Mamdani funnels big money to radical allies plotting control of City Hall: ‘Seize state power’
FIRST ON FOX: Newly released campaign finance records reveal New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s campaign gave over $28,000 last month to the New York City Democratic Socialists of America, a radical group that has boasted about the level of influence it will have if Mamdani is elected mayor. The Mamdani campaign made a payment of $28,677.57 to DSA’s NYC chapter on Sept. 15 and filled in the purpose field that the funds were for “Other: explntion / Texting.” Mamdani’s campaign has previously given numerous smaller payments totaling roughly $3,000 to DSA for “Fundraising / Fundraising Emails” but the September donation represents by far the largest contribution to the group since his campaign was launched. NYC-DSA has received 36 payments, totaling over $33,000 from Mamdani’s campaign since early 2025. The donation comes amid public boasting from DSA that they wield massive influence on Mamdani’s platform. ‘ABSOLUTELY A COMMUNIST’: MAMDANI DODGES LABEL, BUT HIS RECORD AND EXPERT SAY OTHERWISE During a July panel discussion, Fox News Digital previously reported how DSA members discussed how they have been closely collaborating with Mamdani and how he has the organization positioned to “seize state power.” DSA organizer Daniel Goulden claimed the organization has been intimately involved in Mamdani’s campaign, even helping to write portions of his platform. “With Zohran, we’re in basically the best possible position to seize state power that we can be in because, you know, we’re like this,” Goulden said, indicating with his fingers that the campaign and organization are very close. Goulden went on to suggest that “one of the things that made Zohran really successful with his policy rollouts is specifically relying on DSA.” “DSA has regular meetings with him, let alone his team. His policy director is my friend. I’ve been working with his campaign manager for well over a year. You know? I have friends who are his staff,” he said. He went on to say the DSA worked especially closely with Mamdani on his “trans rights” platform to use city resources to give free transgender treatments to people across the country. “We wrote the platform with him. The team was so happy to work with us on this,” he explained. “What we explicitly wanted to do was use the power of New York City to provide free gender-affirming care – and I say free in case insurance companies decide to boot us off – free gender-affirming care, not just to people in New York City, but across the country.” “Our endorsed candidates are expected to follow the will of the membership,” chapter leader Darren Goldner concluded. Last week, New York Post reported from a DSA event that group leaders boasted about a “symbiotic” relationship with Mamdani that will last past the election if Mamdani wins. Mamdani revealed during a 2021 interview that he was “very excited about being a member of DSA, specifically the New York City chapter” and that the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement was a major issue pushed by DSA in order to get endorsements, Fox News Digital previously reported. “Within the questionnaire when you submit to be considered a candidate to be endorsed by the organization, you’re asked what your views are on BDS and I think that has also brought what it is typically thought of as a separate issue into the sphere of local politics where we create a bench of candidates,” Mamdani said. “We’re not legislating on BDS on a daily basis, but it’s clear that our commitment is unabashed to justice.” The national DSA organization and its chapters, including the NYC-DSA, have shared views on several issues that they have been vocal about, including their disdain for ICE and cracking down on on “bad landlords” by having the city take control of properties when a landlord refuses to make repairs or “demonstrates consistent neglect” of their tenants. He also believes he can fix New York City’s affordable housing crisis by immediately freezing the rents of the over two million New York residents who live in rent-stabilized apartments, which is part of DSA’s housing justice platform. “Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani is here to bring New Yorkers back to the left. With a platform focused on cost of living: from utility bills to grocery bills to bus fares to childcare to rent, Zohran is the candidate who wants to make life in New York City more affordable,” NYC-DSA’s website says. “His platform focuses on the pillars of free childcare, fast and free buses, and freezing rent for all rent-stabilized tenants.” A Fox News Digital review found that multiple staff members of Mamdani’s campaign are directly involved with DSA, including Tascha Van Auken, who has been paid over $100K by the campaign and is the campaign’s field director. In a July 2025 profile piece, she explained how the Mamdani campaign adopted the DSA’s model of canvassing. “So I would say that the beginning of the campaign for us is building up the leadership structure, building up the infrastructure, really honing in on what we’re talking to voters about,” Auken, who has been branded as the NYC-DSA’s “field operations guru,” said. “Then once petitioning is over, we go full force into persuasion, which is basically just lots and lots of talking to voters that we haven’t talked to before, persuading them to vote for Zohran or just identifying that they are Zohran supporters or not.” CUOMO WARNS DEM SOCIALIST RIVAL’S TAX PLAN WOULD TRIGGER MASS EXODUS OF NYC’S WEALTHY Elliana Bisgaard-Church, who previously served as Mamdani’s campaign manager during the Democratic primary and is member of his inner circle, is also a member of the NYC-DSA and worked closely with top leaders of the DSA chapter. Mamdani and Bisgaard-Church, who raked in a six-figure salary working for Mamdani, met on a weekly basis with NYC-DSA co-chairs Grace Mausser and Gustavo Gordillo, according to The Nation. “Toward the end of the race, in a final get-out-the-vote push, Mausser recalled a meeting in which Bisgaard-Church requested help to secure as much youth turnout as possible. NYC-DSA
Who is the Trump-appointed judge blocking deployment of National Guard to Portland?
U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, who President Donald Trump nominated during his first term, is blocking the commander in chief from deploying National Guard troops in Oregon. The Senate confirmed her via voice vote in 2019. Immergut was involved in a probe pertaining to the salacious scandal that indelibly marked President Bill Clinton’s White House tenure. “I was hired by Ken Starr almost five months after Attorney General Reno sought to expand the OIC’s authority to investigate whether Monica Lewinsky or others suborned perjury, obstructed justice, or intimidated witnesses in connection with the civil sexual harassment case in Jones v. Clinton,” Immergut wrote in response to a question from then-Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., in 2018. “I was hired to work as a line prosecutor to determine whether there were facts to support or refute those allegations,” she noted. She said that she questioned Lewinsky. WHITE HOUSE REBUKES ‘EGREGIOUS’ COURT ORDER BLOCKING TROOP DEPLOYMENTS AMID PORTLAND UNREST “When Ms. Lewinsky agreed to cooperate with the Office of Independent Counsel, I was asked to be one of the team of prosecutors debriefing her. As I was involved in the debriefings, I was asked to participate in questioning Ms. Lewinsky before the grand jury and take her deposition,” she noted in response to another question. Responding to questions from Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Immergut expressed the view that it is not appropriate for lower courts to buck Supreme Court precedent. Asked whether Roe v. Wade was “settled law,” she replied, “Yes” — the nation’s high court overturned the controversial abortion ruling in 2022. Asked whether the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry is “settled law,” she again replied in the affirmative. Sen. Feinstein passed away in 2023. OBAMA-NOMINATED FEDERAL JUDGE MARRIED TO HOUSE DEM RECUSES HIMSELF FROM OREGON NATIONAL GUARD CASE Trump issued a Truth Social post last month in which he declared that he was “directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.” A document featuring Hegseth’s signature noted that “200 members of the Oregon National Guard will be called into Federal service effective immediately for a period of 60 days.” But this month, Immergut temporarily blocked the move amid a legal challenge lodged by the State of Oregon and the City of Portland. “The President’s determination was simply untethered to the facts,” the judge’s opinion and order asserted, declaring that “this Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Motion for Temporary Restraining Order … and temporarily enjoins Defendants’ September 28, 2025, Memorandum ordering the federalization and deployment of Oregon National Guard service members to Portland.” Then she issued a second temporary restraining order that more broadly blocked the administration from deploying any federalized National Guard in the state. “Defendants are temporarily enjoined from deploying federalized members of the National Guard in Oregon,” the document declared. TRUMP’S ‘WAR-RAVAGED PORTLAND’ NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT HALTED BY FEDERAL JUDGE OVER AUTHORITY CONCERNS White House deputy chief of staff for policy and Homeland Security advisor Stephen Miller declared in a post on X that “A district court judge has no conceivable authority, whatsoever, to restrict the President and Commander-in-Chief from dispatching members of the US military to defend federal lives and property.”
FBI fires agents, dismantles corruption squad after probe unveils monitoring of GOP senators, Patel says
The FBI has already terminated employees and abolished the CR-15 squad just one day after it was revealed that several Republicans’ private communications and phone calls had been tracked. FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday announced the actions the bureau had taken in response to the revelation of the “baseless monitoring” during the Biden administration and promised more actions to come. “We are cleaning up a diseased temple three decades in the making — identifying the rot, removing those who weaponized law enforcement for political purposes and those who do not meet the standards of this mission while restoring integrity to the FBI. I promised reform, and I intend to deliver it,” Patel said in a statement to Fox News Digital. JACK SMITH TRACKED PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS, CALLS OF NEARLY A DOZEN GOP SENATORS DURING J6 PROBE, FBI SAYS Patel also posted about it on X, saying, “Transparency is important, and accountability is critical. We promised both, and this is what promises kept looks like… We terminated employees, we abolished the weaponized CR-15 squad, and we initiated an ongoing investigation with more accountability measures ahead.” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino replied to the post and echoed Patel’s message, writing, “We promised you transparency and accountability. We will continue to deliver on those promises. You deserve better.” The CR-15 squad was the FBI’s Washington Field Office’s public corruption unit. The squad helped former Special Counsel Jack Smith investigate President Donald Trump, according to NBC News, which cited sources familiar with the matter. FBI’S TRUMP PROBE ‘ARCTIC FROST’ ALSO INVESTIGATED CHARLIE KIRK’S TPUSA, GRASSLEY REVEALS On Monday, Fox News Digital learned that Smith allegedly tracked the private communications and phone calls of nearly a dozen Republican senators as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots. Trump reacted to the revelation on Tuesday and slammed Smith in a post on Truth Social that read, “Deranged Jack Smith got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. A real sleazebag!!!” HAWLEY RIPS JACK SMITH’S ‘BIDEN’S STASI’ PROBE, CALLS ALLEGED SPYING ‘ABUSE OF POWER BEYOND WATERGATE’ A document, reviewed by Fox News Digital on Monday, revealed that Smith and his “Arctic Frost” team investigating Jan. 6 were allegedly tracking the phone calls of GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania. The document, recently discovered by Patel and exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, is titled “CAST Assistance” and dated Sept. 27, 2023. “CAST” refers to the FBI’s cellular analysis survey team. The case ID is marked in the document as “ARCTIC FROST—Election Law Matters—SENSITIVE INVESTIGATIVE MATTER—CAST.” Additionally, it states the names of the lawmakers and that an FBI special agent on Smith’s team “conducted preliminary toll analysis” on the toll records associated with the lawmakers. An FBI official told Fox News Digital that Smith and his team tracking the senators were able to see which phone numbers they called, the location the phone call originated and the location where it was received. A source said the calls were likely in reference to the vote to certify the 2020 election.
WATCH: Kaine defends Jones amid AG candidate’s texts envisioning murder of GOP leader: ‘Still a supporter’
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine defended his fellow Democrat, former Del. Jay Jones of Norfolk, as the attorney general nominee’s campaign unravels after texts surfaced depicting Jones envisioning the murder of a top state Republican. Pressed ahead of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, Kaine said Jones’ comments were “indefensible” but that he is “still a supporter” of his candidacy against incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares. “Jay has apologized,” Kaine said. “I’ve known Jay Jones for 25 years,” he said. “I think those statements were not in character, and he has apologized — I wish other people in public life would sincerely apologize for stuff.” YOUNGKIN PRESSES DEMS TO PUSH JAY JONES OFF VIRGINIA AG TICKET AFTER ‘BEYOND DISQUALIFYING’ MESSAGES SURFACE Asked whether Jones’ controversy will affect other Democrats on the ballot, Kaine replied that the situation is a “significant challenge” for Jones but that he doesn’t think it will affect other races. “I think he’s got to explain it in ways that Virginia can see who he really is,” Kaine added. Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., is at the top of the ticket against Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the governor’s race, and Democratic state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi is facing conservative commentator John Reid for the lieutenant governorship. Fox News later followed up with Kaine, asking if he definitively does not believe Jones should drop out. “Yeah, I’ve answered the question correctly, and I don’t think I can improve on the first answer,” Kaine said. VIRGINIA DEM LOGGED PAC HOURS TO SKIRT POSSIBLE JAIL TIME FOR RECKLESS DRIVING, DOCS SHOW Jones had, apparently accidentally, texted Virginia Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chester, a message about then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, venting about Gilbert’s friendship with a recently deceased Democratic Party elder. The texts first came to light Friday to National Review, and were later confirmed to Fox News Digital through multiple Richmond, Virginia, sources. Jones had said the late state Sen. Joe Johnson, D-Bristol, “leaked” Democratic goings-on to Gilbert and the GOP caucus, before remarking: “If those guys die before me, I will go to their funerals to p— on their graves. Send them out awash in something.” VIRGINIA AG CANDIDATE ONCE REFERENCED PUTTING TWO BULLETS IN HEAD OF GOP LEADER, TEXTS SHOW Jones then envisioned that Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, would be shot twice in the head if lined up with Cambodian Khmer Rouge dictator Pol Pot and former German Chancellor Adolf Hitler and the executioner only had two bullets. “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time,” he added. ‘CONSUMED WITH HATE’: WINSOME SEARS, JASON MIYARES UNLOAD ON DEMOCRAT JAY JONES OVER VIOLENT TEXTS He went on to suggest that Gilbert and his wife, Jennifer, were “breeding little fascists.” The Gilberts have two young children. Since the texts were sent in 2022, Gilbert resigned from the House of Delegates to briefly accept President Donald Trump’s nomination to be the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia based in Roanoke. He has since left that post as well. The texts came one week after documents from New Kent County showed Jones had been charged with reckless driving on a notorious straight-arrow stretch of Interstate 64 between Virginia’s Williamsburg and Richmond in the middle of the night. Jones escaped the typical one-year jail sentence by filing 1,000 community service hours split between his own political PAC and the NAACP’s Virginia branch. A New Kent County, Virginia, official told Fox News Digital that it was not uncommon to have traffic-related crimes prosecuted with the defendant not receiving jail time during the COVID-19 era amid capacity and spacing concerns for more serious offenders. Jones is set to face Miyares at the University of Richmond on Oct. 16 for their only debate, at which the firestorm is sure to be a top issue. Fox News’ Dan Scully contributed to this report.
War on cartels? White House says it has an ironclad case to strike narco-terrorist groups
The White House has told Congress the United States is now in an “armed conflict” with narco-traffickers operating in Latin America — a declaration that sounded to some like a formal announcement of war. Last week, a memo sent to lawmakers stated that the U.S. is in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug traffickers classified as “unlawful combatants.” That followed President Donald Trump’s earlier designation of several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and four U.S. strikes on boats allegedly carrying narcotics near Venezuelan waters, which killed 21 people over the past month, according to U.S. officials. The White House says those operations are part of a broader national-security campaign to stop what it calls a direct threat to Americans — and insists the administration’s legal case to do so is “ironclad.” “The President acted in line with the law of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring deadly poison to our shores, and he is delivering on his promise to take on the cartels and eliminate these national security threats from murdering more Americans,” deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement. CARTEL CONNECTION: HEZBOLLAH AND IRAN EXPLOIT MADURO’S VENEZUELA FOR COCAINE CASH A White House official stressed that the report “does not convey any new information,” noting that it followed a Sept. 15 strike against a designated terrorist organization after earlier operations in the Caribbean. Immediately after the report was delivered, the Department of War carried out its fourth strike on suspected traffickers in the Caribbean, killing four in international waters off the coast of Venezuela. “A boat loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE was stopped, early this morning off the Coast of Venezuela, from entering American Territory,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The new memo effectively shifts U.S. operations against drug cartels from a law-enforcement model — arrests and prosecutions — to a wartime paradigm that allows for lethal force and detention without trial. Like the post-9/11 War on Terror, the administration argues that drug cartels are “unlawful combatants” and can be targeted militarily rather than treated as criminals. Administration officials maintain this approach is legally justified, while critics warn it stretches presidential authority. TRUMP APPROVES MILITARY ACTION AGAINST LATIN AMERICAN CARTELS CLASSIFIED AS TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS Under Article II of the Constitution, presidents may use force to repel sudden attacks. The Trump administration argues drugs that have killed more than 100,000 Americans per year in recent years constitute an urgent national security threat, granting authority for the strikes. But national security lawyers say that authority is limited. “That’s a far cry from authorizing an ongoing series of strikes,” wrote Georgetown law professor Marty Lederman, who argued such a campaign would amount to “war in the constitutional sense” and therefore require congressional approval. National security lawyer Irina Tsukerman said the administration’s framing signals a protracted campaign and an effort to assert unilateral presidential authority. “He’s saying he doesn’t even need to go to Congress, because he’s essentially taking action against these unlawful combatants, and it’s going to be a long-term operation, just like with the War on Terror,” she said. She also noted that, unlike al Qaeda or ISIS, no authorization for use of military force exists for cartels. “The president has only the authority to continue strikes for 60 days,” she added. “Beyond that, Congress must approve.” That means the 60-day war powers clock is already running — it began with the first strike on Sept. 2. Unless Congress acts, that authority expires in early November. So far, Democratic leaders have questioned the scope of the strikes but have not moved to block them. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., claimed Trump’s advisors are pushing him toward war. “The insecure, overcompensating war mongers around Trump — who convinced him to change the name of the Department of Defense — now seem to be trying to goad Venezuela into a war no one wants,” he wrote on X last month. Pedro Garmendia, managing director of geopolitical risk firm The Pinafore Group and a former representative of Venezuela’s interim government at the Organization of American States, the international body of Western Hemisphere nations, said the strikes should be viewed less as isolated counternarcotics operations and more as part of a larger regional message. “For years, the regime in Venezuela has used its ties to drug trafficking organizations and international terror groups like Hezbollah to prop itself up and destabilize its rivals,” Garmendia said. “This is best understood as an extension of the Bush Doctrine. It lets Trump take control of the Caribbean, a major drug route, while also sending messages to Iran, China and Russia — all of whom have a footprint in Venezuela.” TRUMP UNLEASHES US MILITARY POWER ON CARTELS. IS A WIDER WAR LOOMING? Garmendia argued that by treating cartels as non-state combatants, the administration is also signaling that Nicolás Maduro’s regime is not a legitimate government, but a “zombie behemoth” sustained by foreign sponsors and criminal enterprises. “The leaders of the cartels and gangs are the members of the government. They are completely intertwined,” he said. “The message here is more to Venezuelan authorities — that they are legitimate targets as well. If I were a minister in Maduro’s government, or even Maduro, I would be very scared by that declaration.” He added that Venezuela lacks the capacity to retaliate against overwhelming U.S. force. “They don’t have the ability to intercept an F-35 or match the firepower already in the Caribbean,” Garmendia said. Colombian President Gustavo Petro, facing an election year, may adopt an “anti-imperialist” posture toward U.S. escalation but is unlikely to provide material support to Maduro, while Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva may try to discourage strikes but is not expected to openly defend Caracas. “Maduro’s regime is essentially a drug cartel that captured an entire country,” Garmendia said. “I don’t see Lula putting his hands on the fire to save him.” Trump has also moved to cut off diplomatic channels with Caracas, instructing
House committee withdraws James Comey subpoena for Jeffrey Epstein testimony
The House Oversight Committee has dropped its subpoena for former FBI Director James Comey, after he said he had no knowledge relevant to the panel’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, The Hill reported, citing a letter Comey sent to the committee. In the Oct. 1 letter sent to Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky, Comey said he had no “knowledge” or “information relevant to the Committee’s investigation” into the late pedophile. Comey was slated to sit for a deposition on Tuesday before the committee that is examining Epstein’s contacts and potential government ties dating back to the 1990s. SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO TAKE UP GHISLAINE MAXWELL’S SEX TRAFFICKING APPEAL “I offer this letter in lieu of a deposition that would unproductively consume the Committee’s scarce time and resources,” Comey wrote. Comey served as deputy attorney general from 2003 to 2005 and later as FBI director from 2013 to 2017 — two periods now under scrutiny by House Republicans seeking answers about Epstein’s federal connections. “At no time during my service at the Department of Justice or the FBI do I recall any information or conversations that related to Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell,” Comey wrote. Because the letter was submitted under penalty of law — making any false statements a potential federal crime — Comer accepted Comey’s response and withdrew the subpoena. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Oversight Committee for a copy of Comey’s letter and confirmation of the subpoena’s withdrawal. The late pedophile Epstein committed suicide in 2019 while awaiting prosecution on federal sex trafficking charges, though questions continue to swirl about the circumstances surrounding his death. Comer issued a wave of subpoenas in August tied to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation — including to Comey and former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS RELEASED BY HOUSE DEMOCRATS NAME ELON MUSK, STEVE BANNON AND PETER THIEL Comer also subpoenaed the Justice Department for records related to Epstein’s case. Others ordered to appear include former FBI Director Robert Mueller and former Attorneys General Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, William Barr, Jeff Sessions and Alberto Gonzales. Holder and Attorney General Merrick Garland sent letters similar to Comey’s, denying any knowledge of Epstein and prompting Comer to withdraw those subpoenas as well, per The Hill. It’s unclear if sessions for the Clintons will proceed. The committee’s work comes amid growing partisan tension over how to handle the Epstein investigation, and the GOP base has fractured over the current administration’s handling of the case. Top Republicans, including President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., support continuing the Oversight inquiry as the fastest route to uncover new information. Comer has already released thousands of pages of subpoenaed documents from the Justice Department and Epstein’s estate. Critics, however, accuse the GOP of shielding certain figures by selectively releasing records. Several lawmakers are instead pushing legislation to declassify all government files related to Epstein and Maxwell — a move endorsed by multiple Epstein victims. Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Supreme Court to decide if faith-based counseling on gender identity is protected speech
The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Tuesday in a case that examines whether counseling services for minors facing gender identity and sexual orientation questions are protected by the First Amendment. Kaley Chiles, a licensed Christian therapist, argues that her conversations with youth clients are a form of protected speech. The Colorado government, however, sees them as professional conduct that falls under its authority to regulate. Chiles’ lawyers describe her in court papers as a person who “believes that people flourish when they live consistently with God’s design, including their biological sex.” Chiles, whose practice is based in Colorado Springs, uses “faith-informed” counseling to engage in talk therapy with young people who are “seeking to reduce or eliminate unwanted sexual attractions, change sexual behaviors, or grow in the experience of harmony with one’s physical body,” her lawyers say. SUPREME COURT REJECTS SOUTH CAROLINA’S BID TO ENFORCE TRANSGENDER BATHROOM BAN The closely watched case centers on a law passed by Colorado in 2019 that bans what it describes as “conversion therapy.” About two dozen states have similar measures in place, and the outcome of this case could affect those. Chiles’ lawyers say the state law amounts to “viewpoint censorship,” arguing that “Colorado’s statute has undeniably silenced her.” They argue conversion therapy is an overly broad term and that the law puts therapists like Chiles at risk of thousands of dollars in fines and revocation of their licenses if they violate it. In a statement over the summer, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser defended the law, which the state claims only bans therapists from performing treatments that have the predetermined outcome of converting a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity. “So-called conversion therapy is an inhumane and abusive practice overwhelmingly shown to harm young people,” Weiser said. “We have a compelling interest in protecting children from this dangerous pseudoscience.” DEMOCRATIC STATES SUE TRUMP ADMIN OVER ENDING SEX CHANGE SURGERIES FOR MINORS The case is not the first to come out of Colorado in recent years that looks at how the First Amendment intersects with identity and sexual orientation. The Supreme Court found 6-3 in June 2023 that Colorado could not force web designer Lorie Smith to create designs that conflicted with her faith, namely wedding website designs for gay couples. Chiles v. Salazar has now become the next cultural touchpoint in the state. The Trump Department of Justice is backing Chiles in the lawsuit, along with the Association of Biblical Counselors and the Family Research Counsel. Meanwhile, nearly 200 congressional Democrats and major medical and mental health institutions support the Colorado law. Attorney Kate Anderson of Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative advocacy group representing Chiles in litigation, told reporters ahead of oral arguments that the Colorado web designer’s case gave her optimism. The conversion therapy law is “another example of Colorado trying to censor speech in a slightly different context, but very much related,” Anderson said. “And we’re hopeful that the Supreme Court will again give a bold vindication of free speech for everyone.”
Mamdani ripped for photo with anti-LGBTQ Uganda official: ‘If he’s smiling, he’s lying’
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo blasted New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani on Sunday for smiling in a photo alongside a former Uganda official who once championed anti-LGBTQ policy. Photos resurfaced this weekend of Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, smiling alongside Uganda’s former parliamentary speaker and current first deputy prime minister, Rebecca Kadaga, who supported Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014. The New York Post was first to report the photos. “How does a self-proclaimed progressive candidate for mayor of New York City — the birthplace of Stonewall, the city that led the fight for equality — find himself smiling beside one of the most notorious anti-LGBTQ figures on the planet? And how does he maintain dual citizenship in a country that criminalizes people simply for who they love?” Cuomo asked in a statement Sunday. Mamdani’s campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, but a spokesperson told The Post that Mamdani was “unaware” of Kadaga’s support for the anti-LGBTQ legislation. ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S POLICIES ‘WON’T WORK’ IN NEW YORK, ANDREW CUOMO ARGUES “Delighted to meet with Zohran Mamdani, incoming Mayor of New York City. Good luck in the next phase of elections,” Kadaga captioned the photo that circulated on social media this weekend. CUOMO TURNS TABLES ON MAMDANI AFTER HE DODGED QUESTION ADDRESSING ‘DESTRUCTIVE’ POLICY In a second post on July 31, Kadaga posed for another photo with Mamdani and the socialist candidate’s father, Mahmood Mamdani, a Columbia University professor. “Here with Zohran Mamdani and Prof Mamdani as Zohran returns to New York after his traditional wedding in Kampala,” Kadaga’s post read. Cuomo ridiculed Mamdani on Sunday for posing for the photo as New York City was grappling with a mass shooting in Midtown Manhattan. “Mamdani now claims he didn’t know who she was — that is laughable. Kadaga’s crusade against Uganda’s LGBTQ community has been condemned globally for well over a decade. Any serious public official, particularly one from Uganda, would know exactly who she is,” Cuomo said. According to the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014, the legislation was created to prohibit “any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex.” Kadaga told Reuters in November 2012 that Ugandans wanted the law passed as a “Christmas gift.” “They have asked for it, and we’ll give them that gift,” Kadaga said. President Barack Obama denounced the bill as “odious” at the time. President Joe Biden called it a “tragic violation of universal human rights.” Uganda’s Constitutional Court struck down the 2014 law for lack of quorum, but the Parliament of Uganda passed the new version of the legislation in 2023, which criminalizes same-sex relations and imposes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.” “New Yorkers deserve a mayor who stands on principle, not one who hides behind excuses. Zohran Mamdani has shown one quality time and again: duplicity,” Cuomo said on Sunday. “And as we’ve learned, if he’s smiling, he’s lying.” Mamdani associating with an anti-LGBTQ activist stands in stark contrast to his campaign platform. A pillar of his “Trump-proofing” plan for New York City is “protecting LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers.” He has vowed to strengthen and protect “gender-affirming care” and protect LGBTQ youth, their families and New York City healthcare providers from legal persecution for receiving such care. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP While criticizing Mamdani’s photo with Kadaga on Sunday, Cuomo touted his own record supporting the LGBTQ community. “As governor, I was proud to make New York the first big state in the nation to pass marriage equality. We enacted GENDA to protect transgender New Yorkers, legalized surrogacy so families could grow with dignity, and built on the legacy of Stonewall to make equality not just a slogan but the law of the land,” Cuomo said. Fox News Digital reached out to Kadaga for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Biden didn’t want intel disseminated showing Ukrainian concerns over family’s ‘corrupt’ business ties: records
Then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2015 told the CIA he would “strongly prefer” an intelligence report documenting Ukrainian officials’ concerns with his family’s ties to “corrupt” business deals in the country “not be disseminated” — and so it wasn’t, according to a newly declassified email and records made public by the agency. CIA Director John Ratcliffe declassified the heavily redacted records, which he said he believes is an example of “politicization of intelligence.” Fox News Digital obtained the declassified documents, which were discovered during a CIA review of historical agency records. A senior CIA official briefed Fox News Digital on the declassified documents and intelligence report, stating that the intelligence was discovered along with an email showing that Biden “expressed a preference to not share the report.” Representatives for Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. FLASHBACK: BIDEN COMMITTED ‘IMPEACHABLE CONDUCT,’ ‘DEFRAUDED UNITED STATES TO ENRICH HIS FAMILY’: HOUSE GOP REPORT CIA officials discovered and declassified an email dated February 10, 2016, with the subject line stating: “RE: OVP query regarding draft [REDACTED].” The email was sent to the CIA. The classification of the email was listed, and crossed out, as “SECRET.” “Good morning, I just spoke with VP/ NSA and he would strongly prefer the report not/not be disseminated. Thanks for understanding,” the email states, signed by a redacted name, but with the title of “PDB Briefer.” The “PDB” is the presidential daily brief. The report in question included intelligence revealing that Ukrainian officials viewed the Biden family’s alleged ties to corrupt business practices in Ukraine “as evidence of a double-standard within the United States Government towards matters of corruption and political power.” “Intelligence officials agreed that, at the time of collection, it would have met the threshold [for dissemination], but based on the Office of the Vice President’s preference, the information was never shared outside of the CIA,” the official said. The CIA, during its review, confirmed that Biden’s request was granted and that the intelligence report “had not been disseminated.” The senior CIA official told Fox News Digital that it was “extremely rare and unusual” and “inappropriate to go outside of the intelligence community and inquire with the White House on the dissemination of a particular report for what appears to be political reasons.” The newly declassified intelligence report, which Biden sought to keep private, had a subject line of: “NON-DISSEMINATED INTEL INFORMATION: Reactions of [REDACTED] Ukrainian Government Officials to the Early December Visit of Senior United States Government Official.” The document states the date of the information came in December 2015. The document was created in 2016. At the time, Biden was vice president and was running U.S.-Ukraine relations and policy for the Obama administration. The intelligence document stated that “officials within the administration of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko expressed bewilderment and disappointment at the 7-8 December 2015 visit of the Vice President of the United States to Kiev, Ukraine.” “These officials highlighted that, prior to the visit, the Poroshenko administration and other [REDACTED] Ukrainian officials expected the U.S. Vice President to discuss personnel matters with Poroshenko during the visit, and had assumed that the U.S. Vice President would advocate in support of or against specific officials within the Ukrainian Government,” the intelligence states. FLASHBACK: BIDENS ALLEGEDLY ‘COERCED’ BURISMA CEO TO PAY THEM MILLIONS TO HELP GET UKRAINE PROSECUTOR FIRED: FBI FORM “After the visit, these officials assessed that the U.S. Vice President had come to Kiev almost exclusively to give a generic public speech, and had not had any intention of discussing substantive matters with Poroshenko or other officials within the Ukrainian government,” the intelligence states. “Following the visit of the U.S. Vice President, [REDACTED] officials within the Poroshenko administration privately mused at the U.S. media scrutiny of the alleged ties of the U.S. Vice President’s family to corrupt business practices in Ukraine,” the intelligence states. “These officials viewed the alleged ties of the U.S. Vice President’s family to corruption in Ukraine as evidence of a double-standard within the United States Government towards matters of corruption and political power.” Biden, on Dec. 9, 2015, gave a speech in Ukraine, in which he discussed corruption in the country. “And it’s not enough to set up a new anti-corruption bureau and establish a special prosecutor fighting corruption,” Biden said in the speech. “The Office of the General Prosecutor desperately needs reform.” In that speech, Biden also said Ukraine’s “energy sector needs to be competitive, ruled by market principles — not sweetheart deals.” “It’s not enough to push through laws to increase transparency with regard to official sources of income,” he said. “Senior elected officials have to remove all conflicts between their business interest and their government responsibilities. Every other democracy in the world — that system pertains.” DEVON ARCHER: HUNTER BIDEN, BURISMA EXECS ‘CALLED DC’ TO GET UKRAINIAN PROSECUTOR FIRED At the time, Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin was investigating Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings. Several months later, in March 2016, Biden successfully pressured Ukraine to remove Shokin. At the time Shokin was investigating Burisma Holdings, Hunter Biden had a highly lucrative role on the board, receiving tens of thousands of dollars per month. Biden, at the time, threatened to withhold $1 billion of critical U.S. aid if Shokin was not fired. “I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion.’ … I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money,’” Biden recalled telling then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Biden recollected the conversation during an event for the Council on Foreign Relations in 2018. But during his first term, President Donald Trump was impeached after a July 2019 phone call in which he pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch investigations into the Biden family’s actions and business dealings in Ukraine, specifically Hunter Biden’s ventures with Burisma and Joe Biden’s successful effort to have former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin ousted. At the same time as that call, Hunter Biden was under
The only two Dems running for governor in 2025 are former roommates with mirroring political careers
The only two Democrats running for governor of their respective states this year are a pair of House lawmakers with a cozy friendship that was forged after they both won their first elections in 2018. Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger and New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill have emerged as prospective shining stars within the Democrat Party as they look to cinch gubernatorial victories in November amid ongoing internal turmoil within their party following 2024’s presidential election. The pair share a bond going back to their first terms in Congress, including rooming together as freshmen lawmakers on Capitol Hill, they previously told various media outlets. “I feel incredibly fortunate,” Sherrill told Elle magazine in June of their friendship. “Because who would’ve guessed when we entered Congress together that of the only two statewide races going on in the entire country all these years later, I’d be in it with a good friend of mine.” DEM GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE SLAMMED AS THE ‘KAMALA HARRIS OF NEW JERSEY’ AS ELECTION SLIDES INTO HOME STRETCH Both Spanberger, 46, and Sherrill, 53, were first elected to Congress during the 2018 midterm cycle, which marked the nation’s most recent “blue wave” election, when Democrats flipped the House and gained 40 seats. The pair first met during the height of their first congressional campaigns when Sherrill’s sister worked as one of Spanberger’s “super volunteers,” the gubernatorial hopefuls told Elle in June of their friendship. Spanberger is a former undercover CIA officer and Sherrill a former Navy pilot who forged a friendship over their shared focus on national security while on the campaign trail and upon their elections to the House, the outlet reported. “I think we had visions that we’d be hanging out,” Sherrill said of their friendship after winning their House elections in 2018. “Little did we know that as frontline members of Congress, there would be no hanging out. There was lots of late-night policy work, though.” TOP GUBERNATORIAL RACE ROCKED BY ALLEGATIONS OF LEAKS AND DIRTY TRICKS AMID IMPROPER MILITARY RECORDS RELEASE “Which, ultimately, I think can be fun!” Spanberger added. After moving to D.C. apartments on the same floor of a building on Capitol Hill in 2019, the pair decided to rent a shared apartment for the days they spent in the city, The Washington Post reported in 2024. “Some people seem to have fun in Congress,” Spanberger told The Washington Post at the time. “Speaking for both of us, while we’re here, we’re away from our families. We just work from the time we get up to the time we go to bed, and it’s meeting, meeting, meeting.” Spanberger noted the loneliness of spending a chunk of each month in a D.C. apartment where “the only sound is your own” before the two moved in together and “drank a lot of coffee, occasionally took a sauna and resolved to make more visits to the gym,” the outlet reported. The pair told both Elle and The Washington Post that they gravitated toward other female lawmakers from the 2018 election cycle — specifically, a group of five women dubbed “the badasses” by CNN during their freshman year — who shared national security and military backgrounds, noting they bucked the “every man for himself” mindset of D.C. VIRGINIA GOV. YOUNGKIN WARNS AGAINST DEM CANDIDATE’S CENTRIST LABEL, SAYS SHE’LL END COOPERATION WITH ICE “And I remember thinking, ‘Well I’m glad I’ve entered with this group of women, because we’re going to be able to work together.’ And that was true,” Sherrill said of working with like-minded female lawmakers. “Mikie and I are both the eldest of three sisters,” Spanberger told Elle of the pair’s work ethic on Capitol Hill. “So that’s the essential piece.” Spanberger threw her hat in the Virginia gubernatorial ring first, announcing a run in 2023 while forgoing a re-election effort to retain her seat in the House. NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR’S RACE: DEMOCRAT SHERRILL LEADS REPUBLICAN CIATTERELLI BY SIX POINTS IN 2026 BELLWETHER If elected, the self-described moderate would become the state’s first female governor. Spanberger is facing off against Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears to succeed Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is term-limited. Sherrill announced her run to serve as the Garden State’s next governor in November 2024. She is facing off against Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli to succeed New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who is term-limited from running a third campaign. The off-year 2025 elections are viewed as a bellwether for the midterms in 2026, and could deliver Spanberger and Sherrill Democrat star status if they prove victorious amid their party’s fallout from the 2024 presidential election. The Democratic Party was thrown into a tailspin after then-President Joe Biden dropped his re-election effort at the end of July 2024, leaving his running mate, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, 107 days to pick up the mantle and rally renewed support for the Democrat ticket. President Donald Trump ultimately won the popular vote and the Electoral College, sweeping all seven battleground states and leaving the Democratic Party in disarray as it looks for new leaders ahead of the midterms and 2028 federal election. Fox News Digital reached out to both campaigns Monday regarding the pair’s yearslong friendship but did not immediately receive replies.