Swalwell plays up athletic credentials in effort to blunt DHS sweeps at World Cup
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. GERMAN SOCCER TEAM WERDER BREMEN CANCELS MINNESOTA TRIP OVER TRUMP IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT: REPORT 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.” GOP WARNS DEMOCRATS’ DHS SHUTDOWN COULD JEOPARDIZE WORLD CUP SECURITY “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.
Connecticut Dems demand IDs to recycle cans but reject GOP efforts to verify citizenship at polls
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.
GOP senator’s gambit exposes false Dem claims about supporting voter ID
Democratic leaders say they don’t oppose voter ID laws, but they blocked a bill to impose a nationwide requirement Thursday. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, attempted to pass a standalone voter ID bill through unanimous consent Thursday night, but Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., blocked the measure on the Senate floor. “I’ve heard my Democratic colleagues say that they don’t oppose photo ID laws,” Husted said during a floor debate. “I heard Senator Schumer say, ‘Our objection as Democrats is not to photo ID. I heard Senator Fetterman say he supports a photo ID law.” “If I could quote him, ‘If the GOP wants real reform over a show vote, put out a clean standalone bill and I’m in aye,” Husted continued, referring to a social media post Fetterman released Tuesday. “Well, that’s what I’m doing tonight.” THUNE ACCUSES CRITICS OF ‘CREATING FALSE EXPECTATIONS’ AMID BACKLASH OVER STALLED SAVE AMERICA ACT The measure would have enacted a nationwide voter ID requirement, though 36 states already have similar rules on the books. The Ohio Republican said citizens could use a state-issued driver’s license, a U.S. passport or valid military or tribal ID to meet the requirement. Husted, who is running to fill out the remainder of Vice President JD Vance’s Senate term in November, slammed Democrats’ opposition to the voter ID measure in a brief interview with Fox News Digital on Friday. “So apparently they would like people to believe that they’re for photo ID, but when it comes down to it, they didn’t appear to be,” the Ohio Republican said. Husted’s voter ID gambit came as the Senate is currently in the midst of a multi-day floor fight over the SAVE America Act, a Trump-backed elections bill aimed at preventing noncitizens from voting. The marathon debate schedule is a move by Republicans to pin blame on Schumer and Democrats for blocking the bill. But it’s not the same floor takeover, called a talking filibuster, that President Donald Trump, a cohort of conservatives in the Senate GOP and a fervent right-wing social media campaign have pressed for the conference to pursue. That’s because not enough Senate Republicans supported the move, which would require a near-unified front to successfully execute. And without Democratic support, the bill is doomed to fail at the end of the floor fight. REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: TRUMP’S SAVE ACT ULTIMATUM RUNS INTO SENATE REALITY A Fox News poll released in September 2025 found that 84% of registered voters said photo ID should be required to prove citizenship before voting. Still, Democrats could move to filibuster a standalone voter ID bill if Republicans were to hold an up-or-down vote on the measure over the coming days. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who notably opposes the SAVE America Act over provisions that would restrict mail-in ballots, has called on the Senate to pass a standalone voter ID bill. “Stop turning this into a Christmas list and attacking vote-by-mail,” Fetterman wrote Tuesday. “If GOP wants real reform over a show vote – –put out a clean, standalone bill and I’m AYE.” One of the core components of the SAVE America Act is providing proof of citizenship to register to vote, something Democrats have pushed back against more fiercely than the voter ID provision. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who is leading the SAVE America Act in the Senate, questioned why Democrats would say they want one without the other. “I’d love to hear their reasoning, why they would support voter ID but not proof of citizenship,” Lee told Fox News Digital.
Soros-backed Austin DA faces resignation calls over alleged ‘secret meetings’ in case against cop
A criminal case tied to the 2020 Austin, Texas, George Floyd riots is erupting into a broader controversy, with prominent law enforcement groups calling for the Soros-backed district attorney to resign over accusations of misconduct, political coordination, and withholding key evidence. Attorneys for Austin Police Department officer Chance Bretches filed a motion in Travis County district court to dismiss the case against him, alleging prosecutors in DA Jose Garza’s office violated the officer’s constitutional rights and compromised the integrity of the case by not disclosing alleged behind-the-scenes communications with Austin officials about potentially holding the city or police leadership criminally responsible for harming injured protesters. Bretches is facing charges of aggravated assault by a public servant after being deployed as part of a crowd-control response during the 2020 riot, where officers worked to disperse demonstrators and restore order in downtown Austin. His attorneys argue he relied on department-issued “less-lethal” beanbag rounds that were later called into question, contending the equipment itself was defective and contributed to the injuries at issue. The alleged “secret meetings” with Austin officials about the city being responsible for the defective beanbag rounds that caused more harm than they were designed for, Bretches’s attorney says, were something the prosecution was “required to give us” because it showed the belief and possibility the city had “criminal culpability” in the case. TRAVIS COUNTY DA FACES RENEWED ‘SOFT ON CRIME’ CRITICISM AFTER CAREER CRIMINAL CHARGED WITH MURDER The motion bases its claim of “secret meetings” on two sworn declarations: one from a former Austin city manager, who says he personally met multiple times with Garza and prosecutors in 2023 to discuss potential charges against the city, and another from a former city council member, who says she was aware of internal communications indicating the DA’s office was considering such charge. “Prosecutors can hold meetings with anybody, there’s nothing illegal about that,” Bretches’ attorney Doug O’Connell told Fox News Digital. “The problem in this case is the district attorney felt he had enough evidence to indict the city as a corporate entity, which would make the city an alternative suspect or an unindicted co-defendant.” O’Connell argues that Garza triggered disclosure obligations under Brady v. Maryland, which requires prosecutors to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense. “If you follow that logic, then the basis of his indictment of the city, which never materialized, is, in fact, Brady,” O’Connell said. “Even if he thought he had enough evidence and later determined he didn’t, it’s still Brady. It’s a violation of the Michael Morton Act, a violation of the court’s order, and the defendant’s constitutional rights.” SOROS-BACKED ‘ANTI-POLICE’ DA SPARKS OUTRAGE AFTER SHOWING UP TO FALLEN OFFICER FUNERAL: ‘SLAP IN THE FACE’ The Michael Morton Act, a Texas law enacted after a wrongful conviction case, requires prosecutors to turn over most evidence in their possession to the defense, including information that could be favorable to the accused. O’Connell says that the law mandates that “exculpatory mitigating evidence” must be given to the defense. “It’s clear they didn’t turn over the evidence of why they felt they could indict the city and the city was legitimately scared about this enough that the city went out and hired their own criminal defense attorney,” O’Connell said. “So one of two things is true, either he had the evidence and he didn’t produce it to us, or he didn’t have any basis to indict the city, and he was just threatening them, and that would be official oppression anyway.” Two of the most recognized police organizations in the area, Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT) and the Austin Police Retired Officers Association (APROA), reacted to the motion by calling on Garza, who has long been accused of harboring animosity toward police, to resign from his role as the county’s top prosecutor. “It’s kind of the final straw, everything that’s been going on with the continuing political prosecutions of Austin police officers who are out simply doing their job and doing the job the way that we’re trained to do their job,” Farris told Fox News Digital about the APROA’s official letter calling for Garza to step down, the first time they have done so despite intense criticism of Garza over the years. Garza has faced public blowback from his critics for years over his treatment of police officers and from families of crime victims who have spoken out against what they view as a lack of willingness to put criminal offenders behind bars. “His focus has been on the cops and now we’re finding out that he did some shady stuff and it’s time for him to go,” Farris said. After winning an election following a campaign, backed by liberal megadonor George Soros, that pledged to prosecute police officers, Garza indicted over 20 police officers, including Bretches, for their role in quelling the Black Lives Matter riot. Garza has attempted to prosecute multiple other officers on deadly force-related charges with only one successful conviction that was later overturned. “There can be no worse violation of the oath taken by a District Attorney than to intentionally deny a defendant a fair trial,” Robert Leonard, CLEAT executive director, said about the motion. “It is a direct violation of their Constitutional rights.” Additionally, O’Connell filed a motion requesting a court of inquiry calling on a district judge to investigate whether Garza committed a crime through his actions. O’Connell described the move as utilizing an “obscure provision in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure that allows a district court judge to hold a hearing to determine whether the law has been violated.” “In this case, it would be a hearing to determine if the elected DA and top lieutenants committed an offense of official oppression and tampering with evidence by not producing the mitigating or exculpatory evidence in this case.” While some in local media have cast doubt on the likelihood of the motion being successful, O’Connell says he is optimistic that he will be granted a hearing on his motion, possibly on a previously
DHS shutdown blows past one-month mark as Dems push to carve out ICE from any new funding deal
As a partial government shutdown blows past the one-month mark, Democrats are demanding lawmakers shrink the size of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) funding lapse — while leaving out the agency at the heart of Trump’s immigration crackdown. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in their view, can stay shut down. “We already said we’d open everything in the department except ICE, so the answer is yes,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said when asked about partial funding for DHS. “Republicans won’t agree, because they’re trying to hold the security of the country hostage.” SCHUMER, DEMS AGAIN BLOCK DHS FUNDING, FORCE STATE OF THE UNION SHOWDOWN His position was echoed by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. “We need to fund every aspect of it other than ICE. We’re going to fight on the ICE funding. I mean, they already have $75 billion,” Khanna said, noting that ICE itself already received funding through Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. In light of those appropriations, Republicans believe Democrats have assumed an unsustainable position as they continue to shoot down efforts to fund DHS in its entirety. “They’re not interested in reopening, right? Their whole thing is: ‘Okay, we’re doing a shutdown to go out there and affect ICE and Border Patrol.’ But ICE and border patrol are the ones that are not even affected by this shutdown. They’re funded by the One Big, Beautiful Bill that passed previously,” Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., said. “How long do I foresee Democrats lying to their base? Forever,” Mast added. Calls to implement the partial funding stance have grown louder since the shutdown first began. KRISTI NOEM’S FIRING FAILS TO SWAY DEMOCRATS AS DHS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON Funding for DHS originally lapsed on Feb. 14 when Democrats refused to advance spending legislation for DHS that didn’t also include a set of demands to reform ICE. Among other changes, Democrats have conditioned their support on a ban on masks for ICE agents, stiffer warrant requirements for apprehending suspects in public and a ban on roaming patrols. Republicans have rebuffed the demands, arguing they would handcuff President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement goals. Republicans need at least seven Democrats to reach the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster in the Senate, where they hold just 53 seats. The standoff has overlapped with a series of domestic attacks, raising alarm among Republicans that DHS’ closure may be reducing the country’s preparedness to counter similar threats. A vehicle-ramming at a synagogue in Michigan, a university shooting in Virginia, the detonation attempts in New York and another shooting in Texas have left members like Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., joining calls to pass non-ICE DHS funding. ‘YOU CAN CRY ABOUT IT’: TEMPERS FLARE IN SENATE AS DHS SHUTDOWN DEBATE ERUPTS, STALEMATE DIGS DEEPER “If it takes more time to negotiate those changes to ICE, then the right thing to do is to fund the rest of DHS, TSA, Coast Guard, FEMA, counterterrorism, all of that, while we continue to negotiate over ICE,” Magaziner said. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he has also joined that position. “Ready, willing and eager to approve funding for TSA, for FEMA, and for the Coast Guard through the separate bill that we’ve offered and Republicans have rejected. There’s an easy solution here,” Blumenthal said.
NYC Mayor Mamdani’s wife glorified terrorists in online posts, criticized US military: report
The wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reportedly celebrated terrorists in a series of social media posts as a teenager and young adult as scrutiny over her online history continues. In September 2017, Rama Duwaji posted a photo on her Tumblr account of Leila Khaled, longtime active leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who participated in two plane hijackings in 1969 and 1970. “If it does good for my cause, I’ll be happy to accept death,” the caption said. CITY-RUN BOARD CANCELS LEASE OF ISRAEL DRONE SUPPLIER, SPARKING BACKLASH TOWARD MAMDANI: ‘LUDICROUS’ Khaled is the first woman to hijack an airplane and is revered by terrorists for her role in the crimes. Many of her posts were made in her early 20s, the Washing Free Beacon reported, noting that Duwaji, now 28, spent her early childhood in New Jersey before moving with her family to Dubai. In March 2015, when she was 17, Duwaji reposted a tweet on International Women’s Day praising the terrorist Shadia Abu Ghazaleh. An image in the post shows Ghazaleh, who participated in the bombing of an Israeli bus and led several other terrorist attacks. The image showed her posing with a rifle. She was killed in 1968 when a bomb she was building in her home accidentally exploded. The device that killed her was allegedly intended to blow up a building in Tel Aviv. Other posts include someone wearing keffiyeh clothing while sewing a flag. “Photography: ‘A Palestinian demonstrator sews a Palestinian Liberation Organization flag before a protest during the first Intifada’, February, 1988,” the caption says. Another showed a Bangladeshi postage stamp that said, “We salute the valiant freedom fighters of Palestine.” A July 2015 post criticized the U.S. military presence abroad. “*taps mic* American soldiers fighting in imperialist wars are not brave nor are they fighting for anyone’s freedom,” the post said. “They are mercilessly slaughtering 3rd world civilians and fighting to maintain American hegemony. That is all, thank you! *drops mic*” ISRAEL ACCUSES MAMDANI OF POURING ‘ANTISEMITIC GASOLINE’ AFTER HE REVOKES ADAMS EXECUTIVE ORDERS Later that same year, Duwaji reposted a Tumblr user. “You can’t blame muslims for terrorism because they didn’t construct, fund nor train Al-Qaeda,” the user wrote. “White People did that too.” In another 2015 post, she reposted a criticism of Snapchat for adding Tel Aviv to its live story feature. “But in all reality, @Snapchat has disappointed me. F*** #TelAviv. Shouldn’t exist in the first place. They’re occupiers. You celebrate them,” a post retweeted by Duwaji said. “And finally. Hey @Snapchat, as you give Israelis an outlet to celebrate their atrocities, youre supporting a genocidal state. Bye. #TelAviv.” Duwaji, who was born in Houston and identifies as Syrian, married Mamdani in 2025,. She drew national attention after revelations she liked several posts in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack that were critical of Israel. On the day of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, Duwaji liked an Instagram post showing images from participants who livestreamed footage of the onslaught, which left 1,200 Israelis dead, including young children. She also allegedly liked a February 2024 Instagram post claiming The New York Times’ investigation into sexual violence during the Oct. 7 attack was “fabricated,” Fox News Digital has reached out to the mayor’s office.
Chicago’s teetering debt is stark warning left-wing mayor is fueling ‘pay later’ doom cycle: expert
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and his administration are presiding over a city in serious financial straits. Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city, is facing a corporate fund budget gap of more than $1 billion, while its 2025 fiscal year is projected to close with a roughly $150 million deficit with about two-fifths of the budget going toward debt service and pension costs. Johnson said in April the city was “at a crossroads” and had to “essentially do more with less,” while simultaneously slamming the Trump administration for reportedly threatening federal funding, calling it a “different scenario we weren’t under before.” Austin Berg, executive director of pro-taxpayer research group Illinois Policy Institute, said markets are looking at the true numbers and are “really concerned” about Chicago. RECORDS REVEAL CHICAGO MAYOR’S ‘GIFT ROOM’ WAS CONSTRUCTED AFTER INVESTIGATORS TURNED AWAY “And that’s why you see the spreads on Chicago debt getting wider and wider — the structural issues,” he said. Berg explained that the situation is akin to someone calling financial advisor Dave Ramsey’s radio show to ask what to do while buried in debt. “The solution set is always the same: Stop making bad decisions, and you have to put a structure in place to make better decisions,” Berg said. “So, the bad decisions are things like taking one-time revenues from federal COVID spending and putting it into operations. The bad decisions are borrowing for operations, which this latest bond issue just did. That’s a huge no-no and a red flag for investors.” Chicago also drew scrutiny over former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s 75-year parking meter lease in 2008, a deal critics say has already allowed the private operator to recoup its investment while leaving the city without that revenue stream for decades. Berg pointed to a recent analysis he authored accusing Johnson of extending the city’s “pay later” culture, arguing that the mayor’s $830 million 2025 bond deal, which delays principal payments for 20 years, is his version of Richard M. Daley’s parking meter boondoggle. CHICAGO SUES TRUMP DOJ OVER ‘UNLAWFUL’ DEI RESTRICTIONS ON FEDERAL POLICING GRANTS He also suggested the city take more seriously a plate of $1 billion in potential efficiencies produced in a taxpayer-funded deep-dive by consulting firm EY, formerly Ernst & Young. While Chicago spends 40% of its money on debt service, actual services suffer, Berg said, adding is also the only city besides New York that doesn’t require voter approval of new general obligation debt. CHICAGO MAYOR LASHES OUT AT REPORTER OVER ‘ILLEGAL ALIEN’ TERM: ‘RACIST, NASTY LANGUAGE’ The city lacks a “truly independent” chief financial officer, Berg claimed, saying that the treasurer’s office does not have full auditing authority and that another related agency called COFA is understaffed and lacks resources. “Voters didn’t decide to have all of that debt. And it’s important for voters to be able to decide because those decisions affect Chicagoans 30 years from now. So, shackling them with these political decisions now is just really unfair,” he said. Chicago has also come under fire for expenditures on social justice and other efforts while city services continue to lack. Independent journalist William J. Kelly created a viral moment in January when he questioned Johnson on which type of ICE he should be focused on, immigration officers or snow that inundated the city, as he drove through unplowed streets. “Let me just commend the efforts of the city employees that made sure that our streets were plowed. … I do not personally plow streets. … No one was stuck,” Johnson replied. Berg suggested one outlet for Chicago would be to demand the state of Illinois allow municipalities to declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy, which he said is a rare restriction nationally. He noted he did not want to see Chicago declare bankruptcy but that, without that lever, the city has much less leverage when negotiating with public sector unions for the very liabilities it is drowning in. The City Council successfully killed Johnson’s proposed “head tax,” a per-employee levy on large corporations, which critics said would have driven out or prevented future business and, thereby, sources of revenue in the city. DHS BLASTS CHICAGO MAYOR FOR COMPARING RAID LEADER TO SEGREGATIONISTS, ACCUSING HIM OF ‘TERROR’ The editorial board of the left-leaning Washington Post also slammed Chicago’s straits in a recent op-ed, writing that “it takes a long time to kill a city, and the bigger the city, the longer it takes.” “Chicago’s ‘public servants’ have done a fine job speeding up the process,” the board wrote, while noting the city had its bond rating downgraded in February by both Kroll and Fitch. “The modest tweaks [council] forced [Johnson] to accept in December won’t change the fiscal trajectory,” the paper predicted. Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.
FBI warns Russian hackers targeting Americans on Signal; thousands of accounts compromised
Russian intelligence-linked hackers are targeting users of popular messaging apps like Signal, gaining access to private messages and impersonating victims in a sweeping global campaign, according to a joint warning from the FBI and U.S. cybersecurity officials. The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said the operation has already compromised “thousands of individual” commercial messaging app (CMA) accounts, allowing attackers to read messages, access contact lists and send messages posing as the victim. FBI Director Kash Patel warned the campaign is targeting individuals of “high intelligence value,” including U.S. officials, military personnel and journalists, and has already resulted in widespread account compromises. Patel warned the attackers could exploit compromised accounts to impersonate victims and target others using a trusted identity. MILLIONS OF AI CHAT MESSAGES EXPOSED IN APP DATA LEAK “This global campaign has resulted in unauthorized access to thousands of individual CMA accounts,” the agencies said in a joint public service announcement. “After compromising an account, malicious actors can view the victims’ messages and contact lists, send messages, and conduct additional phishing against other CMA accounts.” Officials said the activity is linked to actors associated with Russian intelligence services. MALICIOUS BROWSER EXTENSIONS HIT 4.3M USERS “RIS actors have compromised individual CMA accounts, but not CMAs’ encryption or the applications themselves,” the FBI and CISA said. The agencies emphasized the activity does not involve breaking Signal’s encryption. Instead, it relies on tricking users through phishing schemes. “Phishing remains one of the most unsophisticated, yet effective means of cyber compromise, often rendering other protections irrelevant, including end-to-end encryption,” the agencies said. SPOTIFY VOTING SCAM EXPOSED According to officials, the hackers often pose as messaging app support or send fake security alerts designed to create urgency, prompting users to click malicious links or share verification codes or PINs. If a user complies, attackers can link their own device to the account or take it over entirely, allowing them to monitor private conversations and impersonate the victim. Patel cautioned that the scheme allows cybercriminals to “conduct additional phishing.” “After gaining access, the actors can view messages and contact lists, send messages as the victim and conduct additional phishing from a trusted identity,” Patel said. The PSA said users who believe they may have been targeted should report incidents to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. The link to “cyber actors” associated with Russian Intelligence was not made more specific in the agencies’ joint PSA. Signal did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The FBI did not provide further comment to Fox News Digital.
GOP whip: ‘America-hating terrorists’ should lose citizenship under SCAM Act
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer says a string of recent terrorist attacks by naturalized citizens exposes serious flaws in U.S. immigration law, arguing it’s “more imperative now than ever” to pass the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act to allow the government to remove “America-hating terrorists” from the country. First introduced by Emmer in January, the SCAM Act would expand the U.S. government’s ability to revoke citizenship from naturalized citizens convicted of being involved in terrorism, fraud or espionage. The Senate version of the bill was introduced by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo. “This has to be dealt with,” Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, told Fox News Digital. “If you’re going to take advantage of the generosity of Americans, or you are going to associate with known terrorist organizations or commit aggravated felonies or terrorist attacks, even attempted, it doesn’t matter; no more playing games,” said Emmer. “You should be denaturalized and shipped back to wherever the heck you came from.” HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY REPUBLICAN URGES US MUSLIM LEADERSHIP TO ‘ISOLATE EXTREMISTS’ AFTER STRING OF ATTACKS He lamented that under current law, “the standards to denaturalize someone are just too high,” but noted, “we have a solution to fix it.” The bill, which on the House side currently sits in the House Judiciary Committee, allows prosecutors to use crimes committed after naturalization as evidence that an individual falsely claimed good moral character during the citizenship process, effectively arguing their citizenship was invalid from the start. The SCAM Act already has nearly 50 House co-sponsors, according to Emmer. Once it is scheduled for a vote, he believes it will not have an issue passing and may even receive some bipartisan support from Democrats recognizing the gravity of the issue. “It’s really simple,” he said. “The message is, terrorists do not belong on U.S. Soil, naturalized or not.” STRING OF ATTACKS CONNECTED TO NATURALIZED CITIZENS RAISES NATIONAL SECURITY QUESTIONS At the start of March, Senegalese-born naturalized citizen Ndiaga Diagne was killed by police after allegedly killing three people and injuring more than a dozen in a shooting in Austin, police said. Not long after, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, the children of naturalized citizens from Turkey and Afghanistan, allegedly pledged support to ISIS and attempted to bomb an anti-Islam demonstration outside the mayor’s mansion in New York City, according to police. They have been charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS, attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, and multiple explosives-related offenses including transporting, receiving and possessing destructive devices. Then, on March 12, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Lebanon, allegedly attempted to ram his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue filled with children and teachers, according to authorities. The same day at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a naturalized citizen from Sierra Leone, allegedly opened fire on a class of Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) students, killing Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, according to police. He also was killed at the scene. “Clearly something is broken in our immigration system,” said Emmer, adding that terrorists “keep getting into our country and they keep being allowed to stay here at the expense of Americans and American lives.” “We can’t go on like this,” he went on, emphasizing, “It is more imperative now than ever that we get this thing done.” EX-JIHADIST WARNS OF PREDATORY RECRUITMENT AFTER ISIS-INSPIRED BOMB PLOT IN NEW YORK CITY Despite this, Emmer has faced some opposition in Minnesota for his hardline stance. Local outlet MPRNews reported a community activist leader in his district named Abdikadir Bashir, who is executive director of the nonprofit Center for African Immigrants and Refugees Organization, accusing Emmer of “trying to erase us politically.” “The moment citizenship becomes conditional on whether a politician finds us convenient, none of us is safe,” Bashir said, according to the outlet. “Today, it might be the Somali Americans. Tomorrow, it could be another ethnic group.” Though he declined to hazard a guess on a timeline of when the bill might be passed, he said that “as soon as possible would be my plea.” “We have an immigration system that is not requiring these people to actually declare their allegiance to the United States of America and their willingness to be Americans,” he said. “We want anybody and everybody from anywhere who comes here to chase their American dream and become an American … we want you,” he concluded. “If you come here and you don’t intend to become an American, you intend to change America or destroy America, you need to get the heck out.”
Feds launch probe to unravel alleged nonprofit funding behind Antifa-linked violence
The Department of Justice has begun investigating nonprofit groups that the Trump administration says are involved in organizing or funding political violence and destructive protests, including those linked to Antifa, sources familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital. The effort involves the FBI and IRS, the sources said, and stemmed from directives by President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi to probe political violence. The Trump administration has contended that the violence is often being perpetrated by self-described Antifa adherents and could be a result of organized and well-funded campaigns by nonprofits. “These movements portray foundational American principles (e.g., support for law enforcement and border control) as ‘fascist’ to justify and encourage acts of violent revolution,” Trump wrote in his memorandum in September, days after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated by a man who authorities say wrote antifascist phrases on his bullet casings. OVERSIGHT DEMANDS DOJ ANSWERS ON FOREIGN FUNDING OF AGITATOR GROUPS AS IRAN, ANTI-ICE PROTESTS CONTINUE Trump’s directive came after a string of harrowing ideologically-inspired shootings that included Kirk’s killing, an attack on a Dallas ICE facility that killed one detainee and the murder of a health insurance CEO. The DOJ also recently secured convictions for nine members of a Texas Antifa cell for their roles in an attack on an ICE facility in Alvarado last year that involved weapons, explosives and a murder attempt. Bondi, in a memorandum on Dec. 4, directed federal law enforcement to carry out Trump’s memorandum, coined NSPM-7, in part by looking into Antifa’s funding sources and investigating any tax crimes by “extremist groups.” A spokesperson for the IRS Criminal Investigations unit confirmed to Fox News Digital that the agency was working with the FBI on the matter. “In accordance with National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is collaborating with federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, to investigate individuals and entities that may be funding domestic terrorism or political violence,” the spokesperson said, calling it a “coordinated effort.” Antifa, short for antifascist, is a broad term, and its members often promote a range of radical views closely aligned with anarchism, communism or socialism, according to the Congressional Research Center. Trump declared Antifa a “major terrorist organization” last year, drawing criticism from civil rights advocates who said the president was targeting people for their political views. Bondi’s memo carefully noted the DOJ would not investigate “solely for the purpose of monitoring activities protected by the First Amendment.” One of the sources familiar with the NSPM-7 probe told Fox News Digital that every U.S. attorney across the country was directed by the DOJ to designate a federal prosecutor in their office to serve as a “district coordinator” for the cases. The DOJ has been urging prosecutors to focus on funding because nonprofits could be funding and coordinating instances of domestic terrorism, the person said. TRUMP CALLS ANTIFA ‘TERRORIST GROUP,’ FUELING FIGHT OVER FREE SPEECH AND LIMITS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT A DOJ spokesperson said in response to a request for comment on the effort that the department was pursuing a wide range of domestic terrorism crimes. “The Department of Justice is fully committed to preserving the rule of law, protecting law enforcement from coordinated attacks, ensuring everyone has the freedom to speak in the public square, participate freely in the electoral process, and practice their faith without fear of violence or harm, and bringing to justice the full range of criminal actors engaged in criminal conduct matching Congress’s definition of domestic terrorism,” the spokesperson said. The FBI declined to comment.