Author: NOVA Corp

Senate Republicans blocked an attempt by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to only pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers as the Homeland Security shutdown drags on.

Despite being in the minority and not controlling the Senate floor, Schumer used an arcane tactic to force a procedural vote to allow the Senate to get onto the bill in Democrats’ move to shift the narrative of the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown.

“It is unacceptable for workers and travelers and entire airports to get taken hostage in political games,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “But that’s what the Republicans are doing. It is unacceptable to say we will only pay TSA workers if it is attached to a bill that funds ICE with no reforms, but that’s what the Republicans have been doing.”

GOP SENATOR’S GAMBIT EXPOSES FALSE DEM CLAIMS ABOUT SUPPORTING VOTER ID

The shutdown entered its 36th day on Saturday as the ongoing partial closure hurtles toward matching the record-breaking full government shutdown from last year. Schumer’s failed gambit follows increasingly long wait times at airports as thousands of TSA agents go without pay.

Senate Democrats have dug in deep in their demands for stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and have so far refused to reopen the agency or temporarily extend funding to end the closure until they get what they want.

Senate Republicans and the White House made a new compromise offer to Democrats on Friday night after an open letter from the administration on several reforms to immigration operations was revealed earlier this week. The letter spurred two back-to-back meetings on Capitol Hill with Republicans, Democrats and administration officials.

THUNE ACCUSES CRITICS OF ‘CREATING FALSE EXPECTATIONS’ AMID BACKLASH OVER STALLED SAVE AMERICA ACT

Whether they accept that offer or counter remains in the air for now. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who was in the meeting, said that she hoped there would be another soon.

“That will be up to them, but I hope so,” Britt said.

Still, Republicans tried and failed for a fifth time to fully reopen the agency on Friday. In the background, there have been several attempts by Senate Democrats to move forward with standalone funding bills — like Schumer’s gambit — to open parts of DHS, save for immigration enforcement.

DHS SHUTDOWN TIED FOR SECOND-LONGEST EVER AS DEMS AGAIN BLOCK FUNDING AMID AIRPORT CHAOS, TERRORISM CONCERNS

Time is also running out for lawmakers to find middle ground on reopening the agency, given that they are set to leave Washington, D.C., for a two-week break at the end of next week.

At a press conference earlier Saturday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital that it’d be “very, very hard to explain if we leave town this next week without having funded the Department of Homeland Security.”

“At some point the Democrats are going to be held accountable for this,” Thune said.

“I know they think it’s, as has been described by one of their leaders, ‘very serene, very serene’ with their position,” he continued. “Well, I’m telling you something, the people who are sitting in those lines at the airports right now don’t see it as very serene. This needs to be resolved.”

Former FBI Director Robert Mueller has died at the age of 81, and President Donald Trump gave a sharp reaction on Truth Social.

“Robert Mueller just died,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!” Trump added.

Mueller led the FBI from 2001 to 2013 and later served as special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, a probe that shadowed much of Trump’s presidency.

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This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Senate Democrats blocked a move by Senate Republicans to modify a Trump-backed voter ID bill with a provision that would halt men in women’s sports.

The amendment to the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act from Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., was one of several tweaks to the legislation requested by President Donald Trump.

Tuberville’s amendment could have codified Trump’s earlier executive order from last year to ban transgender women from participating in women’s sports — a culture war flashpoint between Republicans and Democrats that, unless turned into law, will likely be reversed should a Democratic administration take over in 2028.

GOP SENATOR’S GAMBIT EXPOSES FALSE DEM CLAIMS ABOUT SUPPORTING VOTER ID

But, as expected, the add-on failed on a party-line vote in the upper chamber.

The amendment was the first of several expected to hit the floor as Republicans continue their takeover strategy to debate the bill. Saturday marked the fifth day that the SAVE America Act dominated the floor.

“I would do whatever it took to get this passed,” Tuberville told Fox News Digital. “This is probably one of the most important bills that’s come through here in a long, long time. It’s just pitting Americans versus non-Americans.”

THUNE ACCUSES CRITICS OF ‘CREATING FALSE EXPECTATIONS’ AMID BACKLASH OVER STALLED SAVE AMERICA ACT

Others on the docket include a ban on transgender surgeries on minors and halting unsolicited mail-in ballots — add-ons that Trump requested Republicans tack onto the voter ID and citizen verification bill.

And the ongoing floor takeover likely won’t result in the SAVE America Act passing, given that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats are unified in their rejection of the legislation.

“So I’m like, President Trump, we need to get it done,” he continued. “But I don’t know whether we’ve got enough support, even on the Republican side, much less Democrats.”

REPUBLICANS SIGNAL NO RETREAT ON SAVE ACT AS MARATHON SENATE DEBATE KICKS OFF

The unlimited debate on the legislation is meant to mimic the talking filibuster, a strategy that would lower the threshold to pass the legislation to a simple 50-vote majority at the cost of deadlocking the Senate floor.

And Senate Democrats would be able to offer an unlimited number of amendments that could drastically change the bill, which Republicans have acknowledged they don’t have the numbers to block.

The floor takeover they’re currently undertaking is largely meant to shift blame from Republicans to Schumer and Democrats for the bill’s expected failure, given that, in order to pass conventionally, the GOP would need 60 votes.

But others hope, like Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who is the lead sponsor of the SAVE America Act in the Senate, that the constant debate will grind down Democratic resistance and flip some over to support the bill.

FIRST ON FOX: Jim Steyer — the brother of billionaire California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer — has multiple board members with past ties to Jeffrey Epstein involved in his children’s online safety organization, Common Sense Media (CSM), which could set off alarm bells as wealthy elites continue to face a reckoning for exchanging emails with Epstein or riding on his private jet.

CSM, which will be hosting a conference next week that will include many industry experts and Democratic politicians as speakers, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Illinois Gov JB Pritzker, is a nonprofit organization with the stated goal of putting children’s “well-being first in the digital era,” and providing parental guidance while also providing a forum for industry experts to discuss how to safeguard minors online.

While none of the previously reported ties between the board members and Epstein implicate them in any wrongdoing related to his crimes, the optics of their past communications could raise questions about the judgment of some of their past interactions with him and the vetting process to be on the board.

“Having reviewed the related references here, we have no concerns about these individuals. Common Sense Media remains the leading non-partisan children’s advocacy organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the best interest of America’s children and families,” a CSM spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

WATCH: HILLARY CLINTON STORMS OUT OF EPSTEIN DEPOSITION AFTER HOUSE LAWMAKER LEAKS PHOTO FROM INSIDE

The Steyer brothers have not appeared in the Epstein emails and have not been accused of any wrongdoing.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM FACES FRESH SCRUTINY AS EPSTEIN TIES REVIVE PAST SCANDALS, CRITICISM

Tim Zagat, the co-founder and co-chair of Zagat Survey, a fine dining rating service, was reported by the New York Post to have repeatedly visited dining establishments with Epstein and is listed in Epstein’s flight logbook — a revelation uncovered by recent disclosures from the Department of Justice.

Zagat also reportedly attended a dinner at Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion in 2014, which included Hollywood director Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi Previn, former Hyatt hotels boss Nick Pritzker, who is Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s cousin once removed, among others. Several emails reviewed by Fox News Digital show that Zagat reached out to Epstein to invite him to meals on multiple occasions.

He is also listed on a flight entry from 2002 on Epstein’s notorious “Lolita Express” private jet that appears to match up with a late-February trip to a TED conference in California.

“JE. SK. GERALDINE LAYBORNE. KIT LAYBORNE. STEVEN PINKER. NINA TIM ZAGAT,” the entry reads, listing off a series of passengers.

The entry is unclear if the “JE” reference indicates Epstein himself was on the flight. 

What is clear, however, is that the flight included one other CSM board member.

Geraldine Laybourne who served as president of Nickelodeon from 1984 to 1996, was also mentioned as a passenger on one of the 2002 entries. In the past, Laybourne has claimed she did not know the plane belonged to Epstein but that she had simply accepted a flight from New York to Monterey, California.

“We said yes. We did not know whose plane it was or who Jeffrey Epstein was,” Laybourne told the Daily Beast in 2023.

WATCH: BILL CLINTON GRILLED ON SHIRTLESS HOT TUB PHOTO AMID SWIRLING QUESTIONS ON EPSTEIN RELATIONSHIP

In another case, CSM brought on Howard Gardner, a celebrated scholar best known for his research on education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, who maintained contact with Epstein long after news of his crimes had surfaced.

Gardner had lengthy correspondence with Epstein, according to reporting from Bloomberg. Gardner’s name appears at least 380 times in the DOJ’s Epstein disclosures. Most are email communications or logistical arrangements.

In one email, Epstein described planned outings with Gardner.

“I am having a ‘smart day’ at Harvard. Larry Summers – finance. Chomsky – language. Eric Lander, George Church – genetics. Howard Gardner – intelligence,” Epstein wrote, referring to various experts and their areas of study.

Gardner told The Harvard Crimson last year that “Once [Epstein] had been arrested, I made it clear to him that I could no longer accept any funding but, as a friend and beneficiary of his philanthropy, I tried to be supportive.”

“Of course, no one I knew (which included dozens of Harvard faculty) had any idea of the nature and extent of Epstein’s crimes, which only became clear in the following years,” he continued.

PETER ATTIA OUT AS CBS NEWS CONTRIBUTOR AFTER NAME APPEARED OVER 1,700 TIMES IN EPSTEIN FILES

Cyrus Vance Jr., a former district attorney for Manhattan from 2010 to 2021, joined CSM’s board in 2024 despite past backlash after his office’s insistence in 2011 that Epstein should receive more lenient treatment.

Specifically, Vance’s office argued that Epstein should be designated a Level 1 sex offender — a reduction from level 3, the classification reserved for high-level threats.

The judge overseeing the case was reportedly taken aback by the request, according to court transcripts.

“I have to tell you, I am a little overwhelmed because I have never seen the prosecutor’s office do anything like this. I have done many [cases], much less troubling than this one, where the People would never make a downward argument like this,” Judge Ruth Pickholz said.

Epstein, at that point, had already been convicted of sexual misconduct with minors in 2008.

In response to a request for comment, Vance said he had no knowledge of Epstein’s prior case due to an error in the case. After becoming aware of the case, Vance said he pursued the most stringent restrictions possible for Epstein.

“I have never met, or communicated with Mr. Epstein in any form,” Vance said in a comment.

Vance’s office also received backlash for not prosecuting disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in 2015, two years before the “MeToo” movement took him down. 

Finally, Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, has served on the CSM board for over a decade. She, too, had a brush with Epstein that garnered public attention when Ghislaine Maxwell — an accomplice of Epstein — attended her wedding.

Maxwell had attended at the invitation of Ted Waitt, a donor to the Clinton Foundation, according to later statements from Hillary Clinton.

But reporting from Politico suggested the one-off went deeper. Politico reported that sources had said the pair had been “incredibly close.”

Chelsea Clinton has repeatedly pushed back against those characterizations.

“It wasn’t until 2015 that Chelsea [her husband] Marc became aware of the horrific allegations against Ghislaine Maxwell and hope that all the victims find justice. Chelsea and Marc were friendly with her because of her relationship with a dear friend of theirs. When that relationship ended, Chelsea’s friendship with her ended as well,” a person familiar with the relationship told Politico.

Both of Chelsea’s parents, Bill and Hillary Clinton, recently went viral after they were interviewed by the House Oversight Committee about their previous longtime relationship with Epstein and Maxwell.

In addition to the board members, CSM includes the Gates Foundation as one of its foundation partners. The foundation’s co-founder, Bill Gates, who is the chair of the board, has repeatedly been tied to Epstein through their email communications and meetings over several years, which Gates called “foolish” earlier this year. 

“In retrospect, I was foolish to spend any time with him,” Gates said of Epstein. “I think I was quite stupid. I thought it would help me with global health philanthropy. In fact, it failed to do that. It was just a huge mistake.”

He is expected to show up for a transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee in May.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Steyer campaign and the five board members for comment. 

President Donald Trump warned he could send Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to U.S. airports and arrest illegal aliens if Democrats don’t agree to his budget demands to end the partial government shutdown.

‘‘If the Radical Left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular, our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country, with heavy emphasis on those from Somalia, who have totally destroyed, with the approval of a corrupt Governor, Attorney General, and Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, the once Great State of Minnesota. I look forward to seeing ICE in action at our Airports,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday. 

He concluded the post by writing, “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP’’

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 

The Trump administration’s anticipated multibillion-dollar funding request to bolster its Iran campaign could face resistance from GOP fiscal hawks.

Though congressional Republicans have been broadly supportive of the Trump administration’s conflict in Iran, some conservatives are drawing a red line that an emergency cash infusion, known as a supplemental, cannot increase budget deficits. Multiple House Freedom Caucus members, for example, told Fox News Digital that such a funding bill would have to be made up for by cutting spending elsewhere.

“I think the big thing there is going to be making sure that there’s a pay-for,” Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., told Fox News Digital. 

“I’d like to see how this is paid for,” Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., said, adding that he’d like to see Iran ultimately cover the costs. 

TRUMP RALLIES DEFENSE TITANS TO SURGE WEAPONS OUTPUT AS IRAN WAR RAGES

Neither the president nor Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth has attempted to dispute reports Thursday that the administration is considering an infusion of roughly $200 billion to help finance the Iran campaign and restore depleted munitions. However, no formal request has been sent to congressional leaders yet.

“Our national debt just surpassed $39 trillion. A potential supplemental for Operation Epic Fury — or any supplemental funding for that matter — must be offset,” Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., told Fox News Digital when asked about the prospective $200 billion request. 

Clyde said he supported the mission but that any resources Congress signs off on must be done “in a fiscally responsible manner.”

Meanwhile, another House conservative granted anonymity to speak freely about the Freedom Caucus’s thinking told Fox News Digital that fiscal hawks were likely to be “skeptical” about the price tag.

HEGSETH WARNS ‘MORE CASUALTIES’ EXPECTED IN OPERATION EPIC FURY AGAINST IRAN

“America isn’t signing up for a $200 billion war. The White House needs to give details of a plan regarding boots on the ground and how much is for replenishing our own arsenal, and how it’s being paid for,” that lawmaker said.

With Democrats’ expected opposition to an Iran supplemental, some Republicans believe putting defense spending in a second “big, beautiful bill” via the budget reconciliation process could be the path of least resistance for the GOP.

Top congressional Democrats were sharply critical of a massive supplemental Thursday — a position that could harden if the conflict drags on.

“They are certainly not going to spend an additional dime on the military, on security, on any of the things that we care about,” Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital in an interview last week, referring to Democrats. “This conflict right now and the future of our country and our Western values have to be secured by additional defense spending, which can only happen in a reconciliation bill.”

Pfluger did not comment specifically on the prospective $200 billion request when asked on Friday, but he reaffirmed his support for another reconciliation bill. He also pointed out that reconciliation means that the new spending would be mostly or fully paid for.

“Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, and I strongly support the administration’s efforts to ensure the United States and our allies cannot be threatened,” he said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The pathway for additional military funding could be through a second reconciliation bill, with commonsense offsets that ensure the president’s request is fully paid for. Our warfighters will not be left waiting while the left plays politics with national security.”

The budget reconciliation process allows the majority party to steer around the Senate’s 60-vote requirement and pass legislation via a simple majority. Republicans used the legislative maneuver to advance Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act through Congress in the first half of 2025.

Budget reconciliation would also allow Republicans to identify offsets to a substantial increase in defense spending. However, intraparty divisions are likely to emerge over spending cuts.

There is also skepticism among some Republicans that the Pentagon needs a massive infusion of money.

The “big, beautiful bill” gave $150 billion to the Pentagon. The president has also requested a $1.5 trillion defense budget for the upcoming fiscal year — more than a 50% increase from current levels. 

Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital that he would like to see the specifics of the supplemental request before committing to supporting one.

“The DoD hasn’t passed an audit for a while,” Self said. “I would like for them to scrub things before they start asking for more money after the $150 billion and before the appropriations get passed.”

And some Republicans are doubtful that the House GOP’s razor-thin majority will be able to pass any reconciliation bill at all, particularly in an election year.

“We’ll see,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who’s already signaled skepticism over the prospect of a second reconciliation bill, told Fox News Digital when asked specifically about military funding in such a vehicle.

And Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital of a second reconciliation bill, “I don’t know how well the prospects are, because there’s some people saying that we aren’t going to do it, and given our small majority, it’s going to be challenging.”

As New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been embracing his Muslim faith amid Ramadan, he decided to break his religious fast with inmates who share his faith in New York’s notorious Rikers Island jail, calling it “one of the most meaningful evenings” he’s had as mayor. 

Although Mamdani has visited Rikers Island in the past as a state legislator, this marked his first visit as mayor of New York City. 

Shortly before arriving, he reiterated his pledge to shut down the jail and have the city absorb the incarcerated population into its borough-based jails. He also hinted at plans to hire a facilitator to expedite those plans.

“This is me just being a Muslim New Yorker,” Mamdani said during the visit to Rikers, according to NPR. “There are some for whom that is a political act.” 

NYC MAYOR MAMDANI’S WIFE GLORIFIED TERRORISTS IN ONLINE POSTS, CRITICIZED US MILITARY: REPORT

Mamdani was joined during the visit by Yusef Salaam, a member of the so-called “Central Park Five” who were exonerated of a 1989 rape and assault. Salaam currently serves as a member of the New York City Council.

Social media erupted after Mamdani’s X post, with many critics questioning his decision to visit inmates at Rikers, which is notorious for its violent criminals.

Mystery novelist Daniel Friedman, who according to his bio on Macmillan Publishers’ website, lives in New York City, noted, “You have to be an absolute monster to be sent to Rikers Island these days.”

“Offenders on Rikers all have long histories of doing things so horrible that even the woke, pro-crime judges and prosecutors in NYC don’t want to be responsible for what they’ll do if they let them go,” Friedman added.

Moshe Hill, a long-time Long Island resident and candidate for the Nassau County legislature, agreed with Friedman.

“Criminals in prison are just ‘New Yorkers in custody,’ according to Mamdani. Why are they in custody? You don’t go to Rikers Island for nothing!” Hill quipped. 

DAVID MARCUS: THE MORE AMERICA GIVES MAMDANI, KHALIL AND THE MAD BOMBERS, THE MORE THEY HATE US

“Mayor likes to hang out with the people who victimize us. F—ing ridiculous,” Newsmax’s Rob Schmitt posted on X.

Meanwhile, Emmy-Award winning producer and columnist Daniella Greenbaum Davis made her own post, asking the New York City mayor if he had also visited the victims of the inmates he was meeting with.

“Visiting people in jail is admirable but just wondering if you’ve also visited their victims / the families of their victims?” she questioned. “Seems like there is a bizarre progressive determination to invert victimization I can’t quite understand.”

Among Mamdani’s celebrations during Ramadan was an iftar, or a daily fast-breaking, at the Museum of the City of New York. That also triggered some responses, including from a former college football coach and lawmaker, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., 

DR. PHIL CALLS OUT ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S WIFE AFTER REPORTEDLY LIKING SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS ABOUT OCT. 7 ‘HOAX’ CLAIMS

Tuberville shared a photo of Mamdani at the iftar alongside a photo of the Twin Towers on fire after planes hit them on Sept. 11, 2001. “The enemy is inside the gates,” Tuberville captioned the post. 

Tuberville has faced backlash over the post, but the GOP senator stood firm and defended his social media post. 

“I just go by his rhetoric,” Tuberville said.

“He’s made a lot of statements about his stance with Islam and radical Islam, all the things that go along with what he preaches every day. And I’m just kind of repeating what he’s saying,” the senator told D.C. News Now’s Reshad Hudson.

“We don’t need a division in this country. We need everybody to go with the Constitution, understand we have moral values. And if we all stick with those — I don’t care if you’re Muslim or Catholic or Baptist, it makes no difference,” he continued.

He added, “We need to make the country better; we don’t need to divide it. That’s what he’s doing in New York.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sidestepped Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s Nazi-linked tattoo in her glowing endorsement Thursday, despite previously expressing alarm over Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Christian tattoos.

Warren, one of the Senate’s most liberal members who is seeking to recruit progressive candidates, endorsed Platner’s campaign in a video posted to social media Wednesday, calling him “the real deal.” 

“Graham Platner has the grit to go against the grain and to fight for what is right,” Warren said. “And the people in Maine are fired up and excited for change.”

The 41-year-old oyster farmer has been widely criticized for having a chest tattoo of a skull and crossbones resembling a Nazi-linked symbol associated with the SS. Platner has since had the tattoo removed and pleaded ignorance, saying he was unaware of the symbol’s meaning.

DEM SENATE CANDIDATE MOCKED AFTER CLAIM ABOUT DISMANTLING ICE GOES VIRAL: ‘UNMASK THESE THUGS’

When asked about Platner’s host of controversies, Warren largely brushed it off.

“Look, he has apologized for that, and he’s out there talking to the people of Maine every single day,” Warren told Huffpost on Thursday.

Warren’s remarks sharply contrasted with her scrutiny of Hegseth for his Christian tattoos. In the lead-up to Hegseth’s confirmation hearing in early 2025, Warren implied that Hegseth could be a traitor for having certain Christian symbols on his body.

The Massachusetts Democrat specifically referenced a Reuters report detailing Hegseth being removed from National Guard duty during former President Joe Biden’s inauguration by a supervisor, who appears to have made a dubious assumption that he could be an “insider threat” over his Christian tattoos.

Hegseth had volunteered for inauguration security as a member of the D.C. National Guard and had been employed by Fox News at the time. A senior National Guard member expressed concern over his tattoos of the Jerusalem Cross and the Latin phrase “Deus Vult,” which translates to “God wills it.” 

Four years later, Warren used the incident to question Hegseth’s loyalty to the United States, despite his completing multiple overseas deployments and earning two Bronze Stars.

“We cannot have a Defense Secretary whose fellow servicemembers feel concerned enough about to report as a potential insider threat,” Warren wrote in a 33-page letter to Hegseth. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Warren’s office for comment. 

ANTI-ICE LAW SET TO TAKE EFFECT IN MAINE AS GOVERNOR FACES INCREASED CRITICISM FOR ALLOWING IT AMID SENATE RUN

Hegseth defended his tattoos in an exchange with Sen. Kristen Gillibrand during his confirmation hearing. Gillibrand, who chairs Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, is notably backing Gov. Janet Mills, Platner’s opponent in the Senate primary.

Both Mills and Platner are vying for the Democratic nomination to unseat longtime Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

The tattoo is spotlighted in a blistering new attack ad against Platner launched by Mills’ campaign.

The ad, which the Mills campaign says it’s spending six figures to run statewide, closes with video of Platner shirtless as the narrator in the spot says, “The closer you look, the worse it gets.”

Controversial comments Platner made over a decade ago on Reddit about rape are also included in the ad.

The Mills campaign’s spot highlights Platner’s comments while an actor — in a voice that resembles the candidate — reads the comment aloud. Among the comments is one from 2013, which Platner later deleted, saying people concerned about rape should not “get so f—ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to.”

Four women in the Mills ad responded to the comments, calling them, “a horrible thing to say,” “disgusting” and “disqualifying.”

Platner apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.

“For those of you who have read these things and been offended, have read these things and seen someone that you don’t recognize, I am deeply sorry,” he said in a video that went viral.

The Mills ad was launched as Platner appeared to be gaining momentum while drawing large crowds at campaign events across the state. According to recent polls, Platner holds a large lead over Mills with less than three months until Maine’s primary.

Democrats view Collins as vulnerable as she seeks a sixth Senate term in the left-leaning New England state. The race is considered a must-win contest for Democrats as they try to claw back the chamber’s majority from the GOP in this year’s midterms.

Connecticut Democrats recently rushed through an emergency anti-fraud law requiring bottle redemption centers to collect a copy of a person’s driver’s license when they cash in more than 1,000 cans or bottles in a day — a document demand that Republicans say undercuts the party’s attacks on voter-ID rules.

Earlier this month, an emergency certification bill, SB 299, was introduced by top Democratic leaders in the state’s legislature. It was later passed in both chambers in late February and was signed by Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, on March 3. 

It requires people wishing to recycle cans for money to present a copy of their driver’s license, put in place because the state has had issues with non-residents crossing their border to take advantage of it’s higher return rate of 10 cents a can instead of five cents. The issue was reportedly causing the state to lose significant revenue.

Meanwhile, the state still does not require its residents to present a driver’s license, or some other form of formal identification. Instead, residents wishing to vote simply have to attest, under penalty of the law, that they are a citizen of the United States. 

Additionally, both of Connecticut’s senators, Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., recently voted against advancing the SAVE Act earlier this week, which Republicans introduced to pass stricter photo-ID requirements for voting in federal elections, including a national proof-of-citizenship requirement for anyone wishing to register to vote.

PENCE URGES SENATE TO ‘RESTORE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE’ WITH NATIONWIDE VOTER ID LAW

“In Connecticut, it seems that they are committed to securing recycling, but not to securing elections,” said Anna Pingel, America First Policy Institute’s Campaign Director for Secure Elections. “Requiring photo ID to collect cash from recycling but opposing photo ID to cast a vote tells you everything you need to know about the hypocrisy of politicians fighting against commonsense legislation like the SAVE Act. What is more important to safeguard—bottles or ballots?”

Fox News Digital reached out to Blumenthal, Murphy and Lamont for comment but only heard back from Blumenthal.

“Let’s be very clear: the SAVE America Act requires a birth certificate or passport to register to vote, which Republicans know 21 million Americans do not have,” Blumenthal told Fox News Digital. “This is not a voter identification bill. It is a voter purge bill.”

STEPHEN A SMITH STUNNED AFTER REP KEVIN KILEY EDUCATES HIM ON CALIFORNIA VOTER ID BAN

Earlier this week, the Senate voted 51-48 to begin a debate on the House-passed SAVE Act vehicle, S. 1383. Blumenthal and Murphy both voted ‘Nay.’ The House had already passed the bill 218-213 on Feb. 11, but the measure still faces the Senate’s 60-vote hurdle to advance toward passage — a threshold Democrats have said they intend to block.

In speeches on the Senate floor trying to downplay the seriousness and scope of illegal citizen voting, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., tacitly acknowledged the existence of a problem they’ve argued is immaterial: that illegal immigrants may be able to unlawfully participate in federal elections.

“The evidence is that almost no illegal aliens vote,” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor. Warnock similarly acknowledged the issue while listing statistics about voting records in his home state. “8.2 million people are registered to vote in Georgia. The Republican Secretary of State found 20 instances of non-citizens who were registered, and only nine had ever attempted to vote,” Warnock said.

Democrats have fiercely opposed the Republican-led bill, citing concerns that its voter integrity measures are overly heavy-handed and could inadvertently burden communities that may struggle to provide documented proof of citizenship.

Republicans, who argue that lax identity requirements may have already allowed an unknown number of non-citizens onto voter rolls, have launched a marathon standoff over the bill on the Senate floor.

The Senate will be holding weekend sessions as the deadlock continues. 

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., invoked his collegiate soccer career while introducing a package of bills to prevent immigration enforcement behavior in and around World Cup sites this June.

More than a dozen American cities will be hosting World Cup soccer matches, including East Rutherford, N.J., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington – while three Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee want to prevent what they call racial and linguistic profiling that would instill fear in fans.

“How can our country host the World Cup while deporting visiting fans from around the world?” Swalwell said in a statement introducing his “Safe Passage to the World Cup Act.”

“As a former Division I soccer player, I know what an honor it is to host the world’s biggest sporting event.

SENATE DEMS REFUSING TO BUDGE ON DHS FUNDING MAY CAUSE HEADACHE FOR WORLD CUP TRAVELERS

Swalwell, an Iowa native, played goalkeeper in Division I soccer at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina. 

The future liberal firebrand dreamed of being a professional soccer star himself, but ended up breaking his thumbs, which eventually sidelined his prospective career.

After transferring to the University of Maryland in College Park, he interned in neighboring Washington, D.C. for Rep. Ellen Tauscher, a California Democrat.

“That was a turning point. I knew I didn’t want to play soccer anymore; I wanted to be in Washington,” Swalwell told Diablo Magazine in 2013 in a story now facsimiled on his official congressional website.

Swalwell’s bill would ban federal DHS funding from being used for civil immigration enforcement activities on public transit or at terminals from June 11 to July 19 in any city hosting a FIFA match or festival.

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The bill does provide a carveout for “hot pursuit” of suspects presenting an “imminent risk to public safety.”

“Our priority should be to showcase our best—not have police commandeering buses, trains, and public spaces,” Swalwell said in a statement.

“This bill ensures ICE cannot turn everyday public transportation into a place of terror. It is shameful for DHS to trap people with political stunts.”

“We are better than this,” he said.

Swalwell sits on the House Homeland Security Committee’s Task Force on Enhancing Security for Special Events in the United States.

That panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Nellie Pou of New Jersey, represents the area around the New York Giants’ stadium, where matches will be held.

Pou crafted a companion bill called the Save the World Cup Act, which bans immigration enforcement near matches or festivals themselves – and would enforce measures to ensure parking lots and fan midways are not encroached upon by ICE enforcement sweeps to “deter attendance and indiscriminately target communities.”

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“With fewer than 90 days until kickoff, the World Cup should bring the world together and not leave families wondering if ICE agents will be waiting outside stadiums,” Pou said in a statement, adding that she asked ICE Director Todd Lyons if he would assure her of no such enforcement — but that he declined.

A third task force member – Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., — still faces charges over an alleged assault on a federal agent outside Delaney Hall in her hometown of Newark.

The case remains active as of January, according to the New Jersey Monitor, which reported that Biden-appointed Judge Jamel Semper allowed two of three counts to proceed as McIver appeals.

McIver’s companion bill would prohibit state grant programs for being used for civil immigration enforcement near World Cup game sites.

“Fans from around the world and across the country will travel to New Jersey to watch the World Cup, and keeping them safe means protecting them from DHS attempting to turn this global event into a dragnet for the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda,” she said in a statement.

“We fought to secure millions of federal dollars so soccer fans can enjoy the biggest game in the world—they should not be intimidated by immigration enforcement. I’m introducing this bill to draw a clear line that makes sure state and local law enforcement can actually focus on keeping fans safe.”

A DHS spokesperson said the agency still plans to work with local and federal partners to secure the World Cup matches “in line with federal law and the U.S. Constitution as we do with every major sporting event, while showcasing American greatness to the entire world.”

“International visitors who legally come to the United States for the World Cup have nothing to worry about,” DHS said. “What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the U.S.— full stop.”

The spokesperson called speculation in the legislative package “ill informed” and that foreign visitors must still be “proactive” and have all their forms filed to Washington and their personal documents in order ahead of time to ensure a smooth travel experience.