Massachusetts lawmakers pass bill to scrap ‘offensive language’ from state’s General Laws
The Massachusetts legislature passed a bill that would remove “outdated and offensive language” used to describe people with disabilities in the state’s General Laws. The measure would eliminate various terms, including “handicapped,” “disabled,” and the “r-word” in favor of language such as “persons with a disability” and “person with an intellectual or developmental disability.” The bill, which was introduced by Democratic state Sen. Pat Jehlen and listed with 17 petitioners, now heads to Democrat Gov. Maura Healey’s desk. The 61-page bill updates 346 sections of Massachusetts law. CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER ‘PERSONALLY OFFENDED’ WHEN SPEAKER SAYS ‘HOMELESS’ INSTEAD OF ‘UNHOUSED’ “Language is constantly changing. And it’s changing because of the activism of people who were ignored and demeaned for too long,” Democrat state Sen. Pat Jehlen, the Senate’s primary sponsor of the legislation, said in a statement. “When people tell us they feel insulted and offended by the use of outdated words, we worked to change the legal language. It took a long time, because we kept finding more examples of offensive language. Language and activism will continue to evolve, and there’ll always be more work to do, but this is a gigantic step forward in respect.” Some of the updated language featured in the bill includes replacing “disabled person” with “person with a disability,” “handicapped” with “disability” and “retarded” with phrases such as “person with an intellectual or developmental disability.” The legislation also scraps terms such as “crippled” and “deformed” when referring to people with disabilities. The term “hearing-impaired” was revised to “deaf or hard of hearing” and the “chronically ill” was changed to “persons who are chronically ill.” Additionally, the bill amends specific legal definitions, including changing the current definition of “caretaker” — which describes an individual or entity responsible for a “disabled person” — to instead use the phrase “a person with a disability.” “When dusty and dangerous relics of a bygone era darken our laws, it creates the potential for real harm to residents today,” Senate President Karen Spilka, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Thanks to the voices of advocates like former Senate staff member Melissa Reilly and the leadership of Senator Jehlen and Senator Kennedy, the Legislature has acted to make our laws better represent who we are in 21st-century Massachusetts.” MASSACHUSETTS DROPS CONTROVERSIAL GENDER IDEOLOGY MANDATE FOR LICENSING FOSTER CARE PARENTS “With a White House that glorifies, and seemingly longs for, the days when many Americans were discriminated against because of who they are, now is the time to make sure our state laws respect and support the rights and dignity of our residents,” she added. The passage of this measure comes after a 2024 law that renamed the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission to MassAbility, which state officials argued was a display of a broader effort to modernize disability services and promote inclusion. That law also reflected a broader move away from terms state officials described as outdated or offensive. “As lawmakers, we know that words matter,” said state Speaker of the House Ronald J. Mariano, a Democrat. “This legislation is our latest effort to ensure that our state laws do not use antiquated words that carry negative connotations, words that also serve as a reminder of past injustices.” The bill passed with broad legislative support, including unanimous recorded votes in both chambers. Fox News Digital reached out to the Massachusetts GOP for comment.
New Jersey Democrats advance bill criminalizing interference with abortion, transgender healthcare
A New Jersey Assembly committee on Monday advanced a Democratic-backed bill that would criminalize individuals who interfere with access to transgender and reproductive health care. The Assembly Appropriations Committee approved the measure along party lines, clearing the way for a potential full vote in the Legislature later this week before reaching Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill for her signature. If enacted, the measure would make New Jersey the first state in the nation to explicitly criminalize such interference. First introduced in the summer of 2024, the legislation would establish a new criminal offense for “interference with reproductive health services,” including abortion procedures. The New Jersey Monitor indicated that the measure would also protect access to transgender healthcare for minors, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and related mental health treatments. NEW YORK GOV. HOCHUL SIGNS LAW PROTECTING ABORTION PILL PRESCRIBERS AFTER DOCTOR INDICTED IN LOUISIANA Protections would extend to individuals who travel to New Jersey from jurisdictions where abortion is restricted or illegal. Health care providers and facilities would also be shielded under the proposal, which includes legal penalties for alleged interference originating from outside the state. “This bill is to protect healthcare. Not a political debate. Not a culture war talking point. Healthcare,” bill sponsor Sen. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, previously said, according to the New Jersey Monitor. “Our law enforcement will not carry out another state’s agenda.” According to the outlet, Republican lawmakers and opponents argued Monday that the bill could infringe on free speech rights, further erode parental rights and effectively make New Jersey a “sanctuary state” for certain providers. PRO-LIFE CENTER FIGHTS NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ‘FISHING EXPEDITION’ IN SUPREME COURT BATTLE Gregory Quinlan, founder and leader of the conservative advocacy group Center for Garden State Families, said anti-abortion activists could face arrest simply for praying outside clinics or engaging in what he described as “sidewalk counseling” sessions, the outlet reported. Despite the criticism, Ruiz has previously said the bill “is not a violation of First Amendment rights,” according to the New Jersey Monitor. According to the bill, medical entities and public officials will be barred from disclosing patient information without explicit consent, further strengthening privacy protections. The measure would also make it a fourth-degree crime to harass, harm or block individuals from accessing or providing such services, while extending protections to providers against extradition to states that have criminalized reproductive or transgender treatments. Violators who inflict significant bodily injury on individuals who receive such services could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $150,000. Beyond criminal penalties, the proposal would also allow for civil litigation and authorize the state attorney general to seek injunctions and financial penalties against alleged violators.
Platner floats jailing billionaires in fiery pre-primary speech pushing far-left agenda
Scandal-plagued Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner used a fiery pre-primary address to pitch universal health care, wealth taxes, a Green New Deal and other far-left agenda items, like floating an idea that billionaires should be jailed for looking at political ads “the wrong way” in remarks about campaign finance reform. The comment about jailing billionaires earned the candidate backlash from his Republican critics, who pointed out some of Platner’s biggest endorsers are funded by billionaires, highlighted the “Marxist dystopian” nature of the remarks, and joked that Platner must have some sort of affinity for locking people up against their will, referring to recent allegations from an ex-girlfriend. “We need to get money out of politics. We need to get rid of Citizens United. And, if I had my way, elections would last two months, they will be publicly funded and if a billionaire looked at a TV ad the wrong way, we’d put ’em in jail,” Platner told a crowd of constituents Sunday night in Maine, earning applause. The comments came as Platner was laying out his far-left agenda and railing against conservatives, including calling President Donald Trump “dumb.” “That’s one way to thank some of his own supporters for their generosity!” quipped veteran Republican strategist Colin Reed, who pointed to Platner’s prominent endorsers, like Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who received several contributions last month from billionaires like George Soros, Pat Stryker, Jon Stryker and Jennifer Pritzker, according to campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets. PLATNER’S ANTI-CORPORATE CRUSADE HITS AWKWARD SNAG AS RECEIPTS TELL ANOTHER STORY “Why worry about slowly slipping into a Marxist dystopia? With Graham Platner, you can sprint toward it!” Jason Savage, Executive Director of the Maine GOP, said in response to Platner’s stump speech remarks about jailing billionaires. “Dude is big on locking people in rooms against their will, apparently,” joked CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings, an apparent reference to recent reporting on Platner’s past romantic relationships, including one ex-girlfriend’s allegation that he once twisted her arm behind her back, pushed her into a bedroom and held the door shut from the other side. Platner has denied the allegations. ‘HE HATED WOMEN’: EXPLOSIVE ABUSE, NEW NAZI TATTOO ALLEGATIONS FROM EXES ROCK PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN Platner’s campaign has been dogged by controversies since he emerged as a progressive challenger in Maine’s closely watched Senate race against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, including recent complaints from multiple ex-girlfriends about his behavior during their relationships. The reports included accusations from one of Platner’s ex-girlfriends, Lyndsey Fifield, who told The New York Times about being trapped in a room by Platner during their relationship more than a decade ago. “The Platner campaign has already spent more than $14 million and we aren’t even past the primary,” Shawn Roderick, a spokesperson for the Collins campaign told Fox News Digital. “Does Graham Platner really think that American taxpayers should be paying his high-priced political consultants and the tech billionaires who own the platforms where he does his advertising? He is floating this idea to distract from the many disturbing problems his campaign has faced over the past two weeks.” Platner has also been facing backlash for exchanging sexually explicit messages with multiple women early in his marriage on the platform Kik. Following those reports, Platner was found to still have an active profile on Kik, an anonymous messaging app that has faced criticism from child-safety groups and law enforcement officials. The profile reportedly featured a shirtless mirror selfie of Platner with a towel around his waist, which Republican staffers later appeared to mock outside the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee by showing up in towels. SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER SENT EXPLICIT TEXTS TO MULTIPLE WOMEN WHILE MARRIED, WIFE SAYS: REPORT Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, reportedly disclosed the messages to campaign officials during an internal vetting process, and the campaign has acknowledged the messages existed while arguing the matter was addressed privately between Platner and his wife. Meanwhile, Platner has argued that the allegations from former girlfriends are politically motivated, while his campaign has accused critics and national media outlets of focusing on private matters and personal attacks rather than the issues affecting Maine voters. By the time those controversies hit the news, Platner had already faced scrutiny over a tattoo that critics identified as a Nazi-linked symbol, which he later covered up and said he was not aware of its meaning when he got it. One of Platner’s former staffers, Genevieve McDonald, alleged that even though Platner has said he was unaware of the symbol’s association with Nazis when he got the tattoo years ago, he has been aware of its meaning for some time. Platner also apologized after his old Reddit posts resurfaced in which he made a series of inflammatory comments about rape, race, political violence, police, rural Americans and military veterans. Platner has said his views have changed and that some of his past comments reflected a darker period in his life after military service. Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
LA mayoral race heads to November runoff as Karen Bass faces Mamdani-style socialist
Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman advanced Monday evening to a runoff election against Mayor Karen Bass in a heated race that has garnered national attention. The outcome sets up a general election that pits Bass, an incumbent fending off criticism about her record, against Raman’s progressive message of government-led affordability measures. The result means Spencer Pratt, a Republican and former “The Hills” reality TV star, is out of the race, according to The Associated Press. Voters will decide the overall winner on Nov. 3. “I’m incredibly honored that voters have given us the opportunity to advance to the general election for Mayor of Los Angeles,” Raman said in a statement. “… If you’re as frustrated by the broken status quo as I am, I hope you’ll join our movement to build a city that works for everyone.” LA CITY COUNCILWOMAN PREVIOUSLY BACKED BY DSA RUNNING FOR MAYOR IN PRIMARY CHALLENGE TO BASS In a post on X, Bass took aim at both Pratt and what she characterized as the “MAGA agenda,” while also criticizing Raman. “We won on Tuesday — and LA rejected Spencer Pratt and the MAGA agenda. Next, we’ll win in November!” Bass wrote. “Because this is an election with a choice between whether we keep making change together or Nithya Raman, who allows encampments near schools and fights against hiring more cops, yet is MIA on saving Hollywood jobs and fighting back when ICE invades LA.” Raman, a member of the Los Angeles City Council and Democratic Socialists of America, has served as chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee since 2023. She has also been dubbed a Mamdani-style socialist, referring to far-left New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. In her view, there is more the city could be doing to address not just its homelessness problem, but also increasing housing supply, maintaining public safety, furthering climate goals and pushing back against federal immigration enforcement efforts. SPENCER PRATT TELLS BILL MAHER HE WOULD ARREST HIM AS LA MAYOR FOR SMOKING POT IN FRONT OF KIDS “We can bring LA back to what it really is: one of the most creative, beautiful and most hopeful places in the world. But only if we come together to fight for it,” Raman said in a campaign video. During the race, Raman pitched herself as a hopeful alternative to Bass’ leadership and what she called a fear-fueled campaign from Spencer Pratt, a rightward-leaning independent who gained traction in the closing weeks of the campaign. “We have a mayor who has failed to lead this city and, on the other hand, a right-wing extremist, powered by MAGA, who’s channeling people’s frustrations about this city into fear and anger and hatred,” Raman said. Bass, who first came into office in 2022, argues she has a track record that is taking the city in the right direction. Despite fending off criticisms about the Palisade fires, a stubbornly visible homelessness population and budget deficits, Bass argued she’s taken steps to address all of those areas in her three years in the role. LOS ANGELES MAYOR BASS SAYS ‘HELL YEAH’ SHE REGRETS GHANA TRIP AFTER WILDFIRES RAVAGED CITY “Los Angeles is at a turning point. After decades of rising homelessness, under-built housing and a shrinking police force, it’s Mayor Karen Bass who finally stepped up to change how City Hall works,” Bass’s website reads. “Homelessness is down, more housing is being built and LAPD is hiring new officers.” Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom endorsed Bass on May 28. Bass originally won election in 2022 in a 54.8% to 45.2% victory over independent challenger Rick J. Caruso.
Mamdani-linked Platner adviser’s history with nude photos surfaces ahead of crucial Senate primary
A Democratic Party campaign strategist who recently went viral for doing damage control for Graham Platner amid his public sexting scandals has past writings that include comments about sending and receiving “nudes” and a footnote in a puberty guide for boys that he wrote, which referenced using images of his own penis. Morris Katz, an up-and-coming New York City Democratic Party campaign strategist credited with being a major factor in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s electoral upset last year, wrote on the Medium blogging platform in 2019, amid a separate Democratic Party sexting scandal, that he had both “sent” and “received nudes.” Katz also authored a 2020 puberty guide for boys that included, on page 17, a footnote saying that he initially considered using “images of my penis” to illustrate puberty before the publisher said it was inappropriate. The resurfaced writings have drawn scrutiny over the last week from Maine Republicans after Katz was accused of trying to contain the fallout from the sexting scandal involving Platner that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with multiple women early in his marriage on Kik, an anonymous messaging app that has faced scrutiny over predatory behavior and child-safety concerns. HOW MUCH BAGGAGE WILL DEMOCRATS ACCEPT FROM MAINE’S GRAHAM PLATNER? The irony has not gone unnoticed by Republicans in Maine, who argue Katz’s past writings add another bizarre layer to a Platner campaign already struggling to move past allegations involving numerous scandals revolving around the candidate’s judgment. Jason Savage, executive director of the Maine Republican Party, told Fox News Digital that the combination of Platner and Katz is “like a sort of weird horror story,” arguing that both men appear unable to recognize “the guardrails of decency.” “Morris Katz thinking that he was going to call up and intimidate Genevieve McDonald shows how bad his judgement is — he was never going to succeed at that and the fact he didn’t have the instincts to know better is just the first red flag of many for him,” Savage told Fox News Digital. “The combination of Morris Katz and Graham Platner is this weird horror story where neither one of them really understands the guardrails on decency. Neither one of them can recognize when there is a boundary.” A Republican strategist, who is from rural Maine but wanted to remain anonymous when speaking to Fox News Digital, said the Katz controversy shows national progressive operatives are using Maine as a testing ground for an outsider-backed campaign that could ultimately weaken the seniority and resources incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins has delivered to struggling communities across the state. ‘MAINE’S MAMDANI’: MAINE GOP CHIEF ISSUES WARNING ABOUT NEW CHALLENGER LOOKING TO OUST SUSAN COLLINS “This guy [Katz], who is unbelievably strange, comes in from out of state and tries to get this horribly flawed guy, like limping, pleading across the finish line. That is so arrogant,” the GOP strategist said. “The arrogance that it takes to come in and say, ‘I’m an out-of-state progressive socialist here to make some money off a flawed candidate bleeding in the polls,’ and then try to take that away from the people who really need it, you’re going to take away what Susan Collins has done and will be able to do for these people.” Platner’s campaign has been dogged by controversies since he emerged as a progressive challenger in Maine’s closely watched Senate race against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Some of the most recent firestorms have centered on reports alleging Platner was abusive to an ex-girlfriend and that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with multiple women early in his marriage on the platform Kik. Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, reportedly disclosed the messages to campaign officials during an internal vetting process, and the campaign has acknowledged the messages existed while arguing the matter was addressed privately between Platner and his wife. SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER SENT EXPLICIT TEXTS TO MULTIPLE WOMEN WHILE MARRIED, WIFE SAYS: REPORT The controversy intensified after reports that Platner still had an active profile on Kik, an anonymous messaging app that has faced criticism from child-safety groups and law enforcement officials. The profile reportedly featured a shirtless mirror selfie of Platner with a towel around his waist, which Republican staffers later appeared to mock outside the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee by showing up in towels. Platner had already faced scrutiny over a tattoo that critics identified as a Nazi-linked symbol, which he later covered up. Platner has said he was unaware of the symbol’s association with Nazis when he got the tattoo years ago, although McDonald has contested he has been aware of its meaning for some time. Platner also apologized after old Reddit posts resurfaced in which he made a series of inflammatory comments about rape, race, political violence, police, rural Americans and military veterans. Platner has said his views have changed and that some of his past comments reflected a darker period in his life after military service. More recently, Platner denied allegations from a former girlfriend who accused him of abusive behavior, calling the claims politically motivated. His campaign has accused critics and national media outlets of focusing on private matters and personal attacks rather than the issues affecting Maine voters. Fox News Digital reached out to Katz, the Platner campaign, Fight Agency, Mamdani’s team and McDonald for comment.
Church cans patriotic staple on Biden’s posh vacation enclave — pastor says tradition ‘doesn’t cut it’
A Nantucket pastor is defending her church’s decision to cancel its annual Fourth of July reading of America’s founding documents, using her sermon to explain why the long-running tradition was axed on the exclusive Massachusetts island favored by former President Joe Biden. “After two and a half centuries why are our founding documents still celebrated as mainly aspirational? 250 years later aspirational –– not being there yet –– celebrating the promise of those documents –– and our country –– just doesn’t cut it,” Rev. Erin Splaine of the Second Congregational Meeting House Society said in a sermon excerpt she provided to Fox News Digital. The historic Nantucket Unitarian Meeting House has hosted a public reading of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights in downtown Nantucket each Fourth of July holiday for the past 25 years before the church decided to cancel it in May as part of an ongoing effort to understand its “own whiteness.” “What should unify all of us is not to continue to assume –– or hide behind –– aspirational only –– rather to commit to the work of change –– to be brave enough to be uncomfortable –– unsettled –– unaccepting of an incomplete narrative,” the sermon continued. BIDEN’S POSH VACATION ENCLAVE ROILED AS CHURCH AXES JULY 4 TRADITION OVER ‘WHITENESS’ DEBATE: ‘SPEWING LIES’ The decision to cancel the annual reading was announced in a letter published by the Nantucket Current, which discussed ongoing conversations within the congregation about race, privilege and the historical application of constitutional rights. The cancelation sparked a wave of social media backlash, with critics arguing the decision reflected broader discomfort on the left with traditional celebrations of America’s founding. The letter stated that Splaine would not “engage” with anyone concerned with the cancelation on social media, saying those concerned could make an “appointment” to speak with her. “Social media is not the place for important, tender conversations,” the letter read. Fox News Digital reached out to Splaine for comment last week, after the Nantucket Current published her letter announcing the event was canceled. She responded with an excerpt from her recent sermon defending the decision. “While a few people have taken up the invitation to connect – the overwhelming majority who disagree have not. It is disappointing because there is so much to talk about and absolutely no worth in yelling at each other,” Splaine told Fox News Digital. WEALTHY SUMMER SANCTUARY LIMITS TOURISTS, HIRES PATROL ‘DOCENTS’ TO KEEP OUTSIDERS IN CHECK Local leaders and the island’s chamber of commerce had promoted the event in prior years on social media platforms for all to celebrate the holiday. “There are also those who have said the event should continue because it is important to bring people together. The crucial question is what people? Who is missing? What story is being celebrated? Whose experience is part of that story –– whose experience is not?” preached Splaine in her sermon. Nantucket, a famed summer retreat off the Massachusetts coast, attracts celebrities, millionaires — and billionaires. Biden and his family head up to the island almost every year to celebrate Thanksgiving with family for decades. Critics were quick to flood social media with reactions, pointing to the island’s exclusivity and arguing that some on the left appear increasingly uncomfortable celebrating America’s founding ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday. THE CHURCH IS HOLY GROUND, NOT A STAGE FOR THE LEFT’S POLITICAL RAGE “Just another organization with leaders having a hidden agenda. I doubt a poll of all members would show a majority wanting the reading cancelled,” commented one person. “So many churches have been infiltrated by people that don’t believe the word of God in any way shape or form. They’re like a virus that had taken over the host,” commented another person. “I was hoping we were past this – naive of me,” shared an X user. “The left can’t have anything that might encourage patriotism,” added one person. PROTECTING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IN OUR 250TH YEAR To salvage the annual event, another church on the island, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, announced it would read the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, the Nantucket Current reported. “We may not be there yet but we felt it was important to gather together and try to live up to the promises our country has made,” said St. Paul’s Rev. Max Wolf. “Those documents are aspirational.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Nantucket Unitarian Meeting House for additional comment, as well as Biden’s office.
Platner’s ‘living on the sea’ claim dismantled by critics as financial docs paint a different picture
Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner claimed that he has been able to “make a living on the sea” since leaving the armed forces during a Friday rally, an assertion his financial disclosures don’t appear to support. Platner, who is running for Senate in Maine to unseat incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins, has long identified himself as an oyster farmer and harbor master, giving a blue-collar tinge to his left-wing campaign. Financial disclosures, however, show that he brings in relatively little money from oyster farming, with reports suggesting that Platner receives the majority of his income through veteran’s disability payments. “My healthcare gave me freedom,” Platner said at a June 5 rally. “It gave me the freedom to take risks, to start a business and to sink my intellect and my physicality into mastering the skills necessary to make a living on the sea.” PLATNER’S ANTI-CORPORATE CRUSADE HITS AWKWARD SNAG AS RECEIPTS TELL ANOTHER STORY Platner’s comments drew ire on social media, with many questioning the Senate hopeful’s claim to working-class identity. Platner’s 2025 financial disclosures show that he listed “other $5,001” as his annual income from farming oysters. The candidate’s entire business is only worth between $50,000 and $100,000, which accounts for his boat, lines, anchors and other farming equipment, per the disclosure. He earned an additional $3,000 serving as the harbor master for Sullivan, Maine, — a role the Washington Free Beacon reported was largely clerical and where he was responsible for overseeing the 17 boat moorings on the small town’s coast. Taken together, these sums are dwarfed by the $4,800 Platner says he receives through monthly disability payments. Platner is legally entitled to such a sum owing to injuries he suffered while serving in the armed forces. “I’ve got a couple herniated discs. My shoulder’s a wreck. My knees bother me,” Platner, who saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, told News Center Maine in an October 2025 interview. Despite his reliance on disability, Platner has consistently referred to himself as an “oyster farmer” while campaigning for Senate. In a September 2025 interview with the New Yorker, for example, he called himself a “small-town oyster farmer.” While Platner credits federally funded healthcare for his ability to start a business, a number of other factors have assisted him along the way. A restaurant owned by Platner’s mother, for instance, is the only customer listed on his financial disclosures as purchasing oysters from him. Additionally, Platner’s farm is located on a private island owned by his business partner’s family and he received a $200,000 loan from his father to purchase his home, the Washington Free Beacon previously reported. “Platner lies in this clip,” freelance journalist Magdi Jacobs said of Platner’s statement on Friday. “He says he ‘makes a living off the sea.’ He objectively does not.” Others pointed out that the reality of Platner’s oyster farming may not match what people typically think of when someone says they make their living on the ocean. “Buddy, I love oyster farmers you’re not trawling Georges Bank, you’re pulling up traps in a protected 25-foot deep bay,” D.C.-based lawyer Patrick Brennan wrote on social media. PLATNER CONTROVERSIES FUEL SPECULATION ABOUT LITTLE-KNOWN MAINE BALLOT REPLACEMENT PROVISION The Maine Democrat hasn’t been shy about the fact that he receives significant money from the federal government as compensation for disabilities he accrued during his service as an infantryman, telling News Center Maine that, in addition to the estimated $4,800 he receives in cash benefits, a portion of which he puts toward his mortgage every month, he also received subsidized healthcare. “I put $954 of it toward my mortgage,” he said. He did not mention the loan from his father during the interview. Platner’s ascent within the Democratic Party came off the heels of the 2024 election, where liberals were largely seen as having lost partially due to their failure to appeal to male voters. “I definitely don’t think I’m uniquely qualified for it,” Platner previously said when asked about his purported appeal to younger men. “I do understand that because of my journey, I think my voice on the issue can be more accessible, just because I’ve been angry on the internet as a younger man, I get it. I also get that it wasn’t anger on the internet that got me out of it. It was quite literally, community. It was building healthy, normal relationships with people.” While some have argued that Platner’s combat experience and blue-collar background provide what Democrats have been missing, others claim that his public persona doesn’t totally match public records. PLATNER CONTROVERSIES FUEL SPECULATION ABOUT LITTLE-KNOWN MAINE BALLOT REPLACEMENT PROVISION “The entire fabric of Graham Platner’s biography continues to fall apart under even modest scrutiny,” National Republican Senatorial Committee press secretary Bernadette Breslin told Fox News Digital. “Mainers deserve authenticity — not Platner’s perverted past, inflated résumé and ‘working-class’ rebrand.” The Platner campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Monday. Some have argued that the apparent incongruence between Platner’s blue-collar public image and what’s appeared in media reports doesn’t seem to be hurting him with voters. “Despite this — Platner seems to connect with working class voters here in Maine,” Fox News national correspondent Alexis McAdams reported on June 5. “Tonight, at least a dozen veterans stood up in the crowd to show support [and] many people here say they are working two or more jobs to just scrape by.” Platner has been battered by widely publicized scandals in recent weeks surrounding his deleted social media posts, allegedly abusive treatment of women and a Nazi tattoo he got during his time in the armed forces. He has, however, resisted calls to drop out of the race. “This is the political establishment doing its best to make sure that people like me, who have lived lives that are sometimes flawed, sometimes complicated, they’re going to try to send the message that if you ever attempt to get into power, if you ever
Democrat who led #MeToo charge stays silent as accusations emerge against Senate hopeful Graham Platner
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., has been conspicuously silent amid allegations against Senate hopeful Graham Platner despite her prominent role at the height of the #MeToo movement spearheading outrage against two men facing sexual misconduct accusations. Platner allegedly engaged in aggressive physical behavior, according to an ex-girlfriend who spoke with The New York Times. He is expected to become the party’s nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine in Tuesday’s election. But Gillibrand has remained silent in the wake of the accusations, despite her vocal support for alleged victims of powerful men in the past. In 2017, when a mere “#MeToo” allegation could sink a political career, Gillibrand was among the loudest voices who called for the resignation of then Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken. Eight women had accused him of sexual harassment — including claims that he groped or forcibly kissed women without consent. Franken resigned from Congress in disgrace amid the scandal after immense pressure from inside his own party and from the political right. He later said in an interview with Conan O’Brien that he “deserved due process” that he never got. HOW MUCH BAGGAGE WILL DEMOCRATS ACCEPT FROM MAINE’S GRAHAM PLATNER? Gillibrand stood by her decision to go after a member of her own party when she was running for the Democratic nomination for president despite media scrutiny. “I know the issue of Sen. Franken is hard for many Democrats. But he had eight credible sexual harassment allegations against him, and I had to choose whether to stay silent, or not. If some megadonors have a problem with that, that’s on them,” she said on X in 2019. “Silencing women for the powerful, or for your friends, or for convenience, is neither acceptable, nor just,” she said in another post. GILLIBRAND ON CALLING FOR AL FRANKEN TO RESIGN: ‘I WAS NOT GOING TO REMAIN SILENT’ She was at it again when Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, when he was in the throes of the confirmation process, faced an unproven allegation of groping Christine Blasey Ford decades prior when they were teenagers. “I think this should affect every senator’s view on Judge Kavanaugh,” she told the Democrat and Chronicle at the time. “I’m hopeful the Senate will at least have some measure of review, maybe a hearing, some measure of analysis of this accusation, and have some measure of clarity on whether this is disqualifying. I believe it is disqualifying, given what we know.” SARAH SILVERMAN CALLS OUT KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND FOR DEFENDING JOE BIDEN AFTER CONDEMNING AL FRANKEN The New York senator raged against Kavanaugh on Twitter, now X, during his confirmation proceedings and repeatedly said she believes women who allege misconduct by men. “#IBelieveChristine Blasey Ford,” she said on the platform. “Her credible allegation of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh should disqualify him from ever being confirmed to the Supreme Court.” MAHER WARNS DEMOCRATS HAVE ‘ANOTHER SEX, CREEP PROBLEM’ WITH PLATNER CITING MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS Her hypocrisy is now on display as Gillibrand, who once called out members of both parties once allegations are made public against them, has remained silent as Platner faces a number of controversies, including an accusation of physical misconduct. Lyndsey Fifield, who once dated Platner, told The New York Times that Platner was physically rough with her. GRAHAM PLATNER ACCUSER HITS NYT FOR ALLEGEDLY SOFTENING ALLEGATIONS, SAYS COVERAGE WAS ‘GIFT’ TO DEMOCRAT “[S]he said he regularly grabbed her by the shoulders — sometimes hard enough to leave marks — and, on one occasion, yanked her out of a cab by her wrist after an argument when she wanted to stay in the car,” the paper reported. “During one argument, she recalled, he twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn’t get out, telling her to remain there until she was ‘calm.’ Eventually, Ms. Fifield said, she fell asleep and left the next morning,” according to the report. Platner’s campaign has denied the accusations. AOC DODGES QUESTIONS ON ABUSE ALLEGATIONS, NAZI TATTOO CLAIMS ROCKING PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN In a marked change from their loud-cried “believe all women” tune, many Democrats online have accused Fifield, who has worked in the conservative political sphere, of simply being a Republican operative. Gillibrand has not commented since the Times report was published. Before the allegations of physical misconduct, Platner faced other significant controversies, and was hauled to Washington, D.C. for a sit-down with powerful elected Democrats to do crisis talks just a week before his primary election in Maine. WATCH: SCANDAL-PLAGUED PLATNER DODGES QUESTIONS BEFORE DC MEETING WITH DEMOCRATS Chief among those controversies is a Nazi-linked tattoo on his chest, a lewd post about masturbating inside portable toilets and exchanging sexual messages with women while he was married. Before the Times report but after other scandals already emerged, Gillibrand and other Democrats lined-up to reiterate their support for Platner. Gillibrand outside those meetings with the candidate said she thinks her party will win in the Pine Tree State in November, and confirmed she still has confidence in the Maine Democrat. “I’m very confident we are going to win Maine,” she told reporters outside the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee building when asked if she still supports the progressive candidate. “I do. I have confidence that we are going to win Maine and I have no doubt.” Gillibrand’s office did not return a request for comment on Monday. Neither did Platner’s campaign or a contact for Franken. Fox News Digital’s Kiera McDonald contributed to this report.
Obama-appointed judge who blocked Trump birthright citizenship order strikes again, throws out visa overhaul
An Obama-appointed federal judge who previously blocked President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order has again dealt a major setback to the administration by striking down Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa payment requirement and declaring the policy unlawful. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin of Massachusetts ruled Monday that the Trump administration lacked the authority to impose the hefty payment on employers seeking new H-1B visas, finding that the requirement amounted to a tax that only Congress has the constitutional power to impose. In Monday’s 42-page decision, Sorokin sided with a coalition of 20 states that challenged Trump’s September 2025 proclamation creating a new $100,000 payment requirement for employers filing petitions for foreign workers under the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. employers to hire skilled foreign workers. Approximately 65,000 foreign workers are issued a H-1B visa each year. TRUMP’S $100K H-1B VISA OVERHAUL COULD HIT TECH GIANTS LIKE AMAZON AND MICROSOFT HARDEST Before Trump’s proclamation, employers typically paid between $2,000 and $5,000 in filing fees to sponsor an H-1B worker, depending on the type of application and the size of the company. The administration had argued that the measure was necessary to curb abuse of the visa system and protect American workers. Trump’s proclamation stated that the H-1B program had been exploited to replace U.S. workers with lower-paid foreign labor and that the new payment would help address those concerns. Sorokin rejected the administration’s legal justification, finding that the Immigration and Nationality Act gives presidents broad authority over the entry of noncitizens but does not authorize them to impose taxes. “While the Executive has broad discretion over the admission and exclusion of aliens, … that discretion is not boundless,” Sorokin wrote, referring to previous case law. Sorokin concluded that the payment functioned as a tax rather than a permissible immigration restriction. TRUMP IS DOWN BUT NOT OUT IN COURT BATTLE OVER HARVARD’S FOREIGN STUDENT VISAS “The Court finds that the Policy imposes a tax on H-1B petitions without the requisite delegation by Congress,” Sorokin wrote. He further rejected the administration’s argument that the payment requirement was simply another immigration restriction, bluntly stating: “Taxes are not ‘restrictions.’” Beyond the constitutional concerns, Sorokin also found that federal agencies violated the Administrative Procedure Act by implementing the policy without notice-and-comment rule making and concluded that the agencies exceeded their statutory authority. As a remedy, Sorokin declared the policy unlawful and vacated it in its entirety. Sorokin, a Yale and Columbia Law School graduate, was nominated to the federal bench by President Barack Obama in 2013 and confirmed by the Senate in 2014. Last year, Sorokin was the fourth judge to issue a nationwide injunction blocking Trump’s executive order seeking to limit birthright citizenship. He ruled that the policy is likely unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. That dispute has since reached the Supreme Court, and a ruling is expected in the coming weeks. The administration is expected to appeal Sorokin’s decision, setting up another legal battle over the scope of presidential authority in immigration matters and the limits of executive power. “President Trump has clear legal authority to restrict entry of any class of aliens he determines is not in America’s best interests, and that is exactly what he did,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. “The H-1B program has been abused for decades, and President Trump finally took action to fix it. A federal judge in Washington already upheld a nearly identical order, and the Administration is confident this order will be reversed on appeal.” In a separate challenge filed in December 2025, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington declined to block the policy after dismissing claims from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the additional H-1B charge violated federal immigration law.
Minnesota fraud report accuses state AG of ‘incompetence, willful blindness or worse’
The House Oversight Committee’s Republican majority accused Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison of repeatedly contradicting public accounts of Minnesota’s massive Feeding Our Future fraud scandal in a 205-page report released Monday. The scandal, which thrust the Land of 10,000 Lakes into the national spotlight, set off a chain of journalistic and congressional investigations that exposed a wider web of waste, fraud and abuse, including allegations that members of Minnesota’s Somali community exploited the social services framework to funnel millions of dollars to unqualified recipients, including Mogadishu-area terror groups. The report describes several instances that investigators said show Ellison and Gov. Tim Walz were aware of fraud concerns earlier than they publicly acknowledged. “The governor and the attorney general knew about fraud in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) as early as April 2020, despite contrary claims made to the media,” the committee said. WALZ ADMINISTRATION IGNORED FRAUD WARNINGS AS BILLIONS VANISHED, HOUSE OVERSIGHT REPORT ALLEGES “The governor and the attorney general knew about fraud in the Child Care Assistance Program as well as Non-Emergency Medical Transportation program as early as spring 2019. The Governor and the Attorney General also became aware of fraud in 13 additional high-risk Medicaid programs at various times during their tenure and failed to act.” Interviews with education, human services and executive-office officials led investigators to conclude Ellison was aware of fraud concerns years before they became public. Those interviews found Ellison was aware of fraud in “high-risk Medicaid programs” administered by the state as early as 2019 and tied that timeline to more than $300 million in Feeding Our Future fraud and what federal prosecutors estimate could be up to $9 billion in fraud involving high-risk Medicaid programs. MASSIVE MEDICAID FRAUD SCHEME PUTS MINNESOTA’S FEDERAL FUNDING AT RISK — AND FALLOUT COULD WIDEN The committee said it was unable to determine whether Ellison’s alleged failure to protect Minnesota taxpayers was “incompetence, willful blindness or worse.” Ellison’s office pushed back hard on Republicans’ findings, calling the report “riddled with inaccuracies and misrepresentations in order to politicize the issue of fraud.” In one example, the committee recounted how Ellison issued a press release in September 2022 that “misrepresents the timeline” of his office’s knowledge of alleged impropriety by Feeding Our Future (FOF), and a threat of litigation from the nonprofit against the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). Ellison claimed he stepped in during the “Fall of 2020” to advise and support MDE against the legal threat from FOF. However, the committee found that MDE had been confronted by FOF in April 2020, leaving what the committee described as months of delay by Democrats. MDE Assistant Commissioner Daron Korte testified to the committee that it wasn’t until the following year that his agency declared “serious deficiency” in FOF’s compliance with federal program rules – and placed a stop-pay order against them. Korte said MDE always had the authority to do so, but resumed payments and hedged for fear of being taken to court. The report found Ellison and Walz showed knowledge of alleged fraud much earlier than they admitted or announced. MINNESOTA DHS WHISTLEBLOWER DETAILS ‘SMEAR CAMPAIGN’ AFTER REPORTING FRAUD CONCERNS TO STATE “[They] claimed to know very little about the widespread fraud occurring in Minnesota until long after potentially billions of dollars had gone out the door, and believed that the child care fraud that predated the beginning of their terms in 2019 had been resolved by the time they took office,” the report said. The committee accused Ellison of slow-walking oversight of FOF and other concerns and characterized the former congressman as instead waiting for the federal government to do his job for him. They wrote that despite his spring 2020 knowledge of the situation, his corrective actions did not come until after news of the FBI’s pandemic-fraud investigation emerged two years later. During the trial of FOF leader Aimee Bock, the defense presented Exhibit 710, which included a nearly hour-long recording of AG Ellison meeting with several defendants in the case in 2021. They included the owner of a now-defunct Somali restaurant, Salim Said, who was convicted of 20 felonies, and others, including Shakur Abdinur Abdisalam, who pleaded guilty in March to defrauding the federal government of millions of dollars. According to the report, Ellison originally told a reporter that he was prepared to meet with Mohamed Omar, a friend of his who is the Imam of Bloomington, Minnesota’s Dar al-Farooq mosque, and that he was surprised the other attendees were there when he arrived. AUDIO OF ELLISON MEETING WITH CONVICTED FRAUDSTERS RESURFACES AS LAWYER ALLEGES WALZ, AG SHARE BLAME But the committee contended that account contradicted what Ellison told Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., during the hearing, when he described the group as coming to him and seeking solutions to “difficult[ies] with the bureaucracy.” Ellison told Luna that he investigated what they told him, and then worked with the feds to prosecute suspects, tallying 57 that were convicted of crimes. “They were not what they claimed to be,” Ellison said. The report found some at the meeting had “pledged the Somali community’s political and financial support to Ellison” if he intervened in their claims they were being racially profiled or discriminated against by government agencies. Ellison responded that he would help “fight these people.” When Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., confronted Walz about that exchange during a hearing, the governor said it was his first time hearing it and that he would not “speculate” on it. GREGG JARRETT: IF WALZ IS CHARGED IN MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL, HIS BEST DEFENSE IS INCOMPETENCE The committee further found that, when asked about his prosecutorial authority, Ellison said he has jurisdiction over Medicaid fraud probes but that other criminal cases must be referred by county attorneys. The panel contended that this was an obvious omission from prior testimony before the Senate, when Ellison said non-Medicaid criminal cases may also be referred to him by the governor’s office. Ellison spokesman