Trump administration blocks Venezuela from paying Maduro’s legal bills amid federal charges
The Trump administration has moved to block the Venezuelan government from covering the legal expenses of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as he fights federal drug trafficking and weapons charges in New York, according to a court filing from his attorney. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty in federal court in New York on Jan. 5 to drug trafficking and weapons charges, days after American forces captured them at the presidential palace in Venezuela. In a letter to U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is overseeing the case in the Southern District of New York, Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, said the U.S. was preventing the Venezuelan government from covering his client’s legal fees. “The government of Venezuela has an obligation to pay Mr. Maduro’s fees. Mr. Maduro has a legitimate expectation that the government of Venezuela would do so, and Mr. Maduro cannot otherwise afford counsel,” Pollack wrote. BONDI SAYS TRUMP ‘SAVED COUNTLESS LIVES’ IN VENEZUELAN DICTATOR MADURO CAPTURE OPERATION In the letter, dated Feb. 20, Pollack argued that under “Venezuelan law and custom, the government of Venezuela pays the expenses of the President and First Lady.” Pollack said that Maduro and the Venezuelan government were subjected to sanctions by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and his legal counsel would need to be granted a license to represent him and be paid. While Pollack said OFAC granted licenses for both Maduro and Flores on Jan. 9, Maduro’s license was amended “without explanation” to not allow the Venezuelan government to pay for his defense costs. MADURO ALLY ALEX SAAB ARRESTED IN JOINT US-VENEZUELAN OPERATION, OFFICIAL SAYS Flores’ license was not impacted, according to Pollack. Pollack said that OFAC is “interfering with Mr. Maduro’s ability to retain counsel” and violating his Sixth Amendment right to counsel of his choice. Maduro’s attorney said OFAC has not responded to his request to reinstate the original license and threatened to take legal action if it continued to do so. RUBIO DEFENDS US ASSAULT ON VENEZUELA, CALLS OUT REPORTER FOR TRYING TO START A FIGHT “If OFAC fails to act on the request to reinstate the original license, or denies that request, Mr. Maduro will file a formal motion in the coming days seeking relief from the Court,” he wrote. The U.S. military conducted an operation to capture Maduro in Caracas on Jan. 3. He was flown to New York, where he is being held in a federal jail. Maduro was charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. Flores faces three charges: cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Treasury Department for comment.
Some of the most notable guests at Trump’s 2026 State of the Union: photos
Prominent figures from across the media, business and political landscapes showed up as guests to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday evening. Notable attendees included Erika Kirk, the widowed wife of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, David Ellison, the media mogul and CEO of Paramount, and Kevin O’Leary, the Shark Tank media personality and businessman. Several of the more notable attendees were highlighted by Trump during his address. Kirk received a mention from the president as he condemned political violence of all kinds in his address. 5 TIMES DEMOCRATS DISRUPTED TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS “We must all come together to reaffirm that America is one nation under God, and we must totally reject political violence of any kind,” Trump said. Charlie Kirk, who was just 31-years-old at the time of his death, was killed by a gunman on Sept. 10, 2025, while conducting a political debate event at Utah Valley University. The U.S. men’s hockey team also made an appearance on Tuesday, receiving praise from Trump fresh off their gold medal victory in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. TRUMP SHAMES DEMOCRATS IN VIRAL STATE OF THE UNION CHALLENGE ON MIGRANT CRIME: ‘FIRST DUTY’ “Congratulations to team U.S.A.,” Trump said as the players streamed into the chamber during the address. Trump also highlighted guests brought by others, like First Lady Melania Trump. She invited 10-year-old Everest Nevraumont, a youth advocate for education through artificial intelligence. “I challenge keeping America’s next generation positioned to succeed and strongly succeed in the future,” Trump said. Trump also used guests like Enrique Márquez, a former political prisoner of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, to remind audiences of his international achievements under his second administration. In early 2026, the U.S. stormed Venezuela’s capitol city and captured Maduro, giving Trump newfound leverage in negotiations over the country’s future. “We’re working closely with the new president of Venezuela to unleash extraordinary economic gains for both of our countries,” Trump said. The White House reunited Márquez with his family at the State of the Union. Trump also awarded the Purple Heart to Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe and deceased Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, two National Guard members who were critically injured and fatally shot by a gunman who ambushed them while on duty last year in Washington, D.C. RO KHANNA’S STATE OF THE UNION GUEST RECRUITED OVER 20 UNDERAGE GIRLS FOR EPSTEIN: ‘LIKE HEIDI FLEISS’ “I’m going to ask a highly respected General James Seward to present Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe and the great family of Sarah Beckstrom, with the award created by our late, great president, George Washington himself,” Trump, who invited her parents as his State of the Union guests, said. “It’s called the Purple Heart. We love you all.” As Trump spoke, Major General James “Jim” D. Seward, Adjutant General of the West Virginia National Guard, presented Specialist Beckstrom’s medal to her parents and pinned the Purple Heart on Staff Sergeant Wolfe in the viewing gallery above. Guests like O’Leary and Ellison did not receive a shoutout from the president, but mingled with multiple lawmakers. O’Leary, primarily known for his television presence on ABC’s Shark Tank, owns companies like O’Leary Ventures and O’Leary Fine Wines. In recent years, O’Leary has surfaced as a political commentator, giving his thoughts on the effectiveness of political party messaging, voter sentiments and more. LIZ PEEK: AMERICA EXPECTED ONE THING FROM TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION. IT GOT ANOTHER Ellison is the current chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance Corporation keeps a relatively low political profile but, in the past, has made several high-dollar donations to many Democratic candidates despite now calling himself a friend of President Trump. Trump has boasted publicly about a personal relationship with Ellison. Most recently, Ellison has made headlines for his attempt to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery — a move that would solidify Ellison and Paramount as titans in the media world. He was seen walking into the House of Representatives on Tuesday alongside Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who invited him. “Honored to have David Ellison as my guest to POTUS’ State of the Union address this evening,” Graham said in a post to X.
Senators Sanders and Mullin clash in heated Senate hearing exchange: ‘You’re part of the problem’
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin were involved in a heated back and forth during a Senate hearing Tuesday that sparked immediate reactions across social media. “Everybody we bring up here, you guys chastised for trying to make changes,” Mullin said during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing Wednesday. The committee was discussing issues with Obamacare during a hearing on the nomination of Casey Means as U.S. surgeon general. “God forbid we change and try to fix our broken system,” Mullin continued. “Anyway, I ranted too long.” MEDICAL WATCHDOG CHALLENGES KEY STUDY USED TO JUSTIFY DEI HEALTH POLICIES: ‘SCIENTIFICALLY UNSOUND’ As Mullin was attempting to return to the topic, he was cut off by Sanders, who said, “Yes, you did.” Mullin responded, “I’m sorry. I didn’t ask your opinion on that, and if I cared about your opinion I would ask you. But I don’t care about your opinion. You’re part of the system. You’re part of the problem. You’ve been sitting here longer than I’ve even been alive. This is your problem. You should have fixed this a long time ago. You’ve been railing on it for so long. What have you been doing?” Sanders responded by sarcastically saying, “I decided not to run for surgeon general, You’re the nominee I’ve decided.” “That is definitely something we would never accept,” Mullin said before moving on. The exchange was quickly picked up by conservatives on social media, including from “Charlie Kirk Show” executive producer Andrew Kolvet, who wrote in a post on X that “things did not end well for the octogenarian socialist” after he took a “cheap shot” at Mullin. “That’s what his commie supporters can’t figure out,” comedian Tim Young posted on X. “Bernie has been in office so long that he should have solved their problems by now.” BERNIE SANDERS SPENT OVER $550K IN 2025 CAMPAIGN FUNDS ON PRIVATE JETS, FILINGS SHOW “Finally,” journalist Anna Matson posted on X. “Someone put Bernie Sanders in his place. He’s all talk and no action. He’s been in office longer than I’ve been alive and he has nothing to show for it.” “Swamp being DRAINED,” political and sports commentator Dan Dakich posted on X. “HOLY SMOKES,” conservative journalist Eric Daughterty posted on X. “Sen. Markwayne Mullin just PUMMELED Bernie Sanders to his FACE.” Senate clashes involving Sanders and Mullin have been increasingly common in recent years, including a viral moment in 2023 when Mullin and Teamsters President Sean O’Brien almost came to blows during an exchange Sanders was in the middle of. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In December, the two clashed on the Senate floor, also over Obamacare, in an exchange that Mullin posted on X in which he referred to Sanders as “The Grinch” and said the Vermont senator “blocked our bipartisan bill, the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act, to give kids fighting cancer more treatment options.” Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Mullin and Sanders for comment.
Trump’s fraud czar nominee touts Minnesota blueprint to root out Obamacare fraud, senior scams
The crackdown on fraud in Minnesota will serve as a blueprint for a new Department of Justice office focused on protecting taxpayer funds from scams, President Donald Trump‘s pick to serve as the nation’s “fraud czar” explained in his nomination hearing Wednesday. “The work in Minnesota has been pivotal. The work of the U.S. Attorney’s office there, and the personnel there, has been pivotal to highlighting the problems of fraud that permeate our taxpayer funded programs,” nominee to serve as assistant attorney general for a new Justice Department division tasked with rooting out fraud, Colin McDonald, said Wednesday. “That sort of effort … is what the National Fraud Enforcement Division will be looking to do and scale to an extent that we’ve not seen before within the Department of Justice,” he continued. Trump tapped McDonald as the nominee in January, just days after establishing the Department of Justice’s new division for national fraud enforcement that will “investigate, prosecute, and remedy fraud affecting the Federal government,” according to the White House. The new office follows a sweeping Minnesota fraud scandal, where hundreds of millions of dollars was allegedly swindled from taxpayers through welfare and social services programs. DOGE’S MEDICAID DATA DUMP AIMS TO EXPOSE FRAUD — BUT PRIVACY AND LEGAL HURDLES LOOM “I will be working with the inspectors general community,” McDonald continued. “With our federal agencies and federal partners, with our state and local partners to ensure that we find the fraud where it’s occurring and that we have the resources to prosecute it, to investigate it and prosecute it, and ultimately ensure that the fraud that we’re seeing annually, perpetrated against these programs comes to an end.” McDonald appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning, where lawmakers grilled the nominee about the new office, how it will operate and if it will operate independently of the White House. Trump delivered his State of the Union address Tuesday evening and announced Vice President JD Vance will lead the administration’s “war on fraud.” McDonald explained that his office will work to tackle all fraud bleeding taxpayers, citing Government Accountability Office data that estimates between $320 billion to $520 billion in taxpayer funds is lost to fraud on an annual basis. “My commitment is to work tirelessly to build a division, a national fraud enforcement division, where no fraud is too big for the Department of Justice, and no fraud is too small for the Department of Justice,” he continued. At the top of lawmakers’ minds were fraud concerns surrounding Obamacare and senior citizens. Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn cited that the Government Accountability Office could not reconcile over $21 billion in Obamacare marketplace subsidies in tax year 2023 during his questioning of McDonald. HEAVILY-REDACTED AUDIT FINDS MINNESOTA MEDICAID HAD WIDESPREAD VULNERABILITIES “I commit to working tirelessly to root out the sort of fraud that you’ve identified there, and to make sure that every single dollar that’s supposed to go to these programs actually goes to the programs, to the beneficiaries, the intended beneficiaries of these programs, and not to fraudsters. That is my commitment,” McDonald told Cornyn during the hearing regarding potential fraud surrounding Affordable Care Act subsidies. Scams targeting the elderly also took the spotlight throughout the hearing. Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, pressed McDonald on his efforts to protect seniors from scams, noting that America’s seniors lose $28 billion annually to financial schemes. The fraud czar nominee pledged that the DOJ would work to protect seniors from the increasingly high-tech scams, which often include using artificial intelligence to confuse and swindle people, noting that the fraud affects entire families. “It’s not just the grandmothers and the grandfathers, it’s also their family members who bear the weight of these scams and the fraud that’s perpetrated against them,” he said. “My grandmother, one of them, turns 89 years old in two days. And she has seen these … sorts of efforts toward her. And it’s a major issue that the Department of Justice is focused on, and we will be using all available tools to ensure that we combat that problem.” The massive Minnesota fraud case has reverberated across the nation, with federal Republican lawmakers reinvigorating calls to tighten and monitor the release of taxpayer funds to various programs, most notably social and welfare offices. DR OZ DETAILS ‘WEAPONIZATION OF FRAUD’ IN MINNESOTA, ESTIMATES TOTAL MEDICAID FRAUD TO BE $100 BILLION Trump spotlighted the fraud in his State of the Union address Tuesday, claiming the scams are even worse in states such as California, Massachusetts, Maine.” “When it comes to the corruption that is plundering — it really, it’s plundering America — there’s been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer. Oh, we have all the information,” Trump said Tuesday. “And in actuality, the number is much higher than that, and California, Massachusetts, Maine and many other states are even worse. This is the kind of corruption that shreds the fabric of a nation, and we are working on it like you wouldn’t believe,” he continued, before naming Vance as the administration leader taking on fraud. The White House referred Fox Digital to Trump’s State of the Union comments and McDonald’s testimony when approached for additional comment on the federal fraud crackdown efforts. FEDERAL WELFARE SPENDING IS A FRAUD MAGNET — AND TAXPAYERS ARE PAYING THE PRICE Vance joined Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” Wednesday, and said his efforts will include a “full, whole government approach” to investigating fraud concerns, and enlisting the Justice and Treasury Departments to lead probe on fiscal records. “There’s a whole host of tools that we have that have never been used, and the president and I talked about this a couple of months ago and said, ‘What if we just did everything that we could to stop the fraud that’s being committed against the American taxpayer?’ The president said, ‘Great idea, let’s do it,’ and we’re going to work
Trump’s ‘war on fraud’ draws range of reactions during SOTU speech
As President Donald Trump vowed to wage a “war on fraud” during his State of the Union address Tuesday, a panel of voters across the political spectrum had mixed reactions. The panel, assembled by polling group Maslansky + Partners and comprising 29 Democrats, 30 independents and 41 Republicans, gave real-time reactions as Trump spoke. The reactions were displayed on a line graph where high values represented positive reactions and low values indicated negative reactions. Trump said corruption was “plundering America” and said the most “stunning example” was in Minnesota, where welfare fraud has been a focal point and a child nutrition program scheme, in particular, led to dozens of prosecutions under the Biden administration. SENATE DEM SAYS HE LEFT THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS BECAUSE HE COULDN’T ENDURE ‘HOURS OF TRUMP’S LIES’ A line graph showed Republican voters were receptive as Trump spoke, while Democratic voters had a negative reaction and independents were neutral. “Members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer,” Trump said, an apparent reference to the potential cost of Medicaid fraud in the state since 2018, as revealed by a Minnesota federal prosecutor last year. While it is unclear what links the Somali community has to the Medicaid claim, the vast majority of defendants in the separate $250 million child nutrition program fraud findings were of Somali descent. Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz has said Trump is “demonizing” the Somali community, that Trump’s claims about his state are overstated and a political distraction and that the president is the “biggest fraudster.” OMAR SHOUTS ‘YOU ARE A MURDERER’ AND ‘LIAR’ AT TRUMP DURING STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS Trump contended during his speech that California, Massachusetts, Maine and “many other states” were “even worse” than Minnesota. The White House has taken a multi-agency approach to its fraud initiative, giving the Departments of Justice, Treasury, Health and Human Services and others roles in identifying abuse of welfare systems across the country. “This is the kind of corruption that shreds the fabric of a nation, and we are working on it like you wouldn’t believe,” Trump said. “So, tonight, although it started four months ago, I am officially announcing the war on fraud to be led by our great vice president, JD Vance.” Trump claimed that if the administration could find enough fraud, “we will actually have a balanced budget overnight.” “It’ll go very quickly,” Trump said. “That’s the kind of money you’re talking about. We’ll balance our budget.”
Former top Harris advisor ignites backlash over ‘political props’ comment targeting USA men’s hockey team
Symone Sanders, who formerly served as a top advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris and the 2020 Biden campaign, complained during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night that the Olympic gold-winning U.S. men’s hockey team “allowed themselves to be used as political props.” “They should not be used as political props though, and, frankly, allowed themselves to be used as political props,” Sanders, who is co-hosting a weeknight show on MS NOW, said after the president introduced the team during his address. He later gave the nation’s highest civilian honor to the team’s goalie. “I think that is going to be the question and the discussion going forward,” she continued. “It is very clear why the president did this. What is unclear, to me, is why the men’s hockey team allowed themselves to be utilized in this particular fashion.” US WOMEN’S HOCKEY GOLD MEDALIST HILARY KNIGHT BRUSHES OFF MEN’S REACTION TO TRUMP REMARK Sanders went on to claim that “no one is against USA and our Olympic athletes.” Critics on X slammed the MS NOW host as a “political prop” herself in response to her criticism. Others pointed out that the hockey team’s appearance was one of the only times Democrats stood throughout Trump’s speech. “Miserable people. Just miserable,” a prominent conservative video producer wrote on X. “Shut the puck up!” conservative media personality Bo Snerdley posted on X. “Because Democrats never use people as political props,” Tim Graham, the NewsBusters executive editor, sarcastically wrote on X. TEAM USA GOALIE JAKE OETTINGER REACTS TO TRUMP’S LOCKER ROOM COMMENTS ABOUT THE WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM Polling data showed that the president’s introduction of the gold medal-winning USA men’s Olympic hockey team during the State of the Union address on Tuesday night was met with largely positive bipartisan reactions among voters. Lee Carter of the polling group Maslansky + Partners, said independent voters especially loved the moment when the players entered the House Chamber wearing their gold medals and USA sweatshirts and were met with thunderous “U-S-A” chants. Trump had invited the team to the State of the Union address Sunday night as it celebrated a 2-1 win over Canada in the finals of the Winter Olympics. While honoring the team during his address, President Trump added he would honor goaltender Connor Hellebuyck with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. According to the polling group, visual dials showed independent voter reaction had the largest spike during the moment. Dials showed reaction from Republican voters, who were already energized by the speech, also increased, while reaction from Democrat voters, who were overall the least enthused during Trump’s speech, also saw a slight bump. The polling group said 29 Democrat voters, 41 Republican voters and 30 Independent voters were involved in the voter dials.
Legal experts react to Trump’s SCOTUS clash and tariff pivot in fiery SOTU
Legal experts and commentators toed a careful line Wednesday in responding to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, with many using the moment to weigh in on the broader legal and political climate itself, rather than Trump’s actual remarks. Some of the biggest moments of Trump’s address included his response to the Supreme Court’s 6–3 ruling that invalidated his use of a 1977 emergency law to impose tariffs on most U.S. trading partners, as well as his administration’s crackdown on violent crime in major U.S. cities, among other things. “This is the golden age of America,” Trump proclaimed Tuesday night. “And you’ve seen nothing yet. We’re going to do better, and better, and better.” SUPREME COURT BLOCKS TRUMP TARIFFS IN MAJOR TEST OF EXECUTIVE BRANCH POWERS Trump struck a notably measured tone in responding to the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling during the State of the Union, briefly describing the 6–3 majority decision as “unfortunate” before pivoting to highlight the 10% import fees his administration had announced shortly after the high court’s ruling under Section 122 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974. “Countries that were ripping us off for decades are now paying us hundreds of billions of dollars,” Trump said of the tariffs, which he previously described as “life or death” for the nation’s economy. “The good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made” with the U.S., Trump said Tuesday night, “knowing that the legal power that I as president have to make a new deal could be far worse for them.” “Therefore, they will continue to work along the same successful path that we had negotiated before the Supreme Court’s unfortunate involvement,” he added. Four of the nine Supreme Court justices present for the State of the Union, including Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who had ruled against Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to unilaterally enact his tariffs. Trump’s comments marked a shift from his more abrasive tone in the immediate aftermath of the tariff decision, when he said the high court was “incompetent” and that the majority should be “absolutely ashamed” of themselves “for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.” TRUMP TAKES DIRECT SOTU SWIPE AT DEMOCRATS OVER TAXES: ‘TO HURT THE PEOPLE’ Trump’s remarks during the State of the Union were a nod to his new tariffs he invoked under Section 122, or a statute that allows a sitting president to impose sweeping tariffs for up to 150 days in response to either large or serious U.S. “balance-of-payments deficits,” or in response to situations that pose “fundamental international payments problems” for the U.S. Congress can extend them once the 150-day period ends. But some experts have questioned the legality of using Section 122 to invoke the broad global tariffs — signaling what could be more legal challenges to come. Gita Gopinath, Harvard economics professor and former senior International Monetary Fund official, noted on social media: “As long as there is plenty of demand for US debt and equities, which is the case, the US does not have a ‘payments’ problem. It can finance its trade deficits easily.” “The first thing to note is that the statute does not apply to the current US international payments position,” the Peterson Institute’s Kimberly Clausing and Maurice Obstfeld said Monday. “Indeed, the president’s own lawyers argued in the IEEPA case that Section 122 was no substitute for IEEPA, since balance of payment deficits are conceptually distinct from the current account and trade deficits that Trump has characterized as an emergency.” Separately, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., vowed that his caucus would not approve Trump’s bid to extend tariffs beyond the 150-day period. “We will not extend those tariffs,” Schumer declared, urging Republicans to join Democrats in blocking them. Schumer linked the tariffs to higher costs of groceries, cars, and homes. “Americans are suffering, because (Trump) is raising tariffs,” Schumer said. Trump also used his remarks to tout the significant drop-off in violent crime during his first year back in the White House, reiterating his administration’s claim that the U.S. murder rate dropped to its lowest point in 125 years in 2025. FROM GRIEF TO GOLD MEDALS, TRUMP’S SOTU GUEST LIST TELLS A BIGGER STORY White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously pointed Fox News Digital and other outlets to recent data from the Council on Criminal Justice that she said shows that Trump is “delivering overwhelmingly on his promise” to restore law and order in the U.S. “A study from the Council on Criminal Justice shows that the murder rate across America’s largest cities plummeted in 2025 to its lowest level since at least 1900,” Leavitt told reporters. “Let me repeat to put this in perspective, this marks the largest single-year drop in murders in recorded history.” Nationwide homicide data released later in 2026 could show killings in 2025 falling to roughly 4.0 per 100,000 residents – the lowest rate ever recorded in law enforcement or public health data dating back to 1900 and the largest single-year percentage drop on record. Reactions to the speech — and Trump’s policies — vary, but the president did win some praise from across the aisle. “As a voter, I may not like him. I may find his long form exhausting. But when he speaks, he never wavers from American exceptionalism,” Michael Ceraso, a Democratic strategist with a background in speechwriting, told Fox News Digital. “I see someone protecting our cities against those he deems a threat to democracy, revving up the economy, managing global partners, and defeating terrorism. Fox News Digital’s Charlie Creitz, Emma Colton and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
Minnesota remains front line in Vance’s ‘war on fraud’; Walz given 60 days ‘to clean up the systems’
Vice President JD Vance announced Wednesday that the Trump administration is temporarily halting Medicaid funding to the state of Minnesota, giving Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz 60 days to clean up how the state doles out funding. “We have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money,” Vance said Wednesday at a press event attended by Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The announcement was made after President Donald Trump railed against fraud in the Gopher State Tuesday evening in his State of the Union address. The administration and Congress have zeroed in on rampant abuse of federal taxpayers’ funds since December 2025, when details of Minnesota’s fraud relating to social and welfare programs stretching back to the COVID-19 pandemic first came under the national spotlight. Investigators have since estimated the Minnesota scheme could top $9 billion. JD VANCE SPEARHEADS ‘WAR ON FRAUD,’ PROMISES TO ROOT OUT TAXPAYER MONEY ‘STOLEN’ BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Trump pointed to his vice president as leading the administration’s “war on fraud” during his State of the Union remarks. Vance explained Wednesday that “we are stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that’s being perpetrated against the American taxpayer.” The vice president added that officials have verified that a program in Minnesota intended to provide after-school care to autistic children actually benefited fraudsters. “A lot of people are getting rich off the generosity of American taxpayers,” Vance said. “But more fundamentally, and more importantly than that, it means that there are kids in Minnesota who deserve these services, who need these services, and they’re not going to those kids. They’re going to fraudsters in Minneapolis. That is unacceptable. And that’s the sort of thing that we’re cutting off with this action today.” Oz added that the pause marks “the largest action against fraud that we’ve ever taken” at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, before launching into how the administration is deferring funds to the state. HEAVILY REDACTED AUDIT FINDS MINNESOTA MEDICAID HAD WIDESPREAD VULNERABILITIES “It’s going to be $259 million of deferred payments for Medicaid to Minnesota, which we’re announcing, as I speak, to Gov. Walz and his team,” Oz said. “That’s based on an audit of the last three months of 2025. Restated, a quarter billion dollars is not going to be paid this month to Minnesota for its Medicaid claims. “We have notified the state and said that we will give them the money, but we’re going to hold it and only release it after they propose and act on a comprehensive corrective action plan to solve the problem,” Oz said. “If Minnesota fails to clean up the systems, the state will rack up $1 billion of deferred payments this year.” Walz has 60 days to respond to a letter Oz and the administration sent to Walz on the matter, Oz said. Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office Wednesday afternoon for comment and has yet to receive a reply. Oz said he believes Walz will take the matter seriously and noted fraud is not exclusive to Minnesota. “These schemes disproportionately involve immigrant communities,” Oz continued. “They’re insulated, they’re able to … organize efforts, and sometimes they don’t understand what’s going on.” Vance added that the administration does not want to make this move, but it is needed due to Minnesota being “careless with federal tax dollars.” “All we need the governor and the administration of Minnesota to do is something quite simple, which is to show that before you give Medicaid funds to somebody, you’re taking seriously whether they provided the services that they say that they’re providing,” the vice president said, calling the alleged fraud a “disgrace.” MINNESOTA DEMOCRATS DEMAND REPARATIONS FROM ICE AFTER LOSING $18 BILLION TO SOMALI FRAUD Trump spotlighted the fraud in his State of the Union address Tuesday, underscoring that while Minnesota has taken the spotlight, schemes run deep in other states as well. “When it comes to the corruption that is plundering — it really, it’s plundering America — there’s been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer,” Trump said. “Oh, we have all the information. “And, in actuality, the number is much higher than that, and California, Massachusetts, Maine and many other states are even worse. This is the kind of corruption that shreds the fabric of a nation, and we are working on it like you wouldn’t believe,” Trump added, before naming Vance the administration’s leader taking on fraud.
Biden’s FBI subpoenaed Kash Patel’s and Susie Wiles’ phone records during federal Trump investigation
The FBI subpoenaed Kash Patel and Susie Wiles’ phone records in 2022 and 2023, when both were private citizens, as part of a federal probe into then former President Donald Trump, Fox News has confirmed. Patel is the current FBI director, and Wiles is White House chief of staff. At least 10 FBI employees were also fired Wednesday, Fox News was told. Names were not given due to privacy reasons, with the FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) later criticizing the firings. “The FBIAA condemns today’s unlawful termination of FBI Special Agents, which—like other firings by Director Patel—violates the due process rights of those who risk their lives to protect our country,” the organization said in a statement. “These actions weaken the Bureau by stripping away critical expertise and destabilizing the workforce, undermining trust in leadership and jeopardizing the Bureau’s ability to meet its recruitment goals—ultimately putting the nation at greater risk.” GRASSLEY: BIDEN DOJ BYPASSED CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS BY SUBPOENAING SENATOR PHONE RECORDS Reuters first disclosed the subpoenas, which were issued during the Biden administration, while special counsel Jack Smith was investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Smith ended up charging Trump in 2023 with multiple felony offenses related to alleged efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election and Trump’s handling of the documents after he left office. A federal judge later dismissed the election interference case after Smith moved to drop it following Trump’s re-election, citing a Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president. Smith also dropped the Justice Department’s appeal of a separate ruling that dismissed the classified documents case. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in both matters. TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM JACK SMITH’S TESTIMONY ON CAPITOL HILL In a statement to Fox News Wednesday, Patel called the move to seize the phone records “outrageous and deeply alarming.” “It is outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed my own phone records — along with those of now White House chief of staff Susie Wiles — using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight,” he said. The FBI had found the phone records in files labeled as “Prohibited,” Reuters reported. Patel also said he recently ended the FBI’s ability to categorize files as “Prohibited.” Fox News also learned from two FBI officials that in 2023, FBI agents recorded a phone call between Wiles and her attorney. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS RELEASE OF JACK SMITH REPORT’S SECOND VOLUME According to those officials, Wiles’ attorney was aware the call was being recorded and consented, but Wiles was not informed. Smith testified last year that records of members’ calls helped investigators verify the timeline of events surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. He said prosecutors “followed all legal requirements in getting those records” and told a House panel the records obtained from lawmakers did not include the content of conversations, Reuters reported.
Voters react as Trump touts signature tariff plan at State of the Union
Republicans were pleased when President Donald Trump spoke during the State of the Union address Tuesday about his plan to continue imposing global tariffs after the Supreme Court dealt him a setback, according to live reactions from a panel of voters. The panel, assembled by polling group Maslansky & Partners and made up of 29 Democrats, 30 independents and 41 Republicans, gave real-time reactions as Trump spoke. The responses were displayed on a line graph, with higher values indicating positive reactions and lower values indicating negative reactions. Trump called the Supreme Court’s decision striking down the tariffs “unfortunate” as four justices sat stone-faced in the front row of the House chamber. TRUMP RIPS SUPREME COURT TARIFF RULING IN SOTU, VOWS NEW LEGAL FIGHT AFTER 6-3 BLOW It is customary for justices to be invited to the address, though not all typically attend. Chief Justice John Roberts and justices Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh attended Tuesday. Trump touted the tariffs, which he unilaterally imposed last year under an emergency law, as a key negotiating tool, saying they helped him broker peace deals between other countries and generated billions of dollars in revenue. The Supreme Court found that Trump illegally bypassed Congress by invoking the law, known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. But “just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court, it just came down, a very unfortunate ruling,” Trump said, as the dials on the line graph showed Republicans reacting approvingly and Democrats and independents responding negatively. SPEECHWRITERS FROM REAGAN TO BIDEN AGREE: TRUMP’S SOTU IS A CRITICAL TEST FOR HIS SECOND TERM “The good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made … knowing that the legal power that I as president have to make a new deal could be far worse for them. And, therefore, they will continue to work along the same successful path that we had negotiated before the Supreme Court’s unfortunate involvement,” Trump said. Trump said he had “time-tested” alternatives to the IEEPA that he planned to use so he could again sidestep Congress’ role in authorizing tariffs, which the Supreme Court said functioned like a tax and therefore required congressional approval under the Constitution.