Radical anti-Trump language riddles California voter guide on high-stakes ballot measure
A California ballot measure on voter identification provides voters with guidance replete with far-left jargon, including a dig at “MAGA billionaires,” that has turned heads online. Proposition 39 is a citizen-led effort, organized by a group called Californians for Voter ID, that submitted 1.3 million signatures in favor of the ballot initiative in March — far outpacing the required nearly 875,000 signatures in order for it to be adopted as a ballot measure. Californians are slated to vote on the voter ID initiative in November. If approved, it would require a government-issued identification card or number to vote in person or by mail. It would also require election official to verify U.S. citizenship. But the language explaining the proposition from those who oppose the measure in the California voters guide has been flagged online for its highly political nature. SEN MARK WARNER CALLED OUT IN ABC INTERVIEW FOR INACCURATE VOTER ID CLAIMS Groups that support the initiative are allowed to argue in favor of it on the ballot, while groups opposed are allowed to do the same on the ballot. “No on Prop. 39,” begins the arguments section on the ballot initiative. “This would advance Trump’s voter suppression agenda by adding costly, unnecessary barriers that could block eligible California voters, expose personal information to identity theft, and waste hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars.” “Don’t let MAGA billionaires decide which voters count. Vote No,” it concludes. Opponents of the measure are listed as the ACLU California Action, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters of California. INSIDE HOUSE REPUBLICANS’ PLAN TO END RUN DEM OPPOSITION AND PASS TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID The summary section of the ballot measure in the guide states the expected financial impact should the measure take effect. “Costs of between tens of millions of dollars and low hundreds of millions of dollars each year to implement new voting requirements,” it says. A third section titled “What Your Vote Means” also features language describing the ramifications of voting “yes” or “no” on the initiative. “A YES vote on this measure means: Voters would be required to present additional identifying information to elections officials each time they vote,” it says. The voter guide explains that a “no” vote means “[a] voter’s identity would continue to be established with the voter’s signature.” Groups advocating in favor of the measure include the Transparency Foundation, Latino American Political Assn, and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. “Yes on Prop. 39 gives California a BIPARTISAN solution for VOTER ID,” their argument section says. “Supported by a solid majority of Democratic, Independent and Republican voters. Increases trust and confidence in our elections.” WATCH: BLACK BISHOP CALLS VOTER ID ARGUMENT ‘DEEPLY INSULTING’ AFTER EXPLOSIVE NONCITIZEN REGISTRATION REPORT A Pew Research study released in 2025 shows that 83% of Americans back voter ID. “It is so dark that this is the level of discourse in the OFFICIAL California voters guide,” said X user Daniel Keller, who first posted a screenshot of the ballot language. Others agreed with that sentiment, like a user named David Masten, who said: “Democracy is a farce in California.” “Good God,” user Brad Pierce put it simply. Early voting is already underway in California, as Election Day on Nov. 3 rapidly approaches. If Proposition 39 is approved, the measure would require voters to present a government-issued ID when voting in person, while mail-in voters would be required to provide the last four digits of a government-issued ID number that matches the one they designated during voter registration. It would also require election officials to use government data to verify U.S. citizenship and publish annual reports showing the percentage of registrations verified for citizenship in each county of the state. The California State Auditor would also be required to conduct regular audits of compliance with the new voter ID and citizenship requirements. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and California Gov. Gavin Newson’s office, but did not hear back at time of publication.
‘Thrill killer’ and desert executioner — meet the dozens of criminals Dem AG backed for parole: ‘No brainer’
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford voted to support clemency for several convicted murderers, including men responsible for the kidnapping and execution-style killing of a teenager, the “thrill killing” of a Pizza Hut worker and the beating death of another victim with a cinder block. Ford is currently facing backlash over his clemency bid for a convicted killer who took the life of a pregnant woman while out on bail for a series of armed robbery attacks on Vegas tourists. Now, a Fox News Digital review of state pardon hearings that took place during Ford’s nearly eight years as attorney general show him supporting clemency for dozens of other violent offenders, with some convicted killers receiving reduced sentences, pardons or earlier parole eligibility while others had their requests denied. Ford is running to be Nevada’s next governor, seeking to oust incumbent Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. His race is shaping up to be one of the most competitive gubernatorial elections of the cycle. Unlike governors in most states, Nevada’s governor cannot unilaterally grant pardons or commute prison sentences, with those decisions instead resting with the state’s Board of Pardons Commissioners, made up of the governor, attorney general and Nevada Supreme Court justices. JOE LOMBARDO CRUISES PAST SIX GOP CHALLENGERS TO SECURE NEVADA REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL NOMINATION Since becoming the state’s attorney general, Ford has voted to pardon or significantly reduce the sentences of 30 people convicted of murder, Fox News Digital found. While Lombardo has joined Ford on some of these votes, the Democrat broke with the Republican in supporting mercy for some of the most brutal killers. Ford, for example, supported a convicted kidnapper and murderer eligible for parole when Lombardo voted against him. Michael Cu, the convict in question, kidnapped a 16-year-old in 1996, forced him to drive out to the desert, then killed him execution-style — all to steal the rims off his car. The victim was shot seven times with a rifle, with the fatal shot being fired at nearly point-blank range into his head. “Mr. Judge I would like to tell you these people, I don’t want them to be free,” the deceased’s mother pleaded with the judge at Cu’s sentencing in March 2000. “There’s a lot of people outside, a lot of mothers outside … I’m afraid because I have more children.” Cu could eventually make it back onto the streets after the board commuted his sentence, making him eligible for parole in 2035 — though his release would still require approval from the state’s parole board. Ford has made his experience as Nevada’s top law enforcement official a focal point of his gubernatorial campaign. ABBOTT SPOTLIGHTS NO-SHOW TALARICO, LAUNCHING TEXAS-SIZED CRIME CRACKDOWN “As Attorney General, Ford has worked with federal and local law enforcement to prosecute criminals and protect our communities,” his campaign website reads. “He’s gone after corporate landlords who are illegally jacking up prices, taken on big drug companies, prioritized putting child predators in jail, battled fentanyl being trafficked across our borders, and fought to keep dangerous untraceable ghost guns off of our streets. He ended a decades-long rape kit back log and has prosecuted human traffickers who threaten the safety of our communities.” Republicans may seize on some of Ford’s pardon votes to challenge the image he’s cultivated of a crusader for public safety. While Ford offered no substantive remarks in most of the pardon hearings, he occasionally had something to add. “I gleefully vote yes for this motion,” he said, explaining his June 2022 support to make a man who killed someone in an armed robbery when he was 15 eligible for parole. Ford talked to the man, Shaquille Hazelwood, on the importance of the moment and advised him to live up to the faith the state was placing in him. He called his decision to grant parole eligibility to an individual who stabbed a 17-year-old to death a “no-brainer” in September 2025. Ford sponsored the hearing where witnesses spoke to the character of the murderer, Bobby Thomas. Ford also supported a commutation for Anthony Amati, whom police and prosecutors described as a “thrill killer,” in a June 2025 decision that allowed the convicted murderer to become immediately eligible for parole. Amati was convicted of ambushing a 22-year-old Pizza Hut worker as he walked a co-worker home. The co-worker, who was at the trial, testified that Amati and his friends “cackled … laughed like it was a big joke” and jumped around while firing multiple bullets into the victim. Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli argued at the time that Amati should never be eligible to walk free because his crime was a “thrill killing … for the mere pleasure of it.” Amati became immediately eligible for parole following the board’s decision, although his release was not guaranteed. HOUSE DEMOCRAT BLASTED AFTER EARLY RELEASE LAW FREED INMATES LATER CHARGED WITH MURDER Ford also supported clemency for Arlander Givens, who beat his victim to death with a cinder block and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms, but the board ultimately denied his application, Fox News Digital found. Other convicted killers Ford voted to grant clemency included a murderer involved in a carjacking, a man who stabbed a 17-year-old to death over a basketball game and another who lured his victim into his home with the promise of a drug deal before shooting him dead, Fox News Digital found. GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE VOWS TO PARDON COP CONVICTED OF MANSLAUGHTER IN DEATH OF FLEEING SUSPECT Lombardo and Ford did vote together for leniency in some cases. For instance, the duo both voted to pardon a man found guilty of masterminding a contract killing after he was exonerated by DNA evidence. Ford’s office and his gubernatorial campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
Talarico disappearance has Dem volunteers worrying and Trump asking, ‘What is going on?’
President Donald Trump and Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton are raising questions about Democratic challenger James Talarico’s whereabouts after the candidate spent nearly two weeks away from the campaign trail, as new reporting reveals concerns about his absence among members of his own volunteer network. Talarico, who is challenging Paxton in Texas’ closely watched Senate contest, has not appeared at an in-person campaign event since late September, citing a case of the flu. The prolonged absence has prompted attacks from Republicans, including Trump, who questioned Talarico’s whereabouts during a Wednesday campaign rally in San Antonio and later on his social media platform Truth Social, calling the Texas Democrat “MISSING IN ACTION.” “TalaFREAKo has been missing for 12 days! Now, after looking for him throughout all of Texas, and beyond, probably even weirder places than anyone would think possible, he put out a statement that he has the ‘flu.’ 12 days is a long time to rid yourself of the so-called flu bug,” Trump wrote Wednesday. “What’s going on? We need a Senator that’s a proven Champion like one that has been, without question, the Greatest Attorney General in the History of Texas, and one of the Greatest in the U.S.A.” PAXTON VENTS OVER LACK OF CAMPAIGN CONTROL AS DC ESTABLISHMENT HE ONCE BATTLED COMES TO HIS AID Paxton similarly questioned his opponent’s absence, asking supporters at Wednesday’s rally, “Where is James Talarico?” “If it’s as tight as they claim it is, and he’s got a lead the way they claim that he is, and you’re a billionaire writing these big checks right now to Talarico, wouldn’t you want an ROI, like a return on your investment?” conservative radio host Ben Ferguson questioned on “The Will Cain Show” Thursday. “Why have we not gotten transparency from his campaign? What is really going on? Why did a guy disappear after doing an interview where he didn’t look like he had the flu?” Talarico’s absence comes during the final stretch of Texas’ closely watched Senate race, with Election Day less than a month away. The Democrat’s last publicly documented in-person campaign event in Texas was Sept. 26, when he held a news conference in Carrollton addressing rising gasoline prices and the war in Iran, according to CNN. Talarico subsequently attended a private fundraiser in New York and participated virtually in a Sept. 30 business forum, where he said he had been diagnosed with the flu at a Dallas urgent care facility the previous evening. Talarico has Type 1 diabetes, which puts him at greater risk of developing serious flu complications, according to the CDC. His campaign has said Talarico expects to return to in-person campaigning this weekend ahead of a publicly scheduled CNN town hall on Oct. 14. The campaign also cited “more than 100 public events” Talarico has already done. TEXAS VOTERS HAVE PLENTY TO SAY ABOUT WHETHER LONE STAR STATE COULD TURN BLUE “I guess I’ve been shaking too many hands on the campaign trail, and so I want to keep everybody safe,” Talarico explained, adding he did not want to risk spreading the illness to vulnerable individuals. “Ken Paxton has been ignoring Texans this entire campaign, and his priorities are clear: he doesn’t answer to the people of this state — he answers to his billionaire megadonors and special interests,” campaign spokesperson JT Ennis told Fox News Digital. Meanwhile, the New York Post reported Thursday that leaked messages from a private Slack channel showed members of Talarico’s volunteer network discussing his prolonged absence, with one expressing concern that he could lose momentum. “I think it’ll be fine. It’s [j]ust conservatives blasting him. I’m just worried about him losing momentum,” a Talarico campaign volunteer wrote in a group chat with other volunteers, featuring nearly 4,000 people, according to The Post. “But I 100% expect him to make a comeback at the CNN [t]own hall that’s a given.” “It’s a buncha people that don’t actually want him to be out touring that are causing a stink. No one’s genuinely upset,” another volunteer wrote. Fox News Digital reached out to the Talarico campaign for additional information on where the candidate is recovering and when this weekend he will reappear on the campaign trail but did not receive a response by the time of publication. “I would much rather have my candidate rested and have any ailments out of the way now than down the stretch, because if they’re sick two weeks before the election, they’re still going to be on the road which means it’s only going to get worse. So let them heal up and get their strength back,” veteran Texas-based Democratic strategist Ed Espinoza told Fox News Digital. “Even though Talarico’s off the trail, he’s still on the airwaves,” Espinoza added, referring to the campaign’s significant ad spending in Texas. “He’s got plenty of money to get his message out.”
Mullin calls Mamdani’s anti-ICE rhetoric ‘dangerous’ following New York shooting
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Friday pushed back on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani who had lambasted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Thursday after the agency opened fire in the Big Apple, shooting an individual while a child was in the vehicle. Mamdani said on Thursday that ICE has “killed far more of our neighbors than they could ever have claimed to save,” reiterating his call to abolish the agency. “His words are dangerous and incite hostility,” Mullin said during a Friday press conference. “Well mayor, if you abolish ICE,” who will “take criminals off the streets of your own town?” MAMDANI DEMANDS TRUMP RELEASE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SHOT BY ICE AGENT AS PROTESTS ERUPT IN THE BRONX Oscar Belgal, the individual shot by ICE on Thursday, refused to get out of his vehicle and then ran into two government vehicles, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Executive Associate Director Marcos Charles said during the press conference on Friday. The man “refused lawful orders to exit his vehicle,” Charles said. “He then accelerated his vehicle, smashing into two of our government ICE vehicles and then weaponized his vehicle and proceeded to accelerate going towards other officers,” he said. PROTESTS ERUPT IN THE BRONX AFTER ICE AGENT SHOOTS MAN DURING IMMIGRATION OPERATION He “evaded law enforcement before when we attempted to arrest him in September,” Charles noted. Mullin explained that authorities were not aware there was a child in the vehicle at the time of the incident, but pointed out that “Oscar knew he had a child in his car.” DHS UNLOADS ON TEACHERS UNION BOSS OVER ‘DANGEROUS RHETORIC’ AND ANTI-ICE ACTIVISM Mullin said that the man, who is from the Dominican Republic, entered the U.S. illegally and has since perpetrated “crime after crime.”
Democrats are changing their transgender message. Republicans say they’re just flip-flopping
South Carolina Democratic Senate nominee Dr. Annie Andrews appears to be distancing herself from her past opposition to restricting transgender athletes in girls’ sports, telling Fox News Digital she opposes biological males competing in women’s sports and gender transition surgeries for minors. As Democrats fight to regain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, Andrews is among a group of candidates in competitive races in red and swing states who seem to be shifting positions on transgender issues. Meanwhile, Republicans are aiming to use the highly-charged issue as a cudgel to bash Democrats for a second straight cycle. “I don’t support biological men playing in women’s sports, and I don’t support gender surgery on minors,” Andrews told Fox News Digital. Andrews, who’s locked in an increasingly competitive midterm election showdown with Republican Sen. Darline Graham in reliably red state South Carolina, delivers the same message in a new campaign commercial, adding, “I want you to hear me loud and clear.” DEMOCRATS THINK A BLUE WAVE IS FORMER – HERE ARE THREE FACTORS THAT COULD STOP IT But Graham, who was appointed to the Senate following the sudden death this summer of her older brother, longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham, is accusing Andrews of trying to conceal her previous position on transgender athletes. Andrews “has spent years supporting biological males competing in girls’ sports. Now that she’s running for Senate, she’s trying to hide from that radical record,” Graham recently charged. Graham and Republicans point to Andrews’ opposition to a 2022 South Carolina law barring transgender athletes from competing on girls’ and women’s public school sports teams. “This is shameful legislation that does nothing to protect or support women or children in SC. In fact, it is actively harmful. I will always support trans youth,” Andrews wrote in a social media post at the time. Republicans are seeking to once again make the issue a campaign liability. The GOP effectively blasted Democrats in the 2024 election, with President Donald Trump‘s campaign targeting Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris with ads declaring “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.” WHO’S UP AND WHO’S DOWN IN THE LATEST FOX NEWS MIDTERM POWER RANKINGS Republicans spent more than $200 million to run ads targeting Democrats on the transgender issue in the 2024 campaign, arguably helping the GOP to sweeping victories. The latest national polls indicate that most Americans oppose transgender athletes playing on sports teams that don’t match their birth sex. More than three-quarters (76%) of those questioned in a Fox News national poll conducted last month backed banning biological men from competing in women’s sports, with one in five opposed. The survey indicated bipartisan support, with 90% of Republicans, 77% of independents and 61% of Democrats backing the ban. Facing a rough political climate amid an unpopular war in Iran and soaring gas and diesel prices as they try to hold their fragile congressional majorities, Trump and the GOP are increasingly looking to replay their transgender political playbook. Trump, at last month’s GOP midterm convention, described anti-trans messaging as one of the party’s most effective campaign tools to drive voter turnout and target Democrats in the final stretch leading up to Election Day. “It’s one of our great sound bites of all time,” the president said at the two-day confab in Dallas. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB And some of the other top speakers at the convention, including Vice President JD Vance, Speaker Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and Senate and House GOP re-election chairs Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Richard Hudson highlighted the issue in their addresses. Meanwhile, Republican ads on the issue are running for a second straight cycle. But Democrats are recalibrating, and learning to fight back. One of the first to pivot following the 2024 election setbacks was California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate. In early 2025, he suggested that biological males playing in women’s sports was “deeply unfair.” Also making headlines and sparking a debate among Democrats was Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, who said soon after the 2024 elections that he opposed transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports and that Democrats spent too much time trying not to offend people. Veteran Democratic strategist Maria Cardona told Fox News that “Democrats are being smart on this issue in terms of defining where they are on it so their opponents can’t define them and then pivoting back to the issues that they know that voters actually care about.” “I have two little girls, I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that,” Moulton told The New York Times. Fast-forward to present day, and while most Democratic politicians remain steadfast supporters of transgender rights, there are an increasing number who have changed course. Texas state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee trying to flip a GOP-held seat in red-leaning Texas, has been targeted by Republicans over his past support for allowing transgender athletes in girls’ sports. But he told Fox News last month, “I oppose trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it endangers safety or fairness.” SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER In Republican-dominated Iowa, where Democrats are aiming to capture another open-GOP held Senate seat, Democratic nominee state Rep. Josh Turek has expressed opposition to biological males competing in women’s sports and gender transition surgeries for minors after facing Republican criticism. Longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, who is facing a tough re-election bid, is running ads saying “boys should not play in girls’ sports” and that she is focused on “making your life more affordable.” In her campaign mailers she touts that she “voted to ban schools from touting gender ideology in classrooms,” and, “Unlike the far left, I believe boys shouldn’t play girls’ sports.” But the National Republican Congressional Committee pointed out that Kaptur
‘Expect deaths in that plant’: Former employees describe hazardous conditions at Chinese-owned Ohio plant
A Chinese glass manufacturer’s decision not to comply with a congressional oversight inquiry prompted Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to convene a revealing roundtable with the plant’s former workers, where they described a series of hazardous work conditions and fears for their safety. Khanna, the ranking member on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), first reached out to Fuyao Glass America and its Chinese parent company Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co., Ltd. in July, requesting documents detailing the company’s business and labor practices. Fuyao quickly drew the attention of Americans in the Rust Belt and beyond when it became the subject of the 2019 Netflix documentary “American Factory,” which chronicled its takeover of a former General Motors plant outside of Dayton, Ohio. LAWMAKERS PRESS DHS IN LETTER OVER CHINESE FORCED LABOR ALLEGATIONS, FLAG POPULAR LABUBU DOLLS The company has since been mired in scandals ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for workplace safety violations to the 2018 death of factory worker Ricky Patterson. In a subsequent October letter to Fuyao leadership, Khanna decried the company’s refusal to dialogue, condemning them for only sending one single letter in response to his numerous inquiries. Fuyao’s Sept. 23 response, Khanna wrote in his Oct. 1 letter to the company, “answers virtually none of the Committee’s questions in a material way and fails to include any document submissions.” CHINA’S INFLUENCE MACHINE: FEDERAL RECORDS EXPOSE BEIJING’S PUSH TO SWAY AMERICA Despite Fuyao’s silence, Khanna made the journey to Western Ohio, an area of the country decimated by a loss of manufacturing jobs in recent decades. Khanna convened a roundtable discussion on Tuesday involving former Fuyao employees and current union leaders at the Industrial Division of the Communications Workers of America (IUE-CWA) headquarters in Dayton, Ohio. DAVID MARCUS: IN DAYTON, OHIO, BOTH PARTIES FACE BITTER POLITICAL DESPONDENCY During the discussion, former Fuyao workers described unbearable heat, an inability to communicate with their Chinese supervisors and apparent labor violations involving their Chinese counterparts, among other grievances. “The heat in there is unbearable. They don’t care,” Tiffany Moore, who worked at Fuyao for three years, told the group. AMERICA’S BROKEN LEGAL IMMIGRATION SYSTEM IS REPLACING US WORKERS BY DESIGN “There’s the language barrier. They can’t communicate with you. When you try to communicate with them, they’ll send someone else to you. Maybe one of them speaks English,” Moore continued. Like many of the former Fuyao employees at the table, Moore now works at Duramax, a General Motors-owned engine manufacturer, where she says she is much happier. But to even apply for the position she had to employ clandestine measures to avoid retaliation from her Fuyao bosses. I’M THE ACTING SECRETARY OF LABOR AND I’M HERE TO SAY THANK YOU TO THE AMERICAN WORKER “You can’t put your two weeks in because if you put your two weeks, they’ll get rid of you before your two weeks come up for any reason. They’ll tell you they don’t have to have a reason to get rid of you just so that they can fill your position. So when I left there, I had to actually sneak out, do my orientation at DMAX. And then call them and tell them that I wasn’t coming back and for them to release my 401k,” Moore said. Demetria Hodges, another worker who fled Fuyao for Duramax, recounted the time a Chinese forklift driver, who she believed to be unlicensed, struck her with the machine and faced no accountability. WELDER TURNED LAWMAKER SEES A ‘NUCLEAR BOMB FOR WORK’ — AND A CHANCE TO HELP BLUE COLLAR AMERICANS “It was on camera, they have cameras in there, and they acted like they didn’t know who the forklift driver was,” she told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “So when I tried to pursue a lawsuit and my workman’s comp, they pretended like they didn’t know who the person was.” While the American workers described abysmal conditions for themselves, they said the Chinese workers were treated even worse. WHAT THE GOLF CART INDUSTRY CAN TEACH US ABOUT CHINA’S THREAT TO AMERICAN JOBS “They were treated horrible,” Moore told the group. “They weren’t allowed to take anything from us. They weren’t really allowed to communicate with us. They weren’t allowed to mix with us.” Moore, Hodges and others said the Chinese workers were almost always the ones chosen for promotions because Fuyao could pay them less. They also said the company was constantly busing in new workers from elsewhere. CORPORATE AMERICA’S CHINA ADDICTION HAS BECOME A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT “They used to rotate them out every couple months. Like they will go to New York and get a bus for or a van full of people and bring them down here. And they work for a certain amount of months, and then they rotate and send them back,” Hodges said. When Hodges explained that workers were still forced to come to work the day after part of the factory caught fire, Khanna asked her if the workers were undocumented. “I believe that’s why they accepted it because they were undocumented,” Hodges said. Darrell Jones, another former Fuyao employee, told Khanna he felt the workers needed a union backing them, a point which quickly drew heated commentary from the group. “They wouldn’t let a union come in there,” Moore chimed in. “You couldn’t even speak of a union being in there.” “Or you could lose your job,” Hodges added. Jones went on to explain that Fuyao threatened employees, telling them the company would take away their health insurance if they unionized. Hodges then added that the company offered employees a one-time pay bump of $2 an hour if they voted no on a planned unionization referendum. “They said if we ever get a union there, he was going to shut it down,” Jones recalled a supervisor telling him. Jones also recalled the circumstances that led up to the tragic 2018 death of 57-year-old
US Attorney calls out ‘loud-mouth’ California Dems as feds step in with Skid Row drug bust: ‘They’re lunatics’
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli called out California Democrats for watering down the state’s criminal law after federal law enforcement led the charge on a massive drug crackdown in the infamous Skid Row neighborhood on Thursday. Essayli told Fox News Digital in an interview that California’s state and local law enforcement have worked with the feds just fine, but that it’s the politicians who are getting in the way. “Unfortunately, states like California have totally watered down their laws, their criminal justice laws. They’ve also emptied their prisons and closed prisons, so effectively, there’s not much of a deterrence on the state side. No one faces any serious consequences on the state side,” Essayli said. NEWSOM BLASTED BY SHERIFF IN HIS OWN BACKYARD OVER CALIFORNIA CRIME AS VICTIMS CRY FOUL “We work really well with our local law enforcement partners,” he continued. “Local law enforcement isn’t the problem. It’s more the governor, it’s the legislature, it’s these loud-mouth federal, you know, Congress members who all they care about is attacking the administration, attacking the president.” Essayli did give credit to Mayor Karen Bass for approving the Los Angeles Police Department to participate in Thursday’s Operation Save Skid Row. KAREN BASS GRILLED OVER BROKEN HOMELESSNESS PROMISE, BLAMES BUREAUCRACY FOR SLOWED PROGRESS “This is a climate in which you have people right now trying to defund the police. You have people trying to disarm the LAPD, and those people are on the side of criminals,” he added. “Anyone who’s calling for disarming the police is on the side of the drug dealers that we arrested today. They’re lunatics.” Operation Save Skid Row saw federal and city authorities execute 28 arrest warrants and 44 search warrants in an effort to dismantle drug distribution networks in the notorious neighborhood. TALARICO PUT ON DEFENSE AFTER 2020 COMMENTS ABOUT DEFUNDING POLICE RESURFACE: ‘WE MUST REPLACE’ Over 100 law enforcement vehicles were involved in the operation, with arrests targeting members of multiple gangs, including the “Main Street Crips,” “Grape Street/Raymond Avenue Crips” and the “Pueblo Bishop Bloods.” “We are no longer going to have open-air drug markets in the United States, let alone on Skid Row. And that is the reason you see so many homeless people who are experiencing psychotic episodes, who are unwell, they aren’t seeking help, it’s because you have people, like the drug dealers we are arresting today, keeping them addicted and taking their public assistance money to pay for their drugs,” Essayli said during a news conference on Thursday.
The powerful way American communities can benefit from the new tech boom revealed by data center CEO
RED OAK, Texas — A data center firm is taking a very different approach by integrating into the communities where they build the massive facilities needed to power Americans’ technology and support the growing artificial intelligence (AI) boom. As these centers face flak over growing concerns about their impact on resources and infrastructure, Compass Datacenters CEO Chris Crosby tells Fox News Digital that it’s up to companies like his to work with communities, identify local needs, plan improvements and invest in projects that benefit residents. And that’s what he aimed to do from the start when building out a hyperscale data center campus in a town of approximately 20,000 people just 20 miles south of Dallas. Crosby detailed how he was able to create a data center with “no noise, no light pollution” and a completely water-free cooling system. “Do you need a fire truck? Do you need a new school? Do you need baseball fields for your community?” Crosby proposed in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. “These are important capital investments that can really boost a community, and many communities should be asking for those things.” ONE SOUTHERN STATE’S RISE IS MAKING IT AMERICA’S NEW ‘ECONOMIC CENTER OF GRAVITY’ “When you think about durability and putting a hundred-year-type asset into a community, you better do that really well and in conjunction with that community,” he added. In Red Oak, Compass donated $15 million to build an animal shelter after the SPCA ended its contract in the town last year, Crosby said. His company also partnered with Texas State Technical College on a $12.6 million training facility to expand the school’s Mechanical, Electrical and IT Data Center Pathway program. The 12-week course is designed to help people enter skilled trades and technical careers that data centers rely on. The work includes electricians, mechanics and technicians, as well as construction trades such as carpentry, welding and concrete work. Crosby said the program is open to people without prior qualifications and prepares them for careers across the industry. “We can’t get enough people into this career,” he said. “Unfortunately, there was a war on blue-collar jobs a while back and everybody had to get a four-year degree. I’m so glad that’s over with.” Compass began developing its Red Oak campus in 2019. It now includes 10 data center buildings, a Schneider Electric manufacturing facility and the training center. Crosby said about 900 people work on site — roughly 600 for Compass and 300 for Schneider Electric — in addition to the thousands of construction workers who have worked on the project over the past five years. AMERICA’S NEW BLUE-COLLAR JOB BOOM IS ONE NOBODY SAW COMING — AND IT’S JUST GETTING STARTED “I am tired of the elitism that this doesn’t create jobs,” Crosby said of his sprawling data center and the rhetoric that they do not bring lasting American jobs. “You tell that to the 900 people who work here on this campus, and you tell that to the thousands of construction workers who have worked here for five years plus,” he added. The jobs and community investments are one side of a debate playing out across the country. As data centers expand nationwide, their electricity and water use — and the strain they can place on local infrastructure — are drawing growing scrutiny. But Crosby said Compass has not used water to cool its data centers since the company began operating, a choice he said is personal and practical. “We haven’t used water since inception, because I grew up in North Texas. I know water is a precious resource,” he said. At the Red Oak facility, water is used only for bathrooms, according to Compass. The company uses a hybrid cooling system that can operate with air or liquid cooling. Crosby said avoiding water cooling can reduce efficiency, but he considers the trade-off worthwhile. Power is another concern as data centers add demand to the grid. Crosby said Compass favors connecting to the grid and believes data center companies can help pay for transmission and generation upgrades. “We think that we can contribute to the infrastructure for the grid,” he said, adding that data center companies can “co-invest” in upgrades. He also said facilities could help reduce peak demand and grid congestion by adjusting when they draw power. At Red Oak, Crosby said Compass donated seven parcels to the transmission provider to route power lines without using eminent domain. He said that also means controlling noise and light pollution and meeting EPA noise limits at the property line. “It’s very important to be a quiet neighbor — no noise, no light pollution, and, of course, taking care of the precious resources that are there in that community,” he said.
Autism providers warn foster kids at risk from unintended consequences of Trump’s Medicaid fraud crackdown
EXCLUSIVE: American autism care providers who backed the Trump administration’s crackdown on Medicaid fraud are now sounding the alarm, warning that efforts to root out abuse could have unintended consequences after reimbursement cuts put therapy for Georgia foster children at risk. The Autism Families Alliance, which describes itself as a national advocacy organization dedicated to supporting Applied Behavior Analysis providers and the families who rely on their services, said that efforts by the Trump administration and state leaders to fight fraud have gone too far, potentially leaving many of Georgia’s children with autism in foster care without the care they need. This warning is in response to a move by Amerigroup, the insurer that covers Georgia’s foster children through Medicaid, to cut what it pays autism therapy providers by 30%. Providers caution that they may no longer be able to afford to treat vulnerable children and that many foster families will be unable to switch them to another insurer. “It’s scary to see that so many different things are being slashed in terms of Medicaid, and that we’re seeing this drastic outcome,” Taylor Sanders, a family advocate at the Autism Families Alliance, told Fox News Digital. “It’s so important that we keep in mind that children with autism are in a very vulnerable place where they’re still needing to learn safety skills. There are some children who have extremely aggressive behaviors, challenging behaviors. So, when we’re seeing some of these cuts, we’re seeing it affect the providers who are able to provide access to these services.” AUTISM PROVIDERS CHEER TRUMP CRACKDOWN AFTER MILLIONS ALLEGEDLY STOLEN THROUGH MEDICAID FRAUD “If we’re not able to provide a good amount of pay to our providers, we’re not able to make sure they’re set up for success to be able to give some of these services, and we’re going to see less and less children being able to access services at all,” she added. Sanders said 75% of clinics will have to close their doors or stop serving foster kids due to the massive cuts. The 30% cut will not only affect providers’ ability to provide access to these families, but it will also limit foster children’s opportunities to learn essential skills, according to Sanders. Foster children with autism depend on regular therapy to develop everyday skills, but a sudden loss of that support could set them back. “If they don’t learn these school skills at an early intervention or an early age, it’ll be a lot more costly later on,” she said. In August, the Autism Families Alliance put its support behind the Trump administration’s crackdown on Medicaid fraud, arguing that the alleged theft of millions of federal funds has hurt both taxpayers and children with autism who rely on those services. Some states, including Georgia, have also taken steps to enhance oversight of autism services. The group backed eliminating fraud and prosecuting suspected criminals, but also feared that broad federal and state efforts to root out fraud could unintentionally make it more difficult for legitimate providers to care for children with autism. The coalition called on policymakers to ensure fraudsters are removed from the system without creating what they described as unnecessary barriers for families of vulnerable children seeking care. RFK JR ANNOUNCES ‘LARGEST AUTISM FRAUD BUST IN AMERICAN HISTORY’ WITH $46.6M MEDICAID SCHEME INDICTMENT Now, the group says Georgia’s foster families face the risk that they had previously raised concerns about. “I think fraud should be prosecuted by all means,” Sanders said. “Anybody who is engaging in fraudulent behavior should be prosecuted to the highest extent of the law. Are we able to not only tackle the fraud, but still give access to services for our children? Why can’t we do both at the same time?” “What’s really happening here is we’re going in with a sledgehammer when really we should be going in with a scalpel,” she continued, adding that officials need to be “approaching this in a way where it’s not going to totally obliterate the care to our families.” One Georgia foster mother has already been told her nearly 3-year-old son’s provider may be forced to stop treating him after he started making progress, according to the Georgia Recorder. “Reforms that improve care, increase efficiency and prevent abuse are something we all support, but when those efforts make it harder for children with autism to get the care they need, something has gone terribly wrong,” Kelsey Bennett, a family advocate with the Autism Families Alliance, told Fox News Digital. “No one wants to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse more than the providers who dedicate their lives to caring for these children. Every taxpayer dollar should go toward helping the people it was intended to serve. But you can’t fix a system by making it harder for vulnerable children to get help. Reforms that end up hurting the very children the system is supposed to protect are not in Georgia’s best interests,” she continued. Bennett urged Georgia’s lawmakers “to bring everyone to the table, including the Medicaid managed care companies and the providers who care for these children every day.” “By listening to those on the front lines and working together, they can find a better way forward that improves efficiency without putting children’s access to care at risk,” she said. “Children with autism, especially those in foster care and those welcomed into loving foster families, already face enough challenges. Their families shouldn’t have to worry about whether the care they depend on will suddenly disappear. Georgia’s leaders need to step in, address these cuts and make sure these children aren’t the ones paying the price for efforts to save money,” she added.
Schumer says he’s not going anywhere, but his own candidates aren’t ready to back him
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is confident that Democrats will win the Senate, but whether they support him as leader remains to be seen. Schumer, who has led the Senate Democratic Caucus since 2017, believes that Democrats have “wind in our sails” heading into what some Republicans fear could be a brutal midterm election in November. And win or lose, he plans to retain his spot as the top Democrat in the Senate. 12 RACES SCRAMBLE SENATE BATTLEFIELD AS DEMOCRATS EYE COMEBACK “I am running for re-election for leader,” Schumer told Politico. “Period.” But some of his own candidates on the trail running in elections that could shape the balance of power in the Senate aren’t keen on supporting him to once again lead Senate Democrats since he took the mantle from his friend and mentor, the late Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. Adam Hamilton, who has gained enough ground on incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., in ruby-red Kansas to make it a toss-up race, reiterated this week that he won’t support Schumer for leader in either a majority or minority. “And no disrespect for him at all, it’s just that I think we need new ideas,” Hamilton told CBS News. “We need new ideas, we need fresh leadership. I support term limits. I support age limits, and I just think there’s a time where we need to have new and fresh leadership coming in, and I think this is one of those times.” SCHUMER DUCKS QUESTION ON CAMPAIGNING WITH SOCIALIST CANDIDATE WHO REFUSES TO BACK HIM AS LEADER He’s not alone, either. Both Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota have been noncommittal — during and after their primary victories earlier this year — with their support of Schumer, despite both welcoming dollars from the Senate Majority PAC, the political action committee closely aligned with the Democratic leader. Fox News Digital reached out to both campaigns for comment. Since the 2024 election, when Schumer lost the Senate, Democrats have quietly questioned a new path in leadership. Those conversations emerged twice last year — when Schumer refused to allow a shutdown early in President Donald Trump’s term, and when he was unable to prevent Democrats from jumping ship to end the longest full government shutdown in history. SLOTKIN SAYS DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEEDS ‘NEW LEADERSHIP’: ‘OLD MODELS ARE NO LONGER WORKING’ While many Democratic senators won’t publicly engage with the topic of replacing Schumer, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., did. Earlier this year she argued that Democrats were still reeling from the 2024 election, and that “every day, there’s a debate within the party about the path forward.” “That’s why I believe we need significant new leadership,” Slotkin said. “The old models are no longer working, and that includes the Democratic Party.” One lawmaker has emerged as a possible replacement who has the backing of progressives, including El-Sayed: Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. Van Hollen declined to say whether he would mount a bid against Schumer, but said before leaving Washington, D.C., last month that the midterms were “all I am focused on.” Other Democrats aren’t quick to weigh in, either. When asked if retaking the upper chamber could strengthen Schumer’s hand, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., declined to say. “I’m not doing those questions now,” Murphy said.