Category: USA Politics

A House Republican facing sexual misconduct allegations said he welcomes the chance to set the record straight after the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into the claims.

“They are baseless allegations designed to impact the campaign driven by those who want to settle old political scores,” Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “We welcome the ethics inquiry because it allows for facts to be entered into the record, not public allegations designed to drive media interests.”

Edwards, 65, is accused of sexual misconduct toward at least two younger female staffers, according to multiple reports. Axios first reported the existence of the ethics probe.

The two-term lawmaker, who has been married since 1980, has denied any wrongdoing. Fox News Digital has not independently verified the allegations.

NORTH CAROLINA GOP TOWN HALL TURNS HEATED AS SELF-DESCRIBED VETERAN ESCORTED OUT BY SECURITY

Under House rules, lawmakers are prohibited from engaging in sexual relationships with aides under their supervision. The ban does not extend to staffers employed by other offices.

The House Ethics probe comes as Edwards is facing a competitive re-election challenge in November’s midterm elections. The North Carolina Republican is a top target of House Democrats’ campaign arm, which is supporting Democrat Jamie Ager to try and flip Edwards’ seat in the red-leaning district.

Ager, a fourth-generation farmer, issued a statement this week indicating the allegations against his competitor could become a flash point in the battleground contest.

“Corruption or abuses of power in any way are unacceptable,” Ager said. “The people of Western North Carolina deserve to hear from their representative about what these allegations are.”

The House Ethics Committee has yet to publicly announce its investigation into Edwards, which could take months — or even years — to complete unless the panel moves to dismiss the case.

A spokesperson for the House Ethics Committee declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., an outspoken lawmaker against sexual misconduct in Congress, said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital that she hopes the House Ethics Committee “moves swiftly” to review the allegations against Edwards.

NANCY MACE TO FORCE VOTE TARGETING FELLOW GOP LAWMAKER ACCUSED OF AFFAIR WITH STAFFER

“We stand with those who came forward, and we expect the Ethics Committee to move swiftly and hold those who committed wrongdoing fully accountable,” Mace said. “We have said it from the beginning, if you are abusing your power in Congress it does not matter if you have an R or a D beside your name, there needs to be consequences for your actions.”

Edwards is the latest in a string of lawmakers to face sexual misconduct allegations this year.

Former Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, issued back-to-back resignations in April to avoid potential expulsion votes related to separate alleged sexual misconduct against them. Gonzales acknowledged an extramarital affair with a former aide who later died by suicide. Swalwell, who is also married, has admitted to a lapse in judgment, but has vigorously denied accusations of sexual assault and rape.

Meanwhile, Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged sexual misconduct, among other ethics violations. Mace has introduced a resolution to expel the embattled lawmaker, but has yet to trigger a vote on the measure.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other GOP lawmakers have said they want the ethics panel to conclude its probe before they consider sanctions against the embattled lawmaker. Mills has denied any wrongdoing and has not been criminally charged.

“The corruption and misconduct in Congress goes far deeper than anyone outside Washington knows,” Mace said Tuesday.

President Donald Trump fired back at reporting of rising costs of building his $400 million White House ballroom, saying that figure remains the top of the price range.

“The White House Ballroom is going up rapidly on the East side of the White House,” Trump wrote Wednesday morning on Truth Social. “The only reason the cost has changed is because, after deep rooted studies, it is approximately twice the size, and a far higher quality, than the original proposal, which would not have been adequate to handle the necessary events, meetings, and even future Inaugurations.

“The original price was 200 Million Dollars, the double sized, highest quality completed project will be something less than 400 Million Dollars. It will be magnificent, safe, and secure!

“This was a necessary change, it was done long ago, but the Fake News failed to report it, trying to make it look like there was a cost overrun. Actually, it is coming in ahead of schedule, and under budget!”

REPUBLICANS SLIP $1 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY FOR TRUMP BALLROOM SECURITY IN ICE, BORDER PATROL PACKAGE

The latest reporting on alleged rising costs comes from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tagging a $1 billion appropriation for the “East Wing Modernization Project” at the bottom of Republicans’ budget reconciliation package Trump hopes to sign by June 1.

That item includes more than just the ballroom and even specifies: “None of the funds made available under this section may be used for non-security elements of the East Wing Modernization Project.”

The bill’s outlay on the final page of the Senate Judiciary Committee reconciliation bill appropriates “$1,000,000,000 to remain available until September 30, 2029, for the purposes of security adjustments and upgrades, including within the perimeter fence of the White House Compound to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project, including above-ground and below-ground security features.”

Trump contends that is a military, national security and White House expenditure, while the $400 million ballroom remains merely a piece planted on top of the upgraded enhancements to the grounds.

TRUMP TEARS DOWN EAST WING FOR $300M BALLROOM AHEAD OF HIGH-STAKES CHINA MEETING

That distinction is now at the center of the dispute. Trump’s post framed the ballroom itself as under budget, saying the higher price reflects a deliberate expansion approved “long ago.” An NBC News report focused on whether the overall project could still impose a major taxpayer cost through security work, even if private donors cover the ballroom’s construction.

The National Capital Planning Commission approved preliminary and final site and building plans for the East Wing Modernization Project on April 2. NCPC staff described the project as a permanent, secure event space intended to increase capacity for official state functions and reduce reliance on temporary tents and support facilities.

The approved plan includes an approximately 22,000-square-foot ballroom designed for roughly 1,000 seated dinner guests, within about 89,000 square feet of above-ground East Wing space.

The White House has increasingly emphasized security as a justification for the project, particularly after Trump faced an unprecedented third assassination attempt last month at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton.

A White House spokesperson praised the proposed funding as necessary to help the Secret Service “fully and completely harden the White House complex,” according to NBC. Democrats quoted by NBC called the proposal a reversal of Trump’s earlier pledge that the ballroom would not cost taxpayers anything.

REPUBLICANS RUSH TO GREEN LIGHT WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM FOLLOWING THIRD TRUMP ASSASSINATION SCARE

The project remains politically and legally contentious. Senate Democrats plan to try to strip the $1 billion provision from the reconciliation bill when it reaches the Senate floor, but Republicans are fully expecting no Democrat votes for it regardless.

Construction has resumed while the legal fight plays out. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon issued a preliminary injunction in March blocking further work on the White House ballroom, ruling that the administration could not proceed without congressional authorization, but the D.C. Circuit later kept the injunction on hold while it considers the case.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is challenging the project, says the appeals court has scheduled a June 5 hearing and extended the stay until then, meaning construction can continue for now.

The broader question now is whether lawmakers and courts will treat the ballroom and its associated security infrastructure as separable — as Republicans’ bill language argues — or as parts of a single White House expansion whose public cost could exceed Trump’s repeated private-funding assurances.

Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Madison Sheahan finished third in her Ohio Republican congressional primary Tuesday night, handing ICE critics a talking point but leaving Republican officials convinced they have the right candidate to flip a battleground seat.

Sheahan’s loss to former state Rep. Derek Merrin brings relief to Republicans concerned about her electability against Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio.

Kaptur is the longest-serving woman in congressional history and a top National Republican Congressional Committee target in the midterms as a potential seat to flip in the battle for the narrow House majority. The House is currently 218-212, with five vacancies and one independent who caucuses with the GOP.

“40-year career politician Marcy Kaptur has failed Ohioans for decades and Northwest Ohioans are ready for change,” NRCC spokesman Zach Bannon told Fox News on Wednesday morning.

ICE DEPUTY DIRECTOR RESIGNS FROM AGENCY TO RUN FOR CONGRESS

“While Kaptur has pushed a radical far-left agenda of higher taxes, open borders, and sex change surgeries for kids, Derek Merrin is set to flip the seat red in order to deliver commonsense leadership and real results.”

Merrin won 44.1% of the vote, according to the latest Associated Press election results, with state Rep. Josh Williams second (24.3%) and Sheahan third (20.2%).

The northwest Ohio 9th Congressional District has been identified as one of the Republicans’ best pickup opportunities in the midterms.

Merrin’s win sets up a rematch with Kaptur, who has represented the Toledo-area seat since 1983 and eked out a 2024 victory by just 0.64%, with Merrin losing by just 2,382 votes. Trump carried the district by seven points in 2024 and Kaptur’s narrow re-election margin last cycle makes the seat especially vulnerable.

AIR FORCE VETERAN JUMPS INTO KEY HOUSE RACE TO UNSEAT 22-TERM VULNERABLE DEM: ‘TIME TO PASS THE TORCH’

Sheahan, 29, entered the race after leaving her post as deputy director of ICE in January, leaning heavily into her work carrying out President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. The former aide to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem hailed her record at ICE in her campaign launch video, saying she was best suited to flip Kaptur’s seat due to immigration enforcement experience.

“In Washington, hypocrisy, excuses and failure can earn you a lifetime job,” she said. “But on my family farm, that would have put us out of business.”

But her pitch did not break through in a primary where local analysts said voters appeared more focused on economic issues, including manufacturing jobs and tariffs. Merrin also began the race with stronger name recognition locally. Sheahan, a native of tiny Curtice, Ohio, near the shores of Lake Erie, labeled herself “a Trump conservative,” but had just recently moved back to the area after leaving ICE and spending time in Louisiana and South Dakota.

DEM LAWMAKER SENDS WARNING TO KRISTI NOEM THAT ‘GOD WILL JUDGE YOU’ IN FIERY CONFRONTATION OVER ICE OPERATIONS

The result avoids what some Republicans privately viewed as a potentially riskier general-election matchup. While immigration remains a motivating issue for GOP voters, Sheahan’s association with ICE came as the agency faced heightened scrutiny over aggressive enforcement tactics, including fatal shootings by immigration officers earlier this year.

“There hasn’t been an enormous amount of chatter about her,” Democrat operative Aaron Pickrell told The Washington Post. “Even within Ohio Republican politics, immigration does not seem like the driving factor.”

Her loss also suggests that Trump’s immigration platform, while still central to the Republican brand, may not be enough by itself to carry a candidate through a competitive primary in a battleground House district.

TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN IN THE SPOTLIGHT AHEAD OF MIDTERMS AS FATAL MN SHOOTINGS IGNITE BACKLASH

“In less than one year at ICE, I’ve stopped more illegal immigration than Marcy Kaptur has in her 43 years in Washington,” Sheahan said in her January campaign launch video alongside Noem in ICE garb.

“So when the call came to help President Trump clean up the dangerous immigration mess, as deputy director of ICE, I answered the call.”

While Democrats will attempt to point to the ICE ties as being an unpopular electoral issue this cycle, immigration enforcement “is still a winning issue for Republicans” in the district, state and nationally, a GOP operative told the Post.

Immigration “does fire up the base in districts like that, especially in a low-turnout election when you need low-propensity Trump voters,” the operative added. “This issue galvanizes them.”

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

State Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-Iowa, caught the attention of the international Muslim community when, in 2021, she offered up a Muslim prayer on the floor of the Iowa Senate despite also being an ordained minister with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

Five years later — amid a bid to unseat Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, and flip control of one of the most competitive congressional districts in the country — Garriott’s resurfaced framing of the moment underscores her belief that an overly White and homogeneous representation underserves minority communities.

As a recently elected state senator, Garriott shared a prayer highlighting a handful of Allah’s many names and characteristics.

“We can all benefit as people of faith and as citizens to grow stronger as a community. So today I’m sharing a prayer from an accomplished young woman in my district,” she read.

MAMDANI’S GOD SQUAD: THE CLERICS, ACTIVISTS AND POLITICAL OPERATIVES WHO HAVE HIS BACK

Some time after the prayer, Garriott joined Mohammed Shafiq on the YouTube channel British Muslim TV to explain the moment.

“The Senate begins every day with prayer. And they almost always share Christian prayers. And for me, it’s really important to make sure that the diverse religious communities here and in Des Moines get to have their voice heard,” Garriott told Shafiq.

“I’ve made a commitment to only be praying prayers from those other communities,” Garriott said.

Iowa is 93% Protestant, Catholic, or unaffiliated, according to the Pew Research Center. Less than 1% of Iowa’s population is Muslim, according to the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI).

At the time, Garriott explained she believed Muslims had suffered discrimination in the state, prompting her to characterize her prayer as one way for lawmakers to combat religious discrimination.

“I just think there is some horrible animosity towards our Muslim neighbors. And we have a significant Muslim population in this metro area, and those voices deserve to be heard,” she said.

MICHIGAN DEMOCRAT QUITS POLITICS, SAYS PARTY’S AGENDA BETRAYED HER FAITH

The moment is consistent with other instances where Garriott has voiced concern over homogeneity in representation — particularly among white Christian men.

“By being in state government, I can see we have a long way to go in representing our community. It’s not a very diverse group of leaders. We don’t have people from many religious backgrounds — it’s mostly white, mostly Christian,” Garriott said in a separate interview.

Garriott did not respond to inquiries on how far lawmakers should go to represent beliefs other than their own for the sake of representation or whether such efforts increased risks of disingenuous expressions of faith.

On the other side of the aisle, her framing sparked backlash from Republicans.

Her opponent, Nunn, alluded to her comments on race and religion in Iowa in a campaign event on Tuesday afternoon.

“I don’t need a lecture from someone who pretends to preach from the pulpit while at the same time doing things like tell Americans that they’re too white and too racist, or wag their finger to say ‘hey, most of Iowa is bigoted.’ I don’t believe that’s true,” Nunn said.

To at least one Republican strategist, Garriott has used her comments and the 2021 prayer to separate herself from other Democrats.

REPUBLICAN SAYS ‘MUSLIMS DON’T BELONG IN AMERICAN SOCIETY,’ DRAWS FIERCE DEMOCRATIC BACKLASH

“It is downright shameful to go on a foreign television show and call Americans racist and backwards, but this is exactly how Sarah Trone Garriott has risen up the ranks in the Democrat Party,” Zach Kraft, an RNC spokesperson, said.

Nunn last won re-election in 2024 by just 3.9%. The district, Iowa’s third, is among the country’s 16 most competitive races in 2026, according to the Cook Political Report.

Independent candidate Dan Osborn continues to get funding from left-wing donors and activists despite claiming he will not caucus with either party if elected to the U.S. Senate, according to a review of campaign finance records. 

In addition to funds from ActBlue, Osborn also received thousands from political action committees affiliated with Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., former Democratic Party member of Congress Ron Kind, and Missouri Democrat candidate Lucas Kunce’s defunct 2024 Senate campaign. 

Meanwhile, the son of Bill and Melinda Gates, Rory, donated $7,000 during the first quarter, as did Sean Eldridge, the founder and president of Stand Up America, which was established in 2016 to fight back against Donald Trump and claims “American democracy is rooted in a history of systemic racism, classism, and sexism, which continues to this day.”

Osborn also received funds from Democratic megadonor Wendy Schmidt as well. Schmidt, according to campaign finance tracking website OpenSecrets, has given nearly $10 million in support of Democrats but nothing to Republicans.

EX–DEM MEGADONOR WARNS AOC REFLECTS PARTY’S GROWING SPLIT FROM CLINTON-ERA DEMOCRATS

“So far, we have seen Dan Osborn cozy up to elite Washington Democrats — including those affiliated with Jeffrey Epstein, such as Bob Kerrey — while preaching an ‘anti-billionaire’ message,” chairwoman of the Nebraska Republican Party, Mary Jane Truemper, told Fox News Digital. “If those contradictory actions tell us anything, it’s that he will not keep his promise of not caucusing with either party. Nebraskans value transparency and reliability in our representatives. We have yet to see either from Dan Osborn.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Osborn campaign about the donations, but did not receive a response. A Fox News Digital review of Osborn’s 2026 Q1 filings did not show any prominent Republican donors. Osborn does have an affiliated “Conservatives for Osborn” political action committee, but it received no donations in Q1 of 2026 and only had $68 cash-on-hand.

Besides being bankrolled by Washington Democrats, Democratic Party political action committees, and the Democrat’s main fundraising arm, Osborn also spreads his money out in support of other Democrats running for Congress. 

He has also been endorsed by leaders of the Nebraska Democratic Party, and the agency helping him with his digital effort, Fight Agency, was founded by a group of Democratic Party strategists, including consultants for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and the winning Senate bid for Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman and Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego. The agency touts left-wing Democrat clients, such as New York City socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Bernie Sanders and progressive Democrat Rep. Greg Casar.

DEM LEADER SWINGS THROUGH GOP-HELD DISTRICTS AFTER ‘CLOWN SHOW PROTESTS’ HALTED TOWN HALLS

Meanwhile, an ad buying firm for Osborn’s hybrid PAC, the Working Class Heroes Fund, also has clients that include Jasmine Crockett, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and many other Democrats or Democrat affiliated groups. 

“As an independent, I’ll be uniquely positioned to bring together a majority to get it done,” Osborn’s “Where I Stand” webpage on his campaign website states in reference to securing the border from illegal immigration. “I believe we all have more in common with each other than we do with the partisans who run Washington.”

Osborn has promised that if he gets elected, he will not caucus with either major party. But, many of his critics have questioned that pledge, and even top Democrats have suggested they will pick up another seat in Congress if Osborn wins.

FOREIGN BILLIONAIRES FUNNEL $2.6B TO US ADVOCACY GROUPS TO INFLUENCE POLICY, WATCHDOG REPORT CLAIMS

“Dan Osborn is a Fake Independent backed by radical leftists like Elizabeth Warren and Zohran Mamdani’s advisors,” National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesperson, Nick Puglia, told Fox News Digital. “It’s no surprise Osborn’s campaign is being bankrolled by even more Democrats and ActBlue donors.”

Speaking at a town hall last year, Osborn reportedly told Nebraskans that if his bid as an Independent didn’t work out, “there’s only one party I would caucus with.”

“If what I’m trying to do isn’t working, there’s only one party I would caucus with,” Osborn said, according to unearthed audio from the event reported on by The Plains-Sentinel, a local Nebraska digital news outlet.

Osborn was then asked by an audience member in the audio to clarify which party that would be.

Osborn responded: “Not Pete Ricketts’s party.”

Ricketts is the current Republican incumbent U.S. Senator from Nebraska and will be battling to beat out Osborn come November if he makes it out of the May 12 primary unscathed.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn has repeatedly praised the American arm of Islamic Relief Worldwide — a charity the State Department cut ties with in 2021 amid concerns including praise of terrorists and antisemitism.

After the State Department aired its concerns regarding Islamic Relief Worldwide, Cornyn had kind words for its American branch. A Fox News Digital review uncovered two video messages and two letters where Cornyn commended Islamic Relief USA or endorsed the organization’s operations.

“Thanks to my friends at Islamic Relief USA for all their humanitarian work,” Cornyn said in a May 2021 video address to the organization. A year later, the senator wrote a letter to Islamic Relief USA to “recognize and thank” the organization for its “humanitarian efforts across Texas and our nation.” In a 2023 letter, Cornyn again referred to IRUSA as “friends” and commended the group for its “dedication to serving our most vulnerable neighbors.”

Cornyn is locked in a heated Senate primary runoff election against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton has repeatedly questioned Cornyn’s conservative bona fides, while Cornyn has responded by highlighting the attorney general’s corruption scandals. Both candidates have made opposition to what they perceive as radical Islam focal points of their campaigns.

CORNYN WARNS PAXTON WOULD BE ‘KISS OF DEATH’ FOR GOP AS BLOODY PRIMARY RACE RAMPS UP

In late 2025, Islamic Relief USA moved to sever ties with Islamic Relief Worldwide, arguing that the conduct of its parent organization has significantly damaged Islamic Relief USA’s reputation. 

Leaders at both Islamic Relief USA and Islamic Relief Worldwide historically have maintained ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, a multinational Islamist political movement, and expressed hostility toward Jewish people, according to social media posts and photographs unearthed by the Middle East Forum. Some branches of the Muslim Brotherhood have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the United States.

“As we witness a rise in anti-Semitism in every corner of the globe, it is incumbent on all people of good conscience to stand strong and exhibit zero tolerance for the blatant and horrifying anti-Semitism and glorification of violence exhibited at the most senior levels of IRW,” the State Department wrote in December 2020 of IRW. “We encourage all government bodies currently examining IRW activities and their relationship with IRW.”

Multiple governments and banking entities have cut ties with IRW over terror financing concerns.

Khaled Lamada, the one-time chairman of Islamic Relief USA whose tax documents show he served on the organization’s board until October 2022, circulated text praising the “Mujahidin of Egypt” for “causing the Jews many defeats” through “jihad” in 2014, according to a Facebook post found by the Middle East Forum. The same year, he reportedly reposted messages on social media praising Hamas for inflicting a “huge defeat” against the “Zionist entity.”

Egyptian media and the George Washington University Program on Extremism have identified Lamada as an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood.

CAIR’S TAX-EXEMPT STATUS TARGETED AS CORNYN MOVES TO STRIP GROUP AFTER TERROR DESIGNATIONS

Several other Republican lawmakers interacted with Islamic Relief USA after the State Department denounced the organization.

Sens. Ted Cruz and Chuck Grassley, for instance, sent holiday greetings to the group in 2022. Staff working for then-Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Rick Scott met with members of the group to discuss pending public health legislation in March of that same year, according to a social media post. Representatives for Islamic Relief USA were even reportedly invited to a 2025 meeting with Trump administration officials to discuss the future of foreign aid, according to the National Catholic Reporter.

“More than four years ago, members of our healthcare team took a Zoom meeting with constituents who said they had questions about domestic healthcare policy,” a spokesman for Scott told Fox News Digital. “Neither those staffers nor Senator Scott knew that representatives from IRUSA would be joining the conference call. The Senator’s record on combating antisemitism and Islamist threats to American society more than speaks for itself.”

Fox News Digital reached representatives for Cruz, Grassley and Rubio for comment on Friday.

TRUMP INTRODUCES CORNYN, PAXTON BUT STAYS MUM ON ENDORSEMENT IN HEATED GOP PRIMARY

Islamic Relief Worldwide has consistently denied having any links to terror organizations.

“Islamic Relief [Worldwide] operates to the highest standards of governance, compliance and oversight across all our work,” a spokesperson for the organization told Fox News Digital. “We are a purely humanitarian organization, and we stand firmly against all forms of extremism, including antisemitism. Our staff deliver aid in some of the world’s most dangerous places and some of our own colleagues have lost their lives to acts of terror. We have been victims of terrorism, not supporters of it. The leading financial institutions that work with us demand our work to be rigorously audited by governments, institutions and leading accounting firms, which have all confirmed that our funds are used for entirely humanitarian purposes.”

Islamic Relief Worldwide claimed in a 2017 report that, in its various legal battles, “to date there has been no tangible evidence to substantiate any of the allegations made.”

HSBC Bank ended its relationship with Islamic Relief Worldwide in 2016 amid terror financing concerns. Swiss banking giant UBS had done the same four years earlier. Israel, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and Germany have all taken actions against Islamic Relief Worldwide for its alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.

With Lamada as a leader, Islamic Relief USA was Islamic Relief Worldwide’s largest source of funding, providing its parent organization with tens of millions of dollars per year in cash in 2021 and 2022, according to an Islamic Relief Worldwide financial disclosure.

The entire Islamic Relief Worldwide board resigned in August 2020 following reporting of widespread antisemitism among its senior leadership by The Times of London. One director, for instance, reportedly described Jews as the “grandchildren of monkeys and pigs” in a social media post, while others heaped praise on Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. 

A few months earlier, in June 2020, Cornyn filmed a video wishing Islamic Relief USA a happy Ramadan, the name for the Islamic holy month marked by fasting and prayer.

TOP GOP SENATOR SAYS CROCKETT ANNOUNCEMENT EXPOSES HOW ‘RADICAL’ DEMS ARE NATIONWIDE

In October 2025, Islamic Relief USA moved to sever its relationship with Islamic Relief Worldwide, stating “certain allegations regarding the conduct of IRW” would “affect negatively IRUSA’s well-deserved good reputation,” according to a legal complaint filed in March.

“IRW has not only refused to cooperate in taking steps to avoid such existential risks but took further steps to increase those risks to IRUSA, which in turn threatened its ability to provide relief to its beneficiaries worldwide,” reads the complaint, filed by Islamic Relief USA.

Tax records show that Islamic Relief USA has provided funding to the East Plano Islamic Center in Texas, the mosque behind EPIC City, a planned Islamic community that has become a flash point in Texas politics. Both Cornyn and Paxton have taken actions to obstruct construction of the community.

Cornyn’s office and Islamic Relief USA did not respond to requests for comment after being reached by Fox News Digital on Friday.

The House Oversight Committee’s probe into late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is turning focus to another high-profile Trump administration figure this week.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is voluntarily appearing before the congressional panel on Wednesday for a transcribed interview regarding his prior relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.

Lutnick’s agreement to speak to the committee came after Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., pledged to force a vote to subpoena his testimony.

It is unclear how many lawmakers will attend, as the House of Representatives is in a district work period, also known as recess, this week. Still, Lutnick could face a grilling from House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and other Democrats who have accused him of hiding the full scope of his past ties to Epstein.

HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE DEMANDS DEPOSITIONS FROM BONDI AND LUTNICK IN EPSTEIN PROBE

“The secretary looks forward to addressing any questions on the record when he testifies voluntarily before the Oversight Committee,” a Department of Commerce spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “He looks forward to putting to rest the inaccurate and baseless claims in the media designed to distract from his historic work underway at the Commerce Department.”

Lutnick, a billionaire businessman and former CEO of Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, said during an interview with the New York Post last year that he broke off ties with Epstein in 2005. The two were formerly next-door neighbors in Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhood — their townhomes shared a wall.

However, the Commerce secretary conceded in a Senate hearing in February that he and his family had a brief lunch with Epstein in 2012 at his private Caribbean island after files dropped showing their contact continued beyond 2005.

“We left with all of my children, with my nannies and my wife. All together. We were on a family vacation,” Lutnick told lawmakers. “I don’t recall why we did it, but we did.”

That visit to the island came four years after Epstein was found guilty in Florida state court of soliciting a minor for prostitution. The disgraced financier served just 13 months in prison while being given immunity from federal prosecution, which critics have called a sweetheart deal.

Congressional Democrats seized on the discrepancies in Lutnick’s accounts during his testimony before the House Budget Committee in April.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES REFUSES THREE TIMES TO ANSWER QUESTION ABOUT APPROPRIATENESS OF PLASKETT’S EPSTEIN MESSAGES

“Why did you lie about your relationship with Jeffrey Epstein?” Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., asked Lutnick during the tense hearing.

Lutnick did not answer the question directly, instead arguing that Dean’s inquiry was not relevant to the hearing topic: the Commerce Department’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Commerce secretary has maintained that his connection to Epstein was limited, and he has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., praised Lutnick’s decision to appear for a transcribed interview.

“I commend his demonstrated commitment to transparency and appreciate his willingness to engage with the Committee,” Comer said in a March statement to Fox News Digital. “I look forward to his testimony.” 

Lutnick is not the only Trump administration official to face questions this month as part of the committee’s Epstein probe.

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is scheduled to sit for a transcribed interview on May 29 after being subpoenaed by Comer’s committee. Democrats and a handful of Republicans had vowed to pursue contempt charges against Bondi over her handling of Epstein files if she did not agree to testify before the committee.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House but did not hear back before publication.

As Michigan’s open U.S. Senate race intensifies, some Jewish residents across the state say Democratic contender Abdul El-Sayed’s candidacy is amplifying concerns over antisemitism as tensions surrounding Israel continue to reverberate far beyond foreign policy.

Michigan, home to one of the nation’s largest Arab American populations, has become a major political battleground where Middle East politics are increasingly intersecting with local fears over neighborhood security and communal stability.

With a history spanning over 260 years, the state’s Jewish community feels under attack, especially since the March terrorist attack against Michigan’s largest synagogue in Bloomfield Hills.

MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE CLAIMS ISRAEL ‘JUST AS EVIL’ AS HAMAS

“I’m a lifelong Michigan resident, and when somebody runs for office in our state, it’s always been somebody who is not based on hate,” said Steve Cohen, a Michigan resident who spoke about El-Sayed’s campaign rhetoric. “Mr. El-Sayed not only is spewing hate, but he’s spewing it at political conventions and everywhere. With our history in Michigan, it’s shameful. He’s not a qualified candidate. It’s time for the Jewish community, and, for that matter every other community, to stand up and say no, and enough is enough,” he told Fox News Digital.

His and the concerns of others came back into the spotlight after Michigan’s recent Democratic State Convention, where several attendees described chaotic scenes tied to Israel-related issues.

Howard, another Michigander, who asked that his last name not be used, said El-Sayed supporters and activists “flooded the convention with voters” after registering as Democrats in the weeks leading up to the event.

“All you had to do was register within 30 days,” he said. “They shouted down people like Haley Stevens and others who had supported Israel. It was a circus. Anybody who had ever supported Israel was targeted. Many residents left frightened by what they saw.” Stevens is running against El-Sayed in the Democratic primary.

‘MARTYRS’: MICHIGAN DEMS NOMINATE HEZBOLLAH-PRAISING CANDIDATE AFTER OUSTING JEWISH REGENT

Howard added that many Michigan residents now fear what this signals politically.

“Mr. El-Sayed’s campaign appears centered on hostility toward Israel, and many Michigan residents are frightened about what that means for the future,” he said.

In response to concerns raised by some Michigan residents over antisemitism, community safety and criticism surrounding his campaign appearance alongside Hasan Piker, El-Sayed emphasized his personal understanding of religious prejudice.

“I understand what it’s like to be discriminated against for how I pray,” El-Sayed said. “This is why I will always stand against antisemitism and stand with my Jewish brothers and sisters and their right to practice their faith safely, freely, and unabashedly,” he told Fox News Digital.

Addressing criticism over his decision to campaign alongside Hasan Piker, he said, “Obviously, I don’t agree with some of the statements Hasan has made. But we play this game where we platform police and pretend that we’re not allowed to talk to certain groups of people because they said something we disagree with. That’s just not how the world works. And if we did that, we would be dividing ourselves, just like our politics is. I reject that game, and I go and talk to anyone, because I believe that there’s an opportunity to actually persuade them.”

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Jesse Arm, vice president at the Manhattan Institute and a pollster originally from Michigan, said the Michigan Senate battle is becoming a broader test for voters concerned about extremism, public safety and political direction.

“This race is becoming a proxy fight over whether Michigan Democrats remain a normal political party or continue drifting toward a faction that treats antisemitism and anti-American extremism as tolerable,” Arm said. “For many Michiganders, not just Jewish voters, the question of whether the people seeking power take their safety seriously is no longer abstract.”

Fox News Digital spoke with multiple Michigan residents and community members, though several declined to go on record publicly, citing fears of being targeted socially or professionally by extremists.

Their concerns emerge as antisemitic incidents continue to rise amid broader national fears. According to the American Jewish Committee’s 2025 State of Antisemitism in America report, 91% of American Jews surveyed said recent violent antisemitic attacks have increased their concerns about safety, reflecting broader fears echoed by Jewish communities in battleground states like Michigan.

Several Michigan residents described growing anxiety about whether increasingly aggressive anti-Israel activism could further inflame tensions in neighborhoods that have historically balanced diverse religious and ethnic communities.

While El-Sayed has positioned himself as a progressive voice on key issues, critics say his political rise reflects growing tensions within Democratic politics over Israel.

Earlier this month, Michigan Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow, who is running against El-Sayed, said her Jewish husband was allegedly accosted by a Michigan Democratic activist who directed an antisemitic slur at him in front of their 5-year-old daughter.

McMorrow has also criticized El-Sayed’s decision to campaign alongside left-wing streamer Hasan Piker during recent appearances at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan.

World Liberty Financial, a group started by the Trump and Witkoff families, is accusing Justin Sun, a crypto billionaire and one of their investors, of waging a deliberate smear campaign to tank a crypto product he was allegedly betting against.

“Justin Sun chose to defame World Liberty — repeatedly, publicly and to millions of followers. World Liberty filed this lawsuit as a last resort to correct the record and to protect its token holders, its employees and all its stakeholders,” Tom Clare, World Liberty Financial’s attorney, said in a press release.

“We are eager to expose the falsity of Sun’s statements in court and in public.”

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Sun, a crypto dealmaker and the founder of TRON blockchain, a cryptocurrency platform, announced a $30 million investment of WLFI in November 2024, calling himself the company’s largest backer at the time.

“We are thrilled to invest $30 million in World Liberty Financial as its largest investor. The U.S. is becoming the blockchain hub and Bitcoin owes it to [President Donald Trump],” Sun wrote in a post to X.

Two years later, World Liberty Financial is accusing Sun of, first, violating his agreement with the company as an investor by shorting WLFI’s token — a position that set him up to profit if the company’s value declined.

In response, World Liberty Financial froze Sun’s assets.

Then, Sun threatened to publicly criticize the company to his millions of followers online if the company didn’t unlock his holdings, according to World Liberty Financial.

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“Justin Sun engaged in a defamatory campaign to torch World Liberty Financial’s reputation,” Zach Witkoff, the son of Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, posted on X. “He knew his claims were false and made them anyway to harm WLFI token holders. I look forward to the truth coming out in court.”

Eric and Donald Trump Jr. also took to X to amplify a thread posted by their company, which accused Sun of “a coordinated media smear campaign against World Liberty Financial” and said he “refused to stop even when confronted with the truth.”

World Liberty Financial claimed Sun praised the company online, calling it “one of the biggest and most important projects in crypto” and that he was “fully aligned with the mission.”

When the company didn’t unfreeze his assets, Sun published his criticisms of the company, blasting World Liberty Financial’s business and leadership structure and warning viewers to stay away from the organization. According to World Liberty Financial’s suit, Sun even used fake social media “bot” accounts to amplify the claims.

In a post that garnered over 2 million views, Sun claimed the company had built a feature that enabled them to seize users’ digital assets.

“This feature grants the company unilateral power to freeze, restrict, or effectively confiscate the property rights of any token holder—without notice, without reason and without any avenue for recourse,” Sun claimed.

Sun pointed to his own digital assets as evidence of his claims.

“The WLFI team’s conduct is eroding the community’s trust in the project. Unlock the tokens and uphold transparency to the community. Let us build with integrity, not with malfeasance,” Sun said in his post.

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Notably, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Sun in the past of selling unregistered securities, manipulating the market to inflate the value of his assets and paying celebrities to promote his products without disclosures.

In that case, the SEC and Sun reached a settlement for $10 million earlier this year, although Sun denied any wrongdoing.

The European Union is moving to tighten migration controls after years of struggling to deport most migrants ordered to leave, with a top official saying the bloc is now working to “get control back” ahead of sweeping new asylum rules set to take effect in June. 

European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner said deportations have increased and new border screening systems are identifying potential security threats, part of a broader effort to address gaps in enforcement that have drawn criticism from the United States and fueled political pressure across Europe.

“Ten years ago, we didn’t have a system. We didn’t have control over what is happening and who would come into the European Union and who would have to leave again,” Brunner told reporters Tuesday in Washington, D.C. “And that’s why the member states agreed on the pact for asylum and migration. And now that’s what we want to get back. We want to get control back.”

The shift comes after years of criticism from Washington, where President Donald Trump has warned migration is “destroying” Europe and called the situation a “horrible invasion.” 

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Brunner said return rates have improved in recent years — from roughly one in five to nearly 30% — but acknowledged the system has struggled to keep pace. Data from Eurostat shows that only about one-quarter to one-third of migrants ordered to leave the EU are actually returned, meaning most remain in Europe.

The EU’s long-debated migration and asylum pact, set to take effect in June, is designed to close that gap by accelerating asylum decisions, shifting more processing to the bloc’s external borders, and expanding return mechanisms.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also has criticized mass migration and so-called “open borders” policies, while Vice President JD Vance has warned Europe risks “civilizational suicide” if it fails to regain control of its borders.

Vance has pointed to high-profile crimes involving migrants as evidence that European leaders have failed to respond to public concerns, as the issue has taken on renewed urgency following a string of recent attacks across Europe. Those include a terrorist stabbing of two Jewish men in London carried out by a Somalia-born British man, as authorities warn of rising radicalization and possible foreign-backed threats.

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Under the new system, migrants who arrive irregularly will be screened at the EU’s external borders, undergo biometric and security checks, and have their asylum claims decided within weeks, with rejected applicants fast-tracked for deportation.

The measures also expand the use of so-called “safe third countries,” allowing some migrants to be returned to countries outside the EU as part of broader efforts to speed up removals.

Brunner said new entry-exit tracking systems and real-time data sharing between member states are helping authorities better identify risks at the border.

“Out of these 30,000, we had 750 people who actually posed a security threat to the European Union,” he said, adding that improved data sharing now allows member states to flag such individuals in real time.

Brunner also acknowledged that European officials have struggled to communicate their migration policies, saying the EU “didn’t do it enough” in recent years and is now working to better explain its approach to U.S. counterparts.

European officials are increasingly tying migration enforcement to national security concerns, including what Brunner described as efforts by Russia and Belarus to weaponize migration flows.

“The Russians and the Belarusians are using people, using migrants, as a weapon against the European Union,” he said, pointing to pressure along the Polish-Belarusian border as part of “hybrid warfare.”

Brunner added that global conflicts, including tensions involving Iran, are contributing to concerns about radicalization, though he said there are no clear signs yet of a migration surge linked to those developments.

The tougher approach, he said, is aimed in part at maintaining public support for legal migration and asylum protections.

“If you want to get the support of the people in Europe, then they must have the feeling that we have control of what we’re doing,” Brunner said. “People in Europe will only accept continuing and granting asylum … if they are sure that the system is not abused.”