Author: NOVA Corp

New York Assembly member Claire Valdez’s Fourth of July social media post featuring a pro-Palestinian message sparked backlash over the weekend, with commentators across the political spectrum blasting her priorities.

Valdez, a socialist poised to represent a deep-blue New York City congressional district in Congress, made the comments Saturday as Americans nationwide celebrated the country’s 250th birthday.

The Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidate’s post did not appear to praise any aspect of the United States or pay tribute to the country’s founding.

Valdez wrote that she would continue to “fight for liberation from Palestine to Puerto Rico, for a Green New Deal, for the world we deserve,” on the social media platform X.

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“Actually, the Fourth of July isn’t about Palestine,” commentator Stephen Miller griped at Valdez in response.

“Modern Democratic Party: The Fourth of July is a fight to free Palestine,” Salem Radio Network host Scott Jennings observed.

“These people have no idea what the Declaration is for no[r] any understanding of the purpose of our government,” journalist Brianna Lyman wrote.

Valdez won a Democratic primary election in June for an open House seat spanning Brooklyn and Queens, with the backing of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Given the progressive bastion’s heavily Democratic tilt, the House hopeful is expected to face little competition in November’s general election.

She is one of several socialists who trounced establishment-aligned Democrats in the Empire State’s primaries, marking a major victory for the far-left wing of the party.

Valdez and the other Democratic nominees — former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and activist Darializa Avila Chevalier — have called for ending military aid to Israel, enacting Green New Deal-style legislation and Medicare for All, which would create a government-run single-payer system.

The trio is likely to push Democrats to support tax hikes on the highest earners if elected to Congress and have frequently argued that the wealthy and big corporations are responsible for the country’s problems.

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“Freedom is only possible when we have the conditions for the good life — healthcare, housing, education, and dignity on the job,” Valdez also wrote on social media Saturday. “But the system is rigged and our planet poisoned by billionaires, bosses, and war profiteers.”

Commentators hammered Valdez for focusing on what she viewed as the country’s flaws on Independence Day, while blasting her socialist policies.

“The commitment some people have to being absolutely insufferable and miserable is almost admirable,” former Biden White House press office Chief of Staff Yemisi Egbewole wrote on social media. “It’s the Fourth of July. Eat a hot dog. Watch fireworks. Call your family. Love the country that gave you the freedom to post this nonsense.

“Claire Valdez won her district’s rich precincts and high-education ones 64 to 27. She lost low-income areas by 32 points and Black ones by 50 points,” NewsNation’s Batya Ungar-Sargon observed. “This anti-America claptrap is trust fund socialism — vanity morals of the elite that operate as a smokescreen for their privilege.”

Valdez’s post echoed Mamdani’s Fourth of July message, in which he sharply criticized the wealthiest Americans — and the capitalism that made their affluence possible — while railing against various chapters of American history.

“We see the wealthiest country in the history of the world, one where children go to sleep hungry while the world’s first trillionaire hungers for more,” Mamdani said in his remarks, referencing SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk without naming him.

“We see monopolies that dominate every industry, and oligarchs who buy elections,” Mamdani continued.

Fox News Digital reached out to Valdez’s campaign for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson appeared on the cover of the most recent issue of Essence magazine, spurring critics to argue that she is seeking publicity in ways that are inappropriate for a member of the Supreme Court.

“Supreme Court Justices are not celebrities and should not be treated like celebrities,” Andrew Fleischman, a Georgia trial and appeal lawyer, wrote of the cover.

The magazine’s cover features a picture of Jackson wearing a purple coat and smiling directly at the reader. Underneath Jackson’s photo is a caption that reads “the people’s champion.”

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Essence Magazine describes itself as the “premiere lifestyle, fashion and beauty magazine for African-American women.”

“As America celebrates its 250th birthday, ESSENCE is honored to unveil the first magazine cover of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic career,” Essence tweeted on the 4th of July, accompanied by a photo of the cover. 

“As the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court, there is no better moment to celebrate her extraordinary legacy. Ketanji Brown Jackson represents the American Dream and serves as a powerful voice for those simply seeking the God-given birthrights promised to every American,” the tweet continued. 

Jackson’s public appearances outside the court have drawn periodic criticism from some conservatives and legal observers, who argue that events such as the Grammy Awards, Broadway appearances and a Vogue photoshoot risk blurring the line between judicial service and celebrity.

“Ketanji Brown Jackson isn’t supposed to be ‘the people’s champion,’” Billy Binion, a reporter for a libertarian magazine, wrote on X. “She’s not a politician. She’s supposed to interpret the law, not make it. This kind of thing is why so many people misunderstand how our government works at a basic level.”

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“Supreme Court justices shouldn’t be celebrities,” Laura Powell, a civil liberties attorney, wrote of the cover. “They don’t have to run for office and don’t need political slogans like ‘The People’s Champion.’ They should simply do their job of interpreting the law according to constitutional principles.”

Jackson is not the only justice whose outside activities have drawn scrutiny. Other members of the court have reported book income, teaching payments, travel reimbursements and gifts in annual financial disclosures.

Sitting Supreme Court Justices have previously appeared on magazine covers, including the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2015 and Sonia Sotomayor in 2009. 

Michelle Zier, an adjunct professor at Concordia University Chicago, pointed out that Alexander Hamilton explicitly warned that the judges would need to avoid the temptation to be seen as champions of the people.

“But it is easy to see that it would require an uncommon portion of fortitude in the judges to do their duty as faithful guardians of the Constitution, where legislative invasions of it had been instigated by the major voice of the community,” Hamilton wrote in Federalist 78.

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Even some on the left took issue with Jackson’s magazine cover. 

“Obviously, nowhere near the worst or weirdest thing is sitting justice has done but yeah we really need that SCOTUS code of ethics,” Sam Weinberg, who runs a progressive advocacy group, wrote of the cover.

Responding to criticism over her attendance at the Grammy Awards, Jackson argued that part of her job is “public outreach and education.”

“When the justices are on recess — which is what we are doing right now — we really have an opportunity to go out into the community in various different ways,” she told The View in February.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Supreme Court and Essence magazine on Monday. 

A sweeping new White House report concluded that the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History (NMAH) has become a taxpayer-backed institution of “ideological capture” and “extreme political activism.”

“The report concludes that the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of American History in particular, under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic,” the White House Domestic Policy Council wrote in its July 4 report following up on President Donald Trump’s March 27 executive order. “By the intention and at the direction of current Museum and Smithsonian leadership, NMAH has become subject to institutional capture by a radical, activist ideology that is fundamentally opposed to telling the noble, honest story of the great country we know and love.”

According to the 162-page “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” report, delivered on America’s 250th birthday, NMAH treats the American story as a political tool rather than a shared national inheritance.

“At the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, visitors young and old should encounter the story of the United States told with honesty, seriousness, and pride,” the report’s executive summary began. “In particular, it should help the American people understand where America came from, what makes it distinctive, and why it is worth preserving.”

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Instead, the museum has moved “away from straightforward historical education and scholarship” and toward activism, the report found.

“Anthea Hartig, NMAH’s director since 2019, has explicitly stated that she sees history as a ‘prime tool of social justice’ and one of her roles as connecting ‘research and scholarship to activism and advocacy,’” the summary noted.

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“Hartig has also stated that ‘we work to reframe the traditional celebratory narrative of U.S. history for visitors.’ She claims to have had a personal head start ‘propped up as I was and I am by the cushions of whiteness and the pillows of the bourgeoisie,’” the report said. “These are not the words of an objective historian, but rather those of an activist advancing an ideological agenda contradictory to the Museum’s founding purpose of fostering patriotism.”

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The report made five key conclusions about the museum:

“One of the most significant findings in this report concerns what is missing,” the report stated. “A visitor to the Museum today will find no major exhibit dedicated to America’s Founding era, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, other Founding Fathers, the Continental Congress, the Pilgrims, the Puritans, or major moments of the American Revolution, such as Washington’s crossing of the Delaware.

“Instead, visitors will find Founders, such as Benjamin Franklin, introduced chiefly through their connection to slavery while their decisive roles in building the Republic and their anti-slavery efforts are minimized or ignored.”

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The NMAH presented revisionist history, using terms that exist now but not then, including “a popular term-of-art to ‘Critical Social Justice,’” the report found.

“The Museum is not merely neglecting America’s central story,” it stated. “It is intentionally withholding and subverting it.”

Noted was the political revision of “its mission statement under current leadership, which replaced the phrases ‘infinite richness’ and ‘American history’ with language about empowering people to create ‘a more just and compassionate future’ by exploring ‘the complexity of our past.’”

“The Museum has shifted from scholarship to activism,” the report read, “pointing to Museum leadership’s own public statements tying ‘research and scholarship to activism and advocacy,’ dismantling inherited narratives, using history as a ‘prime tool of social justice,’ calling for American history to be ‘reframed,’ and describing museum work in terms of ‘reparations,’ ‘restorative history,’ ‘systemic intervention, ‘decolonization, ‘social justice.’”

The report also criticizes the museum’s approach to race, immigration, gender and sexuality, alleging that exhibits and programming have been shaped by modern activist priorities rather than neutral historical scholarship.

The Smithsonian Institution receives more than $1 billion annually in taxpayer support and its ideology does not comport with Trump’s executive order and initiatives to remove political influence in government entities, according to the Domestic Policy Council.

“As this report shows, confirmed in the words of Museum leadership, this ideological capture has moved the Museum’s mission away from straightforward historical education and scholarship toward an extreme political activism that seeks to transform our country,” it wrote.

President Donald Trump said in a Sunday Truth Social post that he had “overturned” a decision to cancel festivities in Washington D.C. on Saturday due to weather.

“The Crowd at 7:05 in the evening was 422,000 people! All were forced to leave because of the weather, the event was cancelled, and everyone was gone because of lightning. When I heard that it was cancelled, I immediately overturned that decision, and waited a while for people to come back. Incredibly, at least 150,000 people returned, and it was an even more spectacular evening than it would have been as normalized! It showed work under pressure,” Trump declared in the post.

“Congratulations to the Secret Service and Law Enforcement on being able to get so many people back into the Arena in such rapid fashion! It was an amazing evening made even more spectacular by the fact that, immediately after the Great Fireworks ended, the rains came down, full blast!” he added.

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People flocked to attend Independence Day festivities in D.C. as Americans around the nation celebrated the country’s 250th anniversary, but attendees were asked to evacuate and take shelter on Saturday evening.

“Due to approaching severe storms, Freedom 250, United States Secret Service, United States Park Police, National Park Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and all public safety partners are asking all guests to evacuate event grounds and seek temporary shelter in a nearby building,” Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez noted in part of a Saturday evening statement.

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But in another post on X later that night, Freedom 250 declared, “At President Donald J. Trump’s direction, gates to the National Mall will reopen at 9:45 PM.”

Trump ultimately delivered a speech later on Saturday night, which was followed shortly thereafter by a massive fireworks show that began at about midnight.

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“I would like to congratulate Freedom 250, a Great White House Commission, and Pyrotecnico, on producing the Most Spectacular Fireworks Show I have ever seen, and I’ve seen them all. Congratulations on a job well done!” Trump declared in a Truth Social post on Sunday.

FIRST ON FOX: A scathing whistleblower letter alleges corruption inside New York City’s powerful hotel workers union, including claims that union leaders accepted gifts from hotel executives, manipulated lease arrangements and improperly influenced union business in a culture of quid pro quo dealings — claims that were corroborated by union sources who spoke with Fox News Digital.

The letter, reviewed by Fox News Digital, asserts that top officials within the New York Hotel Trades Council and UNITE HERE Local 6, including President Richard Maroko, participated in actions that violated internal policies, fiduciary obligations and possibly federal law. The union denies all allegations of impropriety and organized two internal investigations carried out by third-party lawyers who found the whistleblower’s claims to be unsubstantiated.

Fox News Digital spoke with the whistleblower and multiple sources with knowledge of the union’s inner dealings but is not identifying them by name due to fear of retaliation.

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“Mr. Maroko had personal knowledge of, and either directly participated or directed others to misappropriate millions of dollars of retail income,” the letter states. “He accepted and allowed his Elected Officers to accept gifts of Hotel Rooms, Liquor, Gourmet Food and Electronic Items from Hotel Officials on a Quid Pro Quo System.”

A source with intimate knowledge of union operations told Fox News Digital that there was a sudden shift in HTC’s culture after Maroko ascended to the presidency in fall 2020.

“For 25 years, maybe 24 years, there was a standard then that was really adhered to. [The former president] was very disciplined about it as far as receiving gifts and what you did and didn’t do,” the source, who has decades of experience working with the union, said. “And the past five years when the new president came in, that was completely tossed.”

“Pretty soon,” the source said, referring to when the rules were relaxed when Maroko took over. “It wasn’t like they flipped the switch, but … it just wasn’t important to him. I brought a bunch of things to his attention that he just wasn’t interested [in].”

Crain’s New York Business reported in June that the Hotel Association of New York City, a trade group representing hotel interests, retained former Southern District of New York public corruption chief Brendan McGuire to investigate allegations contained in the letter.

“Two exhaustive, independent investigations, including one by a former federal prosecutor, have concluded that these anonymous claims are frivolous, lack any factual basis, and were clearly an attempt to derail contract negotiations between the union and hotel management,” HTC spokesman Austin Shafran told Fox News Digital. “Thankfully, these efforts failed as our union secured the best contract in its history that will provide unprecedented wage increases and benefits to tens of thousands of hotel workers. Nothing will ever deter the union from working every day to better the lives of our members and their families.”

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Key components of the letter are supported by documents and accounts from multiple individuals with firsthand knowledge and insight into the day-to-day operations inside the union’s 8th Avenue headquarters in New York City, a Fox News Digital review found.

The whistleblower letter alleges that hotel industry figures, including former Highgate labor executive Robert Lafferty and former Hyatt labor executive Michael Grosso, provided union officials with gifts including food, top-shelf liquor and electronic items.

The two investigations organized by the union, however, found no evidence of improper gift-giving.

Highgate is one of the largest lodging operators in the nation and Hyatt is a major hotel owner.

In addition to providing gifts to union officials, a former union leader told Fox News Digital that the duo of hotel executives served as “inside guys” who could keep HTC union leadership informed about what was going on in boardrooms so that they could protect their own power.

These favors, according to the longtime union leader, preceded contracts that benefited hotel owners to the detriment of workers.

“If I could cut away one department [from being unionized], you’re talking about millions of dollars per year over the life of a contract, and if Lafferty could deliver that to the owners, then what he’s now doing is changing the entire economic structure of hundreds of millions of dollars in a real estate transaction,” the former union leader told Fox News Digital.

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“The union’s ability to make your property profitable or not is all its leverage. So that’s the inside that’s what’s going on there,” they continued. “If you look at every time Lafferty made a deal with [Maroko] on one of these new properties, you’re going to see that all these weird deals are made where bargaining unit members are cut out. How come at your properties there’s no front desk agents? How come at your properties food and beverage isn’t under the union contract, but it is everywhere else?”

Fox News Digital has reviewed photos that appear to show hotel industry figures or their associates entering union offices with shopping bags. Two people familiar with the union’s internal operations told Fox News Digital the gift-giving was not isolated and that accepting items from hotel management would have violated longstanding union norms and policies.

Two internal investigations conducted by third-party lawyers on behalf of the union could not corroborate claims of improper gift-giving made by the whistleblower.

The longtime union member and leader attested to an unusual relationship between Lafferty, Grosso and the HTC’s leadership when speaking with Fox News Digital.

“What I witnessed was Lafferty would come upstairs and have, like, really different access than most people,” the source said. “You don’t get buzzed in and meet me at the conference room. That doesn’t happen … This is like the count room in a casino. You don’t just get to walk around.”

The source explained that allowing someone like Lafferty to have such open access to union offices is unheard of as management and labor have conflicting interests, and access would enable the former to potentially outmaneuver the latter in negotiations. Union leadership, per the source, allowed Lafferty into their legal office, where he could have seen plans for organizational activity.

Fox News Digital could not independently confirm that Lafferty viewed union plans or that he used them in labor negotiations.

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The former union leader went on to explain that, while they initially thought Lafferty was simply “moving up in the world” with his frequent visits, they eventually noticed that he would often bring over luxury food items from an establishment operated by Highgate to share with union officials.

“In what universe does that look good, a bunch of union reps hanging out with management eating lobster rolls at the union office?” the source said.

Another source, who had worked with the union for decades, confirmed the former leader’s account.

“They had unfettered access to the building, which I couldn’t believe, they just came and went and that was just so like opposite of what we’re about and any business for that matter,” the source told Fox News Digital. “And they had unfettered access to the, I used to call it the Bermuda Triangle, they would go to legal, they would go to the union officials and they would go to [Maroko.]”

The HTC spokesman denied that there was anything unusual about the meetings.

“Yes, the union regularly meets with hotel management for negotiations and to resolve issues, and those individuals had no different access than any other hotel representative,” Shafran said.

The longtime union leader said that it is inappropriate for union officials to accept meals paid for by management as it may create an appearance of impropriety or amount to an illegal gift if not properly reported. Neither Grosso nor Lafferty have been convicted of illegal gift-giving as of publishing.

Photographs reviewed by Fox News Digital also appear to show Grosso carrying large shopping bags into union offices.

The HTC acknowledged the veracity of these photographs, but claimed that the bags only contained a pie, not expensive food and drink.

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Following his allegedly uncharacteristically cozy relationship with union leadership, Lafferty was given a job as the chief operating officer of HTC’s Health Benefit Fund where he pulls in a total compensation of over $650,000 per year, according to the most recent financial disclosures.

“Lafferty underwent a rigorous background check and was supported equally by both union and management representatives, as well as the CEO of the Funds,” the HTC spokesman told Fox News Digital.

Before Lafferty left Highgate, the whistleblower’s letter alleges that Lafferty and Maroko pressured an arbitrator on the union’s independent conflict resolution board to render a decision favorable to Highgate. A federal district court later upheld the arbitrator’s rationale in the matter as well-grounded.

Maroko allegedly threatened the job of both the arbitrator and his son unless he ruled that Highgate would be absolved of monetary obligations to union members after it ceased managing a property, passing those obligations to the financial institution seeking to take over the hotel.

Maroko’s newly minted compensation package, worth nearly $1 million annually, has also come under scrutiny recently by the Center for Union Facts, an organization critical of labor unions. CUF argues that Maroko is using his members’ dues for self-enrichment.

Also in contention is Maroko’s decision to rent a building owned by UNITE HERE Local 6 to HTC at a rate allegedly far below what the space would go for on the open market. Maroko, who leads both labor entities, is accused of depriving UNITE HERE Local 6 of up to $3 million in rental revenue by allowing HTC to use its real estate at a severely discounted rate, according to the whistleblower letter.

Two sources told Fox News Digital that the lease was not approved by the union’s executive board.

“The lease was signed over 40 years ago and renewed over 20 years ago,” Shafran, the HTC spokesman, told Fox News Digital. “The current administration had nothing to do with this lease and, notwithstanding that, the terms are fully legal. The lease payments were accurately and routinely reported in public filings and consistent with applicable federal law.”

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Fox News Digital is also told that the union launched an in-house investigation into the letter, which it received months ago. Sources who spoke with Fox News Digital say it was a farce that dismissed the seriousness of the situation and left out key information while the union maintains the review clears it of any wrongdoing.

Vincent Pitta, the chairman of the law firm that conducted the first investigation, declined to comment on it, stating that it was “created after a preliminary and expedited review” of the whistleblower’s allegations pending the union’s retention of a former prosecutor to conduct another investigation. Pitta also said that the document “was a client-attorney privileged document which was stolen from our client’s offices.”

A copy of the union’s in-house investigation obtained by Fox News Digital claims that its lawyers questioned 16 people across 23 total interviews, reviewed reams of documents and found that the allegations within the whistleblower report were “completely devoid of merit” and “frivolous.”

The internal review purports to have found no evidence of internal gift-giving.

“We found no evidence during our investigation that supported the allegations that HTC and/or Local 6 officers accepted gifts of free hotel or discounted hotel rooms, expensive bottles of liquor, gourmet food or electronics from hotel management representatives,” the report reads. “This provision of a pie and other pastries by a hotel representative during business meetings with the Union did not constitute any improper conduct whatsoever on the part of any Union or hotel management representatives and is permissible under federal laws and regulations.”

Additionally, the review claims to have found that the allegedly below-market rental agreement offered to HTC was actually determined by a third-party firm and was thus not set by Maroko.

“Our investigation revealed that just two years ago, the lease between Local 6 and the Funds was re-negotiated based on a market value study conducted by an outside company retained by the Funds. The Funds’ management trustees then retained another outside company as an independent fiduciary to review all terms of the proposed, re-negotiated lease,” the union review claims.

Pitta declined to provide documentation showing how his firm came to these conclusions. 

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Regarding the arbitration process, the internal investigation claims that the whistleblower conflated two separate arbitration processes as one alleged scheme that involved highly technical questions and produced no damages or penalties, did not lead to later lender-liability awards and did not harm hotel lending. It also said all relevant witnesses denied coercion and that the arbitration process gave both sides a fair chance to present evidence, citing a federal court ruling.

“Because the [arbitrator] acted within the scope of his authority and did not exhibit a manifest disregard for the law or issue an Award that violates public policy, the Court finds that the Award should be confirmed,” a federal court wrote, explaining why it upheld the findings of the arbitration process.

One union source close to the situation who claims to have had direct knowledge of the alleged misconduct, however, told Fox News Digital that they were not interviewed as part of the internal probe.

“I kept on saying, ‘When are they going to interview me?’ and [Maroko] wanted no part of that. They wouldn’t interview me because, from the beginning, I explained to him that it’s all true,” they said.

Shafran, however, maintains that the whistleblower never came forward and thus could not be interviewed.

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The summary of a second internal investigation conducted by a third-party law firm obtained by Fox News Digital further maintains that the whistleblower’s letter is factually unfounded. Citing internal messages and interviews with union leadership, the investigation acknowledges that a hotel industry representative entered the union’s office, but maintained that the bag of purported gifts he brought only contained a “pie or cake.”

Additionally, the investigation purports to have interviewed three people involved in the arbitration dispute, all of whom denied foul play. The report concluded that the allegations may have been a plot to provide the hotel industry with leverage during labor negotiations.

A union representative declined to provide Fox News Digital with the primary source evidence supporting the findings of either of its investigations.

Fox News Digital reached out to Grosso and Lafferty for comment.

A veteran hotel industry leader who has dealt extensively with HTC told Fox News Digital that the allegations detailed related to improper gift-giving in the whistleblower letter were “not shocking.” They did, however, call the allegations of arbitration tampering “surprising and alarming.”

“It’s a letter, it’s not signed, it’s allegations, it’s not proof positive,” the industry veteran went on, speaking about the whistleblower letter generally. “But its allegations are alarming, and it should absolutely be looked into because if any or all of these are true, it’s a big deal.”

To date, the allegations made by whistleblowers have yet to be corroborated by any independent review or legal authority. Neither Grosso nor Lafferty have been charged with crimes connected to their alleged misconduct.

President Donald Trump says he’s attending the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, for one reason: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“I’m going because of Erdoğan,” Trump told reporters June 24, calling the Turkish leader “a friend” and “a respected leader” while signaling that closer defense cooperation between Washington and Ankara could be on the horizon.

The summit will begin Tuesday in Ankara, Turkey.

The remarks underscore a striking shift in the relationship between Washington and Turkey. Just a few years ago, after Turkey took delivery of Russia’s S-400 air defense system in 2019, Washington expelled it from the multinational F-35 fighter program and, the following year, imposed sanctions on Turkey’s defense procurement agency, cementing its reputation as one of NATO’s most difficult allies.

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Today, despite many of those disputes remaining unresolved, Turkey has become increasingly difficult for the alliance to sideline as NATO confronts Russia, instability across the Middle East and an increasingly contested Black Sea, analysts and former officials say.

“Turkey is crucial to the Trump administration,” former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey, who served as Trump’s special representative for Syria during his first term, told Fox News Digital.

“President Trump has a great relationship with President Erdoğan of Turkey, who has been an incredible partner in the region,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital in a statement, adding that Trump would have a bilateral meeting with Erdoğan at the NATO Summit. 

Jeffrey said Trump’s affinity for Erdoğan is genuine but reflects more than personal chemistry.

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“The first reason, which is unique to Trump, is he really likes Erdoğan, and Erdoğan likes him,” Jeffrey said. “It’s the idea of a tough guy who is decisive.”

But Jeffrey argued the strategic rationale extends well beyond the relationship between the two leaders, describing Turkey as “essential to maintaining the U.S. perimeter around Eurasia” because of its military strength, geographic position and willingness to project power.

NATO is returning to the fundamentals of collective defense after decades focused largely on counterterrorism, said Hudson Institute think tank Senior Fellow Can Kasapoğlu Kasapoğlu, placing renewed pressure on allies to bring significant military capability to the table.

“When the alliance is back to its Cold War default, the question of what you are bringing to the table is getting more important,” he said.

“The nations bringing hard-power capability to NATO are going to get VIP treatment.”

NATO agreed to a defense spending target of 5% of GDP for all allies in 2025, after years of Trump complaining that European allies and their weak defense spending were “ripping off” the U.S.

Both Trump’s attacks on NATO and the Russian war on Ukraine changed the calculus.

Turkey fields NATO’s second-largest military after the United States. It controls the Bosporus and Dardanelles, borders Syria, Iraq and Iran, and has built one of NATO’s largest defense industries.

“There is no real security for NATO without full integration of Turkey,” Rich Outzen, a former State Department advisor and nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said during a recent NATO summit preview.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, instability across the Middle East and the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria have only heightened Turkey’s strategic value, analysts say.

Jeffrey argued Turkey “has been essential to Ukraine staying in the fight,” citing Ankara’s enforcement of the 1936 Montreux Convention, which prevented additional Russian naval reinforcements from entering the Black Sea, its early provision of Bayraktar drones to Kyiv and its role as an intermediary between Ukraine and Russia.

“You can’t contain Russia in the Black Sea without Turkey,” Jeffrey said.

The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime also has brought Washington and Turkey into closer strategic alignment after years of disagreements over Syria.

Jeffrey argued Turkey played a central role in backing the opposition that ultimately toppled Assad, dealing a major blow to both Iran and Russia.

“One of Iran’s big losses in the past three years has been Syria—and that’s all Erdogan,” he said.

Not everyone is convinced Turkey’s growing strategic value should outweigh those concerns.

Critics argue Turkey’s foreign policy has increasingly diverged from that of many NATO allies under Erdoğan. They point to Turkey’s vocal support for Hamas following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, its continued possession of the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, and its efforts to deepen ties with non-Western blocs such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, organizations in which China and Russia play leading roles.

“Turkey is the only member country inside of NATO that has applied for membership in entities such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS,” Sinan Ciddi, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said during a press briefing Wednesday. He also argued Turkey is unique within the alliance in openly supporting Hamas while seeking expanded access to advanced U.S. defense technology.

Erdoğan repeatedly has defended Hamas and rejected efforts to classify the group as a terrorist organization, putting Turkey at odds with Washington and many other NATO allies. Critics argue that position complicates efforts to deepen U.S.-Turkey defense ties — despite Trump’s personal affection for the Turkish leader.

“The only thing that really stands in the way against Erdoğan’s wishes is essentially the United States Congress,” Ciddi said.

The Trump administration faced congressional pushback, largely from Democrats, over its decision to move forward with a $700 million arms sale to Turkey.

The administration already has faced congressional pushback over the proposed $700 million arms sale. 

Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, accused the State Department of failing to justify the decision or adequately address concerns about Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian-made S-400 system.

The Turkish embassy could not immediately be reached for comment. 

Jeffrey said the proposed $700 million sale of F110 fighter engines is a more manageable issue than restoring Turkey to the F-35 program, arguing the latter remains constrained by the S-400 because operating the Russian air defense system alongside America’s most advanced stealth fighter could compromise sensitive technology.

“The F-35 is a different issue,” Jeffrey said, arguing that operating the Russian-made S-400 alongside America’s fifth-generation fighter presents a technical — not merely political — problem because it could expose sensitive U.S. technology.

Manny Rutinel, a far-left state legislator and House candidate in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, voted in support of a bill that instructed courts to take pronoun use into consideration as a factor when deciding child custody cases.

In particular, the Kelly Loving Act required courts to deem “deadnaming” and “misgendering” as a kind of coercive control

“A court shall consider reports of coercive control when determining the allocation of parental responsibilities in accordance with the best interest of the child,” the bill initially read when Rutinel voted for it.

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Rutinel’s past vote in favor of the package is drawing scrutiny as he wages a bid to unseat incumbent Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., in one of the country’s most competitive congressional races, raising questions about his position on parental authority when it comes to issues like gender.

To at least one Republican strategist, the vote speaks for itself.

“Far-left liberal Manny Rutinel wants the government to take away your kids if you don’t adopt his radical transgender agenda. Disgusting and disqualifying. Rutinel will be resoundingly rejected by Coloradans this fall,” Zach Bannon, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Rutinel’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bill or what led him to support it.

The Kelly Loving Act, named after a 40-year-old transgender woman who was one of the five victims in the 2022 Club Q mass shooting in Colorado Springs, deals largely with how the state plans to handle preferred pronouns.

It would allow residents to change the sex designation on official documents like birth certificates and state identification and, for schools that make policies about names, instruct education providers to include “all reasons” that a student might adopt a name different from their legal one.

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The bill would also make it a “discriminatory practice” and unlawful to publish materials that misgender a person.

The bill passed out of the Colorado House of Representatives in a 40-24 vote.

At the time of its passage, the bill drew criticism from groups like the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network that filed lawsuits against the bill, citing First Amendment concerns.

“The Act’s new definition of ‘gender expression’ is unconstitutionally overbroad,” their lawsuit read.

“Because it covers any treatment based on the use of a ‘chosen name’ or other forms of preferred ‘address,’ it punishes many forms of constitutionally protected speech.”

Notably, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, like Rutinel, did not issue a statement at the time of its passage despite controversy that had made it a matter of national attention.

Although the bill passed both chambers of the Colorado State legislature and was signed into law in May 2025, some of the most controversial provisions, including misgendering, were stripped out weeks after Rutinel’s vote. A number of cases, including the one from Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, are still under consideration.

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Having clinched the Democratic nomination for his congressional bid last week, Rutinel will face off against Evans in the state’s general election on Nov. 3.

Evans won his seat in 2024 in a 49.0% to 48.2% victory over Democratic incumbent Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Colo.

Mallory McMorrow announced Sunday that she is suspending her campaign for the U.S. Senate.

The Michigan state senator’s decision leaves the Democratic primary as a two-way race between Rep. Haley Stevens and former Wayne County Health Department Director Abdul El-Sayed. 

McMorrow’s name will remain on the ballot for the Aug. 4 primary as ballots have already been printed and distributed to absentee voters, according to Bridge Michigan.

In a video posted on X announcing her decision, McMorrow did not provide a specific reason for ending her campaign. She instead thanked her staff and supporters for helping build what she described as a campaign powered by small-dollar donations and no corporate PAC money.

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McMorrow also pledged to fully support whichever Democrat wins the Aug. 4 primary and will likely face Mike Rogers in November, in what is expected to be one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races.

“So here’s what we do next. Every day through November 3rd. We win this Senate seat and send Mike Rogers back to Florida for good,” she said. “Whoever wins this primary on August 4th will have my full support.”

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Following McMorrow’s announcement, Stevens praised her fellow Democrat by calling her an “important voice” for policies that benefit Michigan families. 

Stevens then argued that she is the strongest Democratic candidate to win the primary and defeat Rogers in November. 

“As we enter the final month of the primary election, I’m excited to continue to make my case to Michiganders why I’m the strongest Democrat to defeat Mike Rogers this November, lower costs, protect manufacturing jobs, and stand up to Trump’s abuses of power.”

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In his statement, El-Sayed praised McMorrow for having the “courage” to challenge what he described as a rigged political system, accusing Democratic Party insiders of spending millions to influence the primary. While he did not name specific groups, the remarks appeared to reference corporate PACs and party leaders such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who has endorsed Stevens. 

He then invited McMorrow’s supporters to join his progressive movement to combat big money in politics and defeat the political establishment. 

“Throughout this campaign, Senator McMorrow showed what it looks like to fight back against politics that rigs the system against too many of us. While we have policy disagreements, I never questioned whether Senator McMorrow would fight for a better America for my daughters and hers,” he said. 

“The same party insiders she had the courage to challenge have been bullying anyone who opposes their chosen candidate. After spending $30 million to drown Senator McMorrow and me out, they’re now spending even more to attack me. It’s everything we are standing up against.”

“I welcome her supporters to our movement to stand up against money in politics, to put money back in pockets, and pass Medicare for All. We cannot allow the establishment to decide our nominee for us.” 

Former President Bill Clinton took a swipe at President Donald Trump in a statement posted to X marking the nation’s 250th birthday, urging Americans to reject division and embrace the country’s founding ideals without mentioning Trump by name.

In the statement, released Saturday, Clinton reflected on the nation’s founding and warned that the United States was experiencing another period of deep political division.

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“Today, we celebrate this milestone amid another period of deep division, renewed questions about America’s future and role in the world, and serious threats to our own institutions and to our democracy itself,” the former president wrote.

Clinton, whose wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was defeated by Trump in the 2016 presidential election, did not mention the president by name during his remarks.

“The people in charge have unleashed masked agents on American communities to seize people from their homes, workplaces and the street,” Clinton said. 

“They have started an unconstitutional war on a whim, with no clear objectives or exit strategy, and zero regard for the consequences to the lives of millions of people around the world,” he added.

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The former president then broadened his criticism to the federal government and the courts.

“With the help of lifetime appointees to the Supreme Court and a compliant Congress, they have weaponized government to settle personal scores, prosecute enemies, stamp out free speech and made the federal government a new profit center for themselves and their allies,” he added.

Clinton’s statement came as Trump presided over separate America250 festivities in Washington, D.C., where he touted what he called America’s “Golden Age” and highlighted his administration’s accomplishments, the U.S. military and the country’s economic outlook.

Clinton encouraged Americans to think about the nation’s future as it enters its next 250 years, arguing that preserving democratic institutions requires citizens to value common purpose over political grievance.

Trump, meanwhile, used his Independence Day address to celebrate the nation’s founding while touting his administration’s achievements, criticizing progressive Democrats and promoting priorities, including election integrity measures, border security and a renewed emphasis on patriotism.

While both men celebrated the nation’s founding, their messages highlighted vastly different views of the country’s current political climate.

President Donald Trump and his Interior Department are declaring an America 250 victory over algae in the Lincoln Reflecting Pool.

Trump shared photos on Truth Social on Sunday showing the pool and the reflection of the Washington Monument appearing clear and blue, and made a call out with a “Wanted” poster for vandals.

“The U.S. Park Police is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the individual in the notice below in connection with a Destruction of Government Property investigation related to the Reflecting Pool,” Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social.

Trump also shared an Interior Department statement crediting “advanced nanobubbler technology” and National Park Service cleanup work.

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“The advanced nanobubbler technology very effectively killed the algae that has plagued every Lincoln Reflecting Pool reopening — most infamously Obama’s reopening — since 1922,” Dei Gratia Minerals founder Greg Wischer, Interior’s deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, wrote in a letter shared with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Trump.

“The Reflecting Pool water is crystal clear, and our National Park Service team is now vacuuming up the dead algae resting on the bottom of some parts of the Reflecting Pool — just like the destroyed Iranian Navy resting on the bottom of the Persian Gulf.”

The photos shared by Trump show the Reflecting Pool stretching toward the Washington Monument under blue skies. One image appears to show the pool from the Lincoln Memorial end, while a second closer view shows the Washington Monument reflected in the water.

Trump also shared a U.S. Interior Press social media post hailing the technological success, quoting that Wischer memo.

YOSEMITE, GRAND CANYON LEAD NOTABLE LIST OF NATIONAL PARK CAMPGROUNDS FOR AMERICA’S 250TH

“The vacuuming is the final maintenance step after refilling the pool, and it will be complete in a few days,” his memo continued. “Already, the section of the Reflecting Pool closest to the Lincoln Memorial has been vacuumed up, and the beautiful American Flag Blue coating on the bottom of the pool can be seen clearly.”

Trump’s Interior Department has praised the technology for overcoming past challenges on keeping the pool clear, including dunking on former President Barack Obama.

“Previous administrations — most notably under Obama — failed to maintain the Reflecting Pool, and after refilling the pool, the water would quickly become murky and thick with massive clumps of algae floating on the surface,” the memo concluded.

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“The photos below show how the nanobubbler technology and vacuuming have been incredibly effective, making the water crystal clear with the American Flag Blue coating shining brightly on the bottom of the pool.

“As our National Park Service team noted, the Reflecting Pool is now so ‘blue’ that the Fake News Media, which has been staked out at the Reflecting Pool for weeks, has fled!”

The 6.75 million-gallon pool has been targeted by Trump critics and leftist anti-Trump activists for attacks both verbally and physical, Burgum discussed with ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

“The Reflecting Pool has been a big success,” he said. “And we’ve got 340 million people in this country that are celebrating 250. We did have a few vandals, but all that’s going to be repairable, and that’ll all be fixed in the coming weeks as we go forward.”

Burgum now believes that the pool might not require a full draining after its “multiple gashes that add up to 350 feet,” he added.

“We don’t know if we need to drain the whole thing or not because, you know, the cutting happened on the edge, and, of course, it slopes from the edge,” according to Burgum.

“We may be able to partially drain it and do the repair. To be able to fix it, we may not have to drain the whole thing, but it could go very quickly.”

While the media and Trump critics are pointing to added costs of the reflecting pool refurbishment, Burgum pointed to the vandalism causing that.

“We weren’t expecting that we were going to have a small group of people that wanted to try to destroy effectively what is part of the Lincoln Memorial,” Burgum told ABC. “There’s plenty of cameras around the Lincoln statue and around the memorial, but the Reflecting Pool had gone for, you know, decades without vandalism.”