DHS plans costly crackdown on states that don’t cooperate on election security

July 9, 2026 7:01pm EDT / Fox News

States must adopt paper ballots, manual audits and SAVE database citizenship verification to qualify for 2026 grant funding

By Charles Creitz, Fox News

Senate Republicans push to pass the ‘Save America Act,’ requiring proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration. Despite President Trump’s urging, the GOP struggles to secure the necessary 60 votes due to Democratic opposition. Fox News correspondent Chad Pergram reports live from Capitol Hill on the ongoing debate, while Kayleigh McEnany highlights the bill’s significant public support. A critical DHS funding vote also looms.

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FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security will withhold billions in preparedness grant funding from states that refuse to adopt new election-security measures, including voter citizenship verification, post-election audits and expanded use of paper ballots.

The push comes as President Donald Trump and many Republicans slam states that do not want to let the federal government audit their voter rolls, while also criticizing the snail’s-pace, widely criticized vote tabulations in places like California.

FEMA, a sub-agency of DHS, is making more than $1 billion in taxpayer funding available to states that want to participate in its Homeland Security Grant Program, but with a catch.

OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S ELECTION ORDER AS SAVE AMERICA ACT FIGHT INTENSIFIES

To qualify for grants, states must submit plans to transition away from “unsecure electronic voting systems” that employ QR codes or barcodes instead of hand-marked paper ballots.

By doing so, the agency said, it provides a paper trail to quickly assess any alleged irregularities.

After each federal election, states seeking preparedness grants must conduct a manual audit of at least 5% of all ballots cast – with the agency arguing a manual, random review will confirm voting-machine tabulations’ synthesis with paper ballots and identify any “manipulation.”

States must also match the number of voters who participated in the election with the number of ballots cast and, within 120 days of any grant award, use the SAVE database — brought to the fore amid numerous illegal immigrant truckers getting in fatal crashes — to verify the citizenship of every listed voter in the state.

SAVE, the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, has been criticized by some Democratic governors for being insufficiently upkept – an assertion DHS has denied.

LEGAL WAR ON TRUMP’S AGENDA GAINS FIREPOWER AS FEDERAL LAWYERS DEFECT TO DEMOCRATS

Voters inside a North Carolina polling place.(Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

DHS told Fox News Digital that threats to election systems continue to evolve and that Secretary Markwayne Mullin has made critical infrastructure protection a top priority, with a spokesperson suggesting elections fall within that critical infrastructure and remain susceptible to foreign attacks.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are taking decisive action to protect election systems from threats like foreign interference, insider threats, and cyberattacks,” the DHS spokesperson said. “These new requirements for homeland security grant recipients will preserve election integrity and ensure that Americans can trust the results.”

The new rules come as the Trump administration suffered a major loss in court while seeking to force the issue of election security.

An Obama-appointed federal judge in Pittsburgh sided with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania after the Justice Department sued more than 25 states seeking voter records that included Social Security numbers.

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Voting booths are seen at Glass Elementary School’s polling station in Eagle Pass, Texas, on November 8, 2022(MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images)

Judge Cathy Bissoon ruled the feds lack authority to demand “highly sensitive” state information – after Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, a Philadelphia Republican appointed by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, balked at a demand to turn over data last fall.

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Schmidt reportedly offered a redacted version of the state voter file without the sensitive data, telling the DOJ in his response that such “broad data” collection is a “concerning attempt to expand the federal government’s role in our country’s election process,” according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

DHS’ new tact may or may not be tested in a similar fashion.

Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, worked in both the New York and Washington bureaus for Fox News since 2013.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6391331611112
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Probe of Alibaba unearthed evidence it knowingly let dangerous drugs be sold to U.S. consumers — but DOJ did not prosecute

2026-07-09T16:46:26-0400 / https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alibaba-probe-dangerous-drugs-sold-to-u-s-consumers-doj-no-prosecution/

For eight years, Chinese online retailer Alibaba and its U.S. payment processing company failed to prevent dangerous drugs, chemicals and pill presses from being sold to American customers — even after employees warned of compliance problems, public records show.

Prosecutors at the Justice Department believed they had enough evidence to prove that the companies had committed felony violations of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter told CBS News.

That law, first enacted in 1938, prohibits the sale, distribution or manufacturing of counterfeit, adulterated or misbranded drugs and medical devices, as well as food, supplements and cosmetics.

The case, which started during President Trump’s first administration, took several years and involved investigators from multiple agencies. The evidence only became stronger during the Biden administration, after a senior official in then-Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco’s office urged staff to keep digging, rather than settle it for less, several people familiar with the details of the case told CBS News.

As the case moved toward a resolution in recent months, career prosecutors urged Justice Department leadership to enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with Alibaba and AUS Merchant Services Inc., in which they would admit to the felony offenses, one of the sources said.

Instead, the case was recently resolved for $600 million in penalties and forfeitures and a non-prosecution agreement in which the company only admitted to committing lesser misdemeanor violations.

While the Justice Department hailed it as a victory, one of the people familiar with the strength of the evidence called the resolution “beyond disappointing.”

“There was egregious conduct by a Chinese-owned company. An NPA is not even a slap on the wrist,” the person added, speaking anonymously in order to discuss non-public discussions about the case.

Lawyers for Alibaba and AUS Merchant Services did not respond to requests for comment.

The decision to seek a lighter settlement with Alibaba marks the latest in a string of corporate cases involving public health and safety under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act that have been softened, dismissed or lost support from senior Justice Department leaders in recent months, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

In those cases, Justice Department leadership dropped its support or closed criminal investigations even when investigators believed there was evidence that consumers faced significant risk of harm from defective or adulterated products, multiple sources told CBS News.

“President Trump always talks of being tough on crime, but his administration guts enforcement for corporate law-breakers,” said Lisa Gilbert, the co-president of Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group.

“In this context, where Americans’ health and safety and well-being is on the line, it has real-life ramifications to withhold accountability for corporate wrongdoing.”

The Justice Department, in response to questions from CBS News, disputed the notion that it is going soft on criminal corporate prosecutions against companies over health and safety violations.

“Ensuring the safety of our nation’s food supply is a top priority for the Trump administration. However, this Department of Justice does not believe in regulation by prosecution,” a department spokesperson said.

“When righting wrongs, both civil and criminal options are on the table, and our prosecutors will always work within the bounds of our enforcement priorities to hold bad actors accountable to the fullest extent possible,” the spokesperson added.

Investigating defective CPAP machines and contamination at baby formula plant

Since 2022, federal prosecutors in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., have been jointly investigating a unit of Philips, after it was forced to recall millions of CPAP, BiPAP, and mechanical ventilators over a sound-reducing foam inside the machines that can degrade, which meant people using the devices could inhale cancer-causing chemicals, according to corporate filings and sources familiar with the matter.

The case garnered widespread attention, impacting some 15 million devices.

The company has already agreed to pay out more than $1 billion to settle numerous personal injury claims, and in 2024, the Justice Department secured a civil consent decree which required Philips Respironics to hire outside experts to inspect its facilities, correct any deficiencies and ensure that problems with the breathing machines were remediated.

Earlier this spring, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania learned that their consumer protection counterparts in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division were no longer permitted to jointly work on the Philips case with them, sources with direct knowledge told CBS News.

The decision by DOJ officials in Washington to drop the department’s support for the Philips investigation was triggered by a broader order directing consumer protection prosecutors in Washington, D.C., to pull back on Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act investigations for all but the most serious cases, the sources added.

A company spokesperson told CBS News that five independent laboratories have since confirmed that the use of its sleep therapy devices is not likely to result in appreciable harm for patients.

Another case in the Philadelphia-based U.S. attorney’s office that is no longer being supported by senior Justice Department leadership relates to the unlawful importation of adulterated vape products by wholesale companies, the sources added.

The prosecutors in Washington, D.C., who have traditionally worked on criminal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act cases previously served in the Consumer Protection Branch — a unit that handled both criminal and civil enforcement of U.S. food and drug safety laws and often partnered with U.S. attorneys’ offices throughout the country.

Last year, as part of a sweeping reorganization, the unit was disbanded, with its attorneys who handled civil cases remaining in the Civil Division and its prosecutors shuffled to a new office in the Criminal Division called the Health and Safety Unit.

In a recent meeting with those health and safety prosecutors, Tysen Duva, the assistant attorney general of the Criminal Division, imposed a new litmus test, telling them they should only bring cases that would stir outrage in their neighbors and that could be quickly explained in two minutes, sources familiar with the meeting told CBS News.

But even that litmus test apparently does not apply in every case.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department ordered prosecutors in Washington and Michigan to shut down a long-running criminal investigation into Abbott Laboratories over Cronobacter bacterial contamination at one of its plants in Michigan that manufactures powdered baby formula, several sources familiar with the matter said.

The incident garnered attention in 2022 when Abbott Laboratories recalled several of its popular powdered formula brands, including Similac, after consumers complained about infant illness related to products from Abbott Nutrition, in Sturgis, Michigan. The FDA in March of that year said five infants had to be hospitalized due to reported bacterial infections which it said “may have contributed to death in two patients.”

A company spokesman said that no link between its manufacturing plant and the clinical cases that sparked the recall was ever found.

The closure of the criminal case, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, came about even after Duva and other leaders of the Criminal Division expressed support for keeping the case alive, those sources familiar with the matter told CBS News. The Criminal Division was overruled.

Bloomberg Government previously reported on the disagreement between Duva and other senior DOJ leaders, saying the case has since raised wider concerns about scaling back on corporate prosecutions involving public health and safety.

A May 12 court entry for a parallel civil False Claims Act case involving the formula incident shows the Justice Department has reached a settlement with Abbott, but details have not yet been revealed.

In a February court filing in the case, DOJ lawyers accused the company of lying to federal and state regulatory agencies about its compliance with the law.

Democratic Senator Adam Schiff of California, in a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche,is launching an inquiry into why the Abbott case was shuttered.

“If prosecuting cases involving the risk of injuries or death to premature infants are not a priority enforcement matter, I have questions about what priorities the DOJ considers worthy of pursuing,” Schiff wrote.

A senior DOJ official told CBS that the department felt that a civil False Claims Act resolution was “the best mechanism to achieve accountability, deterrence and protection of the public” in the matter.

The official added that the agreement reached in principle with Abbott includes a “significant” monetary penalty, and said that Abbott’s potential plans to build a new $1 billion facility in Ohio played no role in its decision to drop the criminal investigation.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Abbott told CBS News that “no unopened, distributed Abbott infant formulas have ever tested positive for Cronobacter sakazakii” and said the Food and Drug Administration also separately confirmed in March 2022 that “the unopened product from homes of the infants under investigation at the time of the 2022 recall tested negative for Cronobacter.”

Shifting away from corporate prosecutions

The retreat on criminal enforcement of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by corporate bad actors represents part of a broader trend by the Justice Department to scale back on corporate prosecutions in general.

Since last year, many Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases targeting companies for bribery, for instance, were shuttered at President Trump’s request, and prosecutors were also instructed to be more discerning about whether corporate misconduct “warrants federal criminal prosecution,” according to a memo issued last year.

Earlier this year, the DOJ also rolled out a new corporate enforcement policy for an array of criminal cases that allow companies to avoid being prosecuted if they take certain steps, such as voluntarily disclosing misconduct to the department and cooperating with investigators.

Duva, in a statement provided to CBS News, said the new corporate enforcement policy “gives companies clear, transparent, and predictable standards concerning how and when to disclose wrongdoing to the Department.”

“Companies that voluntarily self-disclose misconduct, fully cooperate with law enforcement, and remediate have a path to a declination, while those that don’t face more punitive resolutions. All corporate cases that the Department resolved this year were done so in a public fashion and were driven by the facts, the evidence, and the law — not a preference for any particular outcome,” he added.

However, the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act may be uniquely vulnerable in the Trump Justice Department, compared to other types of corporate prosecutions.

Unlike most criminal laws, it contains a strict liability provision that allows prosecutors to charge corporations or individuals with misdemeanor violations without having to show they intentionally broke the law.

The strict liability provisions of the law have long been controversial, and they are primarily used as a lever in negotiations involving more serious criminal misconduct, rather than as a charging tool against corporate bad actors, current and former prosecutors say.

Still, last year the White House issued an executive order discouraging the use of criminal prosecutions to address regulatory concerns. The order explicitly stated that strict liability offenses are “generally disfavored.”

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who is scheduled to appear for his Senate confirmation hearing on July 15 for his nomination to serve as attorney general permanently, is expected to field some questions from Democrats who are concerned about the Justice Department’s decision to shutter the Abbott case.

It remains to be seen, meanwhile, what the fate of the Philips investigation will be.

David Metcalf, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, privately vowed to keep the probe alive despite the lack of support from Washington, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

The company, for its part, has continued to engage with federal prosecutors on the case, as well as state attorneys general who are also investigating, according to a Philips spokesman.

But career DOJ staff members now fear that this case too will be closed, or settled in a lenient fashion, one source familiar with their thinking said.

Republican Sen. Grassley probing FBI Director Patel’s travel and spending

2026-07-09T20:20:47.803Z / CNN

By Annie Grayer

Updated 10 min ago

Updated Jul 9, 2026, 7:52 PM ET

PUBLISHED Jul 9, 2026, 4:20 PM ET

FBI Director Kash Patel talks with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, during an oversight hearing on the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in the Hart Senate office building on September 16, 2025.

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images/File

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley has asked FBI Director Kash Patel to defend his use of FBI aircraft and purchase of BMWs in a letter obtained by House and Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats and reviewed by CNN, an indication that the powerful Republican chairman is conducting his own oversight of Patel’s controversial spending of taxpayer dollars.

In a May 5 letter, Grassley asks Patel to list each flight he took on an FBI aircraft, share their cost, and whether the flights were for personal or official purposes. If a flight was for a personal reason, Grassley asks Patel if he has reimbursed the government. The Republican chairman also presses Patel to provide a cost analysis breakdown of the BMW purchases compared to a similar Chevy suburban and outline the fuel and storage comparisons.

The FBI director has stirred controversy, particularly after a video of him chugging beer in the Team USA men’s hockey team locker room went viral after the Olympics gold-medal game in February – raising questions about Patel’s use of FBI resources for what appeared to be a fan’s personal trip. The FBI has maintained that Patel was in Milan in an official capacity and held six public events and two classified events, including meetings related to the Olympic security apparatus.

The FBI defended Patel’s travel costs in a social media post saying, “This FBI is more efficient and effective in every way” and claimed his personal travel was much lower than former directors Chris Wray and James Comey.

Much of the criticism of Patel’s Olympics trip centers on his use of an FBI Gulfstream jet for personal travel since taking office.

It’s a criticism that has also dogged previous FBI directors, and before, attorneys general. And Patel himself, before becoming FBI director, criticized the use of the FBI plane by his predecessor Wray, suggesting it should be grounded.

“Chris Wray doesn’t need a government-funded G-5 jet to go to vacation,” Patel said when appearing on Glenn Beck’s podcast in 2024. “Maybe we ground that plane — $15,000 every time it takes off.”

But just like it wasn’t up to Wray then, Patel doesn’t have a choice in how he travels.

A post-9/11 government regulation requires the attorney general, and since 2011, the FBI director, to use government aircraft for all travel, including personal trips. The reason for the policy, according to the Justice Department, is that the president and other top officials must always have secure communications available with the FBI director and attorney general, in case of national security or other emergencies.

Grassley gave Patel until May 19 to respond to the voluntary request.

In the letter, Grassley, a Republican, points to other times he has probed an FBI director’s spending habits.

“For decades, regardless of which political party is in the White House, I have worked to ensure that taxpayers dollars are protected from waste, fraud, and abuse” Grassley wrote.

Grassley’s letter comes as House and Senate Democrats have launched their own probe into Patel’s spending, including references to whistleblower accounts.

Grassley, Thursday evening, blasted Democrats on X saying, “My oversight is the same no matter the admin UNLIKE Dems who only seem interested in oversight when it benefits them politically.”

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Evan Perez and Isabelle Khurshudyan contributed to this report.

Unearthed records reveal Dem mayor sought tax hike to fund DEI role ahead of key House race

July 9, 2026 5:34pm EDT / Fox News

The rejected 2023 city budget earmarked $25,500 for a diversity, equity and inclusion role in city hall

By Leo Briceno, Fox News

Mamdani’s NYC budget plan cuts NYPD jobs for racial equity, diversity roles

Democratic Socialist Mayor Mamdani’s NYC budget slashes 5,000 NYPD jobs while allocating millions to racial equity and diversity roles.

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Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, once proposed raising taxes to make room for a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) officer.

A “DEI coordinator” was among eight new hires in the city’s 2023 proposed budget and would have set aside $25,500 for the position. In order to cover the costs of that opening and those of a police chief, a fire chief, a business administrator, a solicitor and a director of public works, the budget included a 3% property tax increase, estimated to generate $957,000 for the city.

The positions themselves were estimated to cost $380,500. That budget was ultimately not adopted.

Cognetti’s proposed plan highlights her beliefs about diversity in government and the directness with which government should pursue representation among certain demographics as she looks to flip one of the country’s most competitive districts and unseat incumbent Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa.

RED-STATE SENATOR DROPS HAMMER ON DEM MAYOR OVER NEW ‘WOKE’ DEI ORDINANCE WHILE VIOLENT CRIME SURGES

Scranton, Pennsylvania mayor Paige Cognetti speaks at a Safer America rally. President Joe Biden visited Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to discuss his plan to reform gun control. During his speech, he touted beating the NRA. Biden is visiting cities for his Safer America plan.(Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

In the past, Cognetti has highlighted her purposeful pursuit of diversity in government.

“We’re not doing this for the publicity. We’re doing this quietly so that these conversations just become the norm,” Cognetti said in a podcast appearance.

When asked about the DEI proposals and the 2023 budget, the Cognetti campaign pointed out that Bresnahan’s company has received government assistance for being “women-owned,” support it says is in line with DEI policies.

“Rob Bresnahan’s own company identifies itself as disadvantaged and women-owned in order to get a leg up on securing federal contracts,” a Cognetti spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital, referring to Kuharchik Construction Inc.

The company, which Bresnahan began leading as CEO in 2013, has received $162,000 in federal contracts since 2008, according to records.

MAMDANI COMPARISONS FOLLOW COLORADO DEMOCRAT INTO PIVOTAL HOUSE RACE AFTER PRIMARY WIN

Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., arrives for a House Republican Conference caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

It has not received federal payments since 2017.

The campaign also said that many of Cognetti’s other acts as mayor directly helped bring the city’s costs down.

“Mayor Cognetti ran as an independent against a corrupt Democratic machine and reformed city hall. She saved taxpayers’ money by balancing the budget after years of mismanagement, turned down a government car and gas card, refused a pay raise, and improved the city’s credit rating from junk bond status to an A- investment rating,” the Cognetti campaign continued. “Now Paige is running to take on corrupt politicians in Washington like Rob Bresnahan, who has stock traded off of his votes and his access to insider information in Congress.”

Bresnahan is not under investigation for insider trading, a violation of House rules.

Despite her emphasis on cutting government spending, Cognetti’s framing of the 2023 budget and its DEI role reflects her belief that diversity should be an area where the government places more of its resources.

She explained her thinking in a 2023 podcast.

“I will say that we’ve had some setbacks. Last year we put a DEI coordinator in our budget. My city council cut that position with zero fanfare. There was no public comment. And this is where I think that the positive advocacy is missing,” Cognetti said of her budget proposal.

“You know, you want to raise taxes 3%. ‘Well, it should be only 2%.’ Okay, well, let’s have that conversation,” she said.

In Cognetti’s view, her work on DEI has not clashed with Scranton’s interests, and she affirms that hiring the best candidates has naturally led to greater diversity in government roles.

MAYORS WANT TO KEEP HANDING OUT FREE CASH AFTER FEDERAL FUNDS DRIED UP

Traffic passes a sign on the highway at Scranton, Pennsylvania on April 15, 2024.(Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)

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“We’re not doing it by cherry-picking, but by merit, and lo and behold, City Hall looks different,” Cognetti said.

“When you walk into City Hall today, there are far more people of color and far more women working there, I think, than you would have seen four years ago. And again, it’s not because we have had some grand strategy beyond really just hiring the best people for the jobs and trying to make sure that our jobs are posted in places that people are looking, right?”

Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.

消息：以色列向美通报 伊朗策划暗杀特朗普

2026年7月10日 07:18 / 联合早报

伊朗已故最高领袖哈梅内伊7月9日在家乡马什哈德下葬。葬礼当天，当地可见到“杀死特朗普”的横幅。 （路透社）

消息人士透露，以色列向美国通报，伊朗正策划新的暗杀美国总统特朗普行动。

《华尔街日报》星期四（7月9日）引述消息人士说，以色列近日与美国分享了一项新情报，称情报显示伊朗正策划新的暗杀特朗普计划，这一发现标志着华盛顿与德黑兰之间的对抗升级。

伊朗多年来一再公开誓言要对特朗普进行报复，原因是在特朗普的第一任期内，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队下属“圣城旅”高级指挥官苏莱曼尼遭到暗杀。

以色列驻华盛顿大使馆拒绝对报道置评。伊朗驻联合国代表团未立即回应置评请求。白宫建议《华尔街日报》参考特朗普前一天的讲话。

特朗普8日在土耳其安卡拉对记者讲话时暗示自己面临生命威胁。

特朗普说：“他们想除掉美国领导人——就是我。我上了所有的名单。我今天早上看到，他们的每份名单上都有我。到目前为止，我想我还算幸运，但这好运可能不会持续太久。”

最近几周，特朗普与以色列总理内坦亚胡的关系出现裂痕，因为双方就是否继续对伊朗采取军事行动出现分歧。

内坦亚胡主张继续对伊朗实施打击并实现更多战争目标，而特朗普则担心战争重创全球经济，寻求摆脱这场战争的途径。上月，美国已与伊朗达成一份脆弱的停战协议。

以色列总理办公室称，特朗普和内坦亚胡9日通了电话，双方同意继续保持协调。声明也说，特朗普向内坦亚胡通报了美国近期在波斯湾地区的行动。

在伊朗已故最高领袖哈梅内伊的葬礼上，伊朗民众高喊要特朗普偿命的口号，并展示写着“我们将杀死特朗普”的横幅。

《华尔街日报》此前报道，在美以伊战争爆发初期，特朗普与内坦亚胡通话频繁，内坦亚胡经常深夜致电特朗普，通报袭击目标及以色列掌握的情报。虽然两人目前仍保持联系，但在经历了一系列气氛紧张的通话后，两人关系已出现裂痕。

Here’s who’s vying to replace Graham Platner as Maine Democratic Senate nominee

2026-07-09T17:49:02-0400 / CBS News

Washington — Graham Platner’s move to suspend his Senate campaign this week after a woman accused him of sexual assault has prompted a mad dash in Maine, as Democrats position themselves as possible replacements to take on GOP Sen. Susan Collins in November.

After Platner officially files paperwork to withdraw, the Maine Democratic Party has until July 27 at 5 p.m. to select a replacement. The party announced it would hold a nominating convention to select a nominee, with details on the process forthcoming.

While some have made clear they aren’t interested, including Rep. Jared Golden and actor Patrick Dempsey, a growing list of Democrats are making their interest clear.

Here’s who’s vying to replace Platner on the ballot:

Shenna Bellows

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows jumped into the race for the Democratic Senate nomination this week. She said in a social media post she has taken on “tough fights for working people” throughout her career, and added: “I’m not stopping now.”

Bellows, 51, sought the governor’s mansion earlier this year, but she fell short in last month’s Democratic primary. The native of Hancock, Maine, previously served in the state Senate and as executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine. She is the first woman to serve as secretary of state.

It’s Bellows’ second run for Senate. In 2014, she won the Democratic nomination to challenge Collins, but lost in the general election by almost 37 percentage points.

During her gubernatorial campaign, Bellows advocated for more affordable housing and a statewide freeze on property tax increases for Maine residents, paid for by doubling property tax rates for non-resident homes.

Bellows raised just under $1.8 million during her campaign for governor. Because of Maine’s ranked-choice voting system, Bellows and two other primary candidates — former state Senate President Troy Jackson and former state House Speaker Hannah Pingree — endorsed each other. Pingree ended up winning the Democratic nomination.

Bellows, like most of the candidates now seeking to replace Platner, pushed him to drop out of the race shortly after he was accused of sexual assault earlier this week. She called the allegations — which Platner has denied — “extremely serious.” She said on X that while Platner “ignited a powerful movement to challenge the status quo, given the seriousness of the allegations, he needs to step down.”

State Rep. Valli Geiger

State Rep. Valli Geiger, a close ally of Platner’s, has indicated interest in replacing him on the ballot.

The 70-year-old told WMTW that Platner was supporting her bid. But she later clarified that she is one of “several people” who have supported Platner and with whom he was speaking.

A nurse and resident of the coastal town of Rockland, Geiger has served in the state Legislature for three terms.

Troy Jackson

Former state Senate President Troy Jackson also threw his name into the mix this week and filed with the Federal Election Commission for a Senate exploratory committee.

Jackson, a fifth-generation logger from the tiny northern Maine town of Allagash, told the Bangor Daily News he is the “best person” to replace Platner.

The 58-year-old has been active in Maine politics since 2002, serving in the Maine House of Representatives and the Maine Senate, where he was president from 2018 to 2024.

Before Jackson positioned himself as a potential Senate candidate, he was eyeing the governor seat. He came in third in the Democratic primary this past June after raising around $1 million.

Supported by Platner and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in his gubernatorial bid, Jackson billed himself as a progressive candidate who would focus on affordable housing and lowering property taxes. In an MS NOW interview Thursday, Jackson called himself a “pickup truck progressive.”

Jackson and Sanders’ ties go back a decade, with Jackson working on his 2016 presidential campaign. Sanders said Jackson would “stand with working-class families against the enormous power of the monied interests.” Some former Platner allies have argued Jackson should succeed Platner.

Earlier in his political career, Jackson held socially conservative views on some issues, including abortion and same-sex marriage, though he has shifted to the mainstream of the Democratic Party since then and attributed some of his prior stances to the views of his rural northern Maine constituents.

Jackson urged Platner to withdraw earlier this week, writing on X that there is “no place in our politics for sexual violence.”

Dan Kleban

Dan Kleban, a co-founder of the Maine Beer Company, announced this week that he’s running to replace Platner, and made it official with an FEC filing.

Kleban, 49, briefly ran for Senate last year before suspending his campaign in October and endorsing Maine Gov. Janet Mills. His original campaign was built around Maine’s economy and affordability, combined with environmental issues. Like Platner, Kleban is a newcomer to elected politics, but the craft brewery that he founded with his brother in 2009 is well known.

Since suspending his Senate campaign, he has stayed vocal about Maine’s politics on social media, and he condemned the allegations against Platner earlier this week, calling them “horrifying and completely disqualifying.”

“Mainers deserve a Senator who will fight for them against the DC establishment while also doing what’s right,” he said.

During his initial Senate run last year, Kleban gave almost $215,000 of his own money to his campaign and raised another $244,000 from donors, according to federal records. He spent almost all of his campaign cash during his run.

Nirav Shah

Nirav Shah, the former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, also announced that he’s interested in becoming the Senate nominee, after coming in second in the state’s Democratic gubernatorial primary last month.

“Establishment politicians have failed us,” Shah said on X. “To defeat Susan Collins, we need an outsider who is not afraid to take on the broken system she has spent decades upholding.”

As Maine’s CDC director starting in 2019, Shah navigated the COVID-19 pandemic in the Pine Tree State and has touted the state’s fast vaccine rollout. Shah went on to serve as principal deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the Biden administration.

A Wisconsin native, Shah has degrees in law and medicine from the University of Chicago, and previously worked in public health in Illinois and Cambodia.

In his gubernatorial bid, Shah’s platform centered on “fixing housing, funding healthcare, feeding kids, and fueling growth — all while fighting the overreaches of the Trump administration.”

During his gubernatorial campaign, Shah raised more than $1 million. He contributed around $100,000 to his campaign, state campaign finance records show.

Shah — who called for Platner to drop out of the race earlier this week — said in a campaign launch news conference Thursday that there is “very little light” between him and Platner on matters of policy, but he “would not accept an endorsement from Graham, nor have I sought one.”

Shah told CBS News that Maine Democrats are “feeling a thousand emotions all at once” following the allegation against Platner earlier this week and the campaign shake-up.

“The one I would say is overriding is the eagerness and the commitment to defeating Susan Collins in the fall,” Shah said.

Jordan Wood

Jordan Wood, who previously sought the Senate seat last year before dropping out to run in a House race, announced he’s hoping to replace Platner on the ballot.

Wood, a 36-year-old native of Lewiston, Maine, previously worked as chief of staff to Democratic Rep. Katie Porter before founding an organization focused on combating election denialism. He launched his campaign for Senate last year before pivoting to run for a House seat to replace moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Golden in Maine’s red-leaning 2nd Congressional District, where he fell short last month.

In a post on X, Wood touted his work to “get big money out of politics and end corruption in Washington.”

“If I am a nominee for Senate, I’ll lead the fight to pass Medicare for All, pass sweeping anti-corruption reform, and stand up to Trump’s lawlessness,” he said.

During his House bid, Wood raised more than $5 million from donors and lent $400,000 to his campaign, the vast majority of which he spent during the campaign, according to FEC data.

Feisty town hall crowd confronts GOP Rep. over Trump policies

5:55 PM EDT, Thu July 9, 2026 / CNN Politics

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Feisty town hall crowd confronts GOP Rep. over Trump policies

Feisty town hall crowd confronts GOP Rep. over Trump policies

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Rep. Mike Flood joins The Lead.

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伊朗圣城发生致命枪击 距哈梅内伊安葬地仅17公里

2026年7月10日 07:25 / 联合早报

伊朗已故最高领袖哈梅内伊7月9日清晨在圣城马什哈德安葬。当局估计，参加葬礼的人数或达1500万。 （路透社）

伊朗东北部圣城马什哈德发生一起枪击事件，造成两人死亡。

伊朗伊斯兰共和国通讯社星期五（7月10日）凌晨报道，伊朗东北部城市马什哈德（Mashhad）9日晚发生枪击事件，造成两人死亡。

枪击地点距离伊朗已故最高领袖哈梅内伊的陵墓——伊玛目礼萨圣陵仅17公里。哈梅内伊的安葬仪式当天清晨在马什哈德举行。

霍拉桑拉扎维省负责安全事务的副省长沙马格达里说，枪击发生在9日晚上10时（新加坡时间10日凌晨2时30分）左右，地点位于萨拉夫拉赞社区。

沙马格达里说，枪击原因和死者身份目前尚未查明。

WATCH: Dem gov mocked for criticizing ‘tribal’ politics amid redistricting push: ‘Hypocrisy knows no bounds’

2026-07-09T14:04:07-04:00 / Fox News

This comes as Maryland lawmakers are set to meet for a special session to pass a new redistricting bill

By Peter Pinedo Fox News

Published July 9, 2026 2:04pm EDT

State attorney rips Democratic governor’s ‘tribal’ line amid redistricting push

Haven Shoemaker, a state attorney for Carroll County, Maryland, ripped Democratic Gov. Wes Moore’s critique of

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Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore is facing criticism for condemning rising “tribal” politics while continuing to push a redistricting effort that opponents say would eliminate the state’s sole Republican congressional seat.

Moore, a rising Democratic star who is being floated as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, gave an Independence Day speech in which he described American history as “powerful,” “painful” and “complex.”

Speaking in the Maryland State House, where George Washington resigned his military commission in 1783, Moore proclaimed that “too many feel that our politics has become tribal, that our political system once felt like a gift, but the politics of today feel like a grift.”

In response, Haven Shoemaker, the top state attorney for Maryland’s Carroll County, remarked to Fox News Digital that “Gov. Moore is proof positive that hypocrisy knows no bounds.”

WATCH: MARYLAND DEMS DEFEND ‘BIG TENT’ PARTY AS NEW YORK SOCIALIST SURGE FUELS DEM DIVIDE

Democratic Govs. Kathy Hochul, of New York, Wes Moore, of Maryland, and Tim Walz, of Minnesota, speak to members of the media outside the White House on July 3, 2024.(Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“On the basis of what you would have to characterize as tribalism, he is going to convene a special session of the Maryland General Assembly to redistrict Maryland’s only Republican congressman out of office. Sounds like tribalism to me,” said Shoemaker.

Maryland General Assembly leaders announced they will meet for a special session beginning on Aug. 3 to consider a constitutional amendment on congressional redistricting, affiliate Fox 45 reported. The special session follows months of pressure from Moore and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., on Maryland Democrats to advance a congressional redistricting plan that would likely eliminate the state’s lone Republican-held district.

The earlier effort to pass the redistricting bill had fizzled out largely due to Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Democrat who called the proposed map “objectively unconstitutional” and expressed his worry that “the downside risk to Democrats is catastrophic.”

Afterward, Moore notably did not endorse Ferguson in his primary race despite the senator being one of the highest-ranking Democrats in the state.

After the special session announcement, Moore said in a statement that “for months, I have said that inaction is not an option and we cannot sit on the sidelines while voting rights, fair representation, and the foundations of our democracy come under attack across the country.”

TRUMP FOE WINS CRUCIAL DEM PRIMARY AS 2028 PRESIDENTIAL SPECULATION SWIRLS

Senate President Bill Ferguson speaks as Maryland lawmakers convene for a new session on Jan. 8, 2025, in Annapolis, Maryland.(Jonathan Newton/for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“I appreciate the General Assembly’s continued conversations and the agreement to come back to finish the work,” he said, adding, “My administration will work closely with the General Assembly as they consider legislation to ensure our state has the tools necessary to protect voters and defend fair representation.”

Meanwhile, Shoemaker, who previously served nine years in the Maryland House of Delegates, even holding the role of minority whip, accused Moore of being caught up in national politics while Marylanders are “fleeing in droves.”

“His record as governor is abysmal,” he said, adding, “Since he became governor, almost four years ago, all that he’s done is really tried to position himself to run for president.”

Shoemaker also took issue with Moore’s critique of American nationalism during his July 4th address.

Moore remarked that “today there are those who will use patriotism to justify pulling books from schools and rewriting history until it comforts those in power. In reality, that’s not patriotism; that’s nationalism.”

The governor continued that “nationalism is not an extension of patriotism; they are not interchangeable. There’s a difference, and that does matter.”

Shoemaker responded that “patriotism means that you love your country,” while in his view nationalism “means that your country is exceptional.”

“It’s pretty clear to me that neither Gov. Moore nor the ultra-progressives generally think that America is exceptional, and I think that’s incredibly sad,” he said.

Moore’s comment also garnered criticism from Maryland Freedom Caucus Chair Matt Morgan, a Republican, who said, “In Moore’s world, if you’re a parent concerned about explicit material in your child’s school library, you’re a nationalist. If you question the revisionist history framework of the 1619 Project and advocate for accurate, honest history, you’re not a patriot. You’re a nationalist.”

“It’s a neat rhetorical trick: reframe the terms, and suddenly anyone who disagrees with you is the villain,” said Morgan.

In a statement shared with Fox News Digital, the Maryland Freedom Caucus called Moore’s decision to convene lawmakers for a special session for redistricting “a blatant partisan effort to rewrite the Maryland Constitution so Democrats can gerrymander away Rep. Andy Harris’s seat and silence rural and conservative voices.”

“While Maryland families sit around their kitchen tables wrestling with sky-high taxes, crushing energy costs, and a cost-of-living crisis made far worse by Annapolis Democrats, Governor Wes Moore has decided now is the perfect time to call a special session,” said Morgan.

In response to the criticism, Ammar Mousa, a spokesperson for Moore, told Fox News Digital, “Why are Maryland Republicans so against patriotism?”

BLUE STATE RESIDENTS ‘FLEEING IN DROVES’ AFTER ‘INSANE’ PROGRESSIVE TAKEOVER, SAYS TOP STATE ATTORNEY

Gov. Wes Moore appears on “Meet the Press” in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 7, 2025.(Shannon Finney/NBC via Getty Images)

Shoemaker told Fox News Digital that his own county has been targeted by state leaders for “wanting to have age-appropriate material in public school libraries.”

In 2025, the Maryland State Board of Education reviewed Carroll County’s removal of 20 books from school libraries after parents argued the removals violated Maryland’s Freedom to Read Act, which was signed by Moore in 2024. The State Board ultimately upheld the county’s decision, allowing the books to remain off library shelves.

“Fighting to keep filth in public schools and public school libraries, or, you know, even revising history to make villains of Founding Fathers who have made our country great by just pointing out their flaws. That seems like moral relativism to me and revisionism at its worst,” said Shoemaker.

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Shoemaker said that it is policies such as these, along with continuously “hiked taxes,” that prompted him to announce he is moving out of the state at the end of his term. He says he is not the only one calling it quits on Maryland under the current leadership.

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“I’ve talked to a lot of people; most of them say that they don’t blame me a bit for fleeing Maryland, and a substantial number of those folks say that they’re right behind me,” he said.

Fox News Digital also reached out to the Maryland State Board of Education for comment.

Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.

‘American houses are for American people’: Trump housing chief insists immigration crackdown will lower costs

HUD Secretary Scott Turner says rolling back regulation and expanding mortgage credit will boost housing supply

July 9, 2026 3:32pm EDT / Fox News

By Amanda Macias

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner says the Biden-era border crisis drove up housing costs as the Trump administration works to make homeownership more affordable.

EXCLUSIVE: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner said the Trump administration is working to counteract the housing cost surges that he said resulted from Joe Biden’s open border policies.

Speaking exclusively with Fox News Digital from the Great American State Fair on Thursday, Turner insisted President Donald Trump’s team is pursuing policies to improve affordability, a key midterm issue, and bring down home price and rent cost spikes that correlated with the influx of illegal immigration under the previous administration.

Republicans have argued their agenda will bring down home prices and rents by cutting regulations, increasing housing supply and cracking down on illegal immigration.

BIDEN’S ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION SURGE CAUSED HIGHER RENT AND HOME PRICES, FED STUDY FINDS

A home for sale are shown as housing affordability remains a challenge for many prospective buyers.(Zak Bennnett/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

“When we first came in with President Trump, we had open borders. We had tens of millions of illegals in our country,” Turner said, arguing that increased housing demand from unauthorized immigration drove up costs for American citizens.

A recent Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas working paper reached a similar conclusion, estimating that every 1% increase in unauthorized immigrant workers was associated with a roughly 2.2% increase in home prices and a 1.4% increase in rents.

Turner said that beyond rolling back regulations, expanding mortgage credit and removing barriers to new construction, reducing illegal immigration is key to helping ease demand for housing.

THE SURPRISING HIDDEN COST QUIETLY ADDING NEARLY $132K TO NEW HOME PRICES REVEALED

He also said the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is a key part of the president’s broader effort to reduce costs for American families amid an ongoing affordability crisis.

“Here in America, we prioritize American people and American people only. American houses are for American people,” Turner said.

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Asked when Americans can expect to see lower housing costs, Turner argued the administration is already taking steps to make housing more affordable.

“I think there is a misperception that this is not a priority. It is of utmost priority,” Turner said.

A PROBLEM HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT IS KEEPING AMERICANS FROM BUYING HOMES

As evidence, Turner pointed to two executive orders Trump signed that together work to remove regulatory barriers to affordable housing construction, expand access to mortgage credit and increase housing supply.

Housing costs have remained elevated in many parts of the country, making affordability a key concern for homebuyers and renters.(Angus Mordant/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

The HUD Secretary said the administration is also rolling back regulations and “bureaucratic red tape” put in place under the Biden administration to lower construction costs and spur more homebuilding.

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“That’s what we’re doing now, we are easing the regulatory environment, bringing the cost down, raising the supply so builders can build and homeowners can buy,” he said, describing those efforts as key to making homeownership more affordable for American families.

Amanda Macias covers the intersection of business, economics and politics, with a focus on how policy decisions shape markets, businesses and American workers.