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union, argues the current map dilutes the voting strength of Black voters in violation of federal law, according to WLBT. The state appealed the decision to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which paused the ruling pending the outcome of Callais. JUDGE SET TO CHOOSE NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP IN FIGHT THAT COULD RESHAPE HOUSE CONTROL “It is my belief, and federal law requires, that the Mississippi Legislature be given the first opportunity to draw these maps,” Reeves said on X. “And the fact is, they haven’t had a fair opportunity to do that because of the pending Callais decision.” He added that he is using his authority to allow lawmakers to redraw maps once the Supreme Court provides clarity. “For those reasons, I am using my constitutional authority to allow the Mississippi Legislature to use their constitutionally recognized right to draw these maps once the new rules of the game are known following Callais,” Reeves said. REPUBLICANS APPEAL JUDGE’S DECISION REJECTING NEW YORK CITY GOP DISTRICT LINES Reeves said the decision could “forever change the way we draw electoral maps.” In October, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared open to weakening a key Voting Rights Act provision that bars states from diluting minority voting power. Critics have warned such a ruling could further erode protections for minority voters. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision by the summer. Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
DC murder rate sees astonishing turnaround as Trump team credits federal crackdown
Washington, D.C.’s homicide count has dropped sharply this year, falling by roughly half compared to the same period in 2025, as the Trump administration points to an aggressive federal crackdown in the nation’s capital. The administration has credited the appointment of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a surge of federal agents and the deployment of National Guard troops with driving the decline. But criminologists say similar drops are playing out nationwide and caution that it is difficult to tie the improvement to any single policy, setting up a debate over what is actually behind the shift. There have been 20 murders at this point in 2026, compared to 42 in the same timeframe in 2025, alongside Pirro’s tough enforcement posture and an increased visible law enforcement presence. The nation’s murder rate overall is at its lowest since 1900, which President Donald Trump has credited to his border policies. As for D.C., the White House said that Trump’s crime task force has yielded “tremendous results for the community.” SCOOP: WHITE HOUSE TOUTS GUNS AND DRUG HAUL REMOVED FROM DC STREETS AS TRUMP’S CRIME BLITZ NETS 550 ARRESTS “Crime has dropped across the board, dangerous criminals have been removed from the streets, missing children have been recovered, illegal weapons have been confiscated, and more,” said spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, crediting the president’s “bold actions in D.C.” for reducing crime and saying “residents are thankful.” But Thaddeus Johnson, a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice and a criminology professor at Georgia State University, said it is difficult to attribute the decline to any single factor. “Crackdowns can have an effect,” Johnson said in an interview, though he noted that Washington, D.C., has struggled with court backlogs and delayed cases in recent years, which may have contributed to higher crime rates. He said recent progress in clearing the backlog has allowed prosecutions to move forward and taken offenders off the streets. ‘RESISTANCE’ LEFT BLASTED BY WASHINGTON POST AS MAYOR BOWSER BACKS TRUMP’S DC CRIME PLAN Johnson acknowledged that aggressive prosecutions by Pirro and others have likely deterred some crime. “If you’re prosecuting cases, you know that the deterrence is not only the severity of punishment, but it’s the celerity or the swiftness of punishment and the certainty of it — the certainty of punishment is more important than the severity.” He emphasized that he is not discounting Pirro or the National Guard deployment, but said it is difficult to identify any single action as a “magic bullet,” particularly as other cities across the country are also seeing declines. Johnson added that Washington was still grappling with elevated robbery rates as recently as 2024, including incidents occurring outside traditionally high-crime areas in Southeast and shifting into neighborhoods such as the Wharf and Navy Yard, a revitalized nightlife corridor across the Anacostia River. “I haven’t seen anything per se, evidence directly, where I can say, ‘well, yeah, it’s due to the prosecutions and the judges’ as to why these crimes are going down when we started seeing that many of the crimes had started going down already,” he said. “It’s hard to say that it didn’t play a part … particularly when we see similar patterns across the nation.” TRUMP’S DC PUBLIC SAFETY SWEEP RESULTS IN 23 ARRESTS INCLUDING MURDER SUSPECT ON OPENING DAY The White House’s claims of success in reducing crime in Washington contrast with earlier warnings from critics that the National Guard deployment would backfire. District of Columbia at-large Councilmember Robert White Jr. warned at the outset that it is abnormal to see armed guardsmen in an American city: “It’s hard to explain to my kids, who are 6 and 9, what’s happening here. It’s an occupation because it’s both unwelcome and unwarranted. It’s also unhelpful. But I don’t think it’s meant to be helpful in any way,” White told Governing News in September. The Democrat added local officials “have an obligation to be clear that this is going to make crime worse in the coming years.” Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from adjacent Takoma Park, Maryland, similarly predicted the surge was a bad idea: “No one in Washington is asking Trump to deploy the National Guard or take over the MPD. This is a phony, manufactured crisis if I’ve ever seen one,” Raskin said in August. “Since taking office, Trump has repeatedly undermined public safety in our nation’s capital.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also said last fall that Trump was acting like a “wannabe king” whose “unleash[ing of] the national guard on the city’s youth and homeless population has no basis in law and will put the safety of the people of our nation’s capital in danger.” Fox News’ Elise Oggioni contributed to this report.
AAP to demand disqualification of Raghav Chadha, others from Rajya Sabha for joining BJP
AAP leader Sanjay Singh on Friday announced that he will formally move to disqualify three of Rajya Sabha members — Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, and Sandeep Pathak — following their move to join the BJP.
Delhi CM Rekha Gupta reviews heatwave preparedness measures, set to launch awareness campaigns
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday chaired a high-level review meeting at the Secretariat to assess preparedness under the Heat Wave Action Plan 2026, issuing clear and time-bound directions to all departments to strengthen measures at every level, according to a press release.
‘99.9% Muslims in India are descendants of Hindus’: RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale
Hosabale, who is currently in the United States, said that Indians Muslims might have changed their mode of worship but not nationality or civilisational roots and that the RSS has been engaged in dialogue for the last few years to remove any misgivings.
Kailash Hills Case Update: Police to question family of rape-murder accused
Delhi Police reconstructed the Kailash Hills crime scene in a 22-year-old woman’s rape and murder case.
Brahmin students forced to remove sacred thread before CET exam in Bengaluru, BJP calls it anti-Hindu act, details here
After parents raised objections, the police filed an FIR invoking provisions linked to disrupting communal harmony under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). In addition, three professors attached to the college have been placed under suspension.