Graham Platner finally embraced by powerful mainstream Dem leaders after primary election victory
Two top Democrat leaders who were hesitant to endorse embattled Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner by name amid his controversies finally relented Tuesday night after he cruised to victory in his primary election. House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., issued a seemingly half-hearted joint statement backing Platner as he continues to face heat stemming from a multitude of scandals. “Over the past year, we have created a path to win a Democratic Senate majority and put a stop to the chaos and damage of the Trump administration by defeating the Republicans who enable his harmful agenda,” they wrote in a statement issued by the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) just after Platner was declared the winner. “In November, Maine voters will elect Graham Platner, and we will win a Senate majority,” they concluded. In the statement, the New York lawmakers attempted to paint moderate Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as a radical pro-Trump Republican despite her several breaks with the president. “Susan Collins has never been more vulnerable after she voted with Trump 96 percent of the time, confirmed his far-right judicial nominees, and took millions from special interests while voting to rip health care away from Mainers,” they listed. SCANDAL-PLAGUED PLATNER CAPTURES DEMOCRATIC SENATE NOMINATION Last week, Platner met with Gillibrand and Schumer, among other Democrats, during a crisis trip to Washington, D.C., in the midst of his latest scandal, which, at the time, was related to revelations of an account on a controversial messaging app. After that meeting, Gillibrand refused to say whether she still supported the progressive candidate. “I’m very confident we are going to win Maine,” she told reporters. “I do. I have confidence that we are going to win Maine and I have no doubt.” WATCH: DEM SENATORS EXCUSE PLATNER’S CONDUCT AT CRISIS HUDDLE WITH EMBATTLED MAINE CANDIDATE Schumer also attempted to duck direct questions from reporters at a Capitol Hill press conference following that meeting. “I met with Graham Platner today, we’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate,” he said. “We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.” After he was asked for the fifth time about the meetings, he begrudgingly used Platner’s name to back the candidate. WATCH: SCANDAL-PLAGUED PLATNER DODGES QUESTIONS BEFORE DC MEETING WITH DEMOCRATS “As I said, I endorsed Graham Platner,” he said. Before that meeting, Platner was embroiled in controversy after it was revealed that he has an active account on Kik, an anonymous chatting platform notorious for lax identification methods that have enabled the proliferation of child sexual abuse material. Platner used as his profile image on the application a sexually suggestive photo of himself shirtless and wearing only a towel around his waist. Just days after the meetings in D.C., the candidate was accused of physical misconduct, including aggressive behavior, with a former romantic partner. Platner denies those accusations. Platner’s previous scandals include sexually lewd Reddit posts, disrespectful comments made against a Purple Heart-winning combat veteran, a Nazi-linked tattoo on his chest that has since been covered up and reports he exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married. Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
Republicans fear of ‘fatal mistake’ in must-win Platner race
Senate Republicans are warning that scandal-plagued oysterman Graham Platner could still defeat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, if the party fails to take the race seriously. Republicans are defending several seats in expectedly close races, including Nebraska, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas, while seeking to flip Georgia. Maine is different: Sen. Susan Collins’ seat is the only Republican-held Senate seat in a state won by Kamala Harris in 2024, making it Democrats’ most direct path to returning Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., to the majority leader’s office, Republicans said in a memo circulated Wednesday. “It is a fatal mistake to assume Platner is too damaged to win,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) memo obtained by Fox News — addressed to “Interested Parties” — read. The NRSC agreed that Maine is the “linchpin” of the 35 seats up this year and that despite Platner’s Nazi tattoo, allegations of misogynist violence, arousal from biocide in port-a-johns, and his socialist policy platform, he remains a credible threat to the middle-of-the-road Collins. SEE IT: MAINE VOTERS SOUND OFF ON PLATNER’S DIVISIVE CAMPAIGN AS CRUCIAL PRIMARY NEARS: ‘HE’S A DISGRACE’ “Senator Collins has won tough races before and can win this one, but only if we meet this moment with total urgency,” the NRSC said. “Because Democrats cannot win the majority without [Collins’ seat], they have fully rallied around Graham Platner, an extremely flawed, far-left candidate who secured the nomination last night. Platner has captured his party’s financial backing, outraising Senator Collins in every quarter since entering the race. We must match both the energy and the money to retain the seat,” the memo said. The NRSC said Democrats don’t view Platner’s race as being about the flawed candidate but rather about usurping power. COLLINS SECURES GOP NOD IN MAINE SENATE BATTLE THAT COULD DECIDE GOP MAJORITY The committee said any one of Platner’s multiple scandals would have ended most campaigns, but Democrats remain united around him. The NRSC reported that after former girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield’s allegations against Platner broke, Platner raised $200,000 in one day in what the campaign said was its best haul of the cycle. “The political fundamentals in Maine remain challenging, and it is a fatal mistake to assume Platner is too damaged to win,” the NRSC said. Collins is the last remaining federal Republican in New England and the only Republican in the Senate north or east of Pennsylvania. The NRSC reported that Platner is beating Harris’ own margins by seven points while noting Collins has won tough races in the past, but this one is different. Collins won her last race against former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon by about eight points, and her last electoral loss was way back in 1994 when now-Sen. Angus King Jr., I-Maine, won the governorship in a four-way contest. Republicans said in the memo that the biggest story in the past week about Platner is not his latest scandal, but the fact that Democrats are circling the wagons around him even more tightly and “propping him up.” WATCH: DEM SENATORS EXCUSE PLATNER’S CONDUCT AT CRISIS HUDDLE WITH EMBATTLED MAINE CANDIDATE They cited Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna visiting Maine to hold a gushy interview-slash-ad with Platner and the fact that Democrats keep claiming Collins and Trump are worse than the left-winger. “Gotta do what you gotta do,” the NRSC quoted former Biden deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty, while noting that Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse publicly claimed Platner’s foibles are a “lot of nothing.” They also pointed to one of the most influential Democratic operatives claiming that Platner’s flaws actually bolster his qualifications. Platner had disparaged former Pennsylvania lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Teddy Daniels after video of the Purple Heart recipient being besieged and gravely wounded by the Taliban surfaced several years ago. “We’ve got a f—ed up guy who could be 100 times more f—ed up than he is and he’d never be as f—ed up as what we’ve got in Washington,” said 1992 Bill Clinton campaign architect James Carville, who suggested that Platner’s apparent PTSD should be a symbol on the Hill as to why neoconservatives have been wrong about war powers. “This is not a party abandoning its nominee. This is a party rationalizing, accepting, and preparing to fight,” the NRSC said. “Republicans need to match that urgency immediately. Define Platner. Defend Collins. Resource Maine,” they said. “Senator Collins has proven time and time again, through her work ethic and commitment to the people of Maine and America, that she will prevail.” “This race can be won, but it will not win itself.” NRSC national press secretary Bernadette Breslin exclusively told Fox News Digital that Platner “has become the new face of the Democratic Party, forcing Democrats to own his mounting scandals and socialist wish list.” “Come November, Mainers will see through his fraudulent working-class persona and reject the political baggage Democrats are now stuck defending,” Breslin said. Fox News Digital reached out to the DSCC, Platner campaign and Collins campaign for further comment.
Karmelo Anthony verdict draws anti-white rage and lies from radical Dem congresswoman, angry activists
A Texas congresswoman is leading the voice of online activists enraged over the guilty verdict in Karmelo Anthony’s murder trial, and is spreading outright lies and racially inflammatory rhetoric after the 19-year-old was sentenced to 35 years in prison for stabbing Austin Metcalf to death. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a rare radical Democrat elected in deep red Texas, took to her podcast after Tuesday’s verdict to make false claims about the trial and its jury as she continues to stir up racial hatred. “I’m not necessarily convinced — not that I could tell you the name of one person on this jury — that we had 12 impartial White folk out of Collin County sitting on a jury for this young black man,” she said, exhibiting her empathy for the convicted murderer. Her claim about the jury is patently false. Sources close to the trial confirmed to Fox News Digital that the jury was not made up only of white people, despite Crockett’s claim, which has been parroted by activists online. Of the 12 jurors, three were racial minorities, including Asian and Indian, eight were women and four were men. They confirmed that of the 18 total jurors, including alternates, six were minorities. KARMELO ANTHONY JURY REACHES VERDICT IN MURDER TRIAL IN TEXAS TRACK MEET STABBING The jury in the trial, which spanned nine days in a Collin County, Texas, courtroom this month, found that Anthony intentionally stabbed Metcalf, then 18, to death on April 2, 2025. The murder took place after Anthony entered the Memorial High School track team’s tent at a meet in Frisco, and refused 15 times to leave when asked. Witnesses testified that Metcalf lightly shoved Anthony in an attempt to remove him from the tent, after which the teen reached into his bag, pulled out a knife, and stabbed Metcalf in the chest. The victim bled to death in front of his twin brother and teammates, many of whom testified at the trial. Crockett surmised the jury likely convicted Anthony because residents of Collin County are upset that, “so many black folk are moving up there in the first place.” MOURNING MOTHER, TWIN BROTHER OF SLAIN TEXAS TEEN SPEAK OUT: ‘LOST MY BEST FRIEND IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE’ The congresswoman, who will not retain her seat in the House after redistricting in Texas pushed her district red, bizarrely compared black women in America to the victim’s family. “Black women, especially black women who have black male children, live in fear and agony every single day,” she lamented. “A fear and agony that I promise you the Metcalfs probably had never spend a day living that way.” That comment was branded as “psychotic” by White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller on X. KARMELO ANTHONY TRIAL CONSUMED BY RACE AND SELF-DEFENSE, BUT HIDDEN HURDLE COULD BE KEY: EXPERT Crockett, an attorney, also claimed that the knife Anthony used to kill Metcalf was not a deadly weapon, and downplayed its size. Activists outside the courthouse sounded off after the verdict was handed down. Dominique Alexander, a local Black Lives Matter activist who has been involved with the Anthony family since Karmelo’s arrest, slammed injected racial rhetoric into the conversation. AUSTIN METCALF’S ACCUSED KILLER NEEDS SUPPORT FIGHTING ‘WHITE SUPREMACY’ AFTER MURDER INDICTMENT: SPOX “What this process did is show that black lives do not matter in Collin County,” he said. “This trial showed that it put emotions over the law. After Trayvon Martin and so many countless names, it has shown us that Black life is not safe in Collin County.” Martin was killed by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida, in 2012. A jury in that case found that Zimmerman acted in self-defense. Alexander also claimed without evidence that the judge in the case “interfered in this process,” and repeated the false claim that the jury was “all white.” Bree Newsome, an online far-leftist, insisted that race was a factor in the case. “Karmelo Anthony would be treated totally different by the legal system were he a white boy killing a black boy,” she said. “That’s the whole point. That’s what matters. Stop pretending there’s anything Black people can do in our behavior to prevent racism. Racism defines the entire system.” Crockett’s office did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
First on Fox: Trump admin opens new front in fraud crackdown targeting health insurers, drug middlemen
FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration is lifting the hood on federal health benefits programs that cover millions of Americans, ordering insurance carriers to tighten fraud controls as part of a broader crackdown on waste and abuse, Fox News Digital learned. “Working alongside the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, OPM is taking additional steps to safeguard the premiums paid by federal employees and taxpayers, protect beneficiaries, and ensure health insurance companies are meeting the highest standards of accountability,” said Office of Personnel Management (OPM) director Scott Kupor to Fox News Digital. OPM functions as the federal government’s human resources agency, overseeing civilian personnel policy and administering benefits for federal employees, retirees and their families. OPM, partnered with the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, is sending new compliance expectations on Wednesday to insurance carriers in the Federal Employees Health Benefits and Postal Service Health Benefits programs, directing them to strengthen fraud prevention, payment reviews, pharmacy benefit oversight, subcontractor accountability, audits and reporting, Fox News Digital learned. READ: DR. OZ PUTS ALL 50 GOVERNORS ON NOTICE OVER BILLIONS LOST TO MEDICAID FRAUD The push also targets pharmacy benefit managers, the drug-pricing middlemen that administer prescription drug benefits for health plans and negotiate with drugmakers and pharmacies. The FEHB program cost the government and enrollees about $70 billion in fiscal 2024 and covered more than 8.2 million federal employees, family members and other eligible individuals, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. “OPM is a valuable partner and leader on the Task Force. The steps taken today will protect taxpayers and our federal workforce,” White House Task Force Executive Director Scott Brady told Fox News Digital. OPM is also building a data science and audit team with the agency’s inspector general to review anonymized claims data and detect fraud, waste and overbilling more proactively. HOUSE GOP LAUNCHES NEW TASK FORCE, PROBES ALLEGED $250B MEDICAID FRAUD IN OHIO The Government Accountability Office said in a July 2025 report that OPM should do more to manage fraud risks in the FEHB program, citing risks including benefit card sharing, improper inducements, insufficient or fraudulent documentation, kickbacks, marketing fraud, theft of personally identifiable information, provider ineligibility and self-referrals. The announcement marks the latest crackdown in medical programs following the launch of a nationwide probe into Medicaid. CMS directed all 50 states to submit plans to revalidate high-risk Medicaid providers, including providers subject to less rigorous enrollment standards or operating without a National Provider Identifier in April. Vice President JD Vance, who is leading the task force, amplified the call in May, saying during a news conference that states could lose federal funding if they fail to aggressively pursue Medicaid fraud. The push comes amid heightened focus on large-scale fraud cases, including Minnesota’s $250 million “Feeding Our Future” scheme, which became a national flashpoint in recent months.
Dan Sullivan accuses same-name challenger of trying to ‘rig’ Alaska Senate race
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, is in a predicament. The lawmaker, who is seeking a third term in the upper chamber, is staring down a tough challenge in former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska. But first, he’s got to beat Dan J. Sullivan, a same-name rival running against him in the Republican primary. The senator contended in an interview with Fox News Digital that the other Dan J. Sullivan, a political newcomer with few ties to the GOP, is a Democratic plant. GOP FIGHTS TO STOP MULTIPLE DAN SULLIVANS FROM APPEARING ON ALASKA BALLOT, CALLS CANDIDACY A ‘SHAM’ “His primary purpose is not to win an election, it’s to confuse Alaskans and rig the vote for my opponent, the Democrat,” Sullivan said. ”He’s not in it to win it. He’s in it to rig it.” The name confusion could prove particularly consequential in Alaska given its ranked-choice voting system, where voters list candidates in order of preference. If Dan J. Sullivan is allowed to stay on the primary ballot, both he and incumbent Dan S. Sullivan could advance to the general election in which the top four vote-getters will appear. Sullivan, the senator, is not the only one looking into Dan J. Sullivan, the candidate. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, requested that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) investigate an alleged “coordinated scheme” between Dan J. Sullivan and Amber Lee, an Alaska Democratic consultant tied to the nascent campaign. ACTBLUE CHIEF HEADS TO CAPITOL HILL HOT SEAT AS DONOR FRAUD PROBE INTENSIFIES Earlier this week, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, R-Alaska, sent a letter to Dan J. Sullivan citing “credible allegations” that he launched his candidacy to confuse voters at the ballot box and siphon off votes from the senator. “Specifically, it was alleged that you filed for office with the intent to use your identical first and last name and newfound affiliation with the Republican Party to confuse or deceive voters who intend to vote for Senator Sullivan into mistakenly voting for you instead,” Dahlstrom wrote Monday. “If true, this would be an unprecedented situation.” Dahlstrom, who is tasked with overseeing Alaska’s elections, said Dan J. Sullivan must clarify several details about his political background and campaign announcement to determine whether he can appear on the August primary ballot. DAN SULLIVAN VS. DAN SULLIVAN: GOP BLASTS CLONE CANDIDATE AS LOOKALIKE ENTERS ALASKA SENATE RACE The election official asked Dan. J. Sullivan to submit a sworn affidavit by Wednesday clarifying whether he had affiliated with the Republican Party before his Senate bid. Dahlstrom is also scrutinizing Dan J. Sullivan’s ties to Lee, who has supported Peltola during her prior House races. Metadata from the campaign’s announcement showed Lee as its author, Fox News Digital previously reported. Sullivan, the senator, contended that his primary opponent was a “far-left liberal,” with a track record of donating to Democrats. Dan J. Sullivan, a former schoolteacher and U.S. Forest Service employee, previously donated to former Rep. Mary Peltola, the top Democratic contender in the race, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. The lawmaker has asked his Democratic colleagues about the situation, and he said that they had no idea what’s going on. He’s turned his ire to the top, accusing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., the chair of Senate Democrats’ campaign committee, of colluding to defeat him. Alaska is among several battleground states that Democrats are aggressively targeting as part of their efforts to retake Senate control. Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer for comment. When asked about a coordinated effort to insert Dan J. Sullivan into the race, or if they were aware of his candidacy, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) said, “No.” “Is Schumer or Gillibrand and their staffs or the DSCC or the staff at the DSCC — were they aware? Were they coordinating, orchestrating? I mean, if that’s the case, that would be a huge scandal,” Sullivan said. “Think about it. Schumer has talked about flipping the Alaska seat, he hand-recruited and handpicked Peltola as his top recruit for Alaska, and now he’s trying to rig the election in Alaska by deceiving the voters,” he continued.
Sen Tom Cotton urges DOJ to probe Chinese bid to ‘kneecap’ American AI
Sen. Tom Cotton urged the Justice Department to investigate a covert campaign linked to China designed to “kneecap” America’s rapidly expanding artificial intelligence infrastructure in a letter obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital. In the letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Arkansas Republican calls for federal investigators to examine whether foreign actors are attempting to shape U.S. public opinion and policy against data centers and AI development as Washington and Beijing compete for dominance in artificial intelligence. “Recent reports show that Communist China is attempting to influence our policy and public opinion on data centers. The reason is obvious: they want to kneecap our processing power to win the AI race,” Cotton told Fox News Digital. “Americans should decide their own future free of communist propaganda. I’m encouraging the Department of Justice to investigate,” Cotton said. REPORT: CHINESE PROPAGANDA, SINGHAM NETWORK, FOREIGN DARK MONEY LINKED TO CAMPAIGNS AGAINST DATA CENTERS Cotton’s request follows the release of a report last week from the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., alleging that Chinese state media, foreign-funded advocacy groups and a network of organizations funded by American tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham have spent years building opposition to U.S. data center construction and AI infrastructure projects. Singham, an avowed Marxist and the founder of a Chicago-based company, Thoughtworks, that he sold in 2017, now lives in Shanghai, and has become a growing focus of congressional scrutiny and federal investigations. In March, as members of the Singham network were journeying to Havana to support the Communist Party of Cuba, Earlier this year, Fox News Digital published a five-part series documenting how Singham has funneled $278 million into a series of nonprofits, including groups at the heart of the protests against AI, data centers and technology firms in the U.S. As Fox News Digital has reported, 501(c)(3) nonprofits from the Singham network, including CodePink, the People’s Forum, Tricontinental and BreakThrough News, have participated and led campaigns opposing AI development, semiconductor export controls and large-scale data center projects. Singham, a self-avowed communist, started pumping the money into the groups after his 2017 marriage to Jodie Evans, the co-founder of CodePink. POWER COUPLE OF CHAOS: HOW A TYCOON AND ACTIVIST BUILT A ‘REVOLUTIONARY BASE’ AT THE HOUSE OF SINGHAM For years, groups funded by Singham have worked closely with two self-described communist groups in the U.S. — the ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation — that have organized foot soldiers to protest major U.S. technology, defense and logistics companies, such as Palantir Technologies, Lockheed-Martin and Google, to try to name-and-shame the firms for doing business with the U.S. government on issues from immigration to global geopolitics where China has major interests, including in Israel, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, South Korea and even Greenland. Pro-China protestors have seized on high electrical costs associated with operating a data center. One of the key themes of new protests is the rising electricity bills that consumers have been seeing in recent months. Earlier this year, Cotton introduced a bill, called the “DATA Act of 2026,” that would lift regulatory controls to allow manufacturers, data centers and other energy-intensive industries to build new electricity systems separate from the consumer electrical grid. More widely, Senate and House lawmakers have launched inquiries into the nonprofits in the Singham network, while questioning whether the groups should be required to register as “foreign agents” under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, called FARA, which demands that entities or individuals working for the interests of foreign interests register with the U.S. Justice Department as foreign lobbyists. “Alarming reports indicate that a network of foreign actors, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is attempting to manipulate U.S. policy and public opinion on data centers,” Cotton wrote in the letter. AGITATORS UNITED BY CHINESE MONEY, HATE FOR AMERICA TARGET DATA CENTERS, EXPERTS WARN Climate activists, anti-Israel protesters and other activist movements with very different agendas have become strange bedfellows united by a shared disdain for America and funding from China, according to experts who warn the trend is weakening the United States amid a rapidly accelerating AI race. They are seen as part of a “red-green-green alliance,” an ideological overlap between three elements: communist movements, characterized by the color red; Islamist activism, described as green; and environmental protest groups, symbolized as green. Cotton argued that America’s position in artificial intelligence will have sweeping implications for the country’s economic strength, military capabilities, diplomatic influence and national security. He warned that foreign adversaries shouldn’t be allowed to exploit public concerns over energy use, utility costs and water consumption to slow U.S. technological development. The Bitcoin Policy Institute report, “Foreign Influence in the Campaign Against American AI,” alleges that three separate streams of influence — Chinese state media, the Singham network and foreign-funded advocacy organizations — have increasingly aligned around efforts to block or delay new AI-related infrastructure in the United States. LAWMAKERS RAISE ALARM OVER NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM’S $278M NETWORK SPREADING CCP PROPAGANDA IN THE U.S. After their wedding in early 2017, Singham and Evans have transformed far-left protests in the United States, creating a machine that sounds the alarm for new protests from clear command-and-control centers within the Singham network, churns out pre-printed protest signs, shares common messaging and galvanizes around common themes that support China and condemn “AmeriKKKa,” as an “imperiaist nation,” borrowing on Russian and Chinese propaganda. According to the report by the Bitcoin Policy Institute, the Singham network “has spent nearly five years producing parallel domestic content opposing U.S. AI infrastructure, AI labs, and AI export controls.” The report argues that the campaign against American AI infrastructure creates a strategic advantage for Beijing at a time when China is aggressively investing in its own AI capabilities. “While Beijing’s state media warns American audiences that data centers are environmentally and economically dangerous, the Chinese state subsidizes up to half of the energy costs of its own AI data center operators,” the report states. KEVIN O’LEARY WARNS CHINA ‘KICKING OUR
Bill Gates faces House investigators over Jeffrey Epstein ties
House lawmakers are turning their focus to billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates as congressional investigators press ahead with their probe into Jeffrey Epstein and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Gates will participate in a voluntary interview with the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. Members on the panel are expected to pepper him with questions about his relationship with Epstein, which occurred years after Epstein’s 2008 prison term for soliciting a minor for prostitution. The interview will take place behind closed doors, though a transcript is expected to be made available at a later date. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., invited Gates to testify before the committee after he appeared multiple times across millions of documents released by the federal government as part of its criminal probe against Epstein. EPSTEIN FALLOUT GROWS AS DOJ WATCHDOG DIGS DEEPER INTO HANDLING OF THE CASE Gates and Epstein were shown corresponding, including discussions about the tech billionaire’s philanthropy work and socializing between 2011 and 2014. Epstein later killed himself in 2019 after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. According to the files, Epstein appeared to discover Gates’ extramarital affairs with two Russian women during his marriage to Melinda French Gates, which the tech billionaire has said did not involve Epstein’s victims. Gates has not been accused of any wrongdoing and has denied knowledge about Epstein’s sex crimes against minors. “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Gates said, according to a town hall recording reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, adding it was a “huge mistake” to spend time with Epstein. BILL GATES: ‘FOOLISH’ TO SPEND TIME WITH JEFFREY EPSTEIN A spokesperson for Gates previously told Fox News Digital that he welcomed the opportunity to testify before the committee. “While he never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein’s illegal conduct, he is looking forward to answering all the committee’s questions to support their important work,” the spokesperson said. The Microsoft founder is the latest influential figure to testify before the oversight panel in connection to the Epstein probe. Billionaire businessman Les Wexner, former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Pam Bondi and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have also participated in interviews with the committee. Kathryn Ruemmler, former White House counsel to former President Barack Obama, and Leon Black, co-founder of investment firm Apollo Global Management, are expected to sit for interviews in the coming weeks. Lawmakers have pointed to Gates’ association with Epstein after his conviction as a key focus of their inquiry. “We’ve said we don’t care if you are a Republican or a Democrat or who you are, the fact that Mr. Gates still had a relationship with Mr. Epstein, even after knowing about the conviction, knowing actually what he had done, I think is very concerning,” House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., told reporters Tuesday. “So we want to know what did Mr. Gates know, who else was around that orbit and why Mr. Gates continued to have a relationship with Mr. Epstein. I think those are important questions.” Fox News’ Dan Scully contributed to this report.
Europe’s $116B fighter jet ‘failure’ raises fresh doubts about ability to defend itself without US
Europe’s most ambitious effort to build a homegrown sixth-generation fighter jet has collapsed, dealing a major blow to the continent’s push for military independence just as NATO allies pledge historic increases in defense spending. France and Germany have abandoned the fighter jet portion of the Future Combat Air System project (FCAS), according to French and German officials — a roughly $116 billion project launched in 2017 to develop a next-generation combat aircraft intended to replace France’s Rafale fighter and Germany and Spain’s Eurofighter fleets by 2040. “The German authorities considered that it was not possible to put further pressure on the companies concerned,” the Élysée Palace, the office of French President Emmanuel Macron, said in a statement. The program was envisioned as Europe’s answer to future U.S. and Chinese airpower, combining a stealth fighter with advanced networking capabilities, artificial intelligence and accompanying drone aircraft. European leaders also viewed it as a cornerstone of the continent’s push for greater defense autonomy and a stronger domestic defense-industrial base. TRUMP PUSHED NATO TO SPEND BIG — NOW COMES THE HARDER QUESTION: CAN EUROPE ACTUALLY FIGHT? Concerns about the project’s viability had been building for months. Earlier in 2026, European Union Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius described the program as a “failure” and warned that Europe lacked successful examples of major multinational defense projects. Its collapse now raises fresh questions about whether Europe can translate promises of rearmament and strategic autonomy into the complex multinational weapons programs needed to compete with the United States and China. Sixth-generation fighters are expected to combine stealth technology, artificial intelligence, advanced sensors, networking systems and teams of accompanying drones. Military planners view them as the future of air combat and a key capability in potential conflicts involving major powers such as China or Russia. European leaders viewed the program as a test of whether Europe could develop cutting-edge military technology without relying on American defense contractors, making its collapse a setback for broader ambitions of defense self-sufficiency and strategic autonomy. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had publicly questioned whether Germany would even need a manned sixth-generation fighter by the time the aircraft entered service and argued that Berlin’s requirements differed from France’s, which wanted a future jet capable of carrying nuclear weapons and operating from aircraft carriers. The collapse comes at a pivotal moment for NATO, as alliance members have committed to sharply increase defense spending and expand military capabilities in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine and growing concerns about long-term European security. “It’s hardly ideal signalling either to Washington or to Moscow,” Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told Reuters. PENTAGON SLASHES NATO COMBAT COMMITMENTS AS TRUMP PUSHES EUROPE TO DEFEND ITSELF The collapse underscored the depth of disagreements between the governments and industrial partners involved in the program. Macron’s office said France would continue pursuing European defense cooperation despite the setback. “The French authorities will continue to encourage our companies and armed forces to explore ways and means of pursuing ambitious European projects that are consistent with our national security interests,” it added. The fighter program’s collapse also is raising questions about the future of other major European defense initiatives. France and Germany have struggled to maintain momentum on the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS), a next-generation tank project, while several other joint defense efforts have faced delays, restructuring or cancellation in recent years. Defense analysts say the Future Combat Air System failure is the latest example of Europe’s struggle to convert political commitments to military self-sufficiency into large-scale multinational defense programs, despite growing pressure to reduce reliance on U.S. military capabilities. German War Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin already is evaluating alternatives following the program’s collapse. “One is ordering more F-35s as a bridge solution or for whatever reason,” Pistorius told reporters Tuesday. Other options include joining another international fighter program already underway or pursuing a separate aircraft effort under German leadership with Airbus and other partners. Pistorius also offered a blunt assessment of the failed effort. “With what we know today, we would no longer launch this project in the way it was originally set up,” he said, describing FCAS as “an ambitious European project” that had “crashed into reality.” He attributed the collapse largely to tensions between Airbus and Dassault and differing military requirements between France and Germany. Germany and France launched the Future Combat Air System project in 2017, with Spain joining two years later. The aircraft was designed to operate alongside drones and a highly networked “combat cloud,” but the program had been edging toward collapse for months amid disputes over design authority, technology sharing and industrial control. French President Emmanuel Macron has long championed the concept of European “strategic autonomy,” arguing that Europe should reduce its dependence on the United States for critical defense capabilities. The Future Combat Air System was widely viewed as one of the most important tests of that vision. But disagreements emerged over industrial leadership, intellectual property rights, technology sharing and the future design of the aircraft itself. France sought to preserve key sovereign capabilities tied to its nuclear deterrent and aircraft carrier operations, while Germany pushed for a more equal industrial partnership. The program’s failure leaves uncertainty over how France, Germany and Spain will pursue future air combat capabilities. It also comes as a rival sixth-generation fighter effort — the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), led by the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan — continues to advance. The failure could also reinforce Europe’s dependence on American defense technology at a time when many European leaders say they want to reduce it. Germany already has committed to purchasing U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets, while numerous NATO allies have turned to American-made aircraft, missile defenses and long-range weapons systems since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. INSIDE AMERICA’S 6TH-GEN ARSENAL: B-21, F-47, AND THE FUTURE OF AIR DOMINANCE While France is unlikely to abandon its domestic aerospace industry, analysts say the demise of the Future Combat Air System project could make it
ActBlue chief heads to Capitol Hill hot seat as donor fraud probe intensifies
The embattled head of a Democratic fundraising powerhouse is slated to face a grilling by House lawmakers as questions swirl about whether the group misled Congress about alleged donor fraud. ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones will testify before the House Administration Committee in a potentially explosive hearing Wednesday, as a years-long congressional probe into how the payment processor vets overseas donors comes to a head. Wallace-Jones’ testimony will be the first time she has publicly addressed the fraud allegations. Hours before the hearing was scheduled to begin, Wallace-Jones announced she would invoke her right against self-incrimination when questioned by lawmakers, in an op-ed for The Washington Post. Representatives for ActBlue have repeatedly denied making false statements to Congress and have argued the Republican-led probe is politically motivated. HEAD OF DEM FUNDRAISING POWERHOUSE GETS CAPITOL HILL SUMMONS AS GOP PROBE ESCALATES Earlier this week, an attorney for Wallace-Jones requested that House Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., issue a subpoena for her testimony ahead of Wednesday’s hearing — weeks after she voluntarily agreed in May to appear before the committee on June 10. After Republicans promptly moved to subpoena Wallace-Jones, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that she planned to attend Wednesday’s hearing. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who have been involved with the ActBlue probe, are also expected to be waved onto the committee to question Wallace-Jones. Steil framed the hearing as part of a broader effort to prevent foreign money from entering the political sphere. “The goal of this investigation remains the same: to ensure that federal law effectively stops bad actors, including foreign actors, from making political donations to American candidates and campaigns through online fundraising platforms,” Steil wrote in a letter to Wallace-Jones Wednesday, accompanying the subpoena request reviewed by Fox News Digital. The House Administration Committee has scrutinized ActBlue since 2023 over the payment processor’s fraud prevention practices and its processing of overseas donations that may have been routed into U.S. elections. Nonresident foreign nationals are generally prohibited from making political contributions to federal and state candidates, candidate committees and political action committees. Wednesday’s hearing comes after Republicans accelerated their scrutiny of ActBlue, following a story in The New York Times earlier this year reporting that the group’s former outside counsel warned Wallace-Jones that she may have made false statements to Steil’s panel about its fraud screening practices. The attorneys found that some of the anti-fraud measures described to congressional investigators were not always followed as outlined, according to the report. ActBlue did not immediately correct the record with the House Administration Committee, despite internally updating donor screening practices, the Times reported. The payment processor later acknowledged that certain fraud prevention practices had been strengthened in a June 2025 letter to Steil’s committee. DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT IN THE HOT SEAT AS GOP LAWMAKERS DEMAND ANSWERS OVER DODGED SUBPOENA Republicans have argued that the discrepancy between ActBlue’s statements to Congress and its internal practices was likely “an attempt to avoid negative attention,” as Steil wrote in a letter Tuesday to Wallace-Jones. Steil has sharply criticized ActBlue personnel for refusing to fully cooperate with the committee’s probe. Five current and former ActBlue employees asserted their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination a combined 146 times when their testimony was subpoenaed by the committee. The GOP-led panel has also expanded its ActBlue investigation beyond Wallace-Jones. Steil requested earlier in June that five members of ActBlue’s Board of Directors sit for transcribed interviews to discuss their involvement in the group’s response to congressional scrutiny and how it addressed a wave of departures within the organization amid internal turmoil over whether Wallace-Jones misled Congress. Two unions affiliated with ActBlue warned the board about a “growing pattern of volatility and toxicity” among leadership, including alleged retaliation against a whistleblower, the Times reported. Steil’s panel has also requested a swath of documents from ActBlue board members. The targeted individuals have until June 16 to comply, according to a letter previously obtained by Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital reached out to ActBlue for comment before publication.
Top takeaways from the primary elections in Maine and South Carolina: ‘Movement about us’
BLUE HILL, Maine – Graham Platner, the progressive left, and Donald Trump appear to be the big winners in Tuesday’s high-profile primaries in Maine and South Carolina. Platner, the oyster farmer and military combat veteran who has been facing plenty of incoming fire amid mounting controversies, cruised to the Democratic nomination Tuesday in left-leaning Maine and will now face longtime moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a key race that is among a handful which will likely determine if Republicans hold their Senate majority in the midterm elections. Meanwhile, in solidly red South Carolina, Trump-backed Sen. Lindsey Graham won a majority of the vote in the Senate GOP primary and will avoid a runoff against a primary challenger from the right. And the candidate the president endorsed in the state’s Republican gubernatorial primary, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, finished on top of a crowded field of contenders and will advance to a runoff election in two weeks against longtime South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who came in second. Here’s what we learned in the key June 9th primaries. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB The left storms back The convincing victory by Platner, who was backed by progressive champions Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, looks to be another feather in the cap for the left in their intra-party face-off with the establishment. The primary in Maine was held a week after Iowa state Rep. John Turek, who was supported by longtime Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, won the Democratic Senate primary and will face Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson in another crucial midterm showdown. Turek, a wheelchair basketball player who won two Paralympic gold medals, defeated the more progressive candidate, state Sen. Zach Wahls. The divisive and expensive primary battle was viewed as a proxy war between the establishment and anti-establishment wings of the party. Fast-forward a week and the ballot box performance by Platner, who promotes an economically populist agenda as he takes aim at corporate influences and advocates for the working class, gives a boost to the left. “The Democratic establishment and powerful interests spent months trying to stop Graham Platner. Instead, they demonstrated that voters in Maine and across America want to elect shake-up-the-system outsiders,” Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder Adam Green emphasized. And Green warned that Platner’s victory “should be a wake-up call for a Democratic establishment that has spent too long underestimating the appeal of economic populism and outsider politics.” EMBATTLED PLATNER WINS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY TO TEE UP CRUCIAL MIDTERM SHOWDOWN What controversies? Platner in recent weeks has been facing one of the roughest stretches of his bid for the U.S. Senate. The candidate has been playing defense the past month, amid multiple controversies. They include inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, recent reports that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married, and new allegations last week from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes. Platner has called the latest allegations of violence untrue. On Monday, a day before the primary election, a former high-level staffer from the Platner campaign wrote in the Washington Post that Platner “is not someone who would be good for Maine or for the country.” While the mounting controversies triggered some Democrats in the nation’s capital to question whether Platner was damaged goods and needed to be replaced, the candidate this past weekend thanked Maine voters for continuing to support him. “When hurtful things I said on the internet a decade ago came out into the public as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth. Maine had my back,” Platner said at a rally Friday not far from his hometown in Down East Maine. “Now, as every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back. And when politically motivated, serious and false accusations are made against me. Maine, you have my back.” THE GROWING LIST OF CONTROVERSIES THREATENING DEMOCRAT GRAHAM PLATNER’S MAINE SENATE BID And voters in Maine’s Democratic Senate primary seemed to shrug off the controversies. “In trying so hard to understand me, they failed to understand that this is not about me at all,” Platner said in his victory speech as he dismissed news reports about his past misdeeds as immaterial to the Senate election. “This is a movement about us, about the far too many working far too hard and struggling far too much.” Trump has a big night The president wasn’t on the ballot in South Carolina, but he had plenty on the line in the GOP Senate and gubernatorial primaries. One week after Trump’s endorsement-winning streak in high-profile Republican primaries was snapped, the president’s immense clout over the GOP was on the line again, this time in South Carolina. And the president easily passed the test. The candidate Trump endorsed in the Palmetto State’s GOP gubernatorial primary, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, finished first in a crowded field of candidates and clinched one of the two tickets in the race for the nomination. TRUMP ALLY LINDSEY GRAHAM SURVIVES CHALLENGE FROM GOP’S ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT WING Evette, who repeatedly spotlighted Trump’s support, now advances to a Republican runoff election in two weeks against South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, the second place finisher, in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Henry McMaster. Since no candidate topped 50% of the primary vote to land a majority, Evette and Wilson will battle for the nomination in the June 23 runoff, and the winner will be considered the clear favorite in the general election in the solidly red southeastern state. Meanwhile, in the South Carolina GOP Senate primary, longtime Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham did win a majority of the vote, and will avoid a runoff, the Associated Press reported. Graham, who was endorsed