JD Vance calls on DOJ to prosecute alleged fraud in teen transgender treatment
FIRST ON FOX: Vice President JD Vance is calling for the Department of Justice to investigate a bombshell Health and Human Services (HHS) report alleging some hospitals and healthcare providers fraudulently subjected children to lucrative sex-change procedures. The new report, titled: “Wolves in White Coats: How Doctors and Hospitals Pushed and Profited from the Fraud of ‘Gender Medicine,’” revealed more than $60 million in insurance claims for treatments including puberty blockers for adolescents as young as 13 billed from 2015 to 2025. According to HHS, some providers aggressively treated children who presented with hormonal issues, endocrine system problems, or early onset puberty with transgender care, billing insurance companies. HHS also blamed Biden-era policies promoting transgender treatments for expanding access gender surgery coverage. MEDICAID ENDS FUNDING FOR CHILD SEX-CHANGE PROCEDURES AS TRUMP ADMIN SLAMS ‘EXPERIMENTAL’ TREATMENTS Fox News Digital obtained a letter from Vance to Attorney General Todd Blanche which detailed Vance’s concerns surrounding the report, and called for criminal prosecution of anyone who has intentionally misled children to get transgender treatment. “One study showed that only about 4.7 percent of patients diagnosed with “endocrine disorder, unspecified,” had that actual condition,” Vance wrote in the letter to Blanche. “Another notes a 30 percent increase in the number of endocrine disorder diagnoses, despite it being unlikely that that there has been a substantial increase in pediatric endocrine disorders.” The average healthcare cost for a minor is roughly $3,000, but transgender treatments can push that to $75,000 without surgery and nearly $170,000, if surgery is involved, according to the report. The report also details how some healthcare providers profit from life-long medical costs, including prescriptions, surgeries and medical interventions years after a minor reaches adulthood. About 225 hospitals and health systems across the country have established pediatric gender programs. Vance charged in his letter to Blanche that health care providers knowingly pushed their misdiagnoses to insurance companies, using billing codes to compel coverage. VANCE REFERS TIM WALZ, MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL TO DOJ FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OVER STATE’S ALLEGED FRAUD “When providers miscode treatment in order to secure insurance coverage for gender-transitioning interventions that insurance would not otherwise cover, they should be held accountable,” read Vance’s letter. “If they have done so intentionally, thereby perpetrating a fraud on Medicaid or on private insurers, they should go to prison.” “Rather than allow the proliferation of harmful, sex-rejecting procedures on our children, we must send a clear message that any hospitals and providers that have participated in these practices will face justice.” The HHS report cited peer-reviewed scientific literature, hospital records, whistleblower testimony, nationwide insurance claims analyses and interviews with patients and parents. Hours after President Joe Biden was sworn into office in 2021, he signed Executive Order 13988, titled: “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.” COLORADO SUPREME COURT ORDERS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL TO RESUME GENDER TRANSITION TREATMENTS FOR MINORS “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports,” the executive order read. “People should be able to access healthcare and secure a roof over their heads without being subjected to sex discrimination.” The executive order’s mandate took effect, and in May of 2021, Biden’s HHS said its Office of Civil Rights would enforce an Affordable Care Act nondiscrimination provision, which includes sex discrimination. In a March 2022 notice, the department “unequivocally” confirmed “that gender affirming care for minors, when medically appropriate and necessary, improves their physical and mental health.” In a separate executive order signed by Biden in June of 2022, Biden directed the federal government, including his HHS, to “address the discrimination and barriers that LGBTQI+ individuals and families face by expanding access to comprehensive health care.” LARGEST CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL IN US TO OPEN ‘DETRANSITION CLINIC’ AFTER $10M SETTLEMENT WITH TRUMP DOJ, STATE Fox News Digital also obtained a letter from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to HHS Inspector General Thomas March Bell that included a sizable list of individual hospitals and clinicians that Kennedy says exhibit “potentially anomalous billing patterns.” The report calls for additional review of insurance coding practices that enable hospitals and clinicians to file claims for gender medicine. Fox News Digital reached out to the Justice Department but did not receive a response in time for publication.
House Republican urges new Trump AG Blanche to shut down Biden-era NYC heroin injection sites
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., slammed Biden administration-funded heroin injection sites in New York City in an interview with Fox News Digital. At the heart of Malliotakis’ complaints are two Overdose Prevention Centers (OPCs) in Manhattan — one in East Harlem and the other in Washington Heights — that, until recently, funneled federal funds to “supervised consumption services,” including the supervised use of illicit drugs such as heroin, a Schedule I controlled substance. “People literally go there like it’s a community center, hang out, and shoot up drugs. It’s signaling to drug dealers where their clients are located and attracting a criminal element in and around the facility,” Malliotakis told Fox News Digital. “We don’t want to see this spread throughout the City of New York or the rest of the country, which is why it’s critical for the Department of Justice to step in now to stop these illegally operating heroin injection centers — to make an example of what’s taking place in New York City so other municipalities throughout the country don’t think about opening them,” she continued. EX-EMPLOYEE OF TAXPAYER-FUNDED NONPROFIT CAUGHT SELLING FENTANYL NEAR LA PARK: DOCS Malliotakis wrote a letter to newly-confirmed U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday, requesting that he take “swift action” to shut down the centers. She accused the nonprofit OnPoint, which runs the centers, of “operating in clear violation of federal law under Title 21 of the United States Code Section 856 which states it is unlawful to ‘…knowingly open, lease, rent, use, or maintain any place, whether permanently or temporarily, for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, or using any controlled substance…’” A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital that “the DOJ can confirm receipt of the letter and is ensuring the appropriate personnel within the Department are reviewing it carefully.” President Donald Trump’s administration, in a July 2025 executive order, ordered the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to redirect funding from “recipients of Federal housing and homelessness assistance that operate drug injection sites or ‘safe consumption sites,’ knowingly distribute drug paraphernalia, or permit the use or distribution of illicit drugs on property under their control.” TRUMP’S DC LAW-AND-ORDER BLITZ MARKS ONE YEAR WITH EYE-POPPING HAUL OF SUSPECTS Malliotakis praised the decision while arguing that the OnPoint facilities fall under that definition. “Thankfully, President Trump last year signed an executive order prohibiting any federal funds from going to such facilities. There was a $2 million grant that Joe Biden’s administration had approved for these facilities in New York, and President Trump’s executive order canceled that,” she told Fox News Digital. Malliotakis also introduced a bill in 2025 that would further defund injection centers nationally. “We don’t know who will be president in a few years, so we need that codified in statute. I’m very pleased to see the President took action via executive order to stop $2 million of taxpayer money from going to a heroin shooting gallery, which is an absolutely insane use of taxpayer funds,” she told Fox News Digital. “We’re hopeful that under the new Trump administration, we will see these heroin sites finally shut down because what they’re doing is enabling addiction,” she continued. “It is really unsavory activity that’s taking place. You see the quality of life deteriorate, all in full view of the school children attending surrounding community schools,” Malliotakis said. Malliotakis also slammed New York’s Democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who visited one of OnPoint’s locations in March. “The new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, did go visit one of these facilities and was praising the work they’re doing, which is ludicrous. It’s enabling drug addiction instead of helping people who are clearly addicted,” she told Fox News Digital. “These are people addicted to these substances, and instead of helping them fight their addiction and get off drugs, they’re literally enabling them and giving them a community center to do it in — when we could use community centers for our youth and our seniors. It’s really, really disturbing to see tax dollars go to this” she continued. “We need long-term treatment. I’ve been a constant supporter of funding long-term treatment. Unfortunately, here in New York City, when they make a drug-related arrest, it’s a quick turnaround — you’re in and you’re out, even if you’re the dealer perpetrating these crimes on people,” Malliotakis said. Fox News Digital contacted the White House, Mamdani’s office and OnPoint for further comment.
El-Sayed argued against the Second Amendment in unearthed social media videos
A controversial progressive Democrat who has campaigned with high-profile socialists and is running to be the state’s next U.S. senator from Michigan responded after hidden videos on his YouTube channel trashing the Second Amendment resurfaced. “Abdul respects the Second Amendment, and also believes that access to healthcare is a right,” Abdul El-Sayed spokeswoman Roxie Richner told Fox News Digital when reached for comment about comments made in the now-secret videos. “What if we tweaked the Constitution, amended the amendment, and instead of the right to bear arms, we change it to the right to have health care?” he said in a YouTube video posted on April 6, 2023. He claimed altruism in the proposal, saying more people would live. In that video, El-Sayed said that stripping Second Amendment rights and implementing a right to healthcare policy would lead to “fewer people dying by gun and more people living because they have healthcare.” MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE ABDUL EL-SAYED DODGES QUESTION ON WHETHER HE STILL SUPPORTS DEFUNDING THE POLICE YouTube offers a feature to hide videos previously posted publicly without deleting them. Though the hidden videos can’t be viewed, rough transcripts can be found on an internet archive site first revealed by CNN in a Monday report. The outlet reports that El-Sayed hid about 100 videos before launching his Senate campaign. In one video from May 26, 2022, the transcript of which was viewed by Fox News Digital, El-Sayed made the argument that the Second Amendment does not apply to individual Americans and only applies to a regulated militia. He claimed that the stipulation written in the key constitutional right “couches the entire idea of not infringing on the right to bear arms in the idea of maintaining a well-regulated militia.” He argued against individuals owning firearms, instead suggesting that only designated community-based groups, like police forces, should be issued firearms. Paradoxically, El-Sayed has also argued in favor of defunding the police. UNEARTHED CLIP EXPOSES MORE ANTI-POLICE RHETORIC AS EL-SAYED GETS GRILLED FOR DELETING SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS That argument against the Second Amendment was roundly rejected in a famous Supreme Court case from 2008, District of Columbia v. Heller. “The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia,” the nation’s highest court decidedly held. El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond when asked which, if any, of his views on the Second Amendment had changed since posting the 2022 and 2023 videos. Among the many other hidden videos, El-Sayed also raged against President Donald Trump’s closed borders policies, argued against the use of fireworks and compared the “ethos” of football to slavery. The Democrat candidate has campaigned with socialist darling streamer Hasan Piker, known for saying “America deserved 9/11,” praising Mao Zedong and Communist China, arguing that capitalists should be murdered in the streets and spewing a litany of antisemitic bile. The two palled around at a pre-primary election day party earlier this month.
Man who carried Clinton nuclear ‘football’ reveals what ‘scares the hell out of me’ about Air Force One story
A retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who carried the nuclear “football” for former President Bill Clinton says the extraordinary Air Force One shell game departing Ankara, Turkey, last month to protect President Donald Trump from a potential attack was hardly unprecedented. “It was brilliant,” retired Lt. Col. Robert “Buzz” Patterson told Fox News Digital. “I wish I had been a part of it. That’s how well done it was.” But Patterson is warning that exposing the vital national security secrets behind such operations could put presidents, military personnel and the White House press corps in danger for years to come. Patterson served as Clinton’s senior military aide for a period of two years and was responsible for the president’s emergency satchel, and in a 20-minute interview Wednesday, he explained how presidential decoys, aircraft swaps and other acts of deception are longstanding tools used to protect the commander in chief, his senior officials and the “privileged” Air Force One press corps. TRUMP USED CATERING TRUCK, AIR FORCE ONE DECOY TO EVADE IRAN THREAT: REPORT What alarms him, Patterson said, is not that Trump’s security team used the tactic — including the catering truck sleight of hand he was intimately a part of during the Clinton administration — but that details of how it was done are now spilling into public view. “I hope that they prosecute this to the fullest,” Patterson said. “Whoever leaked that, in my opinion, and having been involved in this, was highly placed in that process.” “There’s only a few people who actually know exactly what’s going down, and that’s by design,” he added. “So if somebody leaked it, it was somebody involved in the process, and that scares the hell out of me.” ‘DECOY’ AIR FORCE ONE WAS PROTECTED BY US FIGHTER JETS, OFFICIAL SAYS His warning comes as Fox News reported Wednesday that the legacy presidential 747 used as a decoy after Trump secretly switched planes in Ankara, Turkey, last month was not sent into the sky unprotected. A senior Trump administration official told Fox News that U.S. fighter jets protected the aircraft on its flight to the United Kingdom. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were also aboard with members of the traveling press corps, according to the official. Reporters had been instructed to keep their window shades closed. Patterson said the fighter escort was exactly the sort of protection he would expect in a high-threat environment. TRUMP SAYS HE’S IRAN’S ‘NO. 1’ TARGET AS RENEWED CONFLICT RAISES ASSASSINATION FEARS “Yes, especially into war zones,” Patterson said, when asked whether presidential aircraft are customarily escorted by fighter jets in such circumstances. “We damn sure always do when we’re going to a theater of high threat,” he said. “We did it with President Clinton in ’97. And we did it with Trump just a couple weeks ago, and we’ll do it with whoever the next president is.” TRUMP’S SLY PLANE SWITCH RAISES EYEBROWS OVER SAFETY OF PASSENGERS LEFT BEHIND ON BOARD Trump’s July 8 departure from the NATO summit in Ankara involved a carefully staged deception. Trump publicly boarded the familiar blue-and-white presidential 747 before being moved out of sight in an airport catering vehicle and transferred to a smaller Air Force C-32A. The legacy 747 then departed for Britain while Trump traveled separately. He later reunited with the presidential aircraft in the United Kingdom before continuing his journey aboard the newer, Qatari-donated 747. Trump said Tuesday that he was following the direction of the Secret Service and the military. Patterson said the broader concept of confusing potential attackers about the president’s movements is routine. WHITE HOUSE PUSHED FOR PROTOCOL TO PRESERVE CORRESPONDENTS’ CREDIBILITY AFTER TRUMP’S SECRET PLANE SWITCH “We use decoys all the time,” he said. “We use decoy in the motorcade routes.” “You’ll sometimes see the two beasts will switch out under bridges and overpasses. We do the same thing with airplanes, especially in international trips. There’s always two Air Force Ones that go. Obviously, one’s a decoy and it’s also a spare for spare parts in case something happens to the primary. “So we’ve been doing it for years. “It works,” he added, “and for people to want to have visibility into actually how it works would be particularly troubling and it would cause reverberations in our American system for years.” SECRET SERVICE AGENT ON JD VANCE’S DETAIL INVESTIGATED FOR ALLEGEDLY LEAKING OPERATIONAL SECURITY INFO That is why, he argued, demands to expose the mechanics of the latest operation risk doing more damage than the public scrutiny is worth. Patterson said the protections are intended not merely for Trump, Clinton or any individual president, but to ensure continuity of the presidency itself. “President Trump’s only got two more years,” he said. “These programs are going to be in place for the foreseeable future, and they’ve been in place in our past for quite a while. So it’s not just about Trump. These programs exist to protect no matter who the president is and the team around him.” Patterson, who is a conservative and outspoken New York Times bestselling author highly critical of the man he carried the nuclear football for, warned divisive politics against Trump is dangerous for U.S. national security. TWO YEARS AFTER BUTLER, THREATS AGAINST TRUMP KEEP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN SHARP FOCUS “Like I was with President Clinton — I wasn’t a huge President Clinton fan, but they hired me into that position, the White House did — and I swore an oath to the office of the presidency, and I did it,” Patterson said. “And I think that the people that are working for President Trump right now, whether they like him or don’t like him, or agree with his politics or don’t agree with this politics, they have to understand that we’re there — the Secret Service guys, the apparatus is there — to protect the human being and the office.” Patterson also revealed that Trump was not the first president he knew
California Dem ripped for ‘perverted agenda’ ahead of fundraiser at risqué nightclub
Marni von Wilpert, a Democratic candidate for Congress in California’s 48th Congressional District, is holding a fundraiser at a venue known for sexually suggestive branding and LGBTQ nightlife on Thursday evening. The San Diego restaurant and nightclub, called the Gossip Grill, offers a series of adult-themed specials and events such as “Fi—r me Fridays,” “Girls, Gays and Theys Sundays” and “Cabaret Drag Brunch Pride Extravaganza.” It also offers menu items like the “Foreplay” and the “happy ending.” DEMOCRATS TURN ON CONGRESSIONAL HOPEFUL AFTER ‘HIDING’ LGBTQ+ VIEWS FROM MUSLIM VOTERS The upcoming event underscores Wilpert’s connection to the LGBTQ community and the attention she’s given the issue during her congressional campaign since she came out as bisexual a few years ago. To one Republican observer, it’s a set of priorities that places an undue emphasis on sexuality. “Out of touch Marni von Wilpert found the perfect headquarters for her radical campaign,” Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Her perverted agenda pushes hormone treatments on kids, shuts parents out and puts sexual content in front of young children. That dangerous agenda belongs in a nightclub, not Congress.” Wilpert lists “LGBTQ+ Rights” among her top priorities on her campaign website — alongside other priorities like restructuring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and penalties for companies with low wages. On her website, she commits to making the topic a legislative focus at the federal level. “In Congress, she will work to pass the Equality Act so the protections that Californians enjoy are guaranteed nationwide. She will face the attacks head-on, from bans on gender-affirming care to efforts to silence LGBTQ+ students in our schools,” the website reads. In the past, Wilpert has helped spearhead efforts to keep Pride-related materials in San Diego public libraries. CHICAGO COLLEGE REMOVES LGBTQ PRIDE FLAG OVER INSTITUTIONAL NEUTRALITY CONCERNS After an activist removed almost every gender-orientation-related book from a library in Rancho Peñasquitos in 2023, threatening to keep them until the county took down a Pride display, Wilpert led the charge to replace the books. Wilpert, then a city council member, also pressed to expand Pride displays in 36 San Diego public libraries. “I’m frankly shocked by this because eliminating LGBTQ content from libraries is what you might expect in Mississippi, but never here in San Diego,” she told The San Diego Tribune. “Denying others the right to read LGBTQ-affirming books is just another way of telling LGBTQ people they don’t belong — and that’s dead wrong. Everyone has the right to read what they want, but absolutely no one has the right to keep others from reading books that reflect their experiences and backgrounds.” Her work with the library has attracted support in her congressional bid from groups like Equality California, which cited it as a basis of their endorsement. “Throughout her career, Marni has been a champion for the LGBTQ+ community and the diverse communities that make up CA-48. As an out LGBTQ+ elected leader, her record on the San Diego City Council includes defending access to inclusive library resources and standing up to censorship and bigotry,” the group said. VULNERABLE DEM’S CAMPAIGN PITCH CLASHES WITH ‘RADICAL’ VOTING RECORD ON TOP CULTURE WAR ISSUE She has also attracted endorsements from Equality PAC, the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund and the Human Rights Campaign — all LGBTQ-aligned networks. Wilpert did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on her choice of venue or whether she thought the themes at the establishment were appropriate for a congressional campaign.
GOP congressman’s ex-wife sues, alleging sensitive image of 2-year-old daughter was posted online
Ohio Republican Rep. Max Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno, filed a lawsuit against him Wednesday, alleging he uploaded a nude photo of their daughter online. Moreno, the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, has been in an extended custody battle with Miller amid the fallout of their divorce. The lawsuit alleges that Miller “recklessly published and disclosed to the world a nude image” of their 2-year-old daughter. The lawsuit claims Miller gave the photo to his lawyer, Aaron Minc, alongside other information he was using to fight allegations of domestic abuse. Minc has since taken full responsibility for the contents of the Dropbox folder, saying the release of the photo was “completely unintentional.” OHIO GOP FAMILY FEUD EXPLODES AS SEN BERNIE MORENO CALLS ON REP MAX MILLER TO RESIGN “I am solely responsible for what happened,” Minc said in a statement. “I was the only person responsible for assembling, creating, reviewing, adding, deleting, redacting, or making any changes to the information and files that were in this folder.” Miller posted a link to the Dropbox folder publicly on his social media, and its contents were ultimately viewed over 400,000 times, according to the lawsuit. “Miller’s recklessness is underscored by the fact that any parent knows — in this era and world filled with pedophiles, creeps, and AI-generated image alteration and video generation — not to put nude pictures of their child, or any child, on the public internet,” the lawsuit argues. SEN BERNIE MORENO CALLS FOR EX-SON-IN-LAW TO RESIGN FROM HOUSE, GET ‘SERIOUS PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP’ The lawsuit is separate from the domestic abuse allegations Moreno has leveled at Miller. She claims he threw boiling water at her, held a gun to her head and may have broken their daughter’s collarbone, all allegations that Miller fully denies. Miller has refused to drop out of his re-election bid for Ohio’s 7th Congressional District, and he was effectively locked in as the GOP nominee after an election deadline passed on Saturday. Sen. Moreno had previously avoided publicly weighing in on the dispute but broke his silence after Miller posted a livestream denying allegations of domestic abuse and child abuse. Moreno accused Miller of increasingly “erratic and dangerous behavior” and said he should not serve in the House of Representatives.
Minnesota fraud scandal will haunt Flanagan in high-stakes Senate race, top House Republican warns
The welfare fraud scandal that rocked Minnesota’s state government late last year will now be a central issue in the race for its open Senate seat, the top Minnesotan in Congress said. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., is predicting that the rampant fraud that occurred under Gov. Tim Walz’s administration will now sandbag the campaign of his top deputy, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who won the Democratic nomination on Tuesday night. “I think fraud is going to be the theme all the way through. Peggy Flanagan was there every step of the way,” Emmer told Fox News Digital. “She is going be tainted by Tim Walz’s disgusting reputation.” PEGGY FLANAGAN WAS MINNESOTA’S NO 2 OFFICIAL AS MASSIVE FRAUD SCANDAL EXPLODED UNDER STATE’S WATCH He argued that both Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison would be a “weight” on Flanagan’s candidacy. Fraudsters managed to swindle Minnesota’s state welfare programs out of millions of dollars’ worth of taxpayer funds dating back to the COVID-19 pandemic. It kicked off with the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, whose leaders submitted falsified data to the state government while claiming to be working with schools, restaurants and caterers to feed Minnesota students. The state government flagged suspicions to the FBI in 2021. Since then, roughly 80 defendants, including founder Aimee Bock, have been indicted. Bock was sentenced to 500 months in prison earlier this year for a scheme that prosecutors say affected some $250 million in taxpayer funds. MINNESOTA MAN MARKS FBI’S FIRST ARREST FROM DOJ’S ‘MOST WANTED FRAUDSTERS’ LIST Since then, federal officials have claimed that programs, including those that deal with childcare, helping children with autism and low-income housing, have been subject to fraudulent waste of taxpayer dollars. Federal officials accused state Democrats of not doing enough to weed out fraud. But Walz and Ellison have both accused Republicans of overrepresenting the size of the scandal as a political attack, though the scrutiny forced Walz to drop his re-election bid for another term as governor. The topic came up in a recent debate between Flanagan and her primary opponent, moderate Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn. Craig argued Flanagan’s role in state government at the time would make her vulnerable to attacks. “The lieutenant governor, even as we sit here today, continues to take absolutely no accountability for any of the fraud issues, and she continues to blame the governor,” Craig said, according to MPR News. “And I’m going to be honest: It’s pissing me off.” TAFOYA MAKES ‘COMMON SENSE’ PITCH TO DISAFFECTED DEMOCRATS AS SHE VOWS TO FIGHT MINNESOTA’S ‘SOCIALIST LURCH’ And Emmer — unsurprisingly as one of Walz’s biggest critics — agreed. “Fraud, incompetence and corruption — that is what the Walz administration has been known for. And she’s been front and center in the Walz administration,” Emmer said. “She is right in the center of one of the biggest fraud scandals in America, right here in Minnesota.” The House majority whip also accused Flanagan of embracing far-left policy positions that are further left than most Minnesotans. “She’s a Marxist communist nut bag from Minneapolis,” Emmer said. “There is a treasure trove of wackadoodle, just out-of-touch statements, which we don’t have to get into today, but you’re going to see those be resurrected.” Flanagan is running against Republican Michele Tafoya, a former sports broadcaster. Fox News Digital reached out to Flanagan’s campaign for comment.
Democrats sound alarm over AI job apocalypse — but labor market isn’t following script
In recent months, top Democrats like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who caucuses with Senate Democrats, have raised fears about artificial intelligence and cast dismal projections about what it might mean for the job market, pressing for government intervention. “How the hell do you go forward and throw millions of people out on the street without planning what’s going to happen?” Sanders said at a press conference in April. But since the introduction of artificial intelligence chatbots in late 2022, the U.S. has continued to add jobs while unemployment has remained at historically low levels, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The tension between Democratic projections and market adjustments underscores the difference between free-market perspectives and more centrally planned alternatives. LEADING ECONOMIST WARNS OF RISE OF ‘GEN Z AFFORDABILITY SOCIALISM’ To Richard Stern, an economist with Advancing American Freedom, a conservative think tank, the debate reveals a more fundamental clash of worldviews. “It’s showcasing the difference between free market and central planning, but it’s also showing the difference in what you think it is to be human. Do you think it is to merely do the work that you’re told to do? Or is it to do things that provide new value and new service to your neighbors?” Stern said. Stern pointed out that innovation has routinely eliminated some jobs while freeing up workers to pursue other kinds of work and create new products. He recalled how the weaving industry was threatened by one such breakthrough in the 1820s. “We invented something called a Jacquard loom, which had basically an early punch card system. It allowed a loom to automatically raise and lower needles so that it would replicate a pattern on its own without a human having to memorize what the pattern was,” Stern said. Since 2022, the workforce has continued to grow, adding total non-farm payroll employment every year even as the use of AI has made its way into the workforce. Over the same window, unemployment has remained below 4.5%. Some companies seem to have also adjusted their expectations for AI and the role it plays in the workplace. In one such case, The Wall Street Journal reported that several companies started hiring again when they realized AI wasn’t replacing junior workers, defying market projections. NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARY BECOMES SECOND MOST EXPENSIVE HOUSE RACE EVER AMID AI FIGHT Despite encouraging short-term data, Democrats have continued to demand that the government step in to curtail the impact AI has on the workforce. “AI is the most transformational technology in the history of the world — and will have a profound impact on the life of every man, woman and child in our country. And, if you’re currently in the workforce, there’s a good chance it will take your job,” Sanders said. “A Stanford paper called ‘Canaries in the Coal Mine?’ found there has already been a 16% decline in employment for younger workers in jobs exposed to AI — like computer programming and customer service,” he added. Other Democrats, like Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, have articulated similar fears. “One entity seems totally unaware: the United States government. The only major AI proposal advanced this Congress was a failed effort to prevent states from regulating the industry,” Casar said in a press release of his own, referring to a proposed 10-year moratorium on AI regulation included in Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act. That provision was struck out in the Senate and did not become law. “The path we are on is clear,” Casar continued. “AI will make a small number of investors and executives even richer, while it eliminates jobs for millions of Americans — and the government does nothing about it.” The Trump White House’s former deputy chief of staff, Taylor Budowich, fired back, telling Fox News Digital that “Trump’s AI boom will only make the American worker more productive.” “Democrats keep telling American workers that AI is going to take their jobs,” Budowich, the founder of Innovation Council, said. “The truth is that President Trump’s AI boom will only make the American worker more productive — and more employable — than ever before.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have also participated in fearmongering about AI and jobs. “If AI could disrupt half the workforce, we can’t wait until people lose their jobs to act,” Warren said in June. “An overwhelming majority of Americans now worry that AI will take their jobs and leave them permanently unemployed,” AOC said in Dec. 2025. Stern believes that while new technologies often disrupt markets and force employees, innovators and businesses to adapt, confidence in the market comes down to a matter of trust. He added that calling on the government to prevent that change or somehow control it is also a form of trust. “Do you trust a million nameless, faceless entrepreneurs and innovators? Or do you trust the government?” Stern said. He compared the reliance on government to how some people have treated AI itself — as a vehicle for solutions without human error. “’Claude, do whatever — no hallucinations, make no mistakes,’ right?” Stern said, referring to an AI chat put out by Anthropic. AI CHATBOTS TAKE HEAT OVER LEFT-WING BIAS: ‘NO LONGER BE CONSIDERED NEUTRAL’ “Democrats have viewed government as that for 200 years, right? They’re like, ‘government, solve this problem that no one else can figure out no hallucination, no mistakes, no corruption,’ and I think it’s people who are just unwilling to recognize that the government is a collection of people.”
Extremism expert hailed as ‘terrific’ by ex-Biden official slapped with federal charges
FIRST ON FOX: Before federal charges put ex-Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) official Heidi Beirich at the center of efforts to allegedly pay White supremacist informants, the left-wing Center for American Progress (CAP) hosted and praised her as an expert on extremism in the U.S. during a 2018 event. Neera Tanden, the CEO of CAP and a longtime Democratic operative who has worked for multiple Democratic presidents, including former President Joe Biden, described Beirich as among the “terrific leaders who are dedicating themselves to fighting the spread of extremism and speech online.” The praise, however, took on a new light on Wednesday as reports emerged that Beirich is now facing charges of wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to submit false statements to a federally insured bank and conspiracy to conceal money laundering. SPLC FACES BLOWBACK FROM ‘HATE MAP’ TARGETS AFTER DOJ FRAUD INDICTMENT One of the most explosive allegations centers on a source identified as “F-9,” whom prosecutors say infiltrated the neo-Nazi National Alliance and received more than $1.2 million from the SPLC during the period covered by the indictment. Prosecutors allege Beirich oversaw payments to F-9 while also having a romantic relationship with him, with the pair sharing a home and two bank accounts. Other figures at CAP in 2018 praised Beirich for her detailed work with hate groups, including Henry Fernandez, then a senior fellow with CAP. He described the effort as “the leading organization that identifies hate groups in the country.” “She is really probably the nation’s foremost expert on various forms of extremism, including the white supremacist, nativist and neo-confederate movements as well as racism in academia,” Fernandez said. “Even if you don’t know who Heidi Beirich is, you actually do because she leads the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, which publishes the award-winning intelligence report,” he continued. “They’re the leading organization that identifies what hate groups in the country are.” Beirich was arrested by authorities in California on Wednesday. Her arrest fits into a larger case involving the SPLC that began in April. A 22-page indictment stated that the group allegedly was funneling money to hate groups. CONSERVATIVE GROUP TARGETED IN SPLC-INSPIRED TERROR ATTACK DEMANDS RESTITUTION AFTER DOJ INDICTMENT “Unbeknownst to donors, some of their donated money was being used to fund the leaders and organizers of racist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation and the National Alliance,” the filing reads. “The SPLC’s paid informants (‘field sources’) engaged in the active promotion of racist groups at the same time that the SPLC was denouncing the same groups on its website.” In particular, prosecutors allege donor money was used to attend and host extremist rallies, recruit members, grow and create extremist chapters, publish extremist literature and buy materials for KKK robes, hoods and cross burnings. The indictment also alleges two KKK members who wanted out of the movement were encouraged by the SPLC to remain and offered monthly payments and expenses. Now, prosecutors are alleging that it was Beirich who had a hand in making those payments, overseeing the organization’s efforts to track the groups. Beirich’s representation has argued that the allegations are a misunderstanding of her work tracking hate groups. Beirich originally joined the SPLC in 1999, working as a senior writer and then climbing her way to become deputy director, co-director and finally director in 2012. She would leave the group in 2019 to launch the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. In her roles, she helped direct research, supervised publications of the group’s Intelligence Report and Hatewatch and was featured in a wide range of media appearances. BROADCAST BIAS: NETWORKS DOWNPLAY SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER FUNDING KKK, NAZIS Representatives from CAP did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether they would continue working with Beirich in the future or when the last time was that she had partnered with the group. Fox News’ Jasmine Baehr contributed reporting.
Florida State University hit with federal civil rights investigation over race, sex-based scholarship programs
FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration has opened a federal civil rights investigation into Florida State University (FSU) over 32 scholarships accused of discriminating against students based on race or sex, according to a Department of Education (DOE) letter obtained by Fox News Digital. The DOE’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) said it will investigate whether FSU discriminated on the basis of race, color or national origin in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and whether the university discriminated based on sex in violation of Title IX. The investigation stems from a July 2025 complaint filed by the Equal Protection Project (EPP) that targeted 32 FSU scholarships. The DOE’s Aug. 4 letter lists all 32 programs and confirms FSU is a recipient of federal financial assistance and therefore must comply with Title VI and Title IX. William Jacobson, founder and president of the EPP and Cornell Law professor, told Fox News Digital that FSU stood out even among the hundreds of colleges and universities his organization has challenged. A NEW YORK UNIVERSITY FACES JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATION OVER ‘BLACK MALE INITIATIVE’ “Florida State, surprisingly, has one of the largest contingencies of discriminatory scholarships that we’ve seen anywhere,” Jacobson said of the Tallahassee institution with an enrollment of more than 46,000 students. “We have challenged over 290 colleges and universities, and only a handful have this many.” Jacobson said the allegations were particularly surprising because of Florida’s aggressive efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and discrimination in higher education. “The culture on the campuses has not caught up yet with the politics,” Jacobson said. “Florida famously has cracked down on wokeness and DEI and discrimination more so than blue states. So it’s very surprising to find such aggressive discriminatory scholarships at Florida State University.” The Equal Protection Project’s 34-page complaint divides the programs into 14 scholarships it alleges discriminate based on race, color or national origin, 13 based on sex, and five based on both. KEY TRUMP AGENCY PUTS TOP UNIVERSITIES IN CROSSHAIRS OVER ALLEGED RACE-BASED DORM PROGRAMS FSU pushed back on the allegations, telling Fox News Digital that all students are eligible to apply for and receive the scholarships under investigation. “All Florida State University students are eligible to apply for and receive the scholarships listed,” the university said in a statement. “While donors may express preferences, these do not constitute eligibility requirements.” FSU said the scholarships are funded entirely through private donations rather than institutional funds and maintained that all applicants are “evaluated equally based on merit,” with no student disqualified or given an unfair advantage because of a donor preference. The distinction between a donor’s stated preference and an eligibility requirement is at the center of the dispute. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ZEROES IN ON UCLA FOR ALLEGED ILLEGAL DEI ADMISSIONS AS ELITE SCHOOL CRACKDOWN EXPANDS Among the programs cited is the Crockett Family Fund for Excellence, whose FSU listing, reproduced in the complaint, stated that any student could apply but that it was the donor’s preference that the recipient be an African American or Black student. Jacobson zeroed in on that language during his interview with Fox News Digital, arguing that FSU cannot shield itself from discrimination allegations by attributing the preference to private donors. “They try to couch this in terms of offloading the blame onto the donor,” Jacobson said. “These are scholarships promoted by and awarded through the Florida State University system. Legally, they are responsible.” NEW YORK TIMES SUED BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OVER ALLEGED ‘DEI-RELATED’ EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION “So that’s what I found [at] Florida State to be most interesting, is that they seem to try to wordsmith around it,” he added. Other programs identified in the complaint include the Crossman Career Builders Scholarship, which stated a donor preference for a female recipient who is Black or African American, Hispanic or a member of the Seminole Tribe, and the Disciples of the Diamond Spring 81 Scholarship, which expressed an additional preference for an African American male. Another, the Dynamic African American Women in Engineering Powerhouse Scholarship, stated that any student could apply but expressed a donor preference for an African American female student. The complaint also challenges a number of scholarships based solely on sex. Among them is the College of Arts and Sciences Student Travel Awards, whose listing stated any student could apply while expressing a preference for a female recipient. TRUMP DOJ CORNERS SCHOOL DISTRICT WITH 7-DAY ULTIMATUM OVER TRANS POLICY KEEPING PARENTS IN THE DARK Jacobson argued the distinction between an eligibility requirement and a stated preference does not resolve the underlying legal issue. “Rather than doing away with it, they play word games,” he said. “And that’s just not good enough.” The DOE has not determined that FSU violated federal law. OCR explicitly said that opening the investigation “in no way implies” that it has reached a determination on the merits. The agency said it will serve as a neutral factfinder and collect and analyze evidence from FSU, the complainant and other sources. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OPENS FOUR TITLE IX INVESTIGATIONS INTO MICHIGAN AND NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL DISTRICTS Still, Jacobson called the decision to formally investigate a significant development. “It is very significant that the U.S. Department of Education has opened this for a formal investigation,” Jacobson told Fox News Digital. “That doesn’t happen in every case.” “This is a preliminary step, but it’s a very large preliminary step,” he added. The EPP’s complaint argues the scholarships violate Title VI and Title IX, as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, because FSU is a public university. It also argues the programs run afoul of Florida law and FSU’s own nondiscrimination policy. Those remain allegations that OCR will now investigate. Jacobson said his organization is not seeking to eliminate the scholarship money. “We do not want the scholarships disbanded or shut down,” he said. “We want the discrimination disbanded and shut down. Keep the funding, give the students the money, but give everybody a fair shot.”