Supreme Court hears pivotal Louisiana redistricting case ahead of 2026 midterms
The Supreme Court is rehearing oral arguments Wednesday in a case centered on Louisiana’s use of race as a factor when drawing its congressional map — a closely watched legal fight that some fear could be used to weaken protections under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The case, Louisiana v. Callais, was first heard by the high court in March. It focuses on whether Louisiana’s updated 2024 congressional map, which added a second majority-Black district, constitutes an unconstitutional “racial gerrymander.” The outcome could shape how states nationwide apply the Voting Rights Act in redistricting battles ahead of the 2026 midterms. Justices ordered both parties to reappear in court in the fall to take up additional arguments before the case is decided. They also asked parties to submit additional briefs answering whether the state’s “intentional creation” of the second majority-minority district runs afoul of the 14th and 15th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The court’s ruling could have a major impact on voters ahead of the 2026 midterms, with critics warning that a decision favoring the state may further erode safeguards for minority voters under the Voting Rights Act. JUDGES SAY THEY’LL REDRWA LOUISIANA CONGRESSIONAL MAP THEMSELVES IF LAWMAKERS CAN’T Janai Nelson, a lawyer for the NAACP arguing on behalf of Black voters, argued Wednesday that siding with Louisiana’s request to reverse S.B. 8 would be a “staggering reversal of precedent,” and a ruling that she argued “would throw maps across the country into chaos.” “If we take Louisiana as one example, every congressional member who is Black was elected from a Voting Rights Act-opportunity district,” she told the justices. “We only have the diversity that we see across the south, for example, because of litigation that forced the creation of opportunity districts under the Voting Rights Act.” “Every justice in Louisiana has been elected through a VRA opportunity district, and nearly all legislative representatives have been elected in those same districts. So Louisiana alone is an example of how important it is to have Section 2 continue to be enforced to create these opportunities,” she continued. Invalidating Section 2 in Louisiana “would be pretty catastrophic,” Nelson added. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett signaled skepticism about keeping Section 2 of the VRA in place as is. They each pressed Nelson about whether there should be a time duration limit on the intentional use of race in drawing voting districts under the law — prompting Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to jump in to clarify that, since the VRA is derived from the 15th Amendment, it does not have a time limit. FORMER SUPREME COURT JUSTICE WARNS PARTISANSHIP PLAYS ‘TOO MUCH OF A ROLE’ IN JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS Louisiana Solicitor General Ben Aguiñaga, arguing for the state, urged the Supreme Court to prohibit the use of race as a factor in redistricting. “We are 50 years removed from Gingles,” he said, referring to the 1986 Supreme Court case Thornburg v. Gingles, which established a three-part legal standard to determine whether minority votes were being diluted under the Voting Rights Act. These standards “have placed states in impossible situations, where the only sure demand is more racial discrimination for more decades,” he said .He argued the racial considerations required under VRA are tantamount to a system of “government-mandated racial balancing” and urged them to be rejected outright. He fielded tough questions from Jackson after he was asked whether, in the states’ view, identifying and remedying racial discrimination is a “compelling interest.” “If I’m right that Section 2 is about identifying the problem and requiring some remedy, I don’t understand why your answer to Justice Kagan’s question about, ‘Is this a compelling state interest,’ would be ‘no,’” Jackson said. “The answer is obviously yes,” Jackson said, raising her voice just slightly. “You have an interest in remedying the effects of racial discrimination that we identify using this tool. Whether you go too far in your remedy is another issue.” Louisiana has abruptly changed its position since March. Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill asked the Supreme Court in August to invalidate the 2024 map — an about-face from its earlier position — and urged the justices to rule more broadly that race-based redistricting is unconstitutional. Murrill said that the 14th Amendment “commands that the government ‘may never use race as a stereotype or negative.’ Yet race-based redistricting rests on an invidious stereotype: that all minorities, by virtue of their membership in their racial class, think alike and share the same interests and voting preferences.” “Race-based redistricting is fundamentally contrary to our Constitution,” she said. A group of Black voters and civil rights groups, meanwhile, urged the court to leave in place the newer map, which it said “comport[s] with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment guarantees of equal voting rights and the VRA’s requirements.” NEW MAJORITY-BLACK LOUISIANA HOUSE DISTRICT REJECTED, NOVEMBER ELECTION MAP STILL UNCERTAIN Louisiana has redrawn its congressional map twice since the 2020 census. The first version — which included only one majority-Black district — was blocked by a federal court and later by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2022. Both courts sided with the NAACP voters, and the Fifth Circuit ordered the state to adopt by January 2024 a new state redistricting map. The Supreme Court’s request for additional arguments comes at a pivotal time, as several Republican-led states have attempted to aggressively push through new congressional maps of their own. They also argued in filings to the Supreme Court that non-Black voters failed to show the direct harm required for equal protection claims or prove race was the main factor in redrawing the map. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Trump’s war on cartels enters new phase as experts predict what’s next
As the U.S. unleashes a series of lethal strikes on cartel drug boats and President Donald Trump declared an “armed conflict” with the cartels, experts gave insight on what Americans can expect to see next in the “quasi-war” taking place at the country’s doorstep. On Tuesday, Trump announced the U.S. military had carried out another kinetic strike on a suspected drug vessel off the coast of Venezuela, killing six suspected smugglers. This is the fifth of such strikes on a drug boat in the last several weeks and, according to experts, one of the first important steps to decimating the cartels. The strikes come after the White House sent Congress a memo on Sept. 30 informing them that the U.S. is now participating in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug smugglers. Currently, the U.S. has amassed an impressive collection of naval and air assets stationed around Venezuela, a country whose socialist dictator, Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration has accused of being in league with cartels. Experts say these strikes could mark the start of a broader military campaign targeting cartel logistics and command networks. WAR ON CARTELS? WHITE HOUSE SAYS IT HAS AN IRON-CLAD CASE TO STRIKE NARCO-TERRORIST GROUPS Speaking with Fox News Digital, Derek Maltz, former acting director of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), called the Trump administration’s moves “unprecedented action for an unprecedented threat.” He explained that, unlike in previous administrations, the second Trump administration has enabled a “whole of government” approach to targeting the cartels by designating them as “foreign terrorist organizations.” This designation empowers not just agencies like the DEA to take action against the cartels but also the Departments of War, State, Treasury, Justice and others. “This is not the same old drug crisis we’ve been talking about for 50 years. This is something totally different. This is a poisoning crisis and our kids are dying,” Maltz said, adding, “The cartels are killing more Americans than any other terrorist organization in the history of this country.” In response, Maltz said the president is “building a powerful force of good, an army of good, to help defeat evil and to actually destroy these adversaries that are killing our citizens at record levels.” Maltz said the first step was shutting down the border to stop the flow of fentanyl, meth, cocaine and other drugs, as well as criminal elements into the U.S. overland. This, Maltz explained, pushed the cartels to carry drugs via sea and air routes, which has prompted the Trump administration to crack down on those as well. HOW TRUMP’S STRIKES AGAINST ALLEGED NARCO-TERRORISTS ARE RESHAPING THE CARTEL BATTLEFIELD: ‘ONE-WAY TICKET’ He said that next the U.S. will need to hit the cartels’ command nodes, either working through international partners like Mexico and El Salvador or, like the drug boat strikes, directly through U.S. military assets. “Based on everything I’ve heard, the Mexican government is hitting labs very hard, making more arrests than they had… so they’re aggressively going after the cartels. They’re removing these really bad guys into America for prosecution.” Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow for naval warfare and advanced technology at the Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center for National Security, described the conflict with cartels as a type of “quasi-war” in which the U.S. is fighting against not only non-state, paramilitary-style cartels but also indirectly against international enemies like Venezuela, Hezbollah and China that have been working with the cartels. “The demonstration of willingness to go and kill these cartel members while they’re moving their ships full of drugs sends a chilling effect through their support network,” he explained. “And when they start losing that ability to pay off their support network, the business model falls apart and they actually start fighting each other; they turn in on each other.” TRUMP REFUSES TO RULE OUT STRIKING VENEZUELA. WHAT’S NEXT FOR TRUMP’S WAR ON DRUGS? Sadler said that while the U.S. forces currently appear to be concentrated around Venezuela in the Caribbean, he expects the focus will eventually shift to the cartels’ drug routes in the Pacific as well as transatlantic routes to Africa and Europe. “I would not be surprised if you start to see the military hammer of this or the balance of the military assets shift either to the Pacific. Or if they shift over more to the Central Atlantic to go after these other routes.” He predicted that the sea strikes will continue and that if cartels start to shift to rely more on airplanes, Americans may start to see some of those being “shot out of the sky” in international airspace. Eventually, he said the strikes will likely be dialed down along with the scale of U.S. naval vessels in the Caribbean. As this happens, he said, the U.S. will likely both leverage its international partners and enable them to interdict drug vessels as well as sustain U.S. special operations capabilities, helicopters and aircraft operating out of Puerto Rico and other bases nearby, to provide overwatch and the ability to intercept ships. TRUMP APPROVES MILITARY ACTION AGAINST LATIN AMERICAN CARTELS CLASSIFIED AS TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS Both Sadler and Maltz emphasized the importance of hitting the cartels from every angle, using every available partner and government agency, even education. “We have to teach. We have to do a lot more work on the demand side,” said Maltz. He predicted that, once confirmed, Sara Carter, Trump’s pick for the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, would “initiate a lot of educational programs” designed to educate on the dangers of the new drugs being pushed by cartels and other foreign adversaries. “We can hit boats, and we can go after command and control. But if we don’t teach our kids and our parents in this country about this devastating crisis with these very, very dangerous, lethal substances that we’ve never seen in this country in history, then they’re going to continue to find ways to get this stuff in here,” said Maltz.
Katie Porter says she regrets viral outbursts at reporter, staffer
California gubernatorial candidate and former Democratic lawmaker Katie Porter admitted she “could have handled things better” following the emergence of viral videos capturing her outbursts against a reporter and a staffer. In one of the videos, Porter became agitated with a reporter and nearly cut an interview short. In an older video that Politico reported is from 2021, the politician snapped at a staffer to “Get out of my f—ing shot!” after the person entered the video frame behind Porter. “When I look at those videos, I want people to know that I understand that I could have handled things better,” Porter said on the “Inside California Politics” show. “I think I’m known as someone who’s able to handle tough questions, who’s willing to answer questions, and I want people to know that I really value the incredible work that my staff can do.” “I think people who know me know I can be tough, but I need to do a better job expressing appreciation for the amazing work that my team does,” she added. KATIE PORTER INTERVIEW GOES VIRAL AS JOURNALISTS MARVEL AT DEMOCRAT’S MELTDOWN The clip of Porter threatening to walk out on CBS California correspondent Julie Watts during an interview went viral last week. Porter snapped at Watts’ questions, grew visibly impatient with her follow-ups and even attempted to leave at one point in frustration, calling the interviewer “argumentative.” After being pressed, Porter told Watts that she doesn’t “want to have an unhappy experience” with her and that she doesn’t “want this all on camera.” “I want to make sure that people understand why I am in this race and what I am fighting for. I think when I’m traveling the state, what I’m hearing from people is that they understand that we are in a very extraordinary moment,” Porter said this week on “Inside California Politics.” “That what is happening with Donald Trump attacking our economy and our society, our long-standing challenges with affordability, people know that they are going to need someone who is going to be strong, who is going to be tough, who is going to be a fighter and who is going to push.” DEMOCRAT ABRUPTLY ENDS BONKERS INTERVIEW AFTER REPEATEDLY BERATING REPORTER: ‘I DON’T CARE’ “I think if people are looking for someone who is going to sit in Sacramento quietly and kind of rubber-stamp things, that’s not me. But I absolutely could have handled things better,” she also said. In the other clip, then-Rep. Porter, D-Calif., was speaking remotely with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm about energy and climate issues. At one point, a staffer walks into the frame, prompting Porter to snap and yell, “Get out of my f—ing shot!” She also scolded the staffer for having appeared in the background before. “You were in my shot before that,” Porter said. “Stay out of my shot.” Porter revealed this week that she apologized to that staff member. “I expressed that I was sorry, that I had lost my temper, that I had been frustrated in the moment, and I told her I was grateful that she had taken the time to correct me,” she said. “We were able to redo the shot, I got the facts right.” Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg, Alexander Hall, David Rutz and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
Trump’s redistricting push gains steam in another key state: ‘We will stand with the president’
Republican leaders in North Carolina’s GOP-dominated legislature say they’ll vote next week to redraw the state’s congressional district map as part of President Donald Trump’s nationwide effort to create more right-leaning House seats ahead of next year’s midterm elections. When state lawmakers in the key southeastern battleground meet in special session next Monday, they’ll become the latest state to jump into the high-stakes political battle over congressional redistricting, pitting Trump and the GOP against the Democrats. Republican lawmakers in North Carolina are aiming to follow in the footsteps of Republican-controlled Texas and Missouri, which passed new congressional maps the past two months. VOTING UNDERWAY IN ELECTION THAT MAY DETERMINE IF REPUBLICANS HOLD HOUSE IN NEXT YEAR’S MIDTERMS The moves are part of a broad effort by the GOP to pad its razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats. Democrats need a pickup of just three seats to win back control of the House. Trump and his political team are aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections. “We will stand with the president, defend the GOP majority, and secure an additional Republican congressional seat,” Republican North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall said Monday. WHAT STATES ARE NEXT UP IN THE CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING BATTLE North Carolina’s congressional delegation was split 7-7 between Democrats and Republicans until GOP state lawmakers created a new map two years ago that allowed Republicans to capture 10 of the state’s 14 congressional districts in last year’s elections. The latest new map Republicans aim to pass in the state legislature will likely target Democratic Rep. Ron Davis, whose district is the only one left in North Carolina that’s considered a true swing seat. Trump narrowly carried North Carolina in his 2016 presidential election victory, his 2020 re-election defeat, and his 2024 recapturing of the White House. Hall said that the president “earned a clear mandate from the voters of North Carolina and the rest of the country, and we intend to defend it by drawing an additional Republican Congressional seat.” But North Carolina House Democratic leader Robert Reives charged that Republicans in the legislature “are stealing a congressional district in order to shield themselves from accountability at the ballot box.” And Democratic Gov. Josh Stein highlighted in a statement that “the General Assembly works for North Carolina, not Donald Trump.” “These shameless politicians are abusing their power to take away yours. I will always fight for you because the voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around,” the governor added as he pointed to Republican state lawmakers. TRUMP’S SHADOW LOOMS OVER KEY 2025 ELECTIONS But the redistricting map that will likely be passed by the GOP-dominated legislature next week won’t be subject to a veto by the governor. Democrats are trying to fight back across the country. California state lawmakers approved a special ballot proposition this November to obtain voter approval to temporarily sidetrack the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and return the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democrat-dominated legislature. The effort in California, which aims to create five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts and counter the shift of up to five seats in Texas, is being spearheaded by two-term Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is seen as a likely 2028 Democratic presidential contender. And Democrats in heavily blue Maryland and Illinois are weighing redistricting. Even before Trump initiated his redistricting push, Ohio was under court order to redraw its maps. That could boost Republicans in a one-time battleground state that now leans right. And Republicans in the GOP-dominated states of Indiana, Florida, and Nebraska are also mulling congressional redistricting. Meanwhile, Democrats could pick up a seat in Republican-dominated Utah. This, after the state legislature drew new maps after a judicial ruling that lawmakers four years ago ignored an independent commission approved by voters to prevent partisan gerrymandering.
Dem senator, 79, draws primary challenge from Rep Seth Moulton
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., is facing a challenger who is making age a central issue of his bid to unseat the longtime lawmaker. On Wednesday, Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., launched his U.S. Senate campaign with a video called “Lesson,” referencing what his party learned during the last election cycle with then-President Joe Biden. “We’re in a crisis, and with everything we learned last election, I just don’t believe Senator Markey should be running for another six-year term at 80 years old. Even more, I don’t think someone who’s been in Congress for half a century is the right person to meet this moment and win the future,” Moulton said in his campaign launch video. Markey is 79 years old and will turn 80 before the 2026 election. SPECULATION SWIRLS AS AOC IS RUMORED TO HARBOR 2028 ASPIRATIONS: ‘SAVVY POLITICIAN’ “Senator Markey is a good man, but it’s time for a new generation of leadership,” Moulton asserted in the video. Markey was first elected to Congress in 1976 and served as a U.S. representative until 2013, when he became a senator. He has held his Senate seat for 12 years. In response to a request for comment, Moulton’s campaign referred Fox News Digital to a launch announcement. “Congressman Moulton has never been one to sit on the sidelines or wait to act when he sees a problem,” the announcement read. “When he didn’t feel the party was doing enough to win back the House the last time Trump was in office, he recruited and mentored fellow veterans through his organization, Serve America. His candidates flipped more than half the seats Democrats took back from Republicans nationwide, and have outperformed the party in every election since.” Moulton’s challenge could set the stage for a generational shift within the Democratic Party, which struggled last election cycle after Biden was forced to drop out of the race in July, leaving then-Vice President Kamala Harris with just 107 days to run her presidential campaign. She lost every swing state and the popular vote to now-President Donald Trump. SENATE DEMOCRATS ARE FEVERISHLY RECRUITING TOP CANDIDATES TO WIN BACK MAJORITY IN 2026 MIDTERMS This is not Moulton’s first time challenging the Democratic establishment. When Moulton was first elected to Congress in 2014, he defeated then-Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., who first made it to Congress in 1997. In 2018, Moulton attempted to challenge Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who was then House minority leader, in her bid to become House speaker. The move was criticized by some constituents who claimed Moulton’s actions were sexist and ageist, according to Politico. In 2020, Markey defeated Rep. Joe Kennedy III, who was 40 at the time. Politico noted that Markey took a swipe at Kennedy with a riff on his great uncle’s famous line, “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” Markey also mocked the idea that he was too old to keep his seat, saying, “With 500 laws on the books, you think I’m gonna stop now? They wish.” Markey will be put to the test once again in November 2026. If he defeats Moulton, Markey will be 86 at the end of his next term. Fox News Digital reached out to Markey’s office for comment.
Trump posthumously awards Charlie Kirk Presidential Medal of Freedom: Photos
Photos of President Donald Trump posthumously awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to late conservative activist Charlie Kirk during a ceremony at the White House.
Erika Kirk honors late husband Charlie in emotional White House tribute: ‘A free man made fully free’
At a White House ceremony in the Rose Garden on Tuesday on what would have been her husband’s 32nd birthday, Erika Kirk accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of Charlie Kirk and delivered a powerful, deeply personal tribute to his life and legacy. “Thank you, Mr. President, for honoring my husband in such a profound way,” she began. “Charlie always admired your commitment to freedom.” She offered thanks to the first lady, the vice president, and friends and family “watching from all around the world,” along with Turning Point USA staff and chapters nationwide. “You are the heartbeat of this future and of this movement,” she said. “Everything Charlie built lives through you.” Erika added that the Presidential Medal of Freedom itself is rooted in America’s Founding. “The very existence of the Presidential Medal of Freedom reminds us that the national interest of the United States has always been freedom,” she said. CHARLIE KIRK POSTHUMOUSLY AWARDED MEDAL OF FREEDOM ON WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HIS 32ND BIRTHDAY “Our founders etched it into the preamble of our Constitution, and those words are not relics on parchment. They are a living covenant. The blessings of liberty are not man’s invention. They are God’s endowment.” She recalled how Charlie wrote about freedom often. “He believed that liberty was both a right and a responsibility. And he used to say that freedom is the ability to do what is right without fear. And that’s how he lived,” Erika said. “His name, Charles, literally means ‘free man.’ And that’s exactly who my husband was,” she continued. “From the time I met him, sitting across from him being interviewed about politics, philosophy and theology, I saw the fire in his soul. There was this divine restlessness within him that came from knowing God placed him on this earth to protect something very sacred. He never stopped fighting for people to experience freedom.” CHARLIE KIRK’S CLOSE FRIEND PRAISES ERIKA KIRK’S ‘RESILIENCE’ AHEAD OF EMOTIONAL WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY Erika recalled Charlie often saying that “without God, freedom becomes chaos” and that liberty can only survive “when anchored to truth.” She remembered him telling an audience: “The opposite of liberty isn’t law. It’s captivity. And the freest people in the world are those whose hearts belong to Christ.” Looking back at his years building Turning Point USA, she said, “While he was building an organization, he was also building a movement: one that called people back to God, back to truth, and a movement that was filled with courage.” She described him as a man who loved life’s simplest pleasures: quiet walks, shelves full of books and Saturday mornings in the sun with decaf coffee and his phone turned off for the Sabbath. His birthday tradition, she recalled, was mint chocolate chip ice cream, enjoyed only on July 4 and his birthday. “Last year, his one birthday wish was to see the Oregon Ducks play Ohio State — and they won,” she said. “Mr. President, I can say with confidence that you have given him the best birthday gift he could ever have.” CHARLIE KIRK’S COLLEAGUES AND PASTORS PRAISE HIS PATRIOTISM AS TRUMP READIES HIGHEST CIVILIAN HONOR Turning to his final moments, Erika shared: “It was written across his chest in those final moments on one of his simple T-shirts that always carried a message — this one bearing a single word: freedom. That was the banner over his life.” She said her husband never told anyone what to say but always encouraged them “to think outside of traditional political labels, anchored in wisdom and truth.” “Charlie wasn’t content to simply admire freedom. He wanted to multiply it,” Erika said. “He wanted young people to taste it, understand it and defend it. He wanted them to see that liberty isn’t selfish indulgence — it’s self-governance under God.” Every day, she recalled, he lived with fearless conviction. “He didn’t fear being slandered. He didn’t fear losing friends. He stood for truth and stood for freedom. Everything else was just noise to him. And it’s because his confidence in Christ was absolute.” Erika said Charlie lived “only 31 short years on this side of heaven,” but filled every day with purpose. “He fought for truth when it was unpopular. He stood for God when it was costly. He prayed for his enemies. He loved people when it was inconvenient. He ran his race with endurance, and he kept the faith. And now he wears the crown of a righteous martyr.” She told the audience, “Heaven gained what earth could no longer contain — a free man made fully free. To all watching, this is not a ceremony. This is a commissioning. I want you to be the embodiment of this medal. I want you to free yourself from fear. I want you to stand courageously in the truth. And remember that while freedom is inherited in this country, each of us must be intentional stewards of it.” Before closing, Erika shared her daughter Gigi’s birthday message: “Happy birthday, daddy. I want to give you a stuffed animal. I want you to eat a cupcake with ice cream. And I want you to go have a birthday surprise. I love you.” Her young son also gave his own gift, “deciding to become the man of the house and be fully potty-trained at 16 months.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I know that you’re celebrating in heaven today, but gosh, I miss you,” she said through tears. “We miss you and we love you. And we promise we’ll make you proud. Charlie’s life was proof that freedom is not a theory. It’s a testimony. He showed us that liberty begins not in the halls of power, but in the heart of a man surrendered to God.” She ended with a final tribute: “To live free is the greatest gift, but to die free is the greatest victory. Happy birthday, Charlie. Happy freedom day.”
Republican lawmakers demand Treasury probe CAIR over alleged Hamas ties and terrorism concerns
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., are pressing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), claiming that it may be funded or directed by Hamas or other terrorist groups. CAIR describes itself as a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization founded in 1994 with chapters across the U.S. The request comes as President Donald Trump led a ceasefire in Gaza between Hamas and Israel. Stefanik and Cotton allege CAIR’s historic ties, public rhetoric and activism raise questions about whether the group’s support for Hamas amounts to material support for terrorism. STEFANIK ASKS AG BONDI TO PROBE MEDICAL CHARITY OVER HAMAS PROPAGANDA CLAIMS The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces U.S. sanctions on terrorist groups and their affiliates, has the authority to investigate whether CAIR’s activities violate federal law, the lawmakers said. CAIR has long denied accusations of supporting Hamas, saying it “does not support any foreign organization or government” and calling such claims “false and Islamophobic,” according to a statement on its website. The group says its mission is to advocate for Muslim civil rights in the U.S. Stefanik chairs the House Republican Conference, and Cotton sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Both have pressed for stricter enforcement of anti-terror finance laws in past oversight efforts. DHS PULLS FUNDING FROM GROUPS WITH ‘ALLEGED TERRORIST TIES’ AFTER WATCHDOG REPORT In July, Stefanik criticized the City University of New York for hiring a former CAIR employee. She called the decision unacceptable to New York taxpayers. She and Cotton say a Treasury probe would ensure no U.S. assets are used to advance the objectives of Hamas. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “We urge the department to immediately investigate whether CAIR maintains financial links to Hamas that violate U.S. sanctions,” they wrote. CAIR did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
‘Unsightly tactics’: Feds react to nude bicycle protesters who bared all outside ICE facility
The Department of Homeland Security clapped back at a “bizarre” anti-ICE protest that drew several hundred nude demonstrators who bared it all outside a Portland ICE facility on Sunday. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin assured that “these unsightly tactics won’t stop us or slow us down.” “In a bizarre effort to obstruct ICE law enforcement, agitators are now laying in the street naked to stage ‘die-ins’ to block roads in front of ICE facilities,” she told Fox News Digital. “Our law enforcement will continue to remove murderers, pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and terrorists out of our country.” A nude bicycle gang rolled up to the city’s immigrant detention center on a rainy Sunday, blasting music over a loudspeaker while some yelled, “F— ICE” and made obscene gestures towards federal agents, as seen in a video posted to X by The Post Millennial’s Katie Daviscourt. ANTI-ICE PORTLAND RIOTERS WITH GUILLOTINE CLASH WITH POLICE IN WAR-LIKE SCENES Some had slogans written on their bare bodies, including “No Kings” and “No human being is illegal.” A handful of federal agents overlooked the unclothed open border enthusiasts from a rooftop, with two pulling out their phones in an apparent effort to record the salacious scene. At another point, hundreds of naked demonstrators lay down on nearby Burnside Bridge as part of a “die-in” against ICE and President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops. McLaughlin said that though the demonstration was absurd, federal law enforcement in Portland has had to deal with much more than just cheeky protesters. ICE DIRECTOR REVEALS DANGEROUS NIGHTLY ANTIFA ‘BATTLE’ AS TRUMP PREPARES FEDERAL DEPLOYMENT TO PORTLAND For weeks, federal officers have been targeted by violent protesters in major U.S. cities, including some who rammed and cornered an ICE vehicle in Chicago, prompting the agents to open fire. Anti-ICE protesters have blocked ICE vehicles and have thrown rocks and ignited fireworks at agents. There has also been a surge of agents and their families being doxxed, and there has been a 1,000% increase against officials, according to DHS. McLaughlin said that on Sunday, “Antifa domestic terrorists and anti-ICE rioters assaulted law enforcement outside the ICE office in Portland.” FEDERAL AGENT SAYS CHICAGO’S ‘ICE-FREE ZONES’ ENDANGER OPERATIONS, EMBOLDEN PROTESTERS According to McLaughlin, three “rioters” were arrested for “assaulting law enforcement, including for spitting, kicking, and biting officers.” “Thanks to President Trump, there is a SURGE of federal law enforcement resources from CBP, ICE, FBI, DOJ, and DEA,” she said. “This chaos and violence will end under President Trump. Law and order will prevail.”
Unearthed donations come back to haunt Mikie Sherrill’s ‘defamatory’ attack on GOP rival
FIRST ON FOX: New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mikie Sherrill took tens of thousands of dollars from companies linked to the opioid crisis as she hammers her Republican opponent over his alleged connection to that same crisis. Sherrill spoke during a press conference on the Garden State’s opioid epidemic on Monday, where she accused Ciattarelli of “looking at ways to help people get access to the drugs that were killing them” through his ties to pharmaceutical-backed training programs. “So you heard it, Jack made millions,” she said. “The opioid companies made billions, and thousands of New Jerseyans were dying.” However, this attack might come back to haunt her campaign. Her congressional campaigns received three $1,000 donations from the AmerisourceBergen political action committee in 2018, 2019 and 2022, according to campaign finance records reviewed by Fox News Digital. FINAL FACEOFF: CIATTARELLI, SHERRILL, BLAST EACH OTHER ON DEBATE STAGE Her campaign also received at least $4,500 from the Teva Pharmaceuticals PAC, $1,000 from the Endo Pharmaceuticals PAC and $17,000 from Johnson & Johnson. In total, a Fox News Digital review found at least $25,500 in donations going from companies tied to the opioid crisis to Sherrill’s campaign. AmerisourceBergen has been accused, perhaps most notably in 2021 by Washington state’s Democratic attorney general Bob Ferguson, of profiting off billions from the opioid epidemic through the shipment of dangerous prescription painkillers with no regard for how those drugs were contributing to the deaths of citizens. AmerisourceBergen, which now goes by Cencora, and two other companies would go on to reach a settlement with Washington state for over $500 million. In early 2022, AmerisourceBergen, whose executives were exposed for previously mocking West Virginians as “pillbillies” at the height of the opioid crisis, announced it would be agreeing to a $6.1 billion settlement that would be paid out over 18 years and would cover the “vast majority of the opioid lawsuits filed by state and local governmental entities,” according to a press release. JACK CIATTARELLI DEMANDS MIKIE SHERRILL ‘COME CLEAN’ AS EXPLOSIVE ACCUSATIONS FLY IN NJ GOVERNOR’S RACE In late 2022, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against AmerisourceBergen, one of the country’s largest wholesale pharmaceutical distributors, alleging the company “for years flouted its legal obligations and prioritized profits over the well-being of Americans” by failing to report suspicious orders of controlled substances, like fentanyl and oxycodone, which were then sold illegally, fueling the devastating opioid epidemic. The other three pharmaceutical companies that donated thousands of dollars to Sherrill’s campaigns through their PACs also reached massive settlements for their roles contributing to the opioid crisis, which includes over $4 billion from Teva to participating states and local governments, according to a press release from Texas AG Ken Paxton’s office. Johnson and Johnson agreed to pay $5 billion as part of their settlement, according to their 2022 press release. Mikie Sherrill for Governor Communications Director Sean Higgins responded to a request for comment from Fox News Digital, calling the story a “desperate attack from perennial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, who refuses to answer for his role publishing misinformation about the dangers of opioids at the height of the opioid epidemic.” “Mikie Sherrill has shown time and again that she will take on anyone to stand up for families and fight the opioid crisis. That’s why she helped pass landmark bipartisan legislation, signed into law by President Trump, to help fund treatment, recovery, and prevention programs in New Jersey.” The campaign did not address a question from Fox News Digital about whether the money donated from the pharmaceutical companies would be returned. In 2017, Ciattarelli received $1,500 from Mallinckrodt LLC PAC, a company that reached a settlement for its involvement in the opioid crisis in 2022. Additionally, the New Jersey Republican received $500 from Johnson & Johnson, a company that also reached an opioid settlement, in 2016. Ciattarelli strategist Chris Russell told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Just like Mikie Sherrill got caught red-handed, personally profiting from investments in the same NJ utility companies she blamed for electricity rate increases, it’s no surprise to learn Mikie’s hypocrisy extends to taking thousands in campaign contributions from the very pharmaceutical companies she maligned yesterday.” “At this point, if Mikie Sherrill’s lips are moving you can just assume she’s lying,” he continued. Sherrill first made her claims that Ciattarelli contributed to the opioid epidemic during last week’s gubernatorial debate. “With regard to everything she just said about my professional career, which provided [for] my family, it’s a lie. I’m proud of my career,” Ciattarelli responded at the debate. It was during his 2021 campaign that Ciattarelli’s connection to opioid manufacturers first surfaced. Ciattarelli sold his company, which published content promoting the use of opioids as a low-risk treatment for chronic pain, in 2017. And Ciattarelli’s campaign fired back the day after the debate, pledging to file a defamation lawsuit against Sherrill. “Mikie Sherrill cracked,” Ciattarelli campaign chief strategist, Russell said at the time. “In doing so, she claimed — twice — that Jack Ciattarelli ‘killed tens of thousands of people, including children,’ a clearly defamatory attack that shocked the moderators, press, and public alike,” Russell added. “In a time where political violence and violent rhetoric are becoming all too prevalent, Mikie Sherrill baselessly and recklessly accusing a political opponent of mass murder in a televised debate crosses the line.” Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.