Category: USA Politics

FIRST ON FOX: Members of Congress blasted South Korean leadership over a “left-wing government closely aligned with China,” that they accused of “attacking” American companies and showing favoritism to Chinese-led businesses. 

In a letter led by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., more than 50 members of the House of Representatives expressed their concern to Republic of Korea (ROK) Ambassador to the United States Kyung-wha Kang over what they deemed to be “discriminatory” business practices from the ROK.  

“Many American tech companies have faced a range of regulatory actions that seek to punish them while shielding Korean domestic competition,” the letter reads. “Recent research by think tank Competere shows such regulatory actions by the ROK government will cost $1 trillion in combined economic damage to the U.S. and Korean economies over the next 10 years, with the U.S. economy losing $525 billion and American households losing nearly $4,000 each.”

“We are committed to ensuring that your government ceases its persecution of Coupang and other American companies operating in South Korea,” the letter continues. “The stakes for American economic and security interests are enormous.”

CHINA’S AI DEEPSEEK FACES HOUSE PROBE OVER US DATA HARVESTING, CCP PROPAGANDA

Issa sat down with Fox News Digital to discuss the letter and what’s at stake for U.S. companies if the ROK continues its alleged bias. 

“South Korea is still an important strategic partner, but their last election led to a left-wing government closely aligned with China that, among other things, has begun attacking American companies, companies as large as Meta, but also one that you probably don’t know called Coupang, who they’re basically the Amazon of South Korea,” Issa told Fox News Digital.

“But they’re owned by and founded by a Korean-American and they have been systematically attacked quite frankly, probably because they’re an American company and effectively a unicorn in South Korea,” Issa added. “We’re seeing that South Korea has adopted the European digital rules which are very much designed to localize rather than accept the great companies that have spread very well around the world because they’ve earned it.”

SOUTH KOREAN PM HAN DUCK-SOO REINSTATED AS ACTING PRESIDENT AFTER IMPEACHMENT OVERTURNED

Yoon Suk-yeol, of the People Power Party was elected as president in 2022 but was impeached in December 2024, largely for his attempt to declare martial law. 

Lee Jae-myung, of the Democratic Party, who was defeated by Yoon in 2022, was elected in 2025. The South Korean National Assembly holds a strong majority by the county’s Democratic Party, and the ROK is now governed by a full Democratic majority for the first time in four years. 

The Democratic party is the main liberal thinking party in the ROK, which favors progressive domestic policies as opposed to conservative beliefs that have previously reduced political engagement with North Korea and promoted relations with the U.S.

TRUMP’S GREEN LIGHT FOR NVIDIA SALES TO CHINA SPARKS ALARM ON CAPITOL HILL

Given the situation in Iran, Issa compared the alliance of nations like North Korea and China siding with the Iranian regime to the era of former President Ronald Reagan, as he alleged South Korea is straying from its trade relationships with the U.S. 

“The fact is that as we go back into an alignment that looks a lot like the Cold War, where China and Russia have become strategic partners, where they’re picking off people to be with them, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela until recently, and obviously Iran, it has become very much like the period of time when Ronald Reagan was president,” Issa told Fox News Digital. 

The U.S. and the ROK established the KORUS FTA (U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement) in 2018, which serves to promote trade between the two allied countries.

SOUTH KOREA TO END SOME MILITARY ACTIVITY ON BORDER TO EASE TENSIONS WITH NORTH KOREA

When asked if alleged favoritism toward Chinese and other nations violated the KORUS FTA or any other preexisting trade agreements between the U.S. and the ROK, Issa told Fox News Digital that the agreements can be used as leverage if the ROK leadership doesn’t correct course. 

“South Korea depends on the United States for a sale of Hyundai, Kia, obviously the Samsung line and others,” Issa explained. “Our free trade agreement allows that product to come in at the lowest possible rate, in some cases still zero. If they want that benefit, we have to use that leverage.”

Issa noted the importance of non-tariff barriers in South Korea and their effects on U.S. companies.

“[We need] to make sure that they are not just tariffing our companies, but also not using other non-tariff trade barriers, clearly with Meta and Coupang and others,” Issa said. 

“And by the way, we still have over 25,000 troops [in the ROK], Issa added. “We have a strategic partnership with them that keeps North Korea from reuniting the country under a communist government.”

Democrat Analilia Mejia was sworn in to the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday after decisively winning a special election last week in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.

Democrat Mikie Sherrill vacated the House seat last year after winning the Garden State’s gubernatorial contest.

Mejia has been an advocate for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

MEET ANALILIA MEJIA, THE SANDERS-AOC BACKED PROGRESSIVE WHO JUST WON ELECTION TO CONGRESS

“I join you today with a message delivered by the people of New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, but echoed nationally: Stand up, defend, restore, not only our democracy, but also a just economy that actually works for working people,” Mejia declared during a speech after being sworn in.

BERNIE SANDERS, AOC-BACKED DEMOCRAT WINS KEY HOUSE RACE; GOP FAILS TO EXPAND FRAGILE MAJORITY

Republicans now hold a slim 217-214 majority in the lower congressional chamber.

Rep. Kevin Kiley of California switched from Republican to independent last month.

EX-TRUMP ALLY MTG SLAMS BOTH SIDES OF THE POLITICAL AISLE: ‘NOTHING EVER CHANGES’

While Republicans currently hold the majority in both the House of Representatives and Senate, Democrats are aiming to change that during the 2026 midterm election cycle.

Mexico’s president is demanding answers after a crash killed two U.S. officials tied to a cartel-related operation — an incident exposing conflicting accounts over American involvement inside the country.

Fox News can independently confirm via a U.S. official that the two deceased individuals worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA declined to comment.

The crash in the northern state of Chihuahua killed two U.S. Embassy personnel and two Mexican officials as they were returning from an operation targeting a clandestine drug lab, according to authorities.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said her administration was not informed of any U.S. presence and has ordered an investigation into whether Mexican sovereignty or national security laws were violated.

MEXICO BROKE INTERNATIONAL LAW WITH THE CARTELS AND AMERICANS SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES

“We were not aware of any direct work or coordination between the state of Chihuahua and personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico,” Sheinbaum said in a Tuesday press conference, adding that her government is seeking information from both local authorities and the United States.

She stressed that Mexico does not permit joint operations with foreign governments, saying cooperation is limited to intelligence-sharing “within a clearly defined framework … in keeping with our sovereignty.”

But officials in Chihuahua, Mexico, offered a different account, describing the U.S. personnel as part of routine cooperation with local authorities.

“Two instructor officers from the U.S. Embassy died while carrying out training duties as part of the exchange we generally and routinely have with U.S. authorities,” state prosecutor César Jáuregui Moreno said in a Tuesday press conference. 

He added the Americans had “always supported us with advisory support and training, as part of our regular exchange.”

Experts say those roles often extend beyond the classroom.

“The CIA has been supporting counter-narcotics efforts for some time and works closely with the DEA, the military and partner governments,” said Christine Balling, a counterinsurgency expert with experience in Latin America.

Balling said the role described as “training” can place U.S. personnel alongside partner forces in operational settings.

“People think training is just in the classroom — it’s not,” she said. “These officers would be working with partner forces on things like strategy or technology, including drones.”

“It makes perfect sense that they would be on site when an operation is carried out and be vulnerable,” she added.

Under Mexican law, foreign security cooperation is generally subject to federal oversight, but in practice those relationships can play out at the local level, sometimes without national leaders being directly involved in every operation.

The incident comes as tensions grow over the U.S. role in Mexico’s fight against powerful drug cartels.

President Donald Trump has increased pressure on Mexico to crack down on trafficking groups, while recent operations have relied heavily on U.S. support, including surveillance and intelligence-sharing to locate cartel targets.

But Sheinbaum has drawn a firm line against any unilateral U.S. activity inside Mexico.

Balling said Sheinbaum likely was not aware of the specific mission but faces political pressure to distance herself from any American-involved operations.

“There are domestic political pressures to show that the government is in control and not allowing outside forces to take over,” she said.

“I would be shocked if she knew the details, unless it was the type of operation that required a president’s sign-off,” Balling added.

It remains unclear what caused the crash, and authorities have not said whether foul play is suspected.

Officials said the Americans were not involved in the raid itself and had been conducting training work elsewhere before meeting with Mexican investigators after the operation.

Balling said the circumstances may never be fully clear, raising the possibility — without evidence — that cartel involvement could be difficult to confirm publicly.

“It makes perfect sense that they would be on site when an operation would go down and then be vulnerable to whether this was actually an accident or an intentional hit,” she said. “I don’t think that would ever be made public.”

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s camp responded defiantly Tuesday after the Supreme Court declined to hear a wrongful death case brought on appeal by a Brooklyn man who blamed the Democrat’s COVID-era nursing home orders for his father’s 2020 death.

Cuomo was one of several Democratic COVID-era governors, including Pennsylvania’s Tom Wolf and California’s Gavin Newsom, who came under intense scrutiny for their lockdown procedures and policies that required nursing homes to accept returning hospital patients regardless of their coronavirus infection status.

A Cuomo spokesman told Fox News Digital that the high court was the latest to absolve the former governor of alleged wrongdoing, while the plaintiff told New York media he was “disappointed” by the decision.

“For six long years, families have had to deal with unimaginable losses of loved ones from COVID and it doesn’t get easier, especially when that pain was manipulated and politicized,” said Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo’s longtime ombudsman.

DANIEL PENNY DEFENSE EYES MANHATTAN DA ALVIN BRAGG FOR POTENTIAL MALICIOUS PROSECUTION LAWSUIT

“Every investigation and every court to examine these claims has reached the same conclusion: there was no wrongdoing by Governor Cuomo or his administration,” Azzopardi said.

“Today, the Supreme Court joins that list.”

The plaintiff, Daniel Arbeeny of Brooklyn, sued Cuomo and his then-health commissioner Howard Zucker under federal law covering deprivation of rights and a state wrongful death statute, according to court documents from the Manhattan-based Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

A district court previously dismissed the suit on qualified immunity grounds, which generally state that public officials cannot be prosecuted for actions taken in their official capacity. Police have similar protections.

Arbeeny’s father Norman died at 89 after being released from a Cobble Hill nursing home where COVID patients were housed.

MANGIONE SUPPORTERS PUSH ‘JURY NULLIFICATION’ AS UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO ASSASSINATION TRIAL LOOMS

When Cuomo was running for mayor in 2025, a bipartisan group, including Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, current Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Brooklyn State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, made the issue a focal point and protested together to demand accountability from the New York political scion.

 “You need to face us and apologize. If you are going to lead you are going to lead for all of us,” Norman’s other son Peter Arbeeny told Brooklyn Paper.

Cuomo’s policy, like that of other Democratic governors, aimed to assuage fears that COVID-related hospitalizations would overwhelm capacity and led to a ban on nursing homes denying admission solely based on a COVID diagnosis.

“The Supreme Court doesn’t erase what was done and the truth of what happened. Nine thousand COVID-positive patients were forced into nursing homes with deadly consequences,” Daniel Arbeeny added Tuesday to the New York Post, a corporate cousin of Fox News Digital.

In remarks to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, Azzopardi said that independent reviews, including those from the DOJ, the New York County district attorney’s office, and the New York State attorney general’s office, found Cuomo’s nursing home guidance consistent with federal policy at the time.

“[It] aligned with actions taken on Democratic and Republican states across the country during a once-in-a-century pandemic,” Azzopardi said. “The facts are settled and the highest court has spoken.”

LUIGI MANGIONE ASSASSINATION CASE SIGNALS DOJ SHIFT ON DEATH PENALTY IN BLUE STATES, EXPERT SAYS

He also cited a New York State Department of Health report cited in a legal memo that stated the Cobble Hill nursing home the elder Arbeeny was a patient at had its first COVID-positive-testing patient admitted days after the man was discharged.

While the case was being litigated, Cuomo said via a court filing that the purposes of his mandates were clearly aimed at freeing up hospital beds for “patients with more acute needs” and meant to send “individuals… who were no longer contagious back to facilities who could provide them with adequate care.”

In a Fox & Friends interview after the New York County District Attorney’s office closed its 2022 probe into the nursing home deaths, New York State Assemblyman Ron Kim, D-Flushing, said Cuomo’s lawyers and “PR team” want the public to believe he had been “absolved.”

Fox News chief meteorologist Janice Dean, whose in-laws died in a nursing home, said that news suggested a political “deal” between Albany and top prosecutors.

New York Department of Health records obtained by Fox News showed Cuomo reported 8,505 deaths through January 2021 with the actual figure topping 12,000.

Daniel Arbeeny told Fox News at the time that Norman’s death was preventable because “the governor decided to lie about it.”

The Supreme Court did not issue a reason for its decision not to hear the case.

FIRST ON FOX: Vivek Ramaswamy is putting his money where his mouth is, and the Republican candidate for Ohio governor is fulfilling a campaign pledge he first made last summer.

Ramaswamy, a multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and business leader, invested $25 million of his own money into his gubernatorial campaign so far this year. He first grabbed national attention in the 2024 election cycle by running for the GOP presidential nomination before dropping out and becoming a top surrogate for President Donald Trump.

The investment was included in Ramaswamy’s latest fundraising report, which indicates he has hauled in a record $50 million since launching his campaign last year. That includes $30 million this year — $5 million from donors and Ramaswamy’s $25 million investment.

The fundraising report, shared first with Fox News Digital Tuesday, also highlights that Ramaswamy had $30 million in his campaign coffers at the end of last month. Separately, the Ramaswamy-aligned American Exceptionalism PAC reported $29.5 million in fundraising so far this cycle.

RAMASWAMY REVEALS RUNNING MATE IN BID FOR OHIO GOVERNOR

“No gubernatorial campaign in Ohio history has ever put up numbers like this, and it sends a clear message: Ohioans are fired up for Vivek, our campaign is growing, and we will win big in November,” Ramaswamy’s campaign manager Jonathan Ewing said in a statement.

The report, coming before next month’s Ohio primary, showcases Ramaswamy’s large fundraising advantage over his Democratic rival for governor, Amy Acton, a doctor and researcher who served as director of the state Department of Health from 2019-2020. The winner of November’s election will succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine.

Once a top general election battleground state, Ohio has shifted to the right over the past decade, with Trump carrying the state by 11 points in the 2024 election.

But this year’s race for governor and a battle for a U.S. Senate seat in the Buckeye State are expected to be competitive. The Cook Report, a nonpartisan political handicapper, rates the governor’s race as leaning Republican, which is one step away from being considered a toss-up.

As first reported by Fox News Digital in July, Ramaswamy pledged to infuse up to $30 million of his own money into his bid for governor. His campaign says the $25 million investment so far this year is a large down payment on the pledge.

RAMASWAMY DESCRIBES MAIN LESSON LEARNED BY REPUBLICANS AFTER DEMOCRATS’ BIG WINS ON ELECTION DAY

Acton’s campaign last week reported that it brought in $9.3 million in fundraising to date, which it highlighted as “the most ever raised at this point in the calendar by a Democratic candidate for governor in the state’s history.”

The campaign also reported more than $4.8 million raked in during the first three months of this year.

Campaign manager Philip Stein said the fundraising “is the clearest sign yet that Ohioans, including independents and Republicans, are excited to elect Dr. Amy Acton to be Ohio’s next governor.”

Ramaswamy, who was endorsed by Trump last year as he launched his campaign, has used his large financial lead over Acton to put up ads statewide in Ohio. The campaign in March launched a $10 million ad buy and pledged to keep running spots through Election Day in November.

Ramaswamy’s campaign noted that “Vivek has already far surpassed all finance benchmarks set in recent gubernatorial campaigns.”

It also spotlighted the grassroots nature of Ramaswamy’s fundraising, with 392,347 donations from more than 120,000 unique donors and an average contribution of just $63. It also pointed out that donors giving $200 or less accounted for over 98% of individual contributions.

The campaign pointed out that the fundraising drive will continue and shared that Ramaswamy will headline a fundraising event in Columbus on Thursday evening that’s expected to bring in over $1 million.

Southern Poverty Law Center’s interim CEO Bryan Fair claimed in a Tuesday video that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating the organization and possibly preparing criminal charges.

“Although we don’t know all the details,” Fair said in a video posted to the organization’s YouTube account, “the focus appears to be on the SPLC’s prior use of paid confidential informants to gather credible intelligence on extremely violent groups.”

The SPLC is a nonprofit group that has come under fire in recent years for alleged political bias. In October, FBI Director Kash Patel eliminated all ties to the organization after they labeled Turning Point USA a hate group.

“The Southern Poverty Law Center long ago abandoned civil rights work and turned into a partisan smear machine,” Patel said in a Oct. 3 post on X.

TRUMP ADMIN AGENCIES COORDINATING TO EXPOSE BIDEN ADMIN’S ‘PROLIFIC AND DANGEROUS’ WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNMENT

“Their so-called ‘hate map’ has been used to defame mainstream Americans and even inspired violence,” he said at the time. “That disgraceful record makes them unfit for any FBI partnership.”

Fair pointed to that announcement as proof that the SPLC was being targeted by the Trump administration. He also cited a December hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government titled “Partisan and profitable: the SPLC’s influence on federal civil rights policy.”

Before Patel cut ties, SPLC had collaborated with the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies on their informant program, which Fair claimed was at the heart of the alleged investigation.

BERKELEY GROUP USES SONG ETCHED ON CHARLIE KIRK’S SUSPECTED KILLER’S BULLET CASINGS TO PROMOTE TPUSA PROTEST

“We frequently shared what we learned from informants with local and federal law enforcement, including the FBI. We did not, however, share our use of informants broadly with anyone, in order to protect the identity and safety of the informants and their families,” he said.

Fair also said the SPLC no longer works with paid informants.

In May 2025, the group published an analysis of Turning Point USA as a hate group, calling it a “well-funded, hard-right organization with links to Southern Poverty Law Center-identified hard-right extremists,” and adding that its “primary strategy is sowing and exploiting fear that white Christian supremacy is under attack by nefarious actors, including immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community and civil rights activists.”

BIDEN DOJ WEAPONIZED FACE ACT TO IMPRISON PRO-LIFE ACTIVISTS, ATTORNEY TELLS HOUSE: ‘SYSTEMATIC CAMPAIGN’

On Sept. 9, one day before Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, SPLC published a newsletter that Charlie Kirk Show producer Andrew Kolvet described as an attack.

Kolvet questioned whether or not the newsletter contributed to Kirk’s death.

“Did these contribute to the assassin’s motive?” Kolvet wrote in an October post on X.

“We may never know, but the swirl of extremist propaganda certainly played a role. The SPLC has been credibly accused of corruption, mishandling of donations, union-busting, and covering up of sexual assault by senior leadership, all while sitting on nearly $1 billion in reserves and being based in red Alabama. These are legitimate predicates for investigation. Those should happen immediately,” Kolvet concluded.

Fox News Digital contacted SPLC and the DOJ for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., remarked on Tuesday that he probably “should give up on sarcasm,” following backlash over his one-word reaction to reports that ships linked to Iran had bypassed a U.S. naval blockade.

On Monday, Murphy responded to an X post featuring a news article from Lloyd’s List. The report stated that at least 26 Iran-linked vessels had transited past the U.S. blockade, despite claims from Washington that it had successfully forced ships bound for the country to turn around. 

Murphy replied to the report with a single word: “Awesome.”

The report, which cited data tracking tanker movements tied to Iranian trade, quickly became a flashpoint. Critics immediately accused Murphy of undermining the American war effort and cheering for a breach of U.S. lines.

TRUMP THREATENS ‘NEW CARDS’ ON BATTLEFIELD AS CEASEFIRE WANES

“OK Twitter, I can’t believe I need to clarify this, but obviously Trump’s bungled mismanagement of this war is not ‘awesome’,” Murphy responded in a follow-up post. “As I have said a million times here, it’s a disaster and he should end the war immediately. My tweet was something called ‘sarcasm.’”

On Tuesday, Murphy further clarified his position to Fox News.

“Twitter has become kind of a cesspool,” he said, referring to the platform X. “I probably should give up on sarcasm on Twitter. But sarcasm is not something I guess that’s allowed on Twitter any longer.”

IRAN’S MILITARY COUNCIL REPORTEDLY CUTS OFF KHAMENEI FROM HIS OWN GOVERNMENT

He reiterated that President Donald Trump‘s handling of the war has been “bungled” and “mismanaged,” and urged that the conflict be ended as quickly as possible.

The White House was quick to strike back. In a statement, the White House Rapid Response account on X accused Murphy of rooting for the opposition.

“You’re a loser, Chris. You were literally cheering for the enemy—gleefully regurgitating Iranian propaganda to undermine your own country’s interests,” the statement read. “It’s an insult to the American heroes very effectively enforcing the blockade. Moron.”

The naval blockade is primarily enforced by U.S. naval and air power in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Its strategic goal is to intercept vessels after they clear the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical shipping points.

Murphy has repeatedly argued that President Trump bypassed Congress when the initial strikes against Iran began in February. 

In March 2026, he introduced a War Powers Resolution to force the removal of U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran that had not been authorized by Congress. The measure ultimately failed in a near party-line vote.

U.S. forces conducted a boarding and interdiction operation overnight on a stateless sanctioned crude oil tanker in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) area of responsibility, the Department of War announced Tuesday.

The operation saw U.S. forces board the M/T Tifani, a stateless crude oil tanker previously sanctioned by the U.S. State Department for facilitating the transfer of Iranian oil between ships.

The military boarded the ship in INDOPACAM’s area, which encompasses the entire Pacific Ocean and parts of the Indian Ocean, “without incident,” according to the Pentagon’s post on X. Open source maritime trackers showed the ship halting progress in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka.

“As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran — anywhere they operate,” the post read.

‘IRREGULAR’ ARMED GUARDS ABOARD RUSSIAN SHADOW TANKERS ALARM NORDIC-BALTIC GOVERNMENTS

“International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels. The Department of War will continue to deny illicit actors and their vessels freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain,” the post concluded.

Open source maritime trackers showed the Tifani departing from Dongjiakou, China, in late March. According to commodities tracker Argus News, the vessel loaded up at the terminal on Iran’s Kharg Island, the country’s premier oil export terminal.

The vessel — which has historically sailed under the flags of Botswana, Cameroon, Tanzania, Palau, and Panama — has loaded Iranian oil in ship-to-ship transfers with U.S.-sanctioned Iranian tankers at least twice in the past, according to the State Department.

The vessel was heading to Riau Archipelago near Singapore before it was eventually expected to reach mainland China.

IRAN NEARS CHINA ANTI-SHIP SUPERSONIC MISSILE DEAL AS US CARRIERS MASS IN REGION: REPORT

M/T Tifani has also conducted “dark activity” near Singapore, according to Ukrainian military intelligence. The craft routinely turns off its Automatic Identification System (AIS), a move commonly referred to as “going dark.” International Maritime Organization (IMO) mandates that all ships carrying over 300 gross tonnes on international voyages operate AIS at all times.

The interdiction was the second such naval confrontation the military made on Iranian-linked ships in as many days. U.S. forces boarded and seized the Touska, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship which the U.S. accused of attempting to bypass an ongoing maritime blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

After issuing warnings to the vessel, the guided-missile destroyer, USS Spruance instructed the Touska crew to vacate the engine room and fired missiles from the ship’s MK 45 Gun, disabling Touska’s propulsion systems, according to CENTCOM.

The Touska, like the Tifani, had previously stopped in China, highlighting a potential supply route between China and Iran for sanctioned oil.

China criticized the U.S. seizure of the Touska, with a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson calling the Strait of Hormuz situation “sensitive and complex.”

Fox News Digital contacted INDOPACOM and the Pentagon for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

A congressional probe launched this week into the string of missing scientists was sparked by the disappearance of a former high-ranking official who oversaw some of the military’s most classified research programs, one House Republican revealed.

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital in an interview that he was particularly taken aback by the disappearance of retired Air Force Gen. William Neil McCasland, who vanished in February from his Albuquerque, New Mexico home. His phone and prescription glasses were left behind. 

The Missouri Republican said his staff was already working to contact McCasland, who he described as the “UFO general” due to his deep expertise, about a separate congressional investigation prior to his disappearance.

STRING OF SCIENTIST DEATHS, VANISHINGS FUELS EXPERT TALKS OF SHADOW OPS AND SILENCED SECRETS: ‘VERY SERIOUS’

“He was on our list to talk to, and he disappeared, so that kind of piqued our interest,” Burlison detailed.

McCasland is one of the 11 individuals working in nuclear or rocket technology who have died or vanished under mysterious circumstances since 2022. Some, including McCasland, have ties to UFO research. 

The astronautical engineer’s hiking boots, wallet and a .38‑caliber revolver were reported as missing, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office in New Mexico.

Though federal officials have not identified a connection between the missing scientists, their shared field and potential access to sensitive research have sparked growing concern.

Asked by Fox News Digital about whether he suspects foul play is involved in McCasland’s disappearance, Burlison said, “I’m not going to jump to that conclusion, but it’s certainly suspicious.”

“How many people walk out their front door without their phone, their wallet, their keys, or anything?” Burlison added. “I don’t go anywhere without my phone. I don’t even mow the lawn without my phone.”

REP BURLISON DEMANDS FBI PROBE AFTER TOP US SCIENTISTS VANISH OR TURN UP DEAD

“So it’s just really, really strange that in about a five-month period of time, four or five people walked out their front door and never returned, and were all doing advanced aerospace research,” Burlison said.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Burlison, who helms the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs, opened an investigation into the missing scientists on Monday.

“I want them to determine if there’s any kind of foul play,” Burlison said, referring to the Trump administration. 

The duo sent letters to the FBI, the Department of War, NASA and the Department of Energy requesting more information about Americans who have allegedly vanished. They have also asked for a staff-level briefing by April 27 — giving them only a week to prepare.

A spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee said the panel will be releasing updates as the investigation proceeds.

NASA said Monday that it would convene an interagency effort to probe the missing scientists, but cautioned that it had yet to identify any threats.

“At this time, nothing related to NASA indicates a national security threat,” NASA spokeswoman Bethany Stevens wrote on X. “The agency is committed to transparency and will provide more information as it becomes available.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has also said that Trump is “actively working with all relevant agencies and the FBI” to review the cases and identify any potential connections.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa bans on 75 family members and associates tied to the Sinaloa cartel, expanding the Trump administration’s crackdown beyond drug traffickers to those that profit from ill-gotten gains.

The Sinaloa cartel was one of eight drug cartels designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations in February 2025. The classification allows the United States to pursue tougher criminal penalties and greater military intervention against drug cartels and their members.

“The Sinaloa Cartel smuggles illicit fentanyl, which the President designated as a Weapon of Mass Destruction, and other deadly drugs that harm American communities,” Rubio said in a statement. “Imposing visa restrictions on drug traffickers, their family members, and close personal and business associates will not only prevent their entry into our nation, but also serve as a deterrent to continued illicit activities.”

MEXICO TO EXTRADITE 26 TOP CARTEL LEADERS TO US IN TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DEAL

Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., celebrated Rubio’s decision to place visa restrictions on those linked to one of Mexico’s top drug cartels on X.

“For too long, narco-terrorists have built fortunes off the pain and deaths of innocent Americans while their families lived in luxury off blood money,” Salazar wrote. “The era of impunity is OVER. No more hiding behind money, power, or family ties. If you profit from cartel terror, the consequences are coming. America’s safety comes first.”

The Sinaloa cartel is one of the two largest drug cartels operating in Mexico, with tens of thousands of members operating in more than 40 countries. A Drug Enforcement Administration operation last summer resulted in the arrests of 600 people tied to the cartel. Over the span of a week, federal officers seized 714,707 counterfeit pills, 926 pounds of fentanyl powder, 4,870 pounds of methamphetamine, 16,466 pounds of cocaine and 36.5 pounds of heroin.

ARIZONA GUN DEALER ARMED TWO MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS, DOJ SAYS

The State Department based its decision to prevent those tied to the Mexican drug cartel from entering the United States on a 2021 executive order signed by former President Joe Biden titled “Imposing Sanctions on Foreign Persons Involved in the Global Illicit Drug Trade.” More than 325 people, including members of the Sinaloa cartel, have faced sanctions under the Biden-era executive order, according to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Last September, the Trump administration sanctioned a faction of the Sinaloa cartel known as Los Mayos, as well as 15 companies affiliated with the group.

The Treasury has sanctioned more than 600 Sinaloa cartel-linked individuals and companies that played “critical roles” in the cartel’s operations, under the authority of the Foreign Narcotic Kingpin Designation Act of 2000 and Biden’s 2021 executive order.