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Omar’s disclosures erased millions, leaving her with potential negative net worth. She won’t explain why

2026-07-09T13:47:30-04:00 / Fox News

House Oversight Chairman James Comer is demanding an ethics committee investigation into Omar’s revised financial disclosure

By Hannah Brennan Fox News

Published July 9, 2026 1:47pm EDT

SEE IT: Omar silent when pressed on revised disclosures erasing reported millionaire status

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., declined to answer questions from Fox News Digital after revised financial disclosures dramatically reduced the reported value of her and her husband’s assets. (Credit: Nicholas Ballasy for Fox News Digital)

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Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., refused to address her revised financial disclosures that could imply she has a negative net worth after the progressive lawmaker dramatically reduced the reported value of assets tied to her husband’s business ventures.

“Can you tell us if your husband still has the consulting business and the wine business?” Fox News Digital asked Omar.

The congresswoman stayed silent as she was repeatedly questioned, after previously telling Fox News Digital that the original filing — showing Omar’s reported assets reducing by as much as $29.9 million — was inaccurate and “incomplete” information.

ILHAN OMAR’S OFFICE SAYS SHE’S ‘NOT A MILLIONAIRE’ AFTER $30M FILING REVISED DOWN TO UNDER $100K: REPORT

Rep. Ilhan Omar speaks during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., May 18, 2023. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

The controversy surrounding Omar’s finances began when a 2024 financial report estimated that Omar and her husband possessed between $6 million and $30 million in assets, all while the Minnesota fraud scandal within the Somali community was beginning to come to fruition.

A more recent 2025 financial disclosure report shows Omar’s revised value of shared assets between her and husband to sit at a maximum of $125,000 — a multimillion-dollar drop from the year prior. The lower estimate of their assets, $20,000, compared to the low and high debt estimates, $30,000 and $100,000, would imply the Minnesota Democrat could have a negative net worth.

Both she and her husband have separate debts, each ranging somewhere between $15,000 and $50,000 — from her own student loans and her husband’s credit card debt, according to the disclosures.

WATCH: OMAR SILENT WHEN CONFRONTED ON ALLEGED TIES TO MASSIVE MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL

Rep. Ilhan Omar campaigns with her husband Tim Mynett at the Richfield Farmers Market on Aug. 8, 2020, in Richfield, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

The biggest change in the documents involved Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett. His reported ownership interests in both his winery and venture capital advisory firm, which were previously valued in the millions of dollars, are listed with no value now.

In Omar’s 2024 financial disclosure records, Mynett’s share in his winery was valued between $1 million and $5 million, and his share at the venture capital advisory firm was valued between $5 million and $25 million. Now, his equity interests are both listed at $0.

Omar’s office previously told Fox News Digital that Mynett has partners in both businesses and said the earlier disclosure mistakenly reflected the businesses’ total equity rather than his ownership interest. The office also said the original filing listed assets without accounting for liabilities.

VANCE REFERS TIM WALZ, MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL TO DOJ FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OVER STATE’S ALLEGED FRAUD

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has publicly voiced his interest in the Ethics Committee opening an investigation into Omar’s personal finances after the 2025 financial reports came out showing the possibility of a $29 million drop in her net worth.

Vice President JD Vance also has said the U.S. Department of Justice will be opening a probe into her alleged fraud as part of the administration’s anti-fraud taskforce that he spearheads, though no formal investigations have been shared with the public at this time.

Omar has been reluctant to answer Fox News Digital’s questions about her financial fallout and potential probes to be opened against her.

The Minnesota lawmaker similarly dodged answering any of Fox News Digital’s questions just last month about the revised disclosures.

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“There’s also the possibility that it might rain on this sunny day,” Omar replied without responding directly to the content of the question.

Fox News Digital’s Robert Schmad contributed to this report.

Hannah is a Production Assistant for the Politics team at Fox News Digital.

American-made technology guiding Ukraine’s strikes into Russia

2026-07-09T12:33:00-0400 / CBS News

By

Updated on: July 9, 2026 / 12:38 PM EDT / CBS News

KYIV, Ukraine — In early March, an American-made reconnaissance aircraft glided above Ukraine’s choppy Black Sea waters, scanning for Russian targets below. As it approached a gas field just off Ukraine’s southern coast, operators monitoring the feed saw what appeared to be Russian soldiers and military equipment on top of an oil rig.

Calling in a fleet of sea drones, Ukraine’s navy began firing on the rig. When a nearby Russian Ka-27 helicopter landed to evacuate personnel and equipment, a Ukrainian aerial drone swooped down, exploding on contact with the aircraft.

The engagement cost Russia over $1.5 million in military equipment, and according to Ukraine’s navy, destroyed a key Russian platform for strikes into neighboring Ukrainian regions. It was one early example of a more aggressive Ukrainian strategy to use longer-range strike drones to deplete Russia’s resources.

Black smoke billows from the area of Gazprom Neft’s Moscow oil refinery, located on the southeastern outskirts of Moscow, on June 18, 2026, following what the Russian capital’s mayor described as a “large-scale” drone attack by Ukraine. Sefa Karacan/Anadolu via Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has since declared a 40-day “influence operation” that expires in early August to coerce Russia into ending its war.

The reconnaissance aircraft that spotted the oil rig — a long-range surveillance drone known as the “V-BAT,” manufactured by the American defense firm Shield AI — has played an increasingly important role in this campaign.

“We focus on targets that are expensive, strategically valuable, or difficult to replace,” a Ukrainian naval V-BAT operator, who goes by the call sign “Negative,” said.

The drones’ reconnaissance flights deep inside Russia have allowed Kyiv to expand its strikes targeting military, energy and logistics infrastructure.

“One of its biggest advantages is its range,” the drone operator said. “Because the V-BAT can observe from long range, we’re able to confirm what’s there, collect detailed imagery, and provide intelligence without getting too close to the target.”

In June, Ukraine nearly doubled its strikes more than 30 miles beyond Russia’s front lines, according to Ukrainian Minister of Defense Mikhailo Fedorov.

The strike campaign in and around the Black Sea has been especially effective. On Tuesday night, Ukraine’s military struck nine oil tankers in the Black Sea, operating as part of Russia’s shadow fleet. Last month, Russian officials suspended gas sales to civilians in Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula occupied by Russia since 2014.

Fedorov said his drones will soon turn Crimea “into an island,” isolating it from Russia’s mainland.

The strategy’s success might have seemed unthinkable a year ago. In March 2025, the U.S. stopped providing certain forms of intelligence for Ukraine to strike inside Russia, forcing Kyiv to turn to other partners.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in January that two-thirds of the intelligence Ukraine receives now comes from France.

“With the United States stepping back, we have obviously started to try to engage European countries more,” Taras Chmut, a defense expert with Ukraine’s Come Back Alive Foundation, said in an interview earlier this year. “They may be somewhat more technologically limited, but they are faster in making decisions than the Americans.”

Reconnaissance drones have also helped fill the void. Ukrainian manufacturers have increased the range of their own surveillance aircraft by equipping them with Starlink terminals. But operators say the V-BAT offers unique capabilities.

“We use a few other systems, but none of them offer the same range as the V-BAT. They can’t compete with it in terms of endurance or communications,” Negative, the drone operator, said.

A plume of black smoke is seen over the port of St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, after a Ukrainian drone attack. AP

The intelligence the aircraft provides is crucial not only for selecting targets but also for identifying Russian air defenses that stand in the way, experts say. According to Fabian Hoffman, a Ukrainian defense expert, one of the key reasons for Ukraine’s recent successes striking deep into Russia is a yearslong “shaping campaign” that has taken out Russian air defense assets.

Ukrainian officials say the V-BAT has helped identify the location of Russia’s more expensive air defenses, such as its S-400 systems. The aircraft also has AI software on board that programs its routes based on the locations of known Russian air defenses.

Shield AI employees in Ukraine say the data and feedback they receive for the drones’ missions is crucial to their aircraft and software, which require constant improvements. According to a Reuters investigation earlier this year, the V-BAT has crashed more than 50 times over the past 18 months in flights across the world.

Operators in Ukraine say the wartime environment is the only place where necessary changes can be made.

“For example, if Russian electronic warfare begins operating on a particular frequency, our operators report that information. When those frequencies change, we receive new reports and adjust,” Alex, a Ukrainian veteran and Shield AI field operator, said. “That information is important because it allows us to understand how we need to update the aircraft.”

Ukrainian soldiers, who are adapting technology at a pace few peacetime militaries can match, said they hope more American companies will develop technologies alongside them.

“We are working all the time as a team. We go into the field and get the important information we need for us and they are receiving information that they need to update the aircraft itself,” Negative, the drone operator, said. “So it improves both them and us.”

New Mexico attorney general says DOJ is withholding ‘critical’ information related to Epstein’s Zorro Ranch

2026-07-09T17:14:24.842Z / CNN

By Kaanita Iyer

2 hr ago

PUBLISHED Jul 9, 2026, 1:14 PM ET

Federal agencies Epstein files

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, left, and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

AP

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is accusing the US Justice Department of withholding access to unredacted files related to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, arguing that the lack of cooperation is preventing the state from bringing justice to survivors.

“Every day that the USDOJ withholds these records, the foundation upon which a New Mexico prosecution could be built erodes,” Torrez wrote in a scathing letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on June 30 that was publicly released on Thursday. “Witnesses relocate and become unreachable. Memories, already strained by years of trauma, fade further. Physical and documentary evidence degrades, is lost, or is rendered more difficult to authenticate with the passage of time.”

Torrez’s letter marks the latest criticism of the US Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein case as Congress forced the department to release files related to the sex trafficker with a bipartisan bill late last year.

CNN has reached out to the US Justice Department for comment.

New Mexico is investigating allegations of illegal activity surrounding the property Epstein owned near Santa Fe, known as Zorro Ranch.

The criminal probe was reopened in February after the US DOJ’s release of millions of files related to Epstein, which included a 2019 email received by a local radio host that alleged that “somewhere in the hills outside the Zorro, two foreign girls were buried on orders of Jeffrey and Madam G.” That allegation is unverified, but it is also not clear to what extent it had been investigated by law enforcement before the recent renewed interest in Epstein.

Some of Epstein’s survivors, including Chauntae Davies and the late Virginia Giuffre, have said the ranch was one of the places where they were sexually assaulted.

Several lawmakers criticized the heavy redactions in the Epstein files the DOJ began releasing in December 2025, and the US DOJ’s internal watchdog is reviewing the redaction process.

Some members of Congress have been allowed to view the unredacted documents but they had to “travel to a DOJ annex, sit at one of four DOJ-owned computers, use a clunky and convoluted software system provided by DOJ, and search for and read documents while DOJ staffers look over our shoulders,” according to Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.

A drone view shows Zorro Ranch, a property formerly owned by Jeffrey Epstein, near Stanley, New Mexico, on March 8.

Rebecca Noble/Reuters/File

In last week’s letter, Torrez outlined six attempts from the New Mexico DOJ office to reach the federal agency, including a February 13 request for documents and an effort last month to set up an in-person meeting during Torrez’s visit to Washington, DC.

“Despite verbal assurances of cooperation from the USDOJ, access to the requested records has not been granted, no substantive response has been provided, and more than 130 days have now elapsed since the (New Mexico Department of Justice’s) initial request,” Torrez wrote. “The NMDOJ views this length of time as an unreasonable delay under any rule of reason.”

As part of the criminal investigation, New Mexico authorities searched Zorro Ranch in March.

Separately, the state has a special legislative panel called “The New Mexico Survivor’s Truth Commission,” which is also investigating Zorro Ranch. Last month, the committee subpoenaed multiple banks, several US Attorneys offices, as well as the offices of Torrez and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, for information.

CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz, Michael Williams, MJ Lee, Nicky Robertson and Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.

School lied, hid daughter’s gender transition under district policy, parents allege

July 9, 2026 3:57pm EDT / Fox News

Attorneys for plaintiffs accused school officials of lying to them about their daughter’s name change at school

By Elaine Mallon

America First Legal alleges Anne Arundel County Public Schools socially transitioned a student without notifying or obtaining consent from the child’s parents.

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A Maryland school district is being sued after parents accused school officials of hiding their daughter’s social gender transition and then citing district policy to justify keeping them in the dark.

America First Legal (AFL) is leading the lawsuit on behalf of anonymous parents identified as John and Jane Doe. The plaintiffs argue Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ policies violate their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, as well as similar provisions of the Maryland Constitution. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

The lawsuit is part of a growing wave of legal challenges targeting school districts with policies allowing staff to withhold information about a student’s gender identity from parents. It also comes months after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Mirabelli v. Bonta, which America First Legal says reinforced parents’ constitutional rights over decisions involving their children.

Ian Prior, senior advisor at America First Legal and counsel for the plaintiffs, said the district ignored that precedent.

NBC ANCHOR FORCED TO EXPLAIN USE OF TERM ‘BIOLOGICAL MALE’ DURING COVERAGE OF SUPREME COURT RULING

A protester holds a transgender pride flag outside the Supreme Court as it hears arguments over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)(Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)

“The school system was referring to our client’s daughter by a male name and assuming a male identity for their daughter, and they didn’t approve that, and they weren’t told of that, and when they did find out about it, and they questioned the school, they were quite frankly lied to about it,” Prior told Fox News Digital.

“They said this is not going to happen anymore, we deny consent, and the school said, ‘Well, too bad, that’s the law.’ Unfortunately, for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, that is not the law.”

Prior said the Supreme Court made clear in Mirabelli that “parents have a fundamental right to raise their children” and argued schools cannot facilitate a child’s social transition without parental notice and consent.

According to the complaint, the dispute began in December 2025 after a teacher accidentally emailed the parents using a male name for their daughter before attempting to recall the message and later claiming it had been sent to the wrong recipient. The lawsuit alleges the teacher later admitted the explanation was false and acknowledged the student had requested to be called by a male name. The parents then instructed school officials to use only their daughter’s legal name and requested records related to the school’s actions.

The complaint alleges school administrators refused those requests, citing the district’s policies and telling the parents that school staff were required to honor the student’s preferred name while at school.

ALASKA STATE FAIR BARS PARENTAL RIGHTS GROUP DUE TO ‘EXTREMIST’ GROUP DESIGNATION BY FAR-LEFT ORGANIZATION

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Months later, another teacher allegedly used the same male name in an email about an upcoming field trip. When the parents questioned it, the lawsuit says the teacher initially gave a false explanation before admitting the name referred to their daughter.

According to the lawsuit, the district’s policies require staff to use students’ preferred names and pronouns and keep information about their gender identity confidential, without notifying or getting permission from parents.

“It’s really unfortunate that this even has to result in litigation, because again the Supreme Court has been very clear about what schools can and cannot do, but what we’ve really seen throughout the country is that in order to get schools to adhere to the Constitution and the law of the land, you have to bring them to court and get a court order demanding that they follow the law,” Prior told Fox News Digital.

The Maryland case is the latest in a series of lawsuits AFL has filed challenging school policies governing student gender identity.

Just weeks earlier, on June 22, 2025, America First Legal filed a separate federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Fairfax County Public Schools. That lawsuit alleges the district’s policy violates parents’ constitutional rights by allowing school staff to socially transition students, including using different names and pronouns at school without notifying parents in certain circumstances. The Fairfax litigation remains in its early stages.

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Prior said AFL is also pursuing similar parental-rights cases in Pennsylvania and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California.

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The litigation also comes amid a broader push by the Trump administration to challenge school policies concerning parental notification and gender identity. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Education concluded that the California Department of Education remains in violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), finding that state policies pressure school officials to conceal information about students’ gender identity from parents. California has pushed back against the federal government’s conclusions and related legal challenges remain ongoing.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools declined to comment on the litigation.

Elaine Mallon is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business covering national politics.

What we know (and don’t know) about how Maine Democrats will replace Graham Platner

2026-07-09T17:38:14.923Z / CNN

By Ethan Cohen, Jeff Zeleny

Updated 5 min ago
Updated Jul 9, 2026, 4:04 PM ET
PUBLISHED Jul 9, 2026, 1:38 PM ET

The Portland Head Light lighthouse is seen in 6 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine’s Fort Williams Park on May 20.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Maine Democrats are embarking on a two-week sprint to pick a new nominee for one of the year’s most important races in the wake of Graham Platner’s decision this week to suspend his Senate campaign after allegations of sexual assault, which he denies.

Shortly before Platner announced on Wednesday he’d be leaving the race, the party’s state committee voted to hold a nominating convention to choose a replacement before the 5 p.m. ET deadline on July 27.

But many details about the process – including when the convention will be held, who the delegates will be and how exactly candidates can access the ballot – have not been announced.

In a statement, party leaders said that “transparency is of the utmost importance,” and they would announce additional details “soon.”

The convention process could be similar to how national parties pick presidential candidates, when delegates elected from each state are ultimately responsible for choosing their nominees. But while in the modern presidential process delegates generally vote for a candidate based on the results of a popular vote, given the compressed timeline in Maine, it seems unlikely there will be a similar statewide opportunity for voters to express their preference.

The convention is expected to feature roughly 600 delegates, including around 500 elected from the state’s 16 counties and about 100 voting members of the state committee, a source familiar with the process told CNN.

The process for how those delegates are selected, and who those people ultimately are, will go a long way to determining which of the more than half a dozen hopefuls emerges as the new nominee.

And there are far more questions than answers.

For example, who will get to vote for delegates within each county? Will delegates run affiliated with specific candidates, or will they ask voters to trust their judgment at the convention?

Then, there’s the question of how voting at the convention will work. With so many potential candidates, it’s easy to imagine no candidate having a majority. Will the party use ranked-choice voting, as the state does in primaries? Or will there be multiple rounds of voting, during which campaigns can try to lobby delegates to their side?

Another outstanding issue that still needs to be resolved: Platner is still technically on the ballot. He has until 5 p.m. ET on Monday to officially withdraw, and he told his campaign staff in a call Wednesday that he plans to wait until the last day to file the necessary paperwork.

The campaign was in the process of shuttering on Thursday, aides said, taking steps to close down the operation. Platner did not explain why he intended to wait until Monday, but a person close to the campaign warned against reading anything into his delay.

“It’s over. He’s done,” a person close to the campaign told CNN. “I don’t really know why he’s waiting until Monday, but the campaign is basically disbanded.”

Home prices across the U.S. surge to all-time high

2026-07-09 15:20:16 EDT / CBS News

By

July 9, 2026 / 3:20 PM EDT / CBS News

With a landmark housing affordability bill in political limbo, U.S. home prices have hit an all-time high.

The median price of existing homes in June was $440,660, up 1.8% from $432,700 a year ago, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Home prices have risen for 36 straight months.

“Housing affordability remains low under slowing wage growth and stronger home price growth,” Ershang Liang, an economist with PNC Economics Research, said in a report.

Some other highlights from NAR’s latest housing snapshot:

• Median price for existing single-family homes: $446,400
• Median price for condominiums and co-ops: $380,000
• Median price for single-family homes in the U.S. Northeast: $564,800
• Median price for single-family homes in the Midwest: $346,600
• Median price for single-family homes in the South: $377,700
• Median price for single-family homes in the West: $633,600

The latest data underscores the affordability crunch facing many homebuyers. Home prices have climbed for decades, with the only major drop coming during the epic housing crisis that triggered the 2008-09 financial crisis. But costs skyrocketed during the pandemic as the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates to support the economy.

Today, even modestly priced homes aimed at first-time buyers are beyond the reach of most Americans. Fewer than 4 in 10 non-homeowner households can afford a typical starter home priced around $200,000, according to LendingTree. Households need an annual income of roughly $117,000 to afford the average home, real estate firm Redfin has found.

Bipartisan bill awaits Trump’s signature

The latest uptick in residential real estate costs comes after lawmakers last month passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. The legislation would implement a range of policies to lower home prices, including removing regulatory barriers to construction, restricting institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes and encouraging zoning reforms to accelerate homebuilding.

Although Congress approved the bill in a rare show of bipartisan support, it remains hung up in Washington, D.C. President Trump in late June canceled a planned signing ceremony for the measure, saying he would not sign the legislation until lawmakers pass an elections bill known as the SAVE America Act.

The fate of the housing bill remains unclear. Under the Constitution, a bill that has passed both chambers of Congress and has been presented to the president automatically becomes law if he doesn’t sign or veto it within 10 days (excluding Sundays), as long as lawmakers are in session.

Edited by Aimee Picchi

Fury erupts as US brand fires 1,600 employees after securing thousands of foreign worker visas

One lawmaker called to end the H-1B foreign worker visa program entirely to prioritize hiring American workers

July 9, 2026 12:20pm EDT / Fox News

By Peter D’Abrosca

A federal judge in Boston has blocked the Trump administration’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee, stating it is an unauthorized tax without congressional approval. The policy, enacted last year, drastically increased the fee from $2,000-$5,000 to prioritize U.S. citizens. The White House plans to appeal the decision.

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A popular U.S.-based gaming brand owned by Microsoft is facing fury after mass employee layoffs occurred in the wake of the company being approved for thousands of foreign worker visas.

Microsoft announced that it will lay off 4,800 people total and 1,600 from the corporation’s XBOX division, which makes and sells the dominant video game console.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has been approved this year to hire from foreign countries 2,273 employer-sponsored, non-immigrant workers under what is known as the H-1B visa program, according to data from U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Furious online critics claim that American jobs are being unfairly handed to foreigners in an effort to cut labor costs but at the cost of leaving U.S. workers in the lurch.

‘AMERICA FIRST’ IMMIGRATION OVERHAUL BILL WOULD CODIFY TRUMP’S CAMPAIGN PROMISES ONCE AND FOR ALL

Asha Sharma, chief executive officer of Xbox,, during the Bloomberg Tech conference in San Francisco, California, US, on Thursday, June 4, 2026. The event brings together the leading CEOs, investors and innovators who are harnessing technology to change the world around us. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images(David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“A great way to fix this is to throw anyone doing this in prison,” said one user on X. “Fire Americans to replace with thousands of visa workers? Straight to jail, and assets seized. This story has been told countless times. Fire American staff and hire foreigners. Over and over.”

“It is the fault of our Government for approving the H-1Bs,” another social media user lamented. “Our Government has sold us out of jobs at home and those being moved to other countries.”

HOUSE REPUBLICANS RIP INTO SENATE FOR DELAYING IMMIGRATION RECONCILIATION PACKAGE: ‘I’M VERY FRUSTRATED’

Another user described the H-1B program as “industrial scale job theft from Americans.”

Microsoft is the sixth-largest beneficiary of H-1B visas, a program that is overwhelmingly dominated by workers from India. The company has even more H-1B applications pending. Microsoft has employees worldwide, but most are in the United States.

“These decisions are based on business need, not visa status. H-1B employees were also impacted by job eliminations in the U.S.,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Fox News Digital when reached for comment on the lay offs.

Fans compete in a gaming tournament at Microsoft retail store at the Florida Mall on November 21, 2013 in Orlando, Florida and another five cities across the country for a chance to win up to $25,000 in prizes and a chance to participate in a final showdown at the Jacksonville, Fla. Microsoft Store opening, featuring a performance by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Tournament finalists will receive an Ultimate Xbox One Gaming House including all launch night titles in each of the six participating stores. (Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images for Microsoft)(Gerardo Mora/Getty Images for Microsoft)

“Every single employer is exploiting the H-1B visa program,” said the Project for Immigration Reform.

A lawmaker even called for a complete end to the non-immigrant visa program.

TRUMP TAPS ACTING LABOR SECRETARY KEITH SONDERLING FOR PERMANENT ROLE PENDING SENATE CONFIRMATION

“This is INSANE. LEGAL immigration is a major problem. These companies, especially big tech, are abusing these immigration programs to replace American workers with foreign workers,” said Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va.

“No more. It’s long past time to end the H-1B scam.”

XBOX CEO Asha Sharma cited the company’s financial health for the layoffs.

“Our business today is not healthy,” said a memo from Sharma, according to The Associated Press. “We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses.”

Sharma added that her strategy is to “reset” XBOX.

Some online critics, however, claimed Sharma’s Indian heritage played a role in firing the Americans, given the percentage of H-1B workers from India. Sharma was born in Wisconsin.

Vice President JD Vance announced on Tuesday a large-scale investigation into H-1B visa fraud.

“Today, I’m proud to announce that the federal Department of Labor has started dozens of subpoenas and investigations into foreign fraudsters who are trying to take advantage of the H-1B visa program,” he said during a press conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“American jobs ought to go to American workers and not foreign fraudsters and the Department of Labor is fighting back against it.”

President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Sept. 19, 2025, establishing the “Trump Gold Card” and introducing a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas. The “Trump Gold Card” is a visa program that allows foreign nationals permanent residency and a pathway to U.S. citizenship for a $1 million investment in the United States.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

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Recently, President Donald Trump tried to limit employers’ use of the H-1B program by imposing a $100,000 fee for companies seeking H-1B applications.

A federal judge struck down that order, reasoning that it amounted to a tax that only Congress has the ability to impose.

Peter D’Abrosca is a politics reporter at Fox News Digital.

Charlie Kirk murder suspect told roommate “he wishes he hadn’t done it,” police interview reveals

July 9, 2026 / 2:40 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Tyler Robinson, the college student accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk during an event at Utah Valley University in September 2025, acted erratically after the shooting and told his roommate he wished “he hadn’t done it,” according to an interview played in court Thursday.

Robinson is charged with aggravated murder and has not entered a plea. Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed in a note left for former roommate and romantic partner Lance Twiggs that he “had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.” Robinson also allegedly sent a text to Twiggs saying he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred.”

Twiggs said in a recorded interview with a Utah prosecutor that he saw Robinson the day after the shooting. Twiggs told the prosecutor he had never heard Robinson talk about Kirk before the shooting, and when they talked about politics, it usually focused on President Trump and current events.

Twiggs said that when he saw Robinson on Sept. 12, the day after the shooting, he was walking “around a lot” within their apartment. Twiggs said he asked “if what he said was true the night before.” Robinson “said it was,” Twiggs said.

He “started crying a little bit and said he wishes he hadn’t done it,” Twiggs said in the interview. Robinson then resumed pacing and “doing stuff, I think just to keep himself busy or distracted or something,” Twiggs said. Twiggs said he left the apartment shortly after because Robinson told him he was going to turn himself in, and he didn’t want to be there “regardless of what went down.” Robinson turned himself in later on Sept. 12.

Lance Twiggs, left, the former roommate of Tyler Robinson, speaks to a Utah prosecutor during an interview. CourtTV

Twiggs spoke to authorities later that same day, and again on April 20. He was given immunity for the statements, meaning what Twiggs said cannot be used against him in a potential criminal case.

Defense attorneys had fought against the public release of the statements from Twiggs, saying prosecutors would characterize the statements as a confession, undermining Robinson’s right to a fair trial if the statements are broadcast by the media. Attorneys for the media and for Kirk’s widow, Erika, who has attended this week’s hearing, had urged the judge to make Twiggs’ statements and other evidence public.

“To not be transparent, to not be open and let the world see what happened will create doubt and distrust in the judicial system,” Kirk family lawyer Jeffrey Neiman told Graf Wednesday.

Neiman filed a request late Wednesday for all evidence against Robinson to be displayed openly and in real time during this week’s hearing. Neiman wrote that Erika Kirk and Kirk’s parents had waited 10 months for the hearing but at times have been denied the chance “to meaningfully observe” it.

The judge said in response that not all evidence would be openly displayed and he needs to protect the rights of both victims and the defendant. There were some redactions in the video played, including when the prosecutor appeared to be showing Twiggs images of the note and messages from Robinson.

Investigators say Robinson went to a rooftop near where Kirk was speaking and shot him once through the neck as the activist was taking questions from a crowd of several thousand people. Kirk was declared dead after being taken to a hospital. Investigators found the suspected murder weapon — a bolt-action rifle with one spent round — wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near where Kirk was shot.

Robinson’s attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence but have sought to get the death penalty taken off the table, so far unsuccessfully.

Robinson has sat quietly through the hearing. On Thursday, he was dressed in a jacket and tie with one arm shackled to his waist. He appeared to be taking notes with his free hand.

Tyler Robinson, the Utah man accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, listens during a preliminary hearing at the 4th District Court in Provo, Utah, July 9, 2026. Spenser Heaps/Pool via Reuters

Robinson’s parents and two of his brothers sat behind him, in the front row of the courtroom gallery. Charlie’s Kirk parents and Erika Kirk sat a few rows back. Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, also was in attendance.

State District Judge Tony Graf will decide at the conclusion of this week’s preliminary hearing if prosecutors have enough evidence to bring Robinson to trial.

Robinson’s lawyers earlier this week questioned the reliability of DNA testing used to link the defendant to the towel and gun.

A member of Tyler Robinson’s defense team interrogated a DNA analyst from the FBI about the techniques she used to connect Robinson to the evidence. Defense lawyer Michael Burt cast doubt on the analyst’s conclusions.

“She can’t match Mr. Robinson to the questioned samples,” Burt argued.

But forensics expert Lawrence Quarino said law enforcement agencies use “extremely reliable” tests to determine the probability that a person matches with DNA found at a crime scene.

DNA testing “is the gold standard in forensic science,” said Quarino, a professor and director of the forensic science program at Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania.

Trump now claims Iran has already been denuclearized. So what was the point of the war?

2026-07-09T17:04:43.923Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/09/politics/iran-trump-nuclear

When President Donald Trump went to war with Iran in February, he cited its supposedly imminent nuclear threat. But there was always a problem with that: He’d spent eight months asserting the program had already been “obliterated” last year.

Just two weeks before the war began, in fact, Trump claimed US and Israeli strikes in June 2025 had left Iran without even a “potential capability” for nukes.

Now, as Trump looks to extract himself from the highly unpopular war, he’s offering more confounding signals about the state of Iran’s nuclear threat.

After more than four months of war and major costs to the US and world economy — all geared towards the still-unfulfilled goals of obtaining Iran’s nuclear materials and a deal that keeps Tehran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon — Trump is suddenly suggesting none of that is even necessary.

He’s claiming the war is already a success because Iran has already been denuclearized.

It seems Iran’s nuclear program has magically gone back to “obliterated” status — at precisely the moment it looks like Trump’s efforts to cut a deal are truly falling apart.

Trump made this argument repeatedly on Wednesday at a NATO summit in Turkey.

When asked whether the war had hit a “strategic dead end,” Trump assured that it hadn’t because it was already a success.

“I was there for one reason: that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I call it, we denuclearize Iran,” Trump said. “And that’s happened; they will never have a nuclear weapon.”

The president said Iran’s nuclear materials are now “so far down under a mountain” that they’re virtually unobtainable. He also cited US monitoring capabilities, arguing officials can see the nuclear sites on cameras and ensure nobody can access them.

“There’s no way they have a nuclear weapon,” Trump added.

At a separate event, he was pressed on how he was going to get Iran’s nuclear materials. He claimed that the United States, in effect, already has them.

“We’ve already got the nuclear material, because it’s so far underground,” Trump said. “Nobody’s going to be able to get it except us.”

He added: “They can’t get it.”

“I think it’s a tremendous success,” Trump said in the first appearance.

A couple points.

First, this is merely the latest evidence that Trump is laying the groundwork for possibly throwing in the towel in Iran without achieving his major objectives.

The administration has repeatedly cast getting Iran’s nuclear materials as a must-have — a “red line,” in the words of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just six weeks ago.

But Trump has also conspicuously floated the idea that this might not be strictly necessary, because the materials are inaccessible to Iran and the areas can be monitored from space.

Perhaps the bigger point, though, is that the comments raise more major questions about the original stated justifications for the war — and whether the war was launched (and continued) under false pretenses.

Trump’s justifications were already a mess from the war’s earliest days, and not just because of the “obliterated” talk. The administration has also issued a constantly shifting set of four goals. And Trump’s initial threats to go to war back in January were focused not on the supposed nuclear threat but instead on regime change — a goal that he’s also nonsensically claimed he has already achieved by killing certain leaders, despite that not matching what actually constitutes regime change.

But Trump’s latest claims that Iran has suddenly been denuclearized forevermore is really difficult to square.

It’s certainly possible that strikes during this war have made the nuclear materials even more difficult to get to.

But by far the biggest strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites came back in June 2025, when Trump first claimed its nuclear program had been “obliterated.” And the major military actions in this war ended three months ago, when the first ceasefire was announced on April 7.

If Iran’s nuclear materials are now so buried that its program is basically done-for and a deal isn’t necessary, why wasn’t that the case three months ago? Why did the administration spend all this time pursuing a nuclear deal and say it still needed to get the materials? Why not just keep hitting the nuclear sites to further bury the materials, if that’s good enough?

It makes no sense.

It all points to a far less justifiable possibility for why Trump is making these arguments now: that he has lost patience with this war and recognizes a good deal is probably not going to happen. (Iran certainly doesn’t seem interested in cutting one, judging by its many apparent violations of the ceasefire.) So it’s best to start spinning why he’s getting out with so many of his goals unfulfilled.

But also consider where that would leave the war effort. It wouldn’t just be that Trump wouldn’t accomplish his goals; it would mean that the war came with some major costs for virtually no gain.

Besides the 13 lives of US service members lost in the conflict, at the top of that list would be the economic shock of the past few months and Iran’s now-demonstrated ability to control the Strait of Hormuz. The latter especially looms extremely large over the future of the Middle East and the world right now.

And judging by Trump’s most recent comments, it’s looking more and more like that might be the most significant result of this war.

Democrats are ‘completely stained’ after backing Platner through multiple scandals, Republicans charge

July 9, 2026 2:17pm EDT / Fox News

Platner dropped his Senate bid amid mounting scandals and a chorus of calls to immediately exit the race

By Paul Steinhauser Fox News

Democratic candidate Graham Platner exits the Maine Senate race due to sexual assault allegations, prompting a scramble among Democrats to replace him. Platner, a far-left Democrat, went down swinging, criticizing corporate media and establishment Democrats.

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Graham Platner is taking his name off the ballot, but the trail of debris left from the mounting controversies that brought down his nearly year-long insurgent Senate campaign in Maine is giving Republicans ammunition to use against Democrats in other crucial midterm races.

“Democrats rolled in the mud with Platner, and now they are completely stained by their association with this sick monster,” Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters charged in a statement minutes after the Marine Corp veteran announced on Wednesday night that he was suspending his campaign.

Republicans are now linking Platner to Democrats in a handful of House and Senate races that will directly impact the midterm battle for control of Congress.

Platner, a populist Democrat backed last September by leading national progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was challenging longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a high-profile, combustible and very expensive race in Maine, which is one of a handful that will determine if the GOP holds onto its slim Senate majority in November’s midterm elections.

PLANTER CALLS IT QUITS, DROPS SENATE BID AMID MOUNTING SCANDALS

Graham Platner, a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate for Maine, during a primary election night event at the Blue Hill YMCA in Blue Hill, Maine, June 9, 2026.(Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Platner’s exit from the race came two days after an explosive report on Monday afternoon contained an allegation of rape from a woman he previously dated. It was only after that report when a chorus of calls emerged from top Democrats across the country for him to immediately drop out.

But Platner, the combat veteran and oyster farmer whose campaign caught fire and steamrolled the Democratic establishment, had already been forced on defense ahead of the his primary victory last month.

Past inflammatory online comments made on a now-deleted Reddit account came back to haunt him at the same time he was reeling from revelations of a now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol. Then reports that Platner exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married came right before allegations from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes were made public.

Platner repeatedly called the allegations of violence untrue and dismissed his tattoo and Reddit posts as actions taken by a younger man who has now changed.

And addressing the latest rape allegation, a visibly irritated Platner charged in his suspension video on Wednesday: “This is all false. The things that have been claimed did not happen. It is not real.”

PLATNER’S GONE: HERE’S WHAT’S NEXT AND WHO’S SCRAMBLING TO REPLACE HIM

Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks to an overflow crowd outside a campaign event June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine.(Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo)

But Republicans see an opportunity to use Platner’s toxic baggage as a cudgel against some Democrats on the ballot in key races this year — especially those who once backed the Maine candidate or defended him against previous allegations.

“Every Democrat that endorsed Graham Platner endorsed a rapist, and every Democrat that stayed silent was complicit,” Gruters argued.

The GOP quickly took aim at Matt Dunlap, the Democratic nominee in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, a Democrat-controlled open seat in a mostly rural district President Donald Trump carried in the past three presidential elections that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is heavily targeting.

Dunlap endorsed Platner and appeared with him at a campaign event days before Maine’s June 9 primary.

“Out of touch freak Matt Dunlap might be okay with Nazi lovers and men who abuse women, but in November, he’ll see for himself that Mainers aren’t. Dunlap’s embrace of this vile human is disqualifying,” NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole charged.

On Monday, amid a wave of Democrats calling on Platner to call it quits, Dunlap said in a statement, “The allegations reported today are serious, and they deserve to be treated with the gravity they warrant. As such, I am calling on Graham Platner to withdraw from the race for Senate so we can all come together behind a nominee who can successfully carry the torch in November.”

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In neighboring battleground New Hampshire, the NRCC took aim at Stefany Shaheen, the polling front runner in the September primary in the state’s 1st Congressional District, another crucial swing seat that is among roughly two to three dozen that will determine if the GOP holds its razor-thin House majority in the midterms.

“Granite Staters will hold Shaheen accountable for her appalling judgment,” O’Toole argued.

Shaheen never endorsed Platner, but did not explicitly condemn him until Monday, when she said in a statement that “the allegations of sexual assault are extremely disturbing.”

“Graham Platner needs to drop out of this race. I stand with the women who bravely came forward,” she added.

The Shaheen campaign told Fox News Digital that Republicans are being hypocritical, and pointed to President Donald Trump as an example of the double standard.

“Stefany Shaheen called for Graham Platner to drop out. Republicans hacks are total hypocrites still excusing Donald Trump even after he was forced to pay millions in damages to a woman he sexually abused,” Shaheen campaign manager Emma Greenberg told Fox News Digital.

“They have nothing to say about the twenty-eight women who have accused Trump of sexually abusing them. Stefany is going to keep taking on Donald Trump’s corrupt self-dealing and misogyny along with the hacks who keep enabling it.”

The general election winner in the congressional race will succeed four-term Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, who is running for the Senate this year.

Former GOP Sen. John E. Sununu, the Republican front-runner in that race, took aim at Pappas over what he charged were the “failures of Chris Pappas when it comes to Graham Platner.”

The statement spotlights a critical piece on Pappas penned by the conservative-leaning New Hampshire Journal.

Pappas, who never endorsed Platner, also took to social media on Monday, saying, “The allegations against Graham Platner are reprehensible, and he must step aside.”

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The Pappas campaign also argued that Sununu, who is backed byTrump, is being hypocritical.

“Donald Trump was found liable for sexual abuse, bragged about sexually harassing women and girls, has publicly defamed and demeaned survivors, and is mentioned in the Epstein files over 38,000 times — and John Sununu accepted Trump’s endorsement anyway,” Chris Pappas for Senate spokesperson Gates MacPherson said. “Chris Pappas called on Platner to step aside immediately. John Sununu still stands with Donald Trump. They are not the same.”

The Senate showdown for the Democrat-controlled seat in New Hampshire is one of roughly a dozen races that will determine if Republicans retain their majority in the chamber.

Democrats question how effective any concerted push by the GOP to use Platner as ammunition may be with voters this autumn.

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“Battleground district voters don’t care about Graham Platner, CJ Warnke, communications director at the House Majority PAC, the top super PAC supporting congressional Democrats, told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Warnke, pivoting to affordability, argued that voters “care about how Republicans broke their promise lower costs by passing a toxic agenda of tariffs, new wars, and devastating health care cuts. Meanwhile, Democrats are running on making life more affordable and rooting out corruption, and in November we’re going to win.”

Paul Steinhauser covers the national campaign trail from coast to coast for Fox News