Trump admin yanks funding from LA homeless agency amid explosive fraud probe: ‘Necessary step’
EXCLUSIVE: A top Trump agency is cutting off funding to the Los Angeles agency responsible for coordinating billions in homelessness spending after accusing it of “obvious fraud,” “wanton mismanagement” and repeated failures to safeguard taxpayer dollars, Fox News Digital has learned. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which is a member of the White House fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance, is immediately suspending the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s (LAHSA) federal funding while HUD’s inspector general investigates potential offenses by the agency and its leadership, according to a letter sent to LAHSA’s board chair Wendy Greuel and its CEO Gita O’Neill, which was obtained and reviewed by Fox News Digital. The letter detailed conflicts of interest, financial mismanagement, fraud, lack of oversight, and more from the homelessness agency, which has faced efforts by the city and county to take it over. The move puts one of the country’s biggest homelessness bureaucracies under direct federal scrutiny after years of criticism that billions have gone into homelessness programs in Los Angeles while the crisis remains entrenched on the streets. LAHSA receives funding at the city, county, state and federal level, with the group getting nearly $1 billion from just the federal government since 2021, according to HUD. CALIFORNIA MAN ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY STEALING MILLIONS IN HOMELESS FUNDS “Suspending LAHSA’s participation in federal government programs is a necessary step in accomplishing that critical mission in Los Angeles,” HUD wrote in the letter. “LAHSA’s failures have been so severe and pervasive that Los Angeles County has withdrawn its funding for the agency, and the City of Los Angeles is considering doing so as well.” LAHSA’s former top executive, Va Lecia Adams Kellum, resigned last year after she was found to have been a party to directing $2.1 million in federal funds under LAHSA’s control to her husband’s Santa Monica-based nonprofit employer. HUD says a federal judge last year also concluded that LAHSA had committed “obvious fraud” after it allegedly kept requesting funding for an 88-bed shelter even though it knew the shelter was operating at roughly half-capacity. EX-NONPROFIT BOSS ALLEGEDLY SWIPED $1.2M MEANT FOR HOMELESS PROGRAMS TO FUND LAVISH LIFESTYLE, DA SAYS HUD noted in its letter that the judge considered placing LAHSA into receivership as well. LAHSA’s inability to verify the existence of nearly 2,300 housing sites for which it was responsible is another recent issue that has plagued the homelessness provider, according to HUD, which said 70% of the contracts for those sites did not disclose any expenses over the prior year. Public audits of LAHSA, meanwhile, found a pattern of routinely paying service providers late and poor record keeping preventing it from monitoring contracts, including $5 million in cash advances sent to five different service providers, according to the Associated Press. In November 2024, the City Controller’s Office found that LAHSA failed to spend $513 million in public funds budgeted in fiscal year 2024, blaming a lack of staff and old technology, according to HUD. “Under President Trump’s leadership, HUD will fund results, not corrupt failure or the homeless industrial complex,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Year after year, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars were funneled to LAHSA with little accountability. Meanwhile, homelessness skyrocketed. Taxpayers will no longer bankroll an organization that puts its own self-interests ahead of the Americans it was created to serve.” Other audits concluded that LAHSA’s poor record keeping made it unable to accurately identify or calculate how well its spending has been benefiting the homeless population in Los Angeles. KAREN BASS GRILLED OVER BROKEN HOMELESSNESS PROMISE, BLAMES BUREAUCRACY FOR SLOWED PROGRESS Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, who is the vice chair of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, praised the leadership on this issue from HUD Secretary Scott Turner, President Donald Trump and Vance, who serves as the chairman of the fraud task force that was established earlier this year. “Los Angeles didn’t care about helping the homeless, but the Trump Administration does,” Ferguson told Fox News Digital. “It is unconscionable that Los Angeles has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars that was supposed to be used on housing our nation’s most vulnerable. Instead of providing a roof and care for the homeless, Los Angeles has used these funds to line the pockets of left-wing NGOs. Such a disgrace ends today.” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles officials have pointed to recent homeless-count data as evidence that the crisis has begun to improve, with LAHSA reporting that countywide homelessness fell for a second straight year in 2025 and Bass saying it marked the first time in the city’s recent history that homelessness had declined two years in a row. But the numbers still showed more than 72,000 people experiencing homelessness across Los Angeles County, and critics have continued to argue that modest declines do not erase years of runaway spending, encampments and repeated audit findings that the region’s homelessness system has failed to adequately track whether taxpayer dollars are producing results. The federal action from HUD comes after Los Angeles city and county officials had already begun backing away from LAHSA, the Associated Press reported last year. The city council moved to explore bypassing the agency and contracting directly with providers, while the county moved to redirect hundreds of millions of dollars in annual homelessness funding away from LAHSA and into a new county department, citing the need for stronger accountability after a series of audits. “HUD cannot ignore LAHSA’s wanton mismanagement of public funds. HUD’s mission is to reduce the plague of homelessness in America,” the agency’s letter to LAHSA leadership on Thursday stated. “Turning over billions of dollars from American taxpayers to an organization under investigation and suspected of gross misuse of federal funding and “obvious fraud” does nothing to reduce homelessness. Indeed, diverting dollars from worthy programs to LAHSA merely makes the homeless crisis worse.” Fox News Digital reached out to LAHSA for comment.
Chip Roy fields proposal to block pay and power for longtime lawmakers
Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas has fielded a proposal to cut off pay and power from House and Senate lawmakers once they’ve served 12 years in their respective legislative chamber. “A Member of Congress (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress) who has served 12 or more cumulative years in the House of Representatives or in the Senate, as the case may be, may not, on and after the date that the Member reaches 12 years of service in the Member’s respective House of Congress, be eligible for any covered benefit described in subsection (b),” the text states. Under the proposal, such long-serving lawmakers would no longer be eligible for pay and would no longer be eligible to serve in House and Senate leadership posts or as the chair or ranking member of standing or select committees. FIRST ON FOX: SPLC’S TAX-EXEMPT STATUS UNDER THREAT AFTER FIERY CAPITOL HILL HEARING “For too long, Washington has rewarded longevity with greater power, higher pay, and deeper entrenchment. If members of Congress want to serve beyond 12 years absent a constitutional amendment limiting them, they should do so without taxpayer-funded salaries and without monopolizing committee chairs and leadership positions,” Roy said, according to a press release. “This bill helps ensure that public service remains exactly that: service to the people, not a lifelong career in politics,” he said, according to the release. Roy, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2019, lost the Texas attorney general Republican primary runoff contest last month to Lone Star State Sen. Mayes Middleton. SENATORS AGREE TO FORGO SHUTDOWN PAYCHECKS — BUT MANY WON’T FEEL THE PAIN The text of Roy’s proposal indicates that the restrictions would be enacted by the legislature “as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, and as such are deemed a part of the rules of each House, respectively … ” and that the restrictions would be enacted “with full recognition of the constitutional right of either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of that House.” “The prohibition under this section shall apply with respect to the One Hundred Twenty-First Congress and each succeeding Congress,” the measure states. The 121st Congress will start in early 2029. TEXAS MAGA BATTLE ENDS WITH MIDDLETON VICTORY AS CHIP ROY FALLS SHORT IN AG RACE The U.S. Constitution stipulates that “Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings,” but also states that “The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.”
Second Amendment fights grow across several states over 3D-printed gun laws
Lawmakers in an increasing number of states are attempting to impose restrictions on 3D-printed firearms amid a Second Amendment fight over ghost guns. As a bipartisan slate of states attempt to restrict the possession and manufacturing of ghost guns — firearms without serial numbers often made or modified with the use of 3D printers — Second Amendment activists and gun rights advocates argue the restrictions impinge on their constitutional right to bear arms. At least 16 states have now put 3D gun laws on the books, with seven states adding major legislation this year. Lawmakers in Colorado, New Jersey, Maine, New York, Virginia, and Washington have all imposed various restrictions on weapons manufactured without serial numbers in 2026 while California’s legislators added to the states already robust anti-3D manufactured firearm laws by advancing a bill that would require 3D printer manufacturers to equip their devices with technology that would block the printing of firearms. MARYLAND MAN ON THE RUN AFTER POLICE ALLEGEDLY FIND MASSIVE STASH OF ILLEGAL GHOST GUNS IN HOME New York lawmakers added a similar law to the state’s budget this year that will go into effect by mid-June. Manhattan’s Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg compared the law to statutes preventing commercial and consumer printers from producing U.S. dollars. “We’re going to put technology into our machines such that they will not be a 3D gun. Much like, you know, we don’t have, you know, commercial printers that print US currency,” Bragg told ABC 7 Eyewitness News. In January, Maine’s legislature passed a bill requiring serial numbers on all firearms, included 3D-manufactured guns. The same month, former New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed Bill A4975, which requires state residents to own a firearms license to even possess instructions or blueprints to print a 3D firearm. COLORADO POISED TO BAN SALE OF AR-15S, OTHER RIFLES AND SHOTGUNS WITH EXTENDED MAGS Colorado and Virginia also passed similar laws against weapons without serial numbers while a Washington state law that Gov. Bob Ferguson signed in March restricted the ability for residents to possess the serial-free weapons while also imposing constraints on the digital blueprints and devices that would manufacture the 3D guns. A Minnesota legislative package considering a wide slate of restrictions failed to pass the statehouse in March. The impetus to restrict the DIY ordinance coincides with a sharp rise in 3D-printed guns recovered at crime scenes. Data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) shows the bureau recovered over 27,000 3D-printed ghost guns from crime scenes in January 2023 compared to just over 1,600 recovered in January 2017. ONLINE ‘GORE’ FORUMS ARE ‘GATEWAY TO EXTREMISM’ IN MASS SHOOTINGS, NORMALIZING HORROR FOR KIDS: EXPERTS Proponents for stricter gun laws argue that the rise of 3D-printed weapons increases the likelihood of adverse shootings in American communities. “As 3D-printing technology becomes more affordable and accessible, young people are increasingly able to manufacture their own firearms—often without the knowledge of the adults in their lives. As schools purchase 3D printers and train students how to use them, the problem of 3D guns is now entering the classroom as well,” reads a statement on the Everytown For Gun Safety website. Others, however, argue that placing restrictions on the weapons violated Second Amendment rights and that bans don’t fundamentally impact public safety. “The gun is not the problem. The individual committing the crime is the problem,” William Sack, the senior director of legal operations at the Second Amendment Foundation, told Michigan Advance. Several states with restrictions are facing constitutional lawsuits. In February, a three-judge panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit dealt a blow to the constitutional argument, siding with the state of New Jersey in a case against Texas-based 3D-gun blueprint designed Defense Distributed. The Third Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that affirmed a cease and desist that New Jersey’s Attorney General delivered to Defense Distributed ordering the company to stop distributing gun-printing blueprints to unlicensed individuals. Defense Distributed’s legal team is requesting the court to take up the case again and will petition the Supreme Court if unsuccessful, according to the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs.
Missouri senator warns Dem immigration policies threaten Western civilization after scoring ICE funding win
Democrats’ “suicidal empathy” on immigration will “destroy our country,” a Republican senator warned after his proposal targeting sanctuary city policies was included in the reconciliation package funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). In a Tuesday interview with Fox News Digital, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., argued that Democrats’ approach to immigration is also driven by political self-interest and not entirely by the desire for moral high-ground. “There’s an electoral play here. It’s about raw power,” he said. Schmitt’s provision, which was included in the House-passed funding package Tuesday, would provide $350 million for ICE agents to arrest criminal illegal immigrants after their release from state or local custody. It comes as law enforcement in sanctuary states and cities continue to refuse to cooperate with federal officials. Schmitt also warned that failing to deport illegal aliens is a threat to the West itself. NEW DEM PROPOSAL WOULD RESTRICT ICE’S KEY TOOL TO DETAIN CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS “I think it’s a very important time for Western civilization, honestly, to stand up and say, ‘no, we actually believe in sovereignty. We believe that a country can decide who can come and who has to go,’ and that this is our moment,” he said. “And the easiest of low-hanging fruit is to say that when you’re here illegally and you’ve committed a violent act, when you’re released from prison, we’re actually going to send you back home, and that’s what this legislation does.” In sanctuary cities and states, officials often flout federal immigration law and refuse to coordinate with ICE to ensure criminal illegal aliens are deported after they’re freed, Schmitt explained. “And I know that sounds crazy, but that’s the practical implication,” said Schmitt, adding that there were 18,000 such cases in 2025 alone. ICE WARNS ILLINOIS IS RELEASING VIOLENT CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS DESPITE DETAINERS, RISKING PUBLIC SAFETY “These violent rapists or other violent criminals are just being let loose into the community,” said Schmitt, who argued that being in the country illegally — even without committing a violent crime — is justification enough for deportation. “But these sanctuary jurisdictions have decided that they would rather let these criminal illegal aliens back in the community than have them deported. That’s how inverted the morality is on all this,” he continued. “And so this sets to right that wrong. It says that these sanctuary jurisdictions… you don’t want to cooperate? Okay, well we’re going to have the resources to go do it on our own with ICE.” Schmitt’s successful provision and the larger debate on the funding bill comes as criminal illegal aliens continue to make headlines. Just last week, four members of the barbaric Venezuelan Tren de Aragua street gang pleaded guilty to murdering two Americans by gunning them down in cold blood. WAVE OF ALLEGED MIGRANT MURDERS IGNITES FURY ACROSS US AS OFFICIALS WARN OF MORE CARNAGE, CRACKDOWN NEEDED Another illegal alien in California, accused of killing a two-month-old baby, grinned in court during a pretrial hearing on June 2. Yet another illegal alien was sentenced at the end of May to 25 years in prison after raping and impregnating a 12-year-old girl in Missouri. “I can’t explain why they wanted an open border,” Schmitt said of the opposition party. “I can’t explain why they don’t want criminals deported from this country. I can’t explain why they don’t want people denaturalized who have, you know, committed terrorist acts in this country.” “That’s on them, but we’ve got a job to do, which is to make the American people more safe.” Schmitt noted that arresting criminal illegal aliens when they’re released from jail is also much safer than arresting them in immigration raids and operations, and expressed disbelief that such a policy has not yet been implemented. “I can’t believe it hadn’t happened before, but I also don’t know that we’ve really been confronted with political leaders on the other side here who just don’t believe in the sovereignty of our country, and that’s kind of where we’re at. I mean, they wanted to defund ICE,” he told Fox News Digital. “They don’t really want enforcement of our federal immigration laws, and I think the American people do.”
House Dem lashes out at GOP efforts to probe foreign donations with stunning claim on motive
Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., lashed out at Republican efforts to investigate a Democratic fundraising apparatus on Wednesday afternoon, characterizing the ongoing fraud probe as the most recent instance of GOP retribution against Black women in power. “Over and over again, Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has harassed Black women with bogus lawsuits,” Sewell said on Wednesday morning. Sewell’s criticisms come as as Republican lawmakers probe ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising and campaign organization, and its CEO and president, Regina Wallace-Jones, for potentially accepting illegal donations. In particular, House Republicans are demanding that ActBlue turn over international communications, probing whether the organization knowingly misled lawmakers and dodged subpoenas to hide weaknesses in its screening process to weed out illegal, overseas donations. DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT IN THE HOT SEAT AS GOP LAWMAKERS DEMAND ANSWERS OVER DODGED SUBPOENA The review by lawmakers coincides with an April request from President Donald Trump to investigate the group. “There is evidence to suggest that foreign nationals are seeking to misuse online fundraising platforms to improperly influence American elections,” the White House said in a press release. Wallace-Jones has called the investigation baseless, maintaining that ActBlue applies high scrutiny for its donations processing. JASMINE CROCKETT CLAIMS TRUMP IS ‘TERRIFIED OF SMART, BOLD BLACK WOMEN’ AFTER PRESIDENT’S ‘LOW IQ’ JAB “Our approach is multilayered, with checks and confirmations occurring throughout the donation process to verify donors and donor information,” she told Fox News Digital in a statement earlier this year. Among other safeguards, Wallace-Jones said the organization requires Card Verification Values (CVVs) for credit card donations, uses IP addresses, a kind of digital footprint, to identify foreign-sourced contributions, applies an industry-standard Address Verification System (AVS) and manually reviews donations. To Sewell, the investigation into ActBlue and Wallace-Jones is tainted by other investigations into black women who have crossed Trump in the past. “This investigation is just one more example of Republicans and President Trump using power of his office to harass and intimidate anyone willing to challenge him. The Trump Department of Justice has used its power to intimidate and victimize communities of color, especially Black Americans,” Sewell said. ACTBLUE CHIEF HEADS TO CAPITOL HILL HOT SEAT AS DONOR FRAUD PROBE INTENSIFIES “We should not forget the harassment of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook, the harassment of the New York Attorney General, Tish James and the harassment of our colleague Congresswoman LaMonica McIver,” Sewell said, listing off a number of similar cases. “It is not surprising that this Republican-led committee is now attacking ActBlue and its CEO, Ms. Wallace-Jones,” Sewell said.
‘Squad’ Dem dismisses fraud probe speculation after $29M net-worth drop
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is continuing to deny looming questions over an Ethics Committee investigation into her financial filings, showing a significant drop in her net worth. Scrutiny of Omar’s finances intensified after financial disclosure filings appeared to show her estimated net worth falling from a range of roughly $6 million to $30 million in one filing period to between about $18,000 and $95,000 in a later disclosure. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has publicly voiced his interest in the House Ethics Committee opening an investigation into both Omar’s personal finances and her connection to the ‘Feeding Our Future’ fraud scheme, a scandal that federal prosecutors say cost taxpayers roughly $250 million. JAMES COMER RAISES FELONY QUESTIONS OVER ILHAN OMAR’S FINANCES AFTER DISCLOSURE DISCREPANCY Omar dismissed suggestions that she is facing an Ethics Committee investigation. “No,” Omar told Fox News Digital, laughing, when asked if she is under an Ethics Committee investigation. “No. We go over this all the time.” She was pressed about continued reporting surrounding the discrepancy — the possibility of the roughly $29 million drop in her financial disclosure. “There’s also the possibility that it might rain on this sunny day,” Omar replied. Along with Comer’s efforts to launch an investigation into Omar, Vice President JD Vance said just last month that the U.S. Department of Justice will be opening a probe into the Minnesota Democrat’s alleged fraud as part of the administration’s new anti-fraud taskforce. OMAR CAMP BREAKS SILENCE ON FRAUD PROBE, BLAMES WALZ, TRUMP AS NEW CLAIMS CLASH WITH EARLIER STATEMENTS Omar has declined ever being aware of the scheme happening behind doors with the organization, which claimed to be helping supply children in need of meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Justice Department described the scheme as the “single largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country,” The Associated Press reported. The orchestrator of the non-profit, Aimee Bock, was sentenced to 42 years in prison for her involvement in spearheading the fraud scheme. Republicans have pointed to Omar’s MEALS Act, part of a federal pandemic relief measure which she sponsored, as a factor they say contributed to conditions that allowed the fraud to occur. They argue her bill was a mass contributor to the fraud occurring as it broadened USDA waiver authority at meal sites. It has also been claimed that this same act helped to dismantle anti-fraud safeguards that verified the people actually being serviced in federal nutrition programs. ILHAN OMAR’S OFFICE SAYS SHE’S ‘NOT A MILLIONAIRE’ AFTER $30M FILING REVISED DOWN TO UNDER $100K: REPORT In a previous statement to Fox News Digital from Omar, she claimed that President Donald Trump’s USDA Secretary, Brooke Rollins, imposed the regulations for the framework of the program. While Omar continues to reject suggestions time-after-time that she is facing an Ethics Committee investigation, Republicans have shown little sign of backing away from their demands for a proper investigation into Omar’s finances and fraud allegations.
Vulnerable House Dem’s ‘reckless spending’ on office furniture emerges as midterms heat up
A vulnerable House Democrat in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District is facing scrutiny over expenses eclipsing over $40,000 in payments to a furniture and interior design company for refurbishing a district office. In the second quarter of 2023, Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., reported $27,300 in taxpayer-funded “habitation expenses” and another $13,030 for “office supplies and furniture,” according to congressional disclosure records — second overall among the 435 members in the House of Representatives. When pressed by Fox News Digital about the expenses, Davis blamed redistricting and “rising costs,” which would have been during the Biden administration. “Upon my first election to Congress, we immediately set to work establishing our congressional office within the new district, starting from scratch with no furniture and limited supplies. After subsequent redistricting, we expanded our offices to serve our constituents better,” Davis told Fox News Digital. “These expenses underscore not only the rising costs we are facing nationwide but also the financial impact of redistricting.” AOC SPENT OVER $53K IN CAMPAIGN FUNDS ON LUXURY HOTELS IN 2025: ‘CARPETBAGGER’ Only one other member, Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., appeared to have higher habitation expenses than Davis in 2023. Taff Office, which currently operates as “Young Office” after a merger in 2025, is an interior design company designing “spaces that inspire, motivate and engage.” When asked about the expenses, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) argued the expenses fall under the appropriate parameters of Davis’ duties. “One of the most basic functions of a Congress in maintaining an office to serve the people in their district. Congressman Davis has some of the best constituent services in the country. Maybe if Republicans followed his example they wouldn’t feel the need to once again redistrict the state in an effort to save their flailing House majority,” Madison Andrus, a spokesperson for the DCCC said. However, during the 2022 election cycle, the DCCC used habitation expenses as an attack against then-Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, who spent a small fraction of the $40,000+ that Davis did. A Fox News Digital review of an oppo research book that the DCCC compiled against Chabot, shows that he spent less than $7,000 between 2011 and 2022. A spokesperson for the GOP-run Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) called Davis’ expenses out of touch with the challenges faced by state residents and framed them as a part of a larger pattern of spending. “North Carolina families struggle every day to make ends meet while Congressman Don Davis is wasting their hard-earned money on $2,300 Ubers and $40,000 office renovations. This isn’t just reckless spending—it’s a pattern of abusing the taxpayer dollars Davis was entrusted to protect. North Carolinians have had enough and will boot Don Davis from office come November,” Torunn Sinclair, a spokesperson for CLF, said. DEM RISING STAR WHO CALLED TRUMP ‘CON MAN’ SPENT OVER $120K ON LUXURY HOTELS, TRANSPORTATION AND SECURITY While not the highest habitation expense among lawmakers, Davis’ 2023 record comes amid reports of other high costs expensed to taxpayers during his years of public service. In comparison, Congresswoman Valerie Foushee, another North Carolina Democrat who was sworn into office in 2023, appears to have spent under $3,000 in habitation expenses that same year. Reporting from The Center Square in March uncovered that Davis took $4,500 in per diems over the course of 19 days where he did not participate in any votes, accepting the allowances granted to cover lodging and travel costs for the lawmakers’ trips to the state capitol. Since his election to Congress, Davis has also received criticism for spending nearly $10,000 on a trip to the U.S. southern border in 2024, racking up almost $7,000 in airfare costs. Members of Congress are required to report expenses covered by the government, like costs for running an office. Among the categories of items covered, a habitation expense covers “minor, minimal expenses incurred for decorating offices.” FEDERAL ELECTION COMPLAINT ALLEGES AOC MISUSED CAMPAIGN FUNDS FOR PSYCHIATRIST SERVICES “This category includes furniture items such as chairs, tables, etc., which cost less than $500. Furniture that costs more than $500 and less than $25,000 should appear under the expense category or budget object code for furniture and fixtures less than $25,000,” the House website reads. The use of habitation expenses has varied widely depending on lawmakers’ needs, but has also landed some lawmakers in hot water for overly flamboyant expenses. Former Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., famously received criticism in 2015 for spending and then repaying $40,000 in taxpayer funds to refurbish a district office in the style of Downtown Abby, according to the Associated Press. Davis will be facing Laurie Buckhout, a “retired Army Colonel and decorated combat commander” in November’s general election.
WATCH: Hearing turmoil as Jasmine Crockett unloads on MLK’s niece in wild racially-charged rant
Rep. Jasmine Crockett erupted at Republicans, calling them a “majority… White” party and accusing them of using a member of Martin Luther King Jr.’s family as a prop to shield themselves from allegations of racism while interrogating the Southern Poverty Law Center’s funding of hate groups. Crockett, who is leaving office next year after a failed Senate bid, lambasted Republicans for expressing outrage at the SPLC while not addressing the “literal elephant in the room” — a reference to Martin Luther King Jr.’s more conservative niece, Alveda King. Crockett disparaged civil rights activist Alveda King as a right-wing prop while accusing Republicans of trying to trick the public into thinking a “Doctor King” was criticizing the SPLC’s work. King later questioned whether Crockett was calling her a “bastard” of the King name. “The vast majority on that side of the aisle… are White men. White men are lecturing people of color because the vast majority, actually any semblance of diversity comes from this [Democratic] side of the aisle,” Crockett said. FIRST ON FOX: SPLC’S TAX-EXEMPT STATUS UNDER THREAT AFTER FIERY CAPITOL HILL HEARING She said people of color don’t feel welcome in the GOP and “that’s why you have to parade someone who has the name ‘Doctor King’ attached to them so people can be confused.” Notably, GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt, a fellow Black Texan, was on the committee’s dais and pointedly questioned SPLC leader Bryan Fair earlier in the day. Hunt often rebukes talk of race-based partisanship by quipping that he has been “Black my entire life.” Crockett said Republicans were hypocritical in accusing the SPLC of funding hate groups, citing a debunked assertion about President Donald Trump’s comments following the 2017 White supremacist rally in Charlottesville. She noted Trump had said there were “fine people on both sides,” but omitted that he later clarified he was referring to a community group opposing the removal of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s statue, a gathering that occurred before the neo-Nazi violence erupted later that day. Crockett then claimed people on social media were wondering who the “Doctor King” was who was speaking out against the SPLC as the hearing progressed, and that Republicans were trying to make the public think the historic Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be on their side. NEARLY ALL SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN ST. PAUL CHURCH STORMING AS MLK’S NIECE SAYS TACTICS ‘NOT THE WAY’ Crockett said Republicans would be better served calling the Obama-supporting Martin Luther King III or his sister Bernice King to the hearing — suggesting they understand the civil rights icon’s teachings and positions better than Alveda. Before her time expired, she accused King and Republicans of “caping” for murdered activist Charlie Kirk — quoting a controversial statement by the Turning Point USA founder about the Civil Rights Act. She also claimed Republicans hauled Fair and King before the committee because they wanted to distract from their failure to hold a hearing examining associates of deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. When House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, gaveled-out Crockett’s time and passed the floor to Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., the Republican gave King a chance to respond. “I am a bit emotional,” King said of what Crockett had claimed. “I’m going to watch what I say.” Crockett did not appear to look back at Alveda King and was briefly seen closing her notebook as she prepared to stand up. JASMINE CROCKETT’S HISTORY OF PLAYING THE RACE CARD GOING AFTER CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERAL CRITICS “It seems as though you (Crockett) have suggested that I am bastard to the King family legacy. I am legitimately the daughter of Reverend Alfred Daniel Williams King and Dr. Naomi Ruth Barber King,” Alveda King said. Rev. A.D. King was Martin Luther King Jr.’s brother. “We are a family who loves God. And I love you, God bless you,” King said before yielding back to Fry. Fry then announced that, off-camera, Crockett had quickly left the room before King could substantively respond to her remarks.
Obama-appointed judge with ties to anti-Trump conspiracy theory hit with misconduct complaint
FIRST ON FOX: U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper is facing a judicial misconduct complaint from a conservative watchdog group, which argues he should have recused himself from a lawsuit involving President Donald Trump’s effort to rename the Kennedy Center. The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) alleged that Cooper should have bowed out of the case because his wife, Amy Jeffress, has a history of representing what the group described as “anti-Trump” clients. In May, Cooper ruled against Trump by permanently blocking the renaming of the Kennedy Center after Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, filed a lawsuit. CASA filed a complaint with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday, alleging Cooper failed to disclose or recuse himself despite what it called significant financial and professional interests stemming from his wife’s involvement in litigation against Trump. “CASA is filing a judicial complaint against Obama-appointed DC District Court Judge Christopher Cooper for his potentially unethical behavior after his failure to recuse himself from the frivolous Kennedy Center lawsuit filed against President Trump, given his wife’s financial interests in opposing President Trump’s agenda through litigation,” CASA Director of Research and Policy Curtis Schube said in a statement. JUDGE WITH INTIMATE TIES TO DEM PARTY’S KEY RUSSIA HOAX PLAYERS BEHIND LATEST ANTI-TRUMP DECISION The complaint comes more than a week after Trump slammed Cooper for having a “conflict of interest,” pointing to Cooper’s wife, Amy Jeffress’, track record of representing Trump’s biggest foes, including former anti-Trump FBI lawyer Lisa Page, and currently representing former President Joe Biden, who is suing Trump’s Justice Department over the release of Robert Hur’s interview recordings. “Cooper’s wife is longtime Democrat activist and attorney Amy Jeffress. Jeffress is the former counsel to the January 6th committee, works as former President Biden’s personal lawyer, and currently represents Biden in ongoing litigation against President Trump,” Schube said. “There was a clear need for Cooper to recuse himself from this matter, or at the very least disclose these conflicts. By doing neither, Cooper caused — at the very least — an appearance of impropriety, which warrants a full investigation.” The complaint does not challenge Cooper’s ruling itself, but it argues that his involvement in the case could raise reasonable questions about his ability to be impartial under the federal judiciary’s Code of Conduct. JONATHAN TURLEY: TRUMP’S KENNEDY CENTER NAME CHANGE WILL KEEP LAWYERS BUSY FOR YEARS “We are deeply concerned with the fact that a sitting federal judge did not recuse himself, and adjudicated to disposition, a case from which he and his spouse financially benefit,” the complaint states. “Indeed, a large portion of his wife’s business model appears to rely on handling litigation that is anti-Trump in nature.” CASA argues that Cooper may have violated Canon 1, which requires judges to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary. “Canon 1 requires that a judge uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary,” the filing states. “Judge Cooper, presumably, goes home every night to his wife whose career is predicated on suing President Trump.” CASA argued Cooper is in violation of Canon 2, which requires judges to avoid situations that could appear improper, even when no actual misconduct has occurred. “More specifically, Canon 2 lists occasions when the appearance of a relationship affects a judge’s ability to adjudicate a case: 1) when public confidence is hampered; and 2) when spousal relationships influence judicial conduct,” the complaint stated. “Both problems are present here.” The complaint also argues that Cooper violated Canon 3, which requires judges to remain fair and impartial and that recusal may be warranted when a judge’s spouse’s interests or potential partisan influences could reasonably raise questions about that impartiality. The complaint concludes by urging the D.C. Circuit to investigate Cooper and determine whether disciplinary action is warranted. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Cooper has served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C., since 2014. Cooper has long been the target of conflict of interest allegations from Trump and his allies. The judge drew scrutiny during Special Counsel John Durham’s prosecution of former Clinton campaign-linked attorney Michael Sussmann, which was a part of Durham’s broader probe into the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation centered on the now-debunked Russian-Trump collusion theory. Critics argued then that he should have recused himself because his wife, attorney Amy Jeffress, represented former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, a figure tied to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Fox News Digital reached out to Cooper and Jeffress for comment.
Trump admin offers blunt advice to White House UFC critics as 11th-hour lawsuit looms
Trump administration officials fired back at critics of the planned White House UFC fight, arguing they can simply avoid the event rather than use an 11th-hour lawsuit to block thousands of spectators from gathering on the South Lawn. “It would be easy enough to simply avert their gazes for the weekend,” Department of Justice attorneys wrote in a court filing this week. “Instead, they seek to enlist the power of a federal court to impose their idiosyncratic preferences on the rest of the country and ruin an event designed to celebrate the United States of America.” Preparations for the UFC match have been underway on the South Lawn of the White House for weeks, including the installation of a roughly 90-foot-tall steel arch, dubbed the “claw.” The Public Integrity Project filed a lawsuit over the weekend on behalf of two Virginia residents in an effort to block the event, sparking the government to urge U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta to reject the plaintiffs’ bid. The suit targets the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior to seek an emergency injunction to stop the event, which is expected to attract 4,000 spectators to the White House. DANA WHITE DENIES AMERICA 250 UFC FIGHT AT WHITE HOUSE WILL BE ‘POLITICAL,’ ‘NOT AT ALL’ ABOUT POLITICS In the brief, DOJ attorneys wrote that more than $60 million has already been spent, attendees have made travel plans, and the fighters have already begun final weight cuts. They also noted the event has been planned for months, with President Trump first announcing the match in July 2025. “This is an obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory lawsuit brought simply to prevent President Trump from hosting what will undoubtedly go down as one of the most historic sporting events in our Nation’s history during our semiquincentennial celebration,” a White House official told Fox News Digital. “This iconic event is no different than the various other White House-hosted events on the South Lawn and properly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mall throughout the year,” the White House official added. A PIECE OF THE UFC WHITE HOUSE EVENT’S SETUP IS SITTING IN PENNSYLVANIA AMISH COUNTRY Plaintiffs argued that the event will interfere with the White House and National Mall area while describing its setup as “hideous.” The plaintiffs argued that organizers ignored federal permitting rules, skipped environmental reviews and triggered conflict-of-interest concerns invoking National Park Service regulations and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). They also said the “claw” needed to be built with congressional authorization. Officials responded that the plaintiffs are not forced to watch the fight and their opinions are not “superior” to those who support the match. “All these hopes could be dashed at the very last moment, however, by the whim of two people who believe they have superior taste and want to spoil the event for everyone else,” the DOJ attorneys wrote. The plaintiffs must respond with their final brief by 9 p.m. Wednesday. Fox News Digital reached out to the Public Integrity Project for comment. Fox News’ Kerri Urban and Mark Meredith contributed to this report.