8 everyday things that would quit working without data centers
Data centers are the largely unseen infrastructure behind modern life, powering everything from the apps on your phone and shows you stream to online shopping, banking and artificial intelligence. Inside these warehouse-sized facilities, thousands of servers store data, process digital requests and keep online services running around the clock. Most Americans may never see one, but they rely on them constantly, often without realizing it. “Data centers have been around for as long as technology has been around,” Brittany Kaiser, CEO of Alpha Compute, told Fox News Digital. “Anytime you’re touching technology and using everything from social media to your email, all of that information, all of the data is being processed in a data center.” As more of the economy moves online, data centers have become far more than a niche piece of the tech industry. They are increasingly essential infrastructure for everyday American life. The U.S. is home to roughly 4,000 operational facilities, with thousands more planned or under construction as demand for cloud computing and AI accelerates. Here are eight ways data centers quietly power the services Americans rely on every day. From Instagram and TikTok to Gmail and banking apps, data centers process and store the information behind the services people use every day. When you open an app, upload a photo, refresh your feed or send a message, your phone is connected to servers that retrieve and deliver that information in seconds. The apps may live on a screen in your hand, but much of the work happens far away inside a physical facility filled with computers running continuously. Netflix, YouTube, Spotify and other streaming platforms rely on massive computing infrastructure to deliver movies, videos and music to millions of users at once. Data centers help store enormous libraries of content and move it quickly enough to prevent the pauses and buffering that frustrate viewers. ONE OF AMERICA’S OLDEST MANUFACTURERS SAYS AI IS CREATING JOBS — NOT REPLACING THEM Online games also rely on data centers to connect players, synchronize what is happening in a match and reduce the lag that can make a game unplayable. The more people stream, game and use data-heavy services, the more computing power those platforms need behind the scenes. Your iPhone photos, Google Drive documents and cloud backups do not just float around in cyberspace. They are stored on physical servers inside data centers, often with copies kept in multiple locations to help prevent data loss. That means a lost phone or broken laptop does not necessarily mean lost memories or work file — but it also means the cloud depends on vast amounts of real-world hardware. Search engines rely on data centers to sort through enormous amounts of information and return results in fractions of a second. Every query triggers systems that locate relevant webpages, images, maps, videos and other information before sending the results back to your device. What feels like a simple Google search is actually a complex exchange between your device and powerful servers processing requests at an enormous scale. When you order something online, data centers help manage inventory, process payments, make product recommendations and track packages to your door. They also allow retailers to update product availability and pricing quickly as demand changes. ELECTION WHISTLEBLOWER WARNS FOREIGN ACTORS ARE SPENDING BILLIONS TO TURN AMERICANS AGAINST AI During major shopping events such as Black Friday, those systems have to handle a surge of shoppers and transactions without crashing. Google Maps, Waze and other navigation services depend on computing infrastructure to process traffic patterns, routes and location data in real time. They combine information from roads, users, businesses and mapping systems to estimate travel times and suggest alternate routes. Without the data centers behind them, navigation apps would not be able to react as quickly to accidents, congestion or changing road conditions. Video calls, cloud-based software, shared documents and workplace messaging all rely heavily on data-center infrastructure. Every Zoom meeting, Slack message and live edit to a shared file depends on servers that keep information synced between people working from different locations. THIS TINY FARMING TOWN YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF IS HELPING MICROSOFT SELL AMERICA ON DATA CENTERS For many companies, data centers have become as essential to day-to-day operations as office space, phones and electricity. Every time someone asks an AI chatbot a question, generates an image or uses an AI-powered search feature, data centers provide the computing power working behind the screen. Those requests require far more processing than a basic web search because the systems must analyze information and generate a response in real time. That is a major reason the technology industry is racing to build bigger and more powerful data centers, often equipped with specialized chips designed for AI workloads. GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE In addition, autonomous vehicles, advanced robotics, scientific research and other emerging technologies require increasingly powerful computing infrastructure. Data centers help train the AI systems behind those tools, process huge volumes of data and support the software that allows them to improve over time.
Letitia James’ Times Square shooting probe draws GOP criticism over New York’s mental health crisis
New York Attorney General Letitia James is facing scrutiny after opening up a legally required investigation into the police shooting of a woman who fatally stabbed Erin Piacenti, Bank of America executive and a new mother in her first week back to work from maternity leave, in Times Square. James’ office announced on Wednesday that it will be investigating Pamela Cisneros’ death, who was wielding two large knives in each hand when officers confronted her following the fatal stabbing. She was ordered to drop the weapons but did not comply and was shot when she moved toward the officers. Under state law, the Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation is mandated to investigate all deaths that were caused by police officers. However, Republican attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy is pushing the Attorney General’s Office to take more concrete steps to ensure that another tragic killing or attack caused by a mentally unstable person doesn’t happen again. She argued that an investigation into police conduct fails to address the real problem. “The problem is that we have people who are known dangerous individuals, people with documented mental illness,” Komatireddy told Fox News Digital. “They’ve been in the courts before, or they’ve been to the hospitals before. The police know exactly who they are, but we have no ability to take care of them.” REPUBLICANS GET ‘AGGRESSIVE’ IN FIGHT TO WIN TOP COP SPOTS IN BATTLEGROUND STATES A campaign spokesperson for James accused Komatireddy of seeking to “score cheap political points off of a tragedy.” “Saritha Komatireddy wants to be Attorney General but doesn’t understand the law,” a spokesperson said in an email to Fox News Digital. “Under New York’s Executive Law, the Office of the Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation is required to investigate any incident where a police officer’s actions may have caused a death, including this one.” However, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has a history of anti-police rhetoric, applauded the officers who stopped Cisneros. “I want to thank the NYPD officers who stepped in and prevented a horrific attack from becoming even worse,” Mamdani said at a news conference. PARENTS IN BRONX NEIGHBORHOOD PLEAD FOR NYPD GUARD AS MAMDANI CUTS COPS, HALTS HIRES: ‘HORRIBLE SITUATION’ New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch shared that while Cisneros, who lived in Queens, didn’t have an arrest record in the city, there were two times police responded to calls concerning her suffering a mental health crisis. In March 2019, Cisneros attempted suicide by jumping onto the tracks of the E train and was removed and later hospitalized. In March 2018, police found her in Midtown, where she was screaming, acting belligerent and intoxicated. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Under the state’s Mental Hygiene Law, police and doctors can take a person to the hospital for a psychological hold if they are deemed to be a risk to themselves or others, or they can not meet their basic needs — but often times those with severe mental illnesses are released by the hospital back onto the streets hours after being brought in. LETITIA JAMES FACES SCRUTINY AFTER NEW YORK CITY SPENDS $81,700 PER HOMELESS PERSON AMID SHELTER SCANDALS “I was there in Times Square — just a couple of days after this fatal stabbing — and I was walking around and saw severely mentally ill people on the street,” Komatireddy told Fox News Digital. “It’s still happening every day, and we need someone who’s actually going to propose a real solution and way forward.” TRUMP WANTS TO HELP 146,000 MENTALLY ILL WHO ARE HOMELESS. DEMOCRATS WANT TO STOP HIM The New York State Office of Mental Health is tasked with overseeing the state’s mental health system, which includes 23 psychiatric centers and 6,500 programs overseen by local governments and nonprofits. In addition, Komatireddy said that, if elected, she’d create a new office known as the Office of Civil Commitment that would target and keep tabs on people who are at most risk. “The Office of Civil Commitment that I’m going to launch will be staffed with both law enforcement personnel and also physicians, and you need both because, under state law, the law requires that physicians certify that someone has the mental state required for involuntary civil commitment,” Komatireddy told Fox News Digital. “So there’s nothing like that right now in New York state. There’s no office that has both law enforcement and physicians who can work together to get these people off the streets.” Greene County Sheriff Peter Kusminsky told Fox News Digital that his deputies are not trained to handle psychiatric crises — and that the county has nowhere to send people who need real care. Deputies are constantly pulled off patrol for mental-health calls, he said, then left to put those in crisis in hotels because there aren’t enough hospital beds available. “Additionally, we really struggle when we have people in custody who we aren’t equipped to handle, and secure beds are even harder to find,” Kusminsky said. “It sometimes takes weeks or months to locate once and when we do, they are maybe on the other side of the state and at an exorbitant cost.” “Hotels and motels don’t have doctors, don’t have medicine, don’t have therapy,” Komatireddy said. “The state needs to step in.”
‘Destroying the American way of life’: El-Sayed’s political orbit complicates effort to moderate his image
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is seeking to appear more moderate to voters while, at the same time, maintaining ties to individuals who take positions far to the left of anything he publicly endorses. Since launching his Senate bid in April 2025, El-Sayed has distanced himself from a number of positions he had previously held and scrubbed much of his left-wing pre-campaign content from the internet. He has also repeatedly insisted that he is “not a socialist.” While attempting to convince voters that characterizations of him as a left-wing ideologue are inaccurate, El-Sayed has appeared at campaign events with and accepted endorsements from a range of political allies and supporters with controversial records or views. EL-SAYED’S HASAN PIKER PROBLEM FOLLOWS HIM TO DEM CONVENTION AS JEWISH VOTERS BREAK RANKS Beyond campaigning with Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who claimed that America “deserved” 9/11, El-Sayed has also linked himself with terror-sympathetic Islamic clerics, individuals accused of antisemitism and several prominent socialists and socialist-aligned activists. “Abdul has made clear that no one speaks for his campaign besides himself and his campaign spokespeople,” El-Sayed campaign spokesman Cole Wozniak told Fox News Digital. El-Sayed’s campaign has attempted to flip the narrative on Republicans, pointing out that Mike Rogers, the GOP nominee facing off against him, has his own set of controversial associations. Some individuals affiliated with the Rogers campaign, which did not respond to a request for comment, have also cast doubt on the outcome of the 2020 election and advocated for banning gay marriage. Nonetheless, Republicans have made El-Sayed’s affiliations with controversial figures a focal point of their campaign in Michigan. “I am not somebody who is a socialist,” El-Sayed told CNN in July. “I believe in capitalism, I just believe that capitalism has to be regulated.” Despite this assertion, and multiple others like it, El-Sayed has surrounded himself with socialists during his tenure as a public figure. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont described by some as the avatar of socialism in America, threw his support behind El-Sayed’s ill-fated 2018 gubernatorial run. The Vermont socialist was also among the first to back El-Sayed’s 2026 Senate bid, endorsing him on the same day he launched his campaign. Sanders isn’t the only socialist backing El-Sayed’s run for Senate. Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Summer Lee and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are all vocal supporters. TOP DEM HOPEFUL FLIPS SCRIPT AFTER YEARS IN SOCIALIST ORBIT WITH PUZZLING CLAIM El-Sayed has long aligned himself with the Democratic Socialists of America, only recently distancing himself from the ascendant left-wing organization as he seeks to win a competitive Senate race. Between 2017 and 2020, the Michigan Democrat spoke at six events held by Democratic Socialists of America chapters, including a 2019 fundraiser where he served as the keynote speaker. Additionally, DSA officials told Politico in July that they were mobilizing resources to help El-Sayed win his Democratic primary election. “I’m not technically or practically DSA,” El-Sayed told the Wall Street Journal in July. Socialist organizers, however, have called him “a longtime friend of Detroit DSA.” Most recently, news broke that William Lawrence, a Democratic Socialists of America member running for Congress in Michigan who has campaigned alongside El-Sayed, called for “destroying the American way of life” on a podcast hosted by Marxist activists. “I’m wondering how we can inspire a sense of abundance for people in the United States, while frankly, destroying the American way of life and the negative connotations and material realities that has come to mean,” he said on the episode. A strong showing with Michigan’s Arab American community helped carry El-Sayed to victory in August’s Democratic primary. El-Sayed has been deeply involved with the state’s Muslim community, including relationships with figures who have made controversial statements about Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah. ‘MARTYRS’: MICHIGAN DEMS NOMINATE HEZBOLLAH-PRAISING CANDIDATE AFTER OUSTING JEWISH REGENT In April, Amir Makled, a man running for the University of Michigan’s board of regents who celebrated dead members of Hezbollah — a U.S.-designated terrorist organization — as “martyr[s],” introduced El-Sayed at a campaign rally. Then, in June, El-Sayed headlined the opening of Imam Hassan Qazwini’s Islamic Institute of America, offering him his “hearty congratulations” and calling his mosque “incredible.” Qazwini has a history of making controversial comments. Among these have been his claim that Israel was behind ISIS, calling a slain leader of Hezbollah a hero of the “resistance,” and describing Sanders as honorable “even though he is a Jew.” Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign denounced Qazwini as antisemitic. Qazwini has since compelled his congregation to vote for El-Sayed, arguing that doing so is a “moral responsibility” and “religious duty” in a July sermon. At the opening of Qazwini’s institute, El-Sayed shared the stage with Sheikh Fadhel al-Sahlani, a cleric who praised Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack and downplayed the number of people killed in the Holocaust. EL-SAYED BOOKED FOR MAJOR ISLAMIC CONVENTION ALONGSIDE CLERICS WITH RADICAL PASTS On Sept. 5, El-Sayed is scheduled to share a different stage at the Islamic Society of North America’s annual convention with Qazwini. Also slated to be in attendance are Imam Baqir Berry, who prayed that God would grant Islamic holy soldiers in Gaza “a mighty victory;” and Siraj Wahhaj, who was named as a possible co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center terrorism case but was never charged in connection with the attacks. El-Sayed’s religious views have puzzled some observers. While the Democrat supports easy access to abortion and child sex changes, he has also expressed a desire to live in accordance with Sharia law and describes his faith as important to his outlook on life. A number of people El-Sayed has appeared with or promoted have ties to the Nation of Islam, a religious organization founded by Black nationalists in the 1930s that is not considered an orthodox Muslim sect by most Islamic leaders. The Nation of Islam teaches that Black people are the original human beings and that White people were created by an evil Black scientist named Yakub. Their doctrine portrays the White race
Kushner, Witkoff set for Kyiv talks after Putin meeting in US push for peace
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv on Sunday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a day after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as part of efforts to end the war between the two countries. Zelenskyy said Sunday morning that he had met with his negotiating team ahead of the Americans’ arrival and that Kyiv was prepared for the discussions. “Ukraine has always been and will remain constructive,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “We are interested in bringing the end of the war closer. Peace is needed. Security guarantees are needed. A dignified character of the postwar peace is needed.” “Our proposals are ready,” he added. “It is important to work in a coordinated, substantive, and realistic manner.” CIA DIRECTOR JOHN RATCLIFFE MET WITH RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS IN VISIT TO MOSCOW, KREMLIN SAYS Witkoff and Kushner met with Putin for more than three hours behind closed doors Saturday, though the talks ended without any announced breakthroughs. Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov described the meeting as “constructive, frank and useful,” but did not disclose specific outcomes. A White House official said following the meeting that the two sides discussed “substantive plans for next steps,” which are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The official added that the U.S. delegation looked forward to “equally productive meetings” in Ukraine. The Kyiv meeting comes as Washington seeks to revive efforts to reach a settlement in a war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Those efforts had lost momentum over the past six months as U.S. attention shifted to the war with Iran. PUTIN AND IRAN ‘NEED EACH OTHER DESPERATELY,’ EXPERT SAYS, AS RUSSIA VOICES SUPPORT FOR REGIME Significant differences between Moscow and Kyiv remain, including over territory. Kyiv has rejected Russia’s demand that Ukraine withdraw from portions of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions that remain under Ukrainian control. Ushakov said Moscow provided the U.S. delegation with its “comprehensive assessment” of the battlefield during Saturday’s meeting, though the discussions extended beyond the war. “Economic issues and potentially large, mutually beneficial joint projects for Russia and America were discussed in considerable detail,” Ushakov said. President Donald Trump said Friday that he dispatched Witkoff and Kushner, his son-in-law and advisor, to determine whether progress toward a peace agreement could be made. “We have an idea for peace. I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators,” Trump told reporters. “They’ve done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we’ll do it.” The diplomatic push comes as Russia and Ukraine continue to exchange drone and missile attacks. Both sides reported strikes overnight into Sunday despite agreeing to pause attacks on each other’s capitals during the negotiations. Fox News Digital’s Robert McGreevy and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Dems descend on posh island getaway packed with deep-pocketed donors as midterms close in
Democrats have made summer pilgrimages to Nantucket, tapping the wealthy Massachusetts island’s donor class as candidates and party leaders stockpile campaign cash ahead of November. Nantucket and neighboring Martha’s Vineyard have long been magnets for political fundraising, and Democrats are again tapping the islands’ deep-pocketed donor networks as candidates and party leaders build their war chests ahead of November’s midterm elections. As of June 30, the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had about $136 million in combined cash on hand, compared with roughly $277 million held by their Republican counterparts, according to federal filings. This summer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., and others have been spotted on the island for fundraising events. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: AS DEMOCRATS TURN LEFT, BLACK VOTERS TAP THE BRAKES Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., reportedly went to Nantucket for an Aug. 29 fundraiser hosted by Democratic heavyweight Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, a Biden-appointed U.S. ambassador to Brazil who served as ambassador to Portugal under President Bill Clinton, according to the Boston Globe. The Democratic fundraising circuit extends to neighboring Martha’s Vineyard, another exclusive Massachusetts vacation destination. Former President Barack Obama visited Martha’s Vineyard on Aug. 31 for an event hosted by former Attorney General Eric Holder benefiting the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. Wes Moore, a possible 2028 presidential contender, was on Martha’s Vineyard the weekend of Aug. 8 for a DNC fundraiser with DNC Chair Ken Martin. “Where was Wes Moore last weekend? Not campaigning in Maryland or solving our problems in Annapolis, but speaking at a national Democrat event in Martha’s Vineyard. Wes Moore’s priority isn’t Maryland, and it will never be Maryland. His only focus is growing his national profile and running for President in 2028. Elect Dan Cox for a Governor who will put Maryland and the needs of Marylanders first,” wrote Maryland GOP at the time. Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek, a Democratic nominee for the open Senate seat held by retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, was spotted on Nantucket while the Iowa State Fair was still underway. Turek, who had appeared at the fair earlier in the week, did not answer a reporter’s questions about his fundraising stop, according to videos on social media. Democratic donors Frank Herron and Sandra Urie, who hosted first lady Jill Biden for a 2022 Democratic National Committee fundraiser at their Nantucket home, hosted Moulton for a Nantucket fundraising brunch on Aug. 2, according to local paper Nantucket Current. JON OSSOFF DODGES ON WHY HE INVOKED TRUMP AIDE’S NAME DURING GEORGIA CAMPAIGN RALLY Michelle Obama was also on the island, on Aug. 23, but was there to promote her book, “The Look,” at two sold-out conversations at the Performing Arts Center in Oak Bluffs. The Obamas have had a vacation house on the Vineyard since 2019. Nantucket has long been a destination for prominent Democrats as well as celebrities, millionaires and billionaires. Former President Joe Biden and his family have traveled to the island for decades to celebrate Thanksgiving. Former first lady Jill Biden was also spotted on the island in July to promote her new book, “View From the East Wing: A Memoir.” DEM ATTORNEY BACKS GOP HOPEFUL IN MICHIGAN RACE AGAINST EL-SAYED, ‘JUMPING SHIP’ FROM HIS PARTY’S ‘LUNATICS’ Republicans have also tapped Nantucket’s deep-pocketed donor circuit. Back in 2022, when JD Vance was running for Senate, he appeared alongside Florida Sen. Rick Scott and fellow Senate candidates Ted Budd, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Herschel Walker for another fundraising jaunt on the affluent island. The NDRC is focusing on key battlegrounds, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin.
House Dems plot Trump investigation blitz if they seize majority
House Democrats are planning for a slew of investigations targeting President Donald Trump, his Cabinet, and his family if they win the midterm elections. In just two months, voters across the country will decide which party controls Congress for the second half of President Donald Trump’s final term. Historical trends dictate that the party in power in the White House — in this case, Republicans — usually loses one or both chambers. Democrats in the House of Representatives are already planning for that eventuality, key left-wing leaders told Fox News Digital. SEN CHUCK SCHUMER UNVEILS ANTI-CORRUPTION AGENCY AIMED AT TRUMP AND FUTURE PRESIDENTS “I’m going to start on the Department of Defense. Our service members are being put at tremendous risk. There is corruption, there’s incompetence, there is nepotism at the DoD,” Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., told Fox News Digital. “There are very disturbing reports about ties between defense money and appropriations programs, and requests by the White House to funnel defense spending to certain companies linked to the Trump family. So we’re going to take a hard look at all of that.” 2026 MIDTERMS STATE OF PLAY: KEY RACES UNFOLD AS STEVENS, EL-SAYED BATTLE IN MICHIGAN Crow sits on the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees, in addition to co-chairing the House Anti-Corruption Caucus. He was also notably one of the impeachment managers who helped lead one of two pushes by Democrats to keep Trump out of power. Asked if impeachment could pop up again — whether for Trump or his appointees — Crow did not rule it out. GOP LAWMAKER UNVEILS HISTORIC MOVE TO ‘EXPUNGE’ BOTH ‘MALICIOUSLY FALSE’ IMPEACHMENTS AGAINST TRUMP “It’s one of several tools that Congress has to pursue accountability, to get information, and to attack corruption,” Crow said. “I won’t hesitate to use that tool if that’s the right one. But there are other tools available to us, too.” Several impeachment resolutions have been introduced over the last two years targeting both Trump and his officials, but none have gained steam within the wider Democratic Caucus. HOUSE DEMS UNVEIL BILL TO EXAMINE REMOVING TRUMP USING 25TH AMENDMENT House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has demurred on multiple occasions when asked about impeachment. And it likely won’t be the first tool in Democrats’ arsenal that they’d wield if they win in November, two of their presumptive chairmen suggested. The most likely first approach will be tackling what Democrats see as corruption and mismanagement of federal agencies. JEFFRIES’ REPORTED MEETING WITH KUSHNER ABOUT POSSIBLE TRUMP COOPERATION DRAWS LEFT-WING BACKLASH Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who is poised to take over the House Oversight Committee if the chamber flips, told reporters he was already working closely with presumptive House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jamie Raskin, D-Md., on potential investigations. Garcia told Fox News Digital there were “a few key investigations” he was already looking at. MISSOURI HIGH COURT BLOCKS GOP-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL MAPS AHEAD OF MIDTERMS; TRUMP BLASTS ‘RIDICULOUS’ RULING “One is going to be the Trump family corruption. The second will be the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. Third will be ICE and DHS and the corruption happening there,” Garcia said. “We’ll also go into anyone that’s ripping off the American public from a corporate perspective or CEO perspective. And then lastly, there’s a lot of interest in the committee on taking on what’s happening to the destruction of our vaccination process and [Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.].” Raskin, meanwhile, has already previewed what his panel’s investigations would look like. He’s sent a flurry of requests for information targeting the business dealings of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as well as Donald Trump Jr. and FBI Director Kash Patel, among others. TODD BLANCHE SAYS ‘NO CLOSED INVESTIGATIONS’ IN EPSTEIN CASE, VOWS DOJ WILL PURSUE NEW SUSPECTS “The Trump family has turned the entire executive branch into a money-making enterprise, so there’s more than enough corruption and lawlessness to keep Democrats across the House busy for years. Judiciary Democrats are already following the evidence wherever it leads, from the Trump family’s astonishing self-dealing and conflicts of interest to the corporations and law firms that have colluded with this administration for profit, advantage and protection,” Raskin told Fox News Digital when asked about his plans. “We will continue to work together across committees and use every investigative and legislative tool we have to uncover the facts, expose the wrongdoing and its costs for the public, hold the perpetrators and profiteers accountable, and pass legislative cures.” Republicans have long feared that Democrats winning either the House or Senate will grind the GOP’s agenda to a halt in Washington. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., previously told Fox News Digital that he believed Democrats would try to impeach Trump “on Day 1” if they win. Trump, meanwhile, has maintained his innocence amid an array of accusations from the left. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
Kennedy Center ceiling partially collapses as Trump-led board pushes for 2-year closure
The Kennedy Center shared photos on Saturday that showed a partial ceiling collapse that happened during a rainstorm in the main hallway of the over 50-year-old performing arts building. Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations for the Kennedy Center, said the collapse underscored the need to close the building for renovations. “Another example of the urgent need to close for renovation and revitalization, as our Chairman President [Donald] Trump has championed,” Daravi said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital, adding, “This structural failure stems from decades of neglect and deferred maintenance by the previous leadership, and there’s no justification for further delays in restoring America’s cultural center.” VIDEO EXPOSES DISREPAIR LURKING BENEATH TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER AS $257M RENOVATION LOOMS The center’s board, which is led by Trump, voted in August to close the building for two years. This came after a judge ruled in May that Trump’s name must come off the building months after the board voted to name it: “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” “Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time. “Therefore, based on the fact that the Radical Left Democrats care more about opposing your favorite President, ME, than saving a dying Performing Arts Center, almost all of which lose large amounts of money throughout the Country, we are going to be working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it.” TRUMP’S NAME TO BE REMOVED FROM KENNEDY CENTER AS APPEALS COURT DENIES BOARD’S REQUEST FOR ADMINISTRATIVE STAY Last month, the board voted to rename the institution’s grounds “President Donald J. Trump Plaza” and to put lettering on the building that says “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” The board remains in court fighting to move forward with the name changes, as well as the closure and $250 million in renovations. Grace Terpstra, founder of the community group Keep the KC, which is fighting the closure, said she thinks the board will use the collapse “to make the point that the whole thing needs to be shut down, that it’s going to fall on everybody.” KENNEDY CENTER DISPUTES ALLEGATIONS ON CONTRACTOR BIDS DESPITE DEMOCRAT SENATOR’S CLAIMS She added, “I think they’ll try to make it into a bigger thing and show that they’ve found a lot of other things.” A tarp and scaffolding has covered the front of the building since the bronze letters that made up Trump’s name were removed in June. Last week, the center did remove a piece of modern artwork called “Blue” that has been outside the building since 2019, saying in a statement, “we are honored to have been stewards” of the late sculptor Joel Shapiro’s work. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Machete-wielding MS-13 gangster wanted for murder walks free after Biden-appointed judge releases him: DHS
An MS-13 gang member convicted in a savage execution-style murder is out of federal custody in California after a federal judge ordered his immediate release, igniting fury from the Trump administration. U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta ordered the release of David Antonio Aviles Perez, 35, aka “the witch,” after finding that immigration officials held him for five months without giving him a bond hearing or determining whether he posed a danger to the public or a flight risk. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin accused the Biden-appointed judge of putting the public in danger by ordering Aviles Perez’s release. DHS EVISCERATES MEDIA FOR ‘ABSOLUTE ABSURDITY’ OVER CONCERN ABOUT ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ ACTIVIST JUDGES LIST “This radical activist judge has put American lives at risk by releasing a wanted murderer,” Mullin said in a statement Saturday. “This is now the SECOND time this dangerous illegal has been released back onto the streets in California,” he added. “Because sanctuary politicians want to play politics from the bench, innocent Americans are in danger.” SANCTUARY LAWS COULD STOP POLICE FROM PROTECTING KIDS. SO WE’RE SUING CALIFORNIA The case centers on a brutal 2014 gang killing in El Salvador and a legal fight over the Trump administration’s authority to detain immigrants while removal proceedings unfold. Alvise Perez, identified by Salvadoran prosecutors as an active MS-13 member also known as “La Bruja,” or “The Witch,” was convicted while outside El Salvador in December 2025 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for aggravated murder. ICE NABS ACCUSED MS-13 KILLER HIDING IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA SUBURB Prosecutors said Aviles Perez and another MS-13 member chased a man through a mountainous area in La Unión before fellow gang members forced the victim to stop and kneel. The victim was held by the shoulders as Aviles Perez and his accomplice approached, prosecutors said. The gang members then shot the man in the chest, back and face before fleeing. Both defendants were tried and convicted while outside the country. Aviles Perez entered the U.S. at an unknown date and location, according to DHS. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED WITH BRUTAL SLAYING ONE DAY AFTER CALIFORNIA JUDGE RELEASED HIM: DHS He was arrested in Monterey, California, in 2023, after allegedly swinging a machete at a homeless man at Laguna Grande Park near Monterey State Beach. He allegedly hid the weapon before officers recovered it from a nearby Holiday Inn parking lot. Aviles Perez was charged and convicted after the incident but later released from custody. DHS blamed California’s sanctuary policies, which limit cooperation between local authorities and federal immigration officials. DHS BUYS TWO CALIFORNIA MIGRANT DETENTION CENTERS FOR $1.5B TO BOOST ICE DEPORTATION CAPACITY ICE agents arrested him again in San Diego on March 26 and took him into custody pending his removal to El Salvador. He was held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center pending removal to El Salvador until Ohta ordered his immediate release Aug. 26, federal court records show. After nearly five months in immigration custody, Aviles Perez filed a petition challenging his detention and seeking his immediate release. Ohta ruled that immigration officials violated his Fifth Amendment due process rights by holding him without an individualized assessment of whether he was dangerous or likely to flee. “Although Petitioner appears to have previously been convicted following a fight with another individual in May 2023, the government has offered no evidence that it detained him after considering those facts and making an individualized determination of his danger to the public or flight risk,” Ohta wrote. FEDERAL JUDGE IN NEW YORK TIES TRUMP ADMIN HANDS ON ARRESTS AT IMMIGRATION COURTS The judge said federal officials gave Aviles Perez “no process before or after his detention” and had not shown that providing a hearing would place an undue burden on the government. Ohta ordered his immediate release and barred ICE from detaining him again unless an immigration judge first holds a bond hearing and determines that renewed detention is warranted. A status report was filed in the case Aug. 27, one day after the release order. DHS said Aviles Perez was subsequently released from federal custody. The ruling did not clear Aviles Perez of wrongdoing or find that he posed no danger. It focused on whether immigration officials followed the required process to justify keeping him detained. California Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Ohta to the San Diego County Superior Court in December 2020, according to the governor’s office. BIDEN JUDGE TORCHES TRUMP ICE CRACKDOWN AS ‘DEVOID OF RATIONAL EXPLANATION,’ NUKES COURTHOUSE ARREST POLICY President Joe Biden nominated her to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in September 2021. The Senate confirmed her that December, and her judicial commission was issued later that month, according to the Federal Judicial Center. Mullin vowed that the ruling would not derail the administration’s immigration crackdown. “DHS and ICE will not be deterred by these partisan games,” he said. “If California’s leaders won’t protect Americans, DHS will.” Fox News Digital reached out to Ohta’s office for additional comment and confirmation surrounding Aviles Perez’s release.
Trump-linked MAGA Inc pours $10M into Ken Paxton’s Texas Senate race against James Talarico
MAGA, Inc., the super PAC linked to President Donald Trump, has made its first major midterm buy with $10 million in ad spending to support Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his Senate race, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission. Paxton and Democrat state Rep. James Talarico are locked in a tight race in which polls continually show the two candidates neck and neck. The $10 million will go toward digital and TV ads across the state. FOX NEWS POLL: GOP DIVISIONS SHAPE TEXAS SENATE RACE Trump’s endorsement earlier this year already helped Paxton beat incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary. “While James Talarico has a record of raising taxes on working families, my Protecting the Texas Promise Agenda cuts costs and makes life more affordable. Thank you, President @realDonaldTrump, for your support,” Paxton wrote on X on Saturday while sharing a post about the ad buy. “Together we will win for Texas and America.” The decision comes after weeks of speculation over whether the super PAC would put money into the hotly contested race. Talarico’s campaign also responded to the move, telling Fox News Digital, “Billionaire-backed dark money groups are lying about James Talarico because they’re scared of the people-powered movement we’re building to fix this broken, corrupt political system.” BERNIE SANDERS DEMANDS DEMOCRATS BAN SUPER PACS FROM PRIMARIES, BLASTS AIPAC, ‘CORRUPT SYSTEM’ Talarico, who has called for higher taxes on the wealthy, called out billionaires heading to the Republican midterm convention starting Wednesday. “Next week, billionaire mega-donors and their puppet politicians will gather at a convention in Dallas to clink champagne glasses and toast their own corruption,” he said. “They’re paying $20,000 for entry to a Billionaire Ball celebrating corrupt tariffs, billionaire tax breaks, and a new forever war that are all driving grocery costs through the roof. We’ll be doing something different. We’re bringing Republicans, Democrats and independents together to collect groceries for our neighbors who have been screwed over by corrupt politicians.” Calling him “High Tax Talarico,” MAGA Inc. spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer told Fox News Digital the Democrat “wants to take money out of Texans’ pockets. MAGA Inc. is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico’s radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the U.S. Senate.” TALARICO’S ‘PROUD CAPITALIST’ ABOUT-FACE COLLIDES WITH RESURFACED CALL TO ‘DISMANTLE’ CAPITALISM Talarico’s campaign has raised $72 million since the campaign began, mostly from small donors, compared to $16.8 million by Paxton’s campaign, according to the Texas Tribune. The two anti-Talarico ads slam his policies on taxes and rural hospitals while touting Paxton’s support for doubling the child tax credit, allowing tax breaks for medical expenses and a $50,000 deduction for first-time homebuyers. MAGA, Inc. has around $400 million in campaign funds, which Trump called “my money” while speaking to reporters this week, adding, “I’m going to spend whatever amount of money necessary to try and help us.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.
North Carolina Dem Senate candidate added former Bloods gang member to criminal justice task force: report
Roy Cooper, the former Democrat governor of North Carolina now running for Senate, added an ex-member of the notorious Bloods gang to a Racial Equity in Criminal Justice task force in 2020. In the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 death, Cooper created the task force via executive order, The Washington Free Beacon reported. Cooper, who tapped then-state attorney general turned current Gov. Josh Stein to lead the task force, stocked the panel with a mix of state officials and community activists, including Kerwin Pittman, who was convicted in 2007 of conspiracy to commit murder, serving 14 years in prison for the crime, according to records obtained by the Free Beacon. Pittman was also identified as a “ranking member of the Bloods” by prosecutors during a murder trial for Bloods member Michael Contrez Jones. SIX-FIGURE PRIVATE SECURITY BILL FOR TOP DEM SENATE HOPEFUL FUELS GOP HYPOCRISY CLAIMS Pittman was convicted in a 2006 drive-by-shooting of 19-year-old Jamel Amiens Jeffreys, the Free Beacon reported. Pittman defended his involvement in the task force and argued his past actions were the result of poor judgment as a teenager. “I was asked to contribute to conversations about criminal justice reform because of both my lived experience and the work I was doing in communities,” Pittman told the Free Beacon. “I have never hidden my past. The gang involvement and criminal conduct you reference occurred when I was a teenager and young man at or before the age of 19. I am now 39 years old. ONE YEAR AFTER IRYNA ZARUTSKA MURDER, VIOLENT CRIMES FUEL NORTH CAROLINA PUBLIC SAFETY DEBATE “I made decisions as a young person that had serious consequences, including spending more than a decade incarcerated.” Pittman, according to his LinkedIn profile, worked at the time of the task force’s creation for Emancipate NC, an organization which, as the Free Beacon reported, has often called for the abolition of police, writing that “maintaining white supremacy has always been the goal of policing” in a 2023 company blog post. Cooper, who is running for Senate against former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, referenced his opponent’s record when asked to comment on the Free Beacon story. DEM SENATE HOPEFUL PIVOTS ON DATA CENTERS AS RISING POWER COSTS COLLIDE WITH CAMPAIGN “While Roy spent his career putting rapists and violent criminals behind bars and signing tough-on-crime laws as governor, Michael Whatley spent his appointing a convicted child sex predator who served six years in prison and spent over a decade as a registered sex offender to a top role within the North Carolina Republican Party that gave him access to events with children,” the Cooper campaign told Fox News Digital in a statement. Pittman and the Whatley campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.