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FIRST ON FOX — Former Vice President Mike Pence is urging congressional Republicans to cut off federal taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, warning in exclusive comments to Fox News Digital that failure to act would hand the organization a massive paycheck on Independence Day.

Pence’s demands come alongside a new policy roadmap from his conservative think tank, the Advancing American Freedom Foundation (AAFF), which outlines 20 key legislative priorities for an upcoming “Reconciliation 2.0” package. 

One of the top items on Pence’s agenda is ensuring that a temporary ban on Medicaid funding for abortion providers, initially passed in a sweeping legislative package known as the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), does not expire July 4, as scheduled.

FORMER VP PENCE VOWS TO BE A ‘VOICE AGAINST’ TRUMP WHEN PRESIDENT VEERS FROM ‘CONSERVATIVE AGENDA’

“Congressional Republicans must deliver for pro-life Americans by extending the ban on federal funding for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers,” Pence told Fox News Digital. 

“If Congress does not act, Planned Parenthood will celebrate America’s 250th birthday with taxpayer funding. Renewed federal funding for Planned Parenthood is unacceptable to me and to millions of pro-life Americans across the United States.”

The AAFF memo provides GOP lawmakers with a strategy to permanently ban or extend the temporary pause on taxpayer funding for abortion providers.

If Congress faces challenges in directly cutting off the cash flow, the group suggested hitting abortion providers with a new tax that matches the exact amount of Medicaid funds they receive in a given year.

While defunding abortion providers is one of the cornerstones of Pence’s push, the AAFF roadmap proposes 19 other priorities, including targeting companies that hire illegal immigrant workers, requiring strict citizenship and address checks for voters and repealing “green energy” subsidies.

It also recommends expanding tax-advantaged Trump Accounts for children’s savings, rewarding states that adopt school choice programs and slashing federal spending by penalizing states that hand out fraudulent or improper Medicaid and welfare payments.

“By sending 20 solid, conservative policy proposals to Congress that will help eliminate waste, fraud and abuse; strengthen election integrity; and expand on the tax policy wins of the One Big Beautiful Bill, the policy team at Advancing American Freedom Foundation continues to directly impact the day-to-day policy debate in Washington, D.C.,” Pence said.

“Policy memos from dedicated conservative think tanks are essential to advancing conservative policy through the legislative process,” he added. “I trust that representatives and senators and their policy teams will continue to find AAF’s memos as their go-to resource for need-to-know information on policy.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Planned Parenthood for comment.

Democrats scored a major victory on Tuesday as a congressional redistricting referendum that could give the party a significant boost in the battle for the U.S. House of Representatives majority in this year’s midterm elections was passed by Virginia voters, The Associated Press reports as of 8:49 p.m. ET.

The ballot measure gives the Democrat-controlled Virginia legislature — rather than the state’s current nonpartisan commission — temporary redistricting power through the 2030 election. It could result in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in Virginia’s congressional delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge.

That would give the Democrats four additional left-leaning U.S. House seats ahead of the midterms as the party tries to win back control of the chamber from the GOP, which currently holds a razor-thin majority.

The standalone spring referendum capped months of political crossfire and court battles, sky-high early voting turnout, and tons of national attention and money poured into the ballot box showdown.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

Even though a majority of voters gave the ballot initiative a thumbs up, it still faces legal challenges.

The Supreme Court of Virginia allowed the referendum to move forward after a lower court struck it down. But legal challenges to the referendum remain unresolved and are still before Virginia’s highest court.

Republicans had railed against the Democrat-backed referendum.

“It’s the most partisan map in America,” former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin told supporters at his final campaign stop, in northern Virginia, on the eve of the election.

Pointing to the Democrats pushing new maps, Youngkin charged, “What they are doing is immoral.”

Teaming up with Youngkin to crisscross the state in leading the GOP opposition to the ballot initiative was former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, who told the crowd the Democrats’ map is one that “you draw when you’re drunk with power.”

BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE RUNS THROUGH VIRGINIA AS COURT OKS HIGH-STAKES REDISTRICTING VOTE

Speaking with Fox News Digital ahead of their final election eve rally, Miyares charged that “Democrats want to take away the voices of millions of Virginians and gerrymander the state.”

Youngkin, pointing to the duo’s relentless campaigning in recent weeks, said: “What we’re hearing over and over and over again is Virginians want fair maps. And what the yes vote represents are unfair maps.”

And the two Republicans reiterated their charge that the referendum was an “unconstitutional power grab” by the Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger and the Democrats who control the state legislature.

As Youngkin and Miyares spoke in Leesburg, President Donald Trump took to the airwaves on a popular Virginia-based conservative talk show and later teamed up with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to urge voters to defeat the referendum.

Pointing to congressional Democrats, Trump warned that “if they get these additional seats, they’re going to be making changes at the federal level.”

SPANBERGER FACES ‘BAIT AND SWITCH’ BACKLASH AHEAD OF CRUCIAL ELECTION

Democrats countered that the redrawing of the maps was a necessary step to balance out partisan gerrymandering already implemented by Republicans in other states at Trump’s urging.

“By voting yes, you have the chance to do something important — not just for the commonwealth, but for our entire country,” former President Barack Obama said in a video released Friday on the eve of the final day of early voting. “By voting yes, you can push back against the Republicans trying to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms.”

“By voting yes, you can take a temporary step to level the playing field. And we’re counting on you,” the former president added.

The video by Obama was the former president’s latest effort tied to the referendum. He had previously appeared in ads released by Virginians for Fair Elections, the Democrat-aligned group working to pass the ballot initiative.

OBAMA GOES ALL IN ON HIGH-STAKES REFERENDUM THAT MAY IMPACT MIDTERM ELECTIONS

But Virginians for Fair Maps, the leading Republican-aligned group opposing redistricting, used past comments by Obama against political gerrymandering in its ads opposing the referendum.

“Because of things like political gerrymandering, our parties have moved further and further apart, and it’s harder and harder to find common ground,” the former president said in an old clip showcased in the spot.

Republicans pointed to comments from Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, a former Virginia governor and former chair of the Democratic National Committee, who acknowledged this past weekend in a “Fox News Sunday” interview that the new maps don’t represent Virginia’s partisan breakdown.

“Ninety percent of Virginians are not Democrats, that’s true,” Kaine said.

But Kaine added that “about 100% of Virginians want election results to be respected.”

SOROS-BACKED GROUP AMONG LIBERAL ORGS PUMPING EYE-POPPING CASH INTO VIRGINIA GERRYMANDERING EFFORT

And Republicans took aim at Spanberger, who won last November’s gubernatorial election by over 15 points as Democrats also captured the lieutenant governor and attorney general offices.

“Abigail Spanberger told everybody last summer that she had no interest in redistricting and then the first bill she signs is a bill to enable the gerrymandering of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginians don’t like this and that’s why independents and a lot of Democrats are voting no too,” Youngkin told Fox News Digital.

Minutes later, Youngkin told the crowd that Spanberger is “trying to disenfranchise millions, millions, of Virginians.”

Republicans trained their redistricting firepower on Spanberger since a poll two weeks ago by The Washington Post indicated that the new governor’s approval rating was barely above water, with the highest unfavorable rating for a new Virginia governor in two decades.

“She’s an unpopular governor with an unpopular agenda, and she lied to the voters,” Miyares charged.

And Miyares and other top Republicans accused Spanberger of pulling a “bait and switch.”

Spanberger, in an ad in support of the referendum, said she was backing the measure because “it’s directly in response to what other states decide to do and a president who says he’s quote entitled to more Republican seats before this year’s midterms. Our approach is different. It’s temporary. It preserves Virginia’s fair redistricting process into the future.”

Supporters of redistricting dramatically outraised and outspent groups opposed to the referendum, with Virginians for Fair Elections outraising Virginians for Fair Maps by a roughly three-to-one margin. Much of the funding raised by both sides came from so-called “dark money” from nonprofit public policy groups known as 501(c)(4) organizations that are not required to disclose their donors.

Despite the Democrats’ funding advantage, recent polling suggested support for the ballot initiative was only slightly ahead of opposition amid a surge in early voting, which ended on Saturday.

“They have outspent us three to one. They’ve raised over $70 million. And yet this is a close vote,” Youngkin said.

Pointing to the ads in support of the referendum, Youngkin said Virginians “aren’t believing the mistruths. They aren’t believing the lies on TV. They’re actually doing the work themselves and understanding that a no vote is for fair maps and a yes vote is for the most gerrymandered maps in America.”

And Miyares emphasized that Democrats “outspent us but we have the truth.”

Virginia is the latest battleground in the high-stakes fight between Trump and the GOP and Democrats over congressional redistricting.

Aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterms, Trump last spring first floated the idea of rare, but not unheard of, mid-decade congressional redistricting.

The mission was simple: redraw congressional district maps in red states to pad the GOP’s fragile House majority to keep control of the chamber in the midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

When asked by reporters last summer about his plan to add Republican-leaning House seats across the country, the president said, “Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.”

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas called a special session of the GOP-dominated state legislature to pass the new map.

But Democratic state lawmakers, who broke quorum for two weeks as they fled Texas in a bid to delay the passage of the redistricting bill, energized Democrats across the country.

Among those leading the fight against Trump’s redistricting was Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

California voters in November overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that temporarily sidetracked the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and returned the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated legislature.

That is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, which aimed to counter the move by Texas to redraw their maps.

The fight quickly spread beyond Texas and California.

Republican-controlled Missouri and Ohio and swing state North Carolina, where the GOP dominates the legislature, have drawn new maps as part of the president’s push.

In blows to Republicans, a Utah district judge late last year rejected a congressional district map drawn by the state’s GOP-dominated legislature and instead approved an alternate that will create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the midterms.

Republicans in Indiana’s Senate in December defied Trump, shooting down a redistricting bill that had passed the state House. The showdown in the Indiana statehouse grabbed plenty of national attention.

Florida is next up.

Two-term Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and state lawmakers in the GOP-dominated legislature are hoping to pick up an additional three to five right-leaning seats through a redistricting push during a special legislative session that kicks off April 28.

Hovering over the redistricting wars is the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule in Louisiana v. Callais, a crucial case that may lead to the overturning of a key provision in the Voting Rights Act.

If the ruling goes the way of the conservatives on the high court, it could lead to the redrawing of a slew of majority-minority districts across the county, which would greatly favor Republicans.

But it is very much up in the air when the court will rule and what it will actually decide.

FBI Director Kash Patel and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on Tuesday a sweeping indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), accusing the far-left nonprofit of fraudulently paying members of extremist groups.

A grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama returned an 11-count indictment charging the SPLC with six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to Blanche.

The SPLC is a nonprofit that claims to fight white supremacy and racial hatred by reporting on extremist groups, and conducting research to inform law enforcement groups with the goal of dismantling the groups.

Blanche said the SPLC was paying roughly $270,000 to a member of the leadership group that planned the Unite the Right protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, that resulted in the death of one person and injured dozens more. 

He added that between 2014 and 2023, SPLC paid at least $3 million to eight people, three of whom were allegedly affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, National Socialist Movement, Aryan Nations affiliated Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club, the Nationalist Socialist Party of America Nazis and the American Front. 

“It was doing the exact opposite of what its told its donors it was doing, not dismantling extremism, but funding it to carry out this scheme,” Blanche said. “SPLC created bank accounts in the name of at least five completely fictitious organizations that had no bona fide employees or legitimate business purpose.”

“The money was passed from SPLC to one sham account, to a second sham account, and then loaded onto prepaid cards to give to the members of the extremist groups,” he continued. “This was designed to shield the source of those funds, and because of this, SPLC is also charged with one count, as I said earlier, of conspiracy to commit money laundering.”

Patel said the FBI’s investigation revealed the SPLC also attempted to hide their alleged criminal activity from financial banking networks. 

“They set up shell companies and entities around America so that the financial institutions that we rely on as everyday Americans were deceived in believing that money was not coming from the Southern Poverty Law Center in the perpetration of this scheme and fraud, but rather fictitious entities,” Patel said. “They stood up to perpetuate this ongoing fraud. This is a serious and egregious violation of a group that purported to dismantle violent extremist groups, but in turn actually only fueled that hatred.”

A federal appeals court upheld a Texas law requiring public schools across the state to display the Ten Commandments.

The ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals came after Texas Republican-led legislature passed the law.

“This is one of the most important religious liberty victories for Texas in our glorious history,” said Jonathan Saenz, president and attorney for Texas Values, which defended the law. “Texas continues to lead the nation in defending both religious liberty and constitutional truth.”

“Today’s ruling confirms that our state can honor the moral heritage that undergirds our legal system without violating the First Amendment,” he added. “This decision makes clear that acknowledging the historical foundations of our laws is not only permissible — it is fully consistent with the Constitution.”

This story is breaking. Please check back for updates. 

President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed the CEO of a sticker company—who once fought local officials to keep a massive pro-Trump sign on his factory—to fill the House seat of outgoing Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.

In a move that defied the preferred nominee of the New York GOP, Trump threw his support toward Anthony Constantino over Assembly member Robert Smullen.

“It is my Great Honor to endorse America First Patriot, Anthony Constantino, who is running to represent the fantastic people of New York’s 21st Congressional District,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Constantino told Fox News Digital that he spoke with Trump and was honored to receive the nod. “He noted every primary candidate he endorses wins, so I look forward to winning the general election and making everyone who supported me very proud once I am in Congress,” he said.

TRUMP CONTINUES LAMBASTING INCUMBENT REPUBLICAN THOMAS MASSIE AS CHALLENGER FILES TO ENTER RACE

While Smullen has garnered the support of establishment Republican leaders, Constantino has received endorsements from high-profile Trump allies, including Roger Stone and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Smullen and the New York GOP.

Constantino, the CEO of Sticker Mule, gained national attention after installing a 100-foot “Vote for Trump” sign atop his manufacturing facility in Montgomery County, New York, prior to the 2024 election. The sign sparked a local legal battle, which the president highlighted in his endorsement.

“Anthony has been such a Great Supporter that he actually put up a somewhat ‘controversial’ sign, against strong opposition, in my honor. The sign is still there!” Trump wrote.

STEFANIK RECEIVES TOP JEWISH AWARD DAYS AFTER ANNOUNCING NEW YORK GOVERNOR BID AT MANHATTAN GALA

Speaking to reporters in Albany shortly after the announcement, Smullen accused Roger Stone of duping the president into a rushed endorsement. Smullen argued that Stone, who advises Constantino, had misled the president, the New York Post reported.

“A consultant got to the president, someone who is being paid by my opponent, and I think the president’s made a mistake,” Smullen said, adding that Trump needs to hear “the facts.”

Constantino, a formerly registered Democrat, was inspired to run for Congress following the first assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Penn. He previously told Fox News Digital that the president “doesn’t deserve all the hate directed at him,” adding that Trump’s supporters don’t deserve it either.

Stefanik’s seat became open after a shifting series of political moves.

Upon taking office, Trump initially nominated her to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations but later withdrew the nomination over concerns of retaining the thin House Republican majority. Stefanik subsequently ran a short-lived campaign for Governor of New York before announcing she would not seek re-election to Congress.

Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., blasted an effort to remove him from office over domestic abuse allegations and other misconduct claims, telling Fox News Digital on Monday that Rep. Nancy Mace’s, R-S.C., push is a political stunt.

“This is political theatrics,” Mills said of Mace’s resolution while at the Capitol on Monday. “… She’s essentially saying she’s judge, juror and executioner.”

Mace introduced an expulsion resolution on Monday, citing a House Ethics Committee probe of Mills. It’s the latest development in a series of allegations that have clung to Mills since reports began circulating last year of alleged predatory behavior towards former romantic partners.

Mills has denied wrongdoing and hasn’t been charged with any crimes, although he has been referred for investigation to the House Ethics Committee, the body charged with scrutinizing lawmakers suspected of breaking congressional rules of conduct.

NANCY MACE DEMANDS AIRPORT CEO RESIGN AFTER CLAIMS SHE MISTREATED STAFF

Although the committee can refer a matter to the Department of Justice (DOJ), an investigation by the committee does not implicate wrongdoing on its own.

Mills told Fox News Digital on Monday at the U.S. Capitol that if lawmakers move to expel him before the House Ethics Committee reaches any conclusion, they would also have to consider expelling Mace, who is herself under ethics review over lodging reimbursement claims.

“This is really interesting, coming from someone like Ms. Mace. If this is the precedent for expulsion, then she herself would be under that same precedent,” Mills said.

“She’s saying as ‘long as you’re under an ethics investigation’ — oh but wait — Ms. Mace is under an ethics investigation for allegedly renting her own home to herself as an Airbnb, utilizing taxpayer funding,” Mills said.

Mills faces allegations of domestic abuse from an incident in February 2025 and a separate case of blackmail from July that same year, where he allegedly threatened to release explicit images of a romantic partner.

Mills’ comments come amid a handful of other lawmakers resigning over alleged misconduct of their own and a moment of heightened scrutiny on lawmaker conduct.

Most notably, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., first abandoned a California gubernatorial bid and then resigned his seat earlier this month when several women accused him of sexual abuse, coercion and rape.

Days later, Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, announced plans to leave office after months of public outrage over revelations about an intimate relationship with a staffer who had committed suicide by setting herself on fire.

REP. CORY MILLS DENIES WRONGDOING AS POLICE INVESTIGATE ALLEGED ‘ASSAULT’

Unlike Gonzales and Swalwell, Mills noted that he is currently not under investigation outside of Congress.

“The bottom line is there is absolutely no criminal or civil investigation that’s even open about me,” Mills said.

Even in the absence of a federal probe, Mace argued that the “evidence against Mills is overwhelming.”

“Beating women and telling them to lie about it, cyberstalking women … Any Member who votes to keep him here is voting to protect a woman beater and a fraud. He needs to be expelled immediately,” Mace said in a press release.

Mills believes Mace’s motion to expel him is an attempt to set a new bar for removing sitting members of Congress — one that he believes goes too far.

“It’s one thing to introduce it for political theatrics and fundraising. It’s another to notice it for a vote. She’s setting a very dangerous precedent.”

DEM SENATOR RIPPED FOR ‘SMEAR’ OF FEMALE ACTIVIST ADVOCATING FOR SWALWELL’S ACCUSERS: ‘VERY BAD LOOK’

Mace’s resolution will likely hit the floor for consideration later this week.

Senate Republicans launched their party-line gamble Tuesday to fund immigration operations for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s time in office.

The GOP took its first step in the budget reconciliation process, which is meant to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for the next three-and-a-half years. The party-line vote sets up a forthcoming marathon vote on amendments in the upper chamber before the budget blueprint is shipped to the House.

It’s a maneuver meant to cut Democrats out of the process, as they refused to fund immigration operations absent stringent reforms during weeks of negotiations to end the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown.

SENATE REPUBLICANS UNVEIL IMMIGRATION FUNDING PLAN WITH $140 BILLION PRICE TAG AS GOP AIMS TO SPEND LESS

“Republicans are doing something that must be done quickly, and that our Democrat colleagues are trying to prevent us from doing,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who crafted the resolution. “That something is simple: fully fund Border Patrol and ICE at a time of great threat to the United States.”

Republicans earlier unveiled their budget resolution, which will serve as the guiding framework as the GOP moves forward to fund immigration enforcement. It sets instructions for the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to spend up to $70 billion each.

While the combined sum of $140 billion is eye-popping, Republicans are eyeing between $70 billion and $80 billion as the final total for immigration enforcement and want to give both committees maximum flexibility as they craft the legislative meat of the package.

Senate Democrats argue that the money could go toward tackling affordability issues in the country, citing healthcare, housing, and soaring gas prices stemming from President Donald Trump’s war in Iran as examples.

SENATE GOP READYING PARTY-LINE FUNDING BILL DESPITE DIVISIONS, ANGER AT THE HOUSE

“No reforms, no accountability, no strings attached, let it sink in,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “One hundred forty billion for ICE, $0 to lower your costs. That’s these days what the Republican Party seems to stand for. Senate Republicans are choosing to follow Trump and Stephen Miller instead of the needs of the American families.”

Turning to the party-line process to fund immigration operations was not the first choice for Republicans, but one made out of necessity given Democrats’ blockade of funding for ICE and much of CBP.

Still, some are worried about the precedent that could be set for how Congress is supposed to fund the government.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., raised that concern and argued, “I don’t see any way, in a Trump administration, that they’re gonna come to the table and fund those two agencies.”

SENATE REPUBLICANS RACE TO FUND ICE, CBP WITHOUT DEMOCRATS AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS

“We tried to avoid this. But at some point, we recognized that they’re just not gonna get to ‘yes,’” Thune said. “And that was pretty clear after spending weeks trying to negotiate with them.”

Still, Republicans have a long way to go before they advance the budget resolution to the House — and even further before the final product lands on Trump’s desk. He’s demanded that the GOP produce the package no later than June 1.

Not every Republican in the upper chamber is thrilled with the narrow scope of the plan, with some wanting to front-load several issues into one package out of concern they may not get another shot.

For now, however, they’re moving full speed ahead.

“It’s not am I OK with it, is the president’s administration OK with it,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a fiscal hawk who was critical of the GOP’s previous reconciliation attempt. “I mean, do they think they have enough through fiscal year 2029? That’s their call, not mine.”

A left-wing lawfare group is trying to uncover records that might prove FBI Director Kash Patel engaged in behavior unfit for his role, such as “excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”

Democracy Forward, a group that supports left-wing policy positions in court on issues like DEI, immigration and abortion, sent a 16-page Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Justice Department on Tuesday. It asks for documents, schedules and communications that seek to prove allegations made against Patel in a recent article published by The Atlantic.

The report suggests the FBI Director has a drinking problem, poses a national security risk and is at the helm of persistent management failures at the bureau — and it comes as lawmakers warn Patel ‘is next’ after three Trump cabinet secretaries exited the administration in recent weeks.

DEMS’ ‘DELAY TACTIC’ TO ‘MALIGN’ PATEL AND STALL FBI CONFIRMATION DISMISSED AS ‘BASELESS’ BY TOP SENATE LEADER

“Kash Patel should be next,” Democrat House Whip Katherine Clark said after news broke of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s exit Monday following a probe into her own alleged ethical lapses.

“Start the clock,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., added following the Atlantic’s report.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Justice Department, the FBI and representatives for Patel regarding the FOIA request, but did not hear back in time for publication.

Meanwhile, Patel filed earlier this week a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic for its reporting on his alleged conduct.

Democratic Party leadership warning the FBI and DOJ about its duty to preserve all records related to alleged incidents involving Patel that could become subject to a potential congressional inquiry. Then came the FOIA filing.

“Democracy Forward Foundation seeks records that would help the public understand the issues raised in the Atlantic article as it relates to previous reporting on potential concerns surrounding Director Patel’s ability to run a key law enforcement agency and his use of taxpayer dollars,” the group’s letter to the Justice Department states.

PATEL DOUBLES DOWN ON FBI ELECTION HUB RAID, SAYS TRUMP CALLED AGENTS DIRECTLY TO THANK THEM FOR OPERATION

The group is interested in Patel’s calendars, schedule, text messages and other electronic communications between himself and his staff. Democracy Forward also specifically asks for any records reflecting “a request for or use of ‘breaching equipment’ that was made by or used by Director Kash Patel’s security detail.”

The request comes at a time when the DOJ is facing it’s own shake-up after Pam Bondi was ousted as Attorney General earlier this month.Todd Blanche, once Bondi’s deputy, is serving as Acting Attorney General.

When asked about Patel’s future as the top dog at the FBI, Republican strategist Mark Bednar, who has worked for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and current Transportation Secretary and former Congressman Sean Duffy, was more supportive of his tenure, arguing the FBI has seen positive change since Patel took charge.

“In the years leading up to President Trump being elected to his second term, the American people had lost confidence in the FBI as an institution. Kash Patel is part of President Trump’s goal of revitalizing the agency and executing on the “Make America Safe Again” agenda,” Bednar told Fox News Digital.

A separate GOP strategist who requested anonymity argued that if Patel leaves it won’t be because of The Atlantic hit piece.

“If Kash Patel goes down, it won’t be because of a damaging Atlantic story, which is a badge of honor in this Administration,” they told Fox News Digital. “It’s more likely because the President views him as becoming a liability during a time of war, as well as a desire to clean house in one fell swoop as the midterms approach.”

“There’s already blood in the water with the three ousted Cabinet picks, and knocking out one more gives the President a chance to head into November with a refreshed slate and the best team around him.”

A University of Michigan Board of Regents member was ousted after Michigan Democrats selected a candidate who shared social media posts praising Hezbollah as the party’s nominee.

Amir Makled, a trial lawyer, bested incumbent Regent Jordan Acker, who is Jewish, for the Democratic Party’s nomination at the state party’s convention over the weekend, sparking criticism from a former leader of the state’s Democratic Party.

More than a week before Michigan’s Democratic Convention, the Detroit News reported that Makled had shared and later deleted posts on X praising Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah and Abu Ali Khalil, who were both killed in Israeli airstrikes. In both posts Makled shared, Nasrallah and Khalil are dubbed “martyrs.”

UC DAVIS PROFESSOR WHO POSTED VIOLENT THREATS AGAINST ‘ZIONISTS’ KEEPS JOB AFTER DISCIPLINE

The Democratic nominee also shared a now-deleted post from Candace Owens in which she called Israelis “demons” who “lie, steal, cheat, murder and blackmail.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Makled for comment.

Brandon Dillon, the former head of Michigan’s Democratic Party, penned an opinion piece in the Detroit News criticizing Makled’s candidacy that was published just days before Makled won the party’s nomination. Dillon said Makled is not a Democrat and that his social media behavior reflects “a pattern of extremism and bigotry.”

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER ADDRESSES HUNDREDS OF ‘WANTED’ POSTERS FOR JEWISH FACULTY MEMBERS POSTED AROUND CAMPUS

“These are not isolated missteps or comments taken out of context,” Dillon wrote in the Detroit News. “They reflect a broader pattern of poor judgment that should raise serious concern.”

In his acceptance speech for the party’s nomination, Makled gave a nod to students involved in anti-Israel protests that formed on the University of Michigan’s campus in the wake of the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel.

“To these students, the students who spoke up, the students who organized, the students who refused to let anyone tell them that their education wasn’t worth fighting for, you all reminded us what a public university is supposed to be,” Makled said.

ELITE UNIVERSITY ATTENDED BY TRUMP’S SON CRACKS DOWN ON LEFT-WING STUDENT AGITATORS

Makled, who legally represented University of Michigan students involved in anti-Israel campus protests, had previously called for the university system to divest from Israel.

The anti-Israel protests which formed at the University of Michigan led to reports of antisemitic attacks against Jewish students. The University of Michigan was one of 60 universities notified by the Department of Education that it was being investigated for violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for failing to properly address antisemitic harassment and discrimination.

In December 2024 — just months before the Education Department shared its notice with the University of Michigan — the car belonging to outgoing Regent Acker was vandalized. The words “Divest… Free Palestine” and an inverted triangle, a reference to Hamas, were spray-painted in red across Acker’s vehicle.

At the time of the attack, Acker said it was the third time that year he’d been victimized by anti-Israel vandals.

Fox News Digital reached out to Acker for comment.

Rep. lhan Omar, D-Minn., brushed past questions from a Fox News Digital reporter on Monday about reported accounting errors that had previously inflated her reported wealth by millions, declining to explain the discrepancies.

Omar’s finances continued to grab national attention on Friday, when Congressional disclosures reviewed by the Wall Street Journal indicated that Omar’s wealth is somewhere between $18,000 and $95,000 — a far cry from previous reports that had put her wealth between $6 and $30 million.

Fox News Digital attempted to ask Omar about the discrepancies, but the Minnesota congresswoman ignored the questions while chatting and laughing with another woman. 

MAN ACCUSED OF SPRAYING OMAR HAS CRIMINAL RECORD AS CONGRESSWOMAN VOWS ‘A–HOLES’ WON’T WIN

Omar’s office previously said the new numbers would end suspicion that Omar may have used her position on Capitol Hill to monetarily benefit her and her husband.

“The amended disclosure confirms what we’ve said all along: The congresswoman is not a millionaire,” Omar spokesperson Jacklyn Rogers told the Wall Street Journal on Friday.

Rogers noted that the filing was corrected “as soon as the discrepancy was identified.”

While the new figures undercut concerns about the size of her wealth and where it came from, they also bring new questions of their own, including how they had been so far off the mark in the first place.

Omar came under fire last year when disclosure reporting revealed she and her husband accumulated up to $30 million in wealth, drawing calls from President Donald Trump for lawmakers to investigate her husband’s business ties.

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“The DOJ and Congress are looking at ‘congresswoman’ Ilhan Omar, who left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than $44 million. Time will tell all. Thank you for your attention to this matter!,” Trump said in a a post to Truth Social last year.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment on whether lawmakers should continue scrutiny of Omar’s business ties in light of new evaluations.

Omar’s wealth jump had been tied to two businesses: Rose Lake Capital and ESTCRU LLC.

In 2024, evaluations of Rose Lake, a business firm co-founded by her husband, reached between $5 million and $25 million. Just one year before, in 2023, she reported that the same company’s value was between $1 and $1,000.

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Similarly, ESTCRU LLC, a winery registered in Santa Rosa, California, first appeared on Omar’s disclosure reports in 2020 and had a value of just $15,000 to $50,000 in 2023. In 2024, that evaluation exploded to between $1 million and $5 million.

Reports of Omar’s wealth drew scrutiny from the House Oversight Committee, which demanded to see more of the companies’ business records earlier this year. 

Responding to new evaluations, Emmer said Omar shouldn’t consider herself safe from congressional investigations just yet. 

“Ilhan Omar is even more clueless than I thought if she thinks this financial disclosure revision clears her of suspicion,” Emmer exclusively told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. 

“She can backtrack, obfuscate, and distract all she wants but she’s made clear who she is: A fraud-enabling, racist antisemite who espouses anti-American rhetoric every chance she gets,” Emmer charged of his fellow Minnesota lawmaker.

Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.