Christian group touts ‘ethical’ tech features as concerns over out-of-control AI tools persist
The leader of a Christian ministry that built its own artificial intelligence application to guide users in their spiritual journey warns companies developing AI systems need to implement “ethical guidelines” to ensure their technology doesn’t harm people. Ligonier Ministries president and CEO Chris Larson says that the true highest intelligence is God, and shared a new tool his group created to help answer questions people my have from a faith-based perspective. “It’s interesting that [President Donald Trump] even referred to artificial intelligence now as ‘superintelligence,’” Larson told Fox News Digital. “Of course, Christians — and, really, all of us — have access to the ‘superintelligece,’ the one who has created the universe.” CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY AIMS TO PRODUCE ‘IRREPLACEABLE’ GRADUATES AS AI RESHAPES HIGHER EDUCATION The mission of the Florida-based organization, founded by the late Christian theologian R.C. Sproul, is to proclaim, teach and defend the holiness of God “in all its fullness to as many people as possible.” Part of accomplishing that mission was building an app that the organization calls “Grow.” “It’s dedicated to helping Christians to better understand the Bible and theology and to go deeper in their faith, put down roots, if you will,” Larson said of the new tool. “And so this app has 50 years of teaching in it from more than 800 different teachers, of course, grounded in Dr. R.C. Sproul’s lifetime of teaching.” The app draws from a library of tens of thousands of pieces of content help users in their faith journey looking to obtain answers to critical questions. Inside Grow is an “intelligent answer assistant” which can answer questions from users from a faith-based perspective. But building an Grow for Christian users required putting a great deal of thought into the ethics of the model, Larson explained. WILLIAM BENNETT, JON HAGE: AI CAN MIMIC A TEACHER, BUT IT CANNOT SHEPHERD A SOUL “Now, it’s not trying to pretend it’s a person or anything like that. It is just trained on our library, and then helping Christians to trust the answers, and [it] will only go so far,” he said. “And again, I think that’s an important guard as well. Because for us, making sure that we have trusted theological answers and that the intelligent answer assistant is acting with integrity and not going outside of that.” When a user pushes the boundaries of the application, it directs them to real human support — a feature most large language model AI tools refuse to implement. “And so we’ve given it a sandbox to work within, and any time that somebody tries to push it beyond the borders, we’re going to deflect or defer to a real human. Imagine that,” Larson said. For example, if a user discusses suicidality in Grow, the intelligent answer assistant will direct them to the suicide hotline or other real-world resources. BISHOP ROBERT BARRON: POPE LEO SEES THE AI AGE CLEARLY — AND WARNS WE MUST SAVE OUR SOULS Over the past several years, there have been a flurry of suicide deaths that victims’ family members say AI chatbots were at least partially responsible. In one case from last year, a teenager named Adam Raine took his own life after months of discussing his suicidal thoughts on ChatGPT. According to a lawsuit from his parents, the chatbot provided him information about methods of suicide, validated aspects of planning the suicide and offered to help him draft a suicide note. OpenAI, ChatGPT’s parent company, disputes the characterization and says the chatbot directed him to crisis resources multiple times. “So, we understood that it’s important to provide safety guardrails, but also we did not want this intelligent answer assistant to pretend that it was a person,” said Larson. “We don’t want it to take the place of a pastor or a local church elder or even a parent.” WHO IS DARIO AMODEI, THE ANTHROPIC CEO PUSHING INDEPENDENT AI OVERSIGHT? Larson said companies developing AI need to consider guardrails for their technology. “Anybody developing AI tools today needs to think through ethical guidelines, and that’s more of the self-regulation and guardrails that we’ve been talking about,” he said. “I think there’s a real concern today because you have great power that’s been entrusted to these different companies and they’re not really disclosing their worldview,” he continued. “How do they know right from wrong?” For Ligonier, the absolute truth upon which its AI model is built is the Christian faith. “How are you determining what is right and wrong? As Christians, we believe we have a true answer — a source that we can turn to.” If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
How Obama appointee and Trump nemesis Boasberg ended up overseeing Ilhan Omar warrant, other key cases
Federal Judge James Boasberg, dubbed a “Radical left lunatic” by President Donald Trump, is presiding over several high-profile cases challenging actions made by the Trump administration, raising questions about how judges are assigned to cases. The scrutiny comes as Boasberg, an Obama-appointed chief judge of the Washington, D.C. district court, oversees a challenge brought by several media outlets seeking to force the Justice Department to unseal the search warrant on the home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., stemming from two federal investigations. “Judge James Boasberg is now involved with the Ilhan Omar case,” Steve Ferguson, a self-described business owner with more than 250,000 followers on X, wrote in a social media post. “Is everything rigged?” In the federal court of the District of Columbia, cases are assigned to judges randomly by an electronic system managed by the clerk’s office operating under the direction of the Calendar and Case Management Committee, according to the rules of the court. The committee consists of three to five judges appointed by the chief justice. FEDERAL AGENTS RAID ILHAN OMAR’S DC HOME AMID IMMIGRATION FRAUD INVESTIGATION There are exceptions to the random-assignment process. For example, criminal grand jury matters are assigned to and overseen by the chief judge, currently Boasberg. This means Boasberg’s assignment to oversee the fight over unsealing the search warrant for Omar was “not a surprise” to Eric Wessan, Iowa’s solicitor general. “But there are a lot of cases that seem to be going to judges maybe based on those cases having similarities which is not what the local rules say,” Wessan told Fox News Digital. When a case needs to be reassigned, the Calendar and Case Management Committee will determine how the reassignment is made. Wessan suggested that concerns over how case assignments are made is valid, considering some of the high-profile cases against the Trump administration which have appeared in Boasberg’s docket. “If one is just following anecdotally, there does seem to be a lot of high-profile cases in front of judges that seem to be expressing unusual amounts of frustration or disagreement with the administration,” Wessan said, urging greater transparency in how case assignments are made. TRUMP’S FIGHT OVER RARELY USED 18TH-CENTURY DEPORTATION LAW LIVES ON IN LATEST COURT CLASH The fight over unsealing the release of Omar’s search warrant is just one of several cases involving the Trump administration and now on Boasberg’s docket. Boasberg is also overseeing California’s lawsuit against the Trump administration over voter-roll disputes. On Friday, he ordered the administration to provide the state with the names and supporting information for roughly 20,000 people whom the DOJ claims are noncitizens on California’s voter rolls by the end of the day. Boasberg has issued several consequential rulings against the Trump administration, including a high-profile March 2025 order directing the administration to turn around deportation flights carrying alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. The Trump administration fought against the order, pointing to the Alien Enemies Act as legal justification for the deportations. The dispute over the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act eventually reached the Supreme Court, which vacated Boasberg’s temporary restraining order blocking deportation flights, ruling that the case was brought in the wrong jurisdiction. That same month, Boasberg was assigned a lawsuit seeking to preserve Signal messages after top Trump administration officials discussed plans for a Yemen strike in a group chat that accidentally included Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg. He later ordered the administration to preserve the messages. The string of cases prompted Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Chip Roy, R-Texas, to send a letter in May 2025 to the court clerk asking for greater clarity on how judicial assignments are made. The lawmakers questioned whether assignments were truly random, as the court’s rules state. “The Committee cannot independently verify the randomness of case assignments because the composition of assignment decks is kept secrets,” the lawmakers wrote. “We must understand the nature of the case assignment process in the District Court—which is considering a number of cases challenging the Trump Administration’s policy decisions—to consider and develop appropriate legislation,” the lawmakers wrote. FEDERAL JUDGE KICKED OFF ‘BOTCH JOB’ ANTI-DEI CASE AFTER STUNNING APPEALS COURT REBUKE Meanwhile, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., introduced legislation in July that would require federal district courts to assign cases randomly, without exceptions, naming it the Boasberg Act. The bill is currently stalled in committee. “Judge Boasberg is the poster child for a rogue judge and exposed serious loopholes in our judicial system. Randomly assigning cases among judges ensures the American people can have confidence in the impartiality of our courts,” Schmitt said in a statement. Under the rules of D.C. Court, the chief justice does not have the power to reassign a case. The Calendar and Case Management Committee handles case reassignments. The court must notify the judges and attorneys involved, but it does not have to publicly explain why a case was reassigned. Wessan has called for greater transparency. “The rules shouldn’t say one thing if it’s not true. But if it is true, they could just say so. I think the issue is with the exceptions—what happens in those exceptional cases and how often do they occur?” Wessan said. “Given the frequency of the concerning episodes in the district court, erring on the side of transparency is probably prudent to the extent that there are exceptions to the normal random-assignment system,” Wessan said.
CodePink leader adds muscle to well-funded fight to ban restaurant delicacy
WASHINGTON, D.C. — CodePink D.C. Coordinator Olivia DiNucci last month posted a TikTok video of herself in a home supporting an issue far afield from her usual battles supporting the Communist Party of Cuba and the Islamic Republic of Iran. This time, she was backing a local ballot measure, “Initiative 86,” introduced in early February in the D.C. City Council to ban foie gras, a fine-dining delicacy made from duck liver, and other products made from birds. D.C. residents will vote on the measure on election day with early voting already started. The campaign presents itself as a grassroots effort to advance animal welfare, but public financial filings reveal a far more heavily funded operation. A national animal-rights network has supplied hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial support, underwriting paid petition circulators, political consultants, staff salaries and advertising in a campaign that could reshape Washington’s restaurant industry. Far from a shoestring local initiative, the effort has reported nearly half a million dollars in contributions and expenditures, much of it backed by an organization that openly describes local ballot measures as stepping stones toward a broader “pro-animal future.” WHO’S FUNDING AMERICA’S PROTEST UNREST? FOX NATION’S NEW ‘RIOT INC.’ FOLLOWS THE MONEY TO FIND OUT A Fox News Digital investigation of campaign-finance records, nonprofit filings and the groups’ own organizing documents traces the people, money and long-term strategy behind Initiative 86 and raises questions about how a fight over one luxury menu item became part of a much larger political campaign over what Americans eat. Pro-Animal Future, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit based in Portland, Ore., launched the campaign, nicknamed I-86, in D.C. and says its local ballot efforts are part of a broader push to change public attitudes toward common animal agricultural practices. Its IRS filing also lists its name as Pro-Animal DC. In seven financial reports filed with the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance, Pro-Animal DC provides a window into a local political campaign’s operational, financial and logistical infrastructure. According to its latest filings, Pro-Animal DC collected a whopping $474,190.62 between Sept. 23, 2025, and Oct. 26, 2026, for the local campaign, with Pro-Animal Future as its major backer, providing it $386,435.77. Its largest expense is stipends totaling $126,780.36, or about one-quarter of the campaign’s expenses, to a paid professional protest organizer: Cady Witt, whose LinkedIn profile lists her as “community impact coordinator” at “DC Voters for Animals.” Witt is also listed as the treasurer of Pro-Animal DC in its campaign reports. Pro-Animal DC reported another $89,224.00, or about 20% of its expenses, for 293 payments to 64 people described as “consultant – circulator” from September 2025 through October 26, 2026. They got an average payment of $1,394.13 per person. ‘TROJAN HORSES’ IN AMERICA: CONGRESS PROBES INFLUENCE NETWORKS TIED TO CHINA, IRAN AND CUBA Also a professional organizer, CodePink’s DiNucci is typically a fixture at anti-Israel demonstrations and foreign affairs hearings. CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans is married to an American-born, China-based tech tycoon, Neville Roy Singham, whose funding of activist groups has drawn scrutiny from congressional lawmakers and is the subject of a federal investigation. Pro Animal Future said CodePink doesn’t have a role in its campaign beyond DiNucci’s appearance in her TikTok video. Pro-Animal Future alleges that birds are “force fed” to gain the weight needed to produce foie gras, and it says its campaigns seek to end “force-feeding” birds and shift public views on animal agriculture. According to its latest available IRS 990 tax filing, Pax Fauna, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Denver, says it’s related to Pro-Animal Future, which it described as doing “lobbying” work. In 2024, Pax Fauna outlined a 10-year roadmap to build local ballot campaigns and eventually pursue statewide “factory-farming” bans and establish “animal freedom.” The roadmap called such measures a way to “provoke a sort of identity crisis for the voting public” and “storm the nation”. The group sought to launch as many as 10 local chapters during the 2025-2026 election cycle. An anonymous purchaser bought the web domain ProAnimalDC.org in April 2025, according to online records. Today, Pro-Animal Future lists its current campaigns as running in D.C. and Denver and says it worked with Portland’s City Council to ban foie gras sales this past June. Pax Fauna’s founders said they have spent years organizing with Direct Action Everywhere, an animal-rights 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Berkeley, Ca. Last year, according to its filings, Pro-Animal Future spent $7,703.70 for Airbnb accommodations. This year, on July 31, it spent $22,418.69 for Airbnb accommodations. Pro-Animal DC has stated that the lodging was for about 60 out-of-town “volunteers” who came to Washington, D.C., in July for a signature-gathering effort called “Goosapalooza.” On its website, it promoted the “free housing.” The measure’s language has raised questions about how far the ban could reach. Its definition of a “fattened bird liver product” covers food or byproducts made from birds’ livers when the birds were fattened “through any method or practice,” and specifically lists pâtés, spreads and processed meat products as products to be banned. The initiative separately defines “force-feeding” as causing a bird to eat more than it would voluntarily consume. MAMDANI ACCUSED OF BETRAYING NYC WORKERS AS UNION BOSS BLASTS ‘ANTI-LABOR’ HORSE CARRIAGE BAN Former D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine told City Cast DC, a local media outlet, that the text “includes le poulet,” which means chicken in French. Jon Mandel, an attorney and former D.C. Council legislative staffer, told the same outlet, that the sales provision could reach poultry-liver products made without force-feeding. Pro-Animal Future spokeswoman Natalie Fulton told City Cast DC the campaign isn’t trying to ban chicken and “is about foie gras.” She added that the D.C. Council could clarify the language if voters approve the measure. However, restaurants in the district who serve the delicacy aren’t buying what activists are selling. Bart Hutchins, chef and co-owner of Butterworth’s, a Capitol Hill restaurant popular with Trump administration members, raised a similar concern in an interview with Fox News Digital. “Realistically that could ban at least
How to follow 2026 Election Day coverage on Fox News platforms
Fox News will deliver live results, race calls and around-the-clock coverage as voters decide control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections. Here’s how to watch the biggest House, Senate and governor’s races unfold across Fox News Channel, Fox News Digital and streaming platforms. Election Day 2026 is just days away, and Fox News Media will deliver live, multiplatform coverage Tuesday, Nov. 3, as Americans head to the polls to decide control of Congress and key governor’s offices across the country. CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW THE LATEST ELECTION NEWS From closely watched Senate showdowns to competitive House races that could determine the balance of power in Washington, Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital will provide live results, breaking developments and analysis throughout Election Night. Viewers can watch live coverage on Fox News Go with a participating television provider or stream Fox News Channel through FOX One. Fox News Channel’s special “FOX News Democracy 26” coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET Tuesday, co-anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. Dana Perino, Brit Hume, Harold Ford Jr., Bill Hemmer, Sandra Smith, Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity and other Fox News personalities will contribute throughout the evening. The Fox News Decision Desk will provide race calls for House, Senate and gubernatorial contests, along with projections of which party will control each chamber of Congress. For this year’s election coverage, FNC will expand its use of augmented reality and data-driven graphics to provide viewers with a deeper understanding of election results as they unfold. Enhanced visualizations will illustrate county-level voting shifts compared to previous elections, track the balance of power in Congress and provide additional context around key races. SENATE CONTROL IS A COIN FLIP — AND DEMOCRATS’ PATH RUNS THROUGH TRUMP COUNTRY The network will also showcase versatile graphics packages, templates and automated production processes, allowing teams to respond quickly to breaking developments while building technology that can be used across future election cycles. FOX Business will simulcast Fox News Channel’s Election Night coverage from 6 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Trace Gallagher will lead overnight coverage until a special early edition of “FOX & Friends First” begins at 4 a.m. On Fox News Digital, readers can follow a live Election Night blog featuring breaking developments, Fox News Power Rankings and Fox News Voter Analysis as polls close across the country. The Fox News Elections Center will provide a central destination for tracking key races, election results and the battle for control of Congress. Signed-in users can participate in “The Room,” an interactive Election Night discussion experience featuring real-time commentary. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER For additional Election Night analysis, “Ruthless Live! Midterm Election Show” will stream from 8 to 11 p.m. ET on Fox News Digital and FOX Nation. Listeners can tune in to Fox News Radio or use the Fox News app’s “Listen” feature beginning at 7 p.m. ET, when Jared Halpern and Jessica Rosenthal kick off live radio coverage. More than 20 Fox News Channel and FOX Business correspondents will report from battleground states nationwide, while chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram will provide updates from Capitol Hill. With control of the House and Senate on the line, make Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital your destination for Election Night 2026 results, live coverage and the latest developments from across the country.
Trump admin threatens Iran with ‘consequences’ as allies convene amid threats of post-election escalation
The Trump administration warned Iran that there “will be consequences” if Tehran continues its malign activities amid growing concern over a potential new round of U.S.-Iran hostilities after the midterm elections. With just days until the 2026 elections and with war raging on in the Middle East, foreign ministers from the world’s largest economies gathered in Atlanta, Georgia ahead of the G20 leaders meeting in December. “The Iranian regime has had a choice… to either pursue the path towards normalcy, towards prosperity for their people, the path towards diplomacy. Or they can continue their malign activities, but there will be consequences for that, and we’ve seen the president taking concrete action,” State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott told Fox News Digital on Friday. Pigott was responding to reports that U.S. officials have warned regional partners to prepare for the possibility of heightened U.S. military action against Iran after Tuesday’s elections, as well as potential Iranian retaliation. IRANIAN NEGOTIATORS KICKED OUT OF US AS TALKS STALL, TRUMP LAYS OUT ‘POSSIBLE’ TIMELINE FOR MORE STRIKES President Donald Trump has not made a final decision on renewed strikes, but U.S. diplomats and defense officials have privately urged several Middle Eastern countries and regional allies to prepare for the possibility of new military action and Iranian retaliation, according to an Associated Press report citing two diplomats briefed on the warnings. The warnings come amid heightened concerns about Iranian threats against Americans overseas. Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton wrote in an unclassified memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the U.S. had received intelligence that Iran had “substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel” and that lethal Iranian plots had reached “advanced stages” in the Middle East and elsewhere, according to Scripps News. Asked whether those threats were being discussed with G20 counterparts and whether the U.S. was sharing intelligence with allies to disrupt potential plots, Pigott declined to discuss intelligence matters but said the U.S. was working with international partners against transnational threats. “We’re going to work with our partners to make sure that any transnational threat has the appropriate transnational response to protect our citizens,” he insisted. The prospect of renewed fighting with Iran loomed over the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, where Rubio has put energy security, secure supply chains and freedom of navigation among the U.S. priorities. Rubio opened the two-day gathering Friday by warning that the world’s largest economies face “interconnected economic and geopolitical crises” threatening energy and food supplies, trade, global supply chains and freedom of navigation. Pigott said the administration’s position remains that “there cannot be a situation where a country decides that they can control an international waterway and charge tolls over that waterway.” TRUMP THREATENS ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES FOR ANY NATION AIDING IRAN In the aftermath of the war, Iran began asserting greater authority over the Strait of Hormuz and insisting on the right to collect fees from ships for services including navigation and environmental protection. Asked what the U.S. wants G20 countries to do to keep the strait open, Pigott pointed to a broader principle that international waterways must remain free from coercion. “Fundamentally, the principle here is so important, making sure that we are having secure international waterways in the sense we’re not having these tolls or coercion, making sure we have secure supply chains,” Pigott said. “That is so important.”
Trump push to oust Omar faces historic Supreme Court test, but legal experts see ‘uncharted’ twist
President Donald Trump’ s push to oust Rep. Ilhan Omar amid allegations of immigration fraud could trigger a constitutional fight, with legal experts telling Fox News Digital that a landmark Supreme Court case involving another entrenched Democrat may not stand in Republicans’ way. Federal investigators are examining whether the Minneapolis Democrat improperly obtained U.S. citizenship through allegedly fraudulent immigration paperwork involving her late father. Omar has denied wrongdoing, and no finding that she lacks U.S. citizenship has been established. Experts said Omar may not have the protections established in the landmark case involving House chairman Adam Clayton Powell Jr., D-N.Y., in which the Supreme Court blocked an effort to exclude him from Congress. Powell faced allegations of misusing congressional funds and improperly paying his wife from the congressional payroll. Despite his reelection, the House voted to exclude him in 1967, but the Supreme Court later ruled that Congress could not refuse to seat a duly elected member who satisfied the Constitution’s qualifications. ILHAN OMAR SHOULD BE JAILED, DEPORTED IF CITIZENSHIP FRAUD PROVEN, TOP HOUSE REPUBLICAN SAYS The first potential route for Republicans would be to challenge whether Omar meets the Constitution’s citizenship requirement. Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo and constitutional scholar Cully Stimson told Fox News Digital that the Powell ruling does not prevent Congress from enforcing constitutional qualifications. “Powell essentially means that Congress cannot add on to the minimum qualifications set out in the Constitution,” Yoo said. “[S]ince citizenship is set out in the text of the Constitution as a qualification, it clearly can be enforced by Congress. Powell in-fact would support a congressional decision to oust Congresswoman Omar if she was in fact not a citizen.” Stimson argued that citizenship itself is not a legal gray area. “The Powell v. McCormack decision did not involve expulsion. It actually was to judge qualifications. That’s a subtle but important difference,” he said. Stimson envisioned a January showdown if federal authorities presented evidence challenging Omar’s citizenship before the new Congress convenes and House Republicans attempted to prevent her from being seated. Such a move would likely face a legal challenge from Omar, he said, raising questions about whether Congress could act before her citizenship status was resolved. The Constitution requires House members to be at least 25 years old, have been U.S. citizens for seven years and inhabit the states they represent when elected. Stimson argued that even if alleged immigration irregularities originated with Omar’s father, Nur Omar Mohamed, the central question would be whether she legally acquired citizenship, regardless of whether she knowingly participated in wrongdoing. “It’s like you’re either pregnant or you’re not,” he said. “You’re either wet or dry — You’re a citizen or you are not a citizen.” In multiple public comments, Trump has urged Omar’s resignation or expulsion, specifically citing reports that she used a pseudonym when she was sworn into office and that she “married her brother.” “Let’s get her the Hell out of there,” he said Monday in Alcorn County, Mississippi. Fox News Digital reached out to Omar for comment. COULD TRUMP REVOKE ILHAN OMAR’S CITIZENSHIP FOR ALLEGED BROTHER MARRIAGE? EX FEDERAL PROSECUTOR BREAKS IT DOWN A second route would involve seating Omar and then pursuing expulsion for misconduct, a separate constitutional power requiring a two-thirds House vote. Unlike exclusion for failing to meet constitutional qualifications, expulsion is a disciplinary action that was not at issue in the Supreme Court’s Powell ruling. At least one House Republican has already threatened to pursue that option. Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., said Friday that if Omar is found to not be a citizen, “I absolutely will demand expulsion immediately.” Omar faces a separate investigation into her financial disclosures, which U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro previously confirmed to Fox News. The inquiry follows scrutiny of businesses tied to her current husband, Timothy Mynett, whose reported valuations reached as high as $30 million before Omar amended the filings, citing accounting errors. No financial wrongdoing has yet been established. Stimson pointed to the 2023 expulsion of former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., as an example of the House exercising its disciplinary authority over misconduct that began before a member took office. Former House counsel Michael Stern wrote in an examination of the Constitution’s expulsion clause that while Santos’ alleged misconduct largely preceded his term, House investigators found that his misrepresentations continued while he was in office. “Thus, acts committed before a member’s first election may constitute disorderly behavior subject to congressional discipline, at least if the misconduct relates to the election and particularly if it involves deceiving the electorate,” Stern wrote. Stimson said Omar’s case is largely “uncharted waters,” but the Santos case could still be instructive. “I think the argument would be, well, her misrepresentations continued during the time in Congress, they would pull a Santos and use the same logic that they used,” he said. Any federal determination challenging Omar’s citizenship could trigger a legal battle over whether she meets the constitutional requirements for office and what recourse she would have to contest such a finding, Stimson said. “The hard part for her is ‘how do you prove a negative’,” Stimson said, adding that placing blame on her father wouldn’t stand up in court because people cannot legally benefit from others’ criminal acts. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER “It’s a harsh world, but it’s a binary situation.” A challenge to Omar’s citizenship could also produce a separate fight over the evidence and legal procedures required to establish whether she meets the Constitution’s qualifications. Fox News Digital’s Pedro Rodriguez-Aparicio contributed to this report.
Troubling discovery on state voter rolls sparks action days before midterms: ‘Should have been fixed’
A conservative legal group filed an election complaint in Maine Tuesday, alleging that more than 3,000 potentially dead people and hundreds of duplicate registrations were discovered on the state’s voter rolls just days before the pivotal midterm elections. The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) identified 3,181 potentially dead voters and 693 duplicate registrations, urging the state to take action as Mainers prepare to cast their ballots Tuesday. “Now we know why they were hiding them because there were problems on them,” Adams told Fox News Digital. “They have dead people, they have lots of duplicates and they have general problems. It’s something that should have been fixed a long time ago.” The complaint, which was filed with Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, argues election officials have not made a “reasonable effort” to remove ineligible voters from the official list. TRUMP SCORES SUPREME COURT WIN IN ELECTION INTEGRITY FIGHT AS STATES GAIN NEW VOTER ROLL TOOL Adams said the state should have discovered the information, not his group. “Why does it take a third-party group like the Public Interest Legal Foundation to find these duplicates?” Adams said. The group is asking the state to take “additional corrective action,” warning it “may have no other recourse” but to appeal through the complaint process under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), a 2002 election reform law, if nothing is done. The group compared those findings with its previous investigation in 2025, which found 18,453 potentially dead voters and 1,498 duplicate or triplicate registration records in Maine. The state addressed many of the records identified that year, but PILF said some errors remain while “new problems have arisen.” Several searches were used in the analysis to identify records that shared the same address, first and last names and birth year, as well as typos, punctuation errors, common nicknames and birth-year discrepancies. DOJ GIVES CALIFORNIA 48 HOURS TO REVIEW LIST OF POSSIBLE NONCITIZENS ON VOTER ROLLS The complaint requests that Maine review the group’s analysis, immediately remove ineligible voters and implement a plan to ensure the state complies with HAVA “now and in the future.” “I hope she gets the job done and removes all these duplicates,” Adams said. Adams said his group has been embroiled in an ongoing legal battle and Bellows has a history of trying to “criminalize” PILF for revealing what they found. PILF sued Maine roughly six years ago over access to the state’s voter rolls and won a federal appeals court case in 2024 that required the state to make the records public. “There’s a history here of Secretary Bellows not wanting the public to know what kind of job she’s doing,” Adams said. Adams accused Bellows of focusing on “defending sort of blue theories” rather than keeping Maine’s voter lists accurate and up to date. “Unfortunately, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is not getting the job done,” he said. MAP IT: DOJ ILLEGAL VOTING CRACKDOWN SWEEPS 17 STATES AS RAZOR-THIN ELECTIONS FACE SCRUTINY One of Adams’ biggest concerns is that someone could use a dead person’s registration to illegally vote. He said progressive state officials are reluctant to immediately remove dead voters out of fear they could mistakenly remove eligible voters, potentially leaving the door open for fraud. “The problem is that sometimes people vote for the dead people,” he said. But Adams said he believes Maine has been trying to keep its problems out of the public eye for a long time. “Maine has a longstanding problem trying to hide public information about whether or not they’re doing a good job,” he said. Fox News Digital reached out to Bellows’ office for comment. The legal filing comes just days before Mainers vote in a critical and tight U.S. Senate race between incumbent Republican Susan Collins and her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson. The winner could determine the balance of power in the Senate.
Dems’ dire warnings about threats to democracy face an uncomfortable reckoning after Alaska election report
While prominent Democrats have spent years warning about threats to democracy, dozens of lawmakers and governors who endorsed Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola have declined to respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about a reported effort to confuse voters and potentially cost Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan his seat. The New York Times reported Wednesday that aides to Democratic Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola helped recruit a man named Dan Sullivan to run in an alleged effort to draw votes from Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan – though Peltola’s campaign has denied involvement. Fox News Digital reached out to 42 Democratic lawmakers and governors who endorsed Peltola to ask whether they would denounce the alleged effort to mislead Alaska voters. As of publication, not a single one has responded. MARY PELTOLA’S CAMPAIGN, DEMS BACKED COVERT SCHEME TO FIELD SPOILER CANDIDATES IN ALASKA SENATE RACE: REPORT Sen. Richard Blumenthal, for instance, stated that “voter suppression is poisonous, it is toxic to our democracy,” in 2022. His colleague, Sen. Chris Murphy, meanwhile, argued in April 2025 that “those of us who believe that the threat to democracy is urgent” need to “act like it.” And Sen. Cory Booker said in December 2016 that “protecting American democracy is a calling far higher than party politics.” ‘DECOY DAN’ SULLIVAN CASE LEADS TOP SENATOR TO BREAK FOUR-YEAR X SILENCE: ‘PATTERN OF LIES’ Despite their outspoken defenses of democracy and insistence that protecting it should transcend party politics, none of these lawmakers responded to Fox News Digital’s questions about the alleged effort to mislead Alaska voters. Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who has made a name for himself by publicly breaking with his party on some issues, has also remained mum on the controversy. Peltola has asserted that her campaign “has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.” The Times, for its investigation, relied on text messages it obtained as well as interviews with former campaign staffers. The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Alaska on Oct. 22 seeking to delay certification of the state’s Senate election if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses and votes cast for the other Sullivan could have changed the outcome, pending an investigation into whether voter confusion played a role in the result. ALASKA’S GOVERNOR ORDERS INVESTIGATION AFTER NYT REPORT ON ALLEGED DEM-LINKED SENATE ELECTION SCHEME Legal experts from across the political spectrum who previously spoke to Fox News Digital said that the case faces significant challenges, particularly as it relates to trying to infer voter intent from anonymous ballots and overcoming the sovereignty of states over their elections. Among the other Democratic Senators reached by Fox News Digital were Sens. Adam Schiff, Alex Padilla, Maggie Hassan, Chuck Schumer, Catherine Cortez Masto, Angela Alsobrooks, Andy Kim, Brian Schatz, Ed Markey, Elissa Slotkin, John Hickenlooper, Jon Ossoff, Kirsten Gillibrand, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Mark Kelly, Michael Bennet, Ruben Gallego, Sheldon Whitehouse and Tammy Duckworth. The U.S. House members reached by Fox News Digital included Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Chris Pappas, Brittany Pettersen, Eric Sorensen, Mike Levin, Hillary Scholten, Jared Huffman, Josh Harder, Pramila Jayapal, Sarah McBride, George Whitesides, Jonathan Nez and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who does not currently hold office but is running to retake his Senate seat, and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, were also asked for their reactions on the reporting. Democratic Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland, Gavin Newsom of California, as well as former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper – who is in the midst of a Senate campaign – were also reached for comment. Peltola’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. At least one Democrat has publicly criticized the alleged tactic. Iowa Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rob Sand told Fox News on Sunday that “both parties are doing it and neither party should be doing it,” calling such efforts “manipulating the political system.”
Federal judge blocks Trump DOJ threats against election workers ahead of 2026 midterms
A federal judge on Friday temporarily barred the Trump administration from threatening election workers with criminal prosecution over ballots tied to suspected noncitizens. U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson found that the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security likely violated the Voting Rights Act’s prohibition against voter intimidation by threatening election workers with prosecution for processing ballots from voters the administration claims are ineligible, just days before the midterm elections. “One of the hallmarks of a fair election is the freedom to exercise the right to vote free from threat, fear, or intimidation,” Thompson, a Biden-appointed judge, wrote in the eight-page order. The ruling comes as the Trump administration has sought voter registration information from states ahead of the Nov. 3 elections, arguing that its efforts are aimed at preventing noncitizen voting and protecting election integrity. BIDEN-APPOINTED JUDGE BLOCKS VOTER-FRAUD PROBES IN BATTLEGROUND STATES JUST DAYS BEFORE MIDTERMS The temporary restraining order prohibits federal officials from threatening, intimidating or coercing state and local election workers into halting ballot processing solely because the administration alleges certain registered voters are ineligible. The order also bars the administration from demanding that election officials remove registered voters from voter rolls, refuse to issue them ballots or segregate or decline to count their ballots based solely on those allegations. The lawsuit was brought by labor unions and civil rights organizations, including the Service Employees International Union and the NAACP. “Because the public has a paramount interest in ensuring that election officials and workers are able to carry out their work in accordance with federal law and election procedure, and the official day of the Elections is only a couple of days away, the balance of the equities and public interest weigh in Plaintiffs’ favor,” Thompson wrote. “Ballots have already been issued,” Thompson also noted. “Americans have already begun voting.” NINTH CIRCUIT QUESTIONS TRUMP DOJ’S EMERGENCY REQUEST TO SET ASIDE 20,000 CALIFORNIA MAIL BALLOTS Thompson also ordered the administration to notify state and local governments that received the disputed letters that the demands and threats of prosecution contained in them have been blocked. Earlier Friday, a federal appeals court separately ruled against the Trump administration’s emergency request to require California to set aside mail-in ballots associated with roughly 20,000 voters federal officials identified as likely noncitizens while their citizenship status was verified. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Justice Department’s request to set aside the disputed mail-in ballots while officials reviewed the voters’ citizenship status, handing the administration another setback just four days before Election Day. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Justice Department for comment. Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Reuters contributed to this report.
EXCLUSIVE: ICE captures illegal alien at center of NYC manhunt after sanctuary city release
EXCLUSIVE: Federal immigration officers arrested an illegal alien accused of attacking a New York City police officer Friday, ending a manhunt sparked by his release from local custody despite repeated U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests, Fox News Digital has learned. Alpha Bah, an illegal immigrant from Guinea, was taken into custody at approximately 3:25 p.m. after ICE officers tracked him to a temporary residence in New York City, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official told Fox News Digital. Officers with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) developed intelligence about Bah’s last known temporary residence Friday and established surveillance in the surrounding area, the official said. HOUSE REPORT SAYS NYC PROSECUTORS TAILORED PLEA DEALS TO SHIELD ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM DEPORTATION At approximately 2:22 p.m., officers spotted a man matching Bah’s description leaving the residence and meeting several unidentified individuals on a nearby public street. Officers continued monitoring him rather than immediately approaching because several school-aged children were in the area. About an hour later, officers spotted Bah alone and approached him while displaying police and ICE identification. They confirmed his identity through biographical questions, a photograph and Mobile Fortify, a biometric identification tool. Officers informed Bah of an administrative immigration arrest warrant and took him into custody without incident. He was transported to 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan for post-arrest processing, according to the official. The arrest comes after Fox News Digital reported that NYC authorities released Bah despite repeated requests from federal immigration officials to hold him in custody. EXCLUSIVE: NYC OFFICIALS REFUSE ICE HOLD FOR ILLEGAL ALIEN ACCUSED IN ARSON THAT KILLED 4 AND INJURED 7: DHS Bah was initially arrested Oct. 7 on charges of aggravated assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and intent to obtain transportation without paying, according to DHS. ICE lodged a detainer with Queens Central Booking, but Bah was released without federal immigration authorities being notified, DHS previously said. The case drew criticism from federal immigration officials who accused New York City’s sanctuary policies of allowing Bah to return to the streets despite the pending immigration detainer. “This illegal alien from Guinea was arrested for assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon. Despite these violent charges, New York City sanctuary politicians refused to honor ICE’s detainer and RELEASED him back onto the streets, and he remains at large,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement prior to Friday’s arrest. “DHS is calling on Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani to knock it off with these evil sanctuary policies before another American gets hurt, or worse.” Fox News Digital’s Hannah Brennan and Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.