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Trump made $1.2B through crypto in 2025. Jonathan Swan says that likely doesn’t ‘scratch the surface’ of the family’s gains

2026-07-01T17:47:28.642Z / CNN Politics

By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 1:47 PM EDT, Wed July 1, 2026

https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/01/politics/video/haberman-swan-book-regime-change-trump-crypto-ip

Trump made $1.2B through crypto in 2025. Jonathan Swan says that likely doesn’t ‘scratch the surface’ of the family’s gains

Inside Politics

President Trump’s financial disclosure documents reveal he collected billions of dollars via an array of cryptocurrency ventures, royalty payments and property investments last year. But reporter Jonathan Swan tells Dana Bash, ‘We only know a fraction of what’s going on… This financial disclosure does not account for a lot of the money that’s going into the Trump family.” Swan joins “Inside Politics” with his co-author Maggie Haberman to discuss their new book, “Regime Change.”

9:47 • Source: CNN

U.S. helicopter goes down in Arabian Sea, crew member missing, Navy says

July 1, 2026 / 2:01 PM EDT / CBS News

By Mark Osborne

Three members of a four-person MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter crew were rescued at sea after an “emergency water landing” in the Arabian Sea early Wednesday morning, according to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.

A search continues for the fourth and final crew member.

There is “no indication” the helicopter was shot down by hostile action, the military said. The helicopter is assigned to the USS George H.W. Bush.

“Three of the helicopter’s four crew members have been recovered and are in stable condition aboard George H. W. Bush,” U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said. “U.S. Navy assets in the region are currently searching for the other aircrewman still missing.”

The incident happened at about 3:30 a.m. Eastern time, which would’ve been about 11 a.m. local time.

File photo of an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter. U.S. Navy/AFP via Getty Images

The USS George H.W. Bush has been in the Middle East since late April. It is one of two aircraft carriers remaining in the region. While the U.S. has rescinded its blockade of vessels traveling into and out of the Strait of Hormuz, it still has a sizable military presence.

The U.S. had lost 42 fixed-wing or rotor aircraft in Operation Epic Fury as of mid-May, the last time an update was given to Congress.

That does not include the U.S. Apache helicopter shot down by an Iranian drone in early June. The two crew members on that helicopter were able to be rescued. That incident precipitated the U.S. to undertake “self-defense strikes” against Iran.

Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/us-helicopter-goes-down-in-arabian-sea-crew-member-missing/

Southern Poverty Law Center’s leaders allegedly used major bank to fund pay-to-hate operation

US officials: Ex-CFO Teenie Hutchison, ex-research chief Heidi Beirich and ex-CEO Margaret Huang allegedly kept scheme secret

2026-07-01 13:32 EDT / Fox News

By Asra Q. Nomani Fox News

Published July 1, 2026 1:32pm EDT

Muslim reformer branded an ‘extremist’ by SPLC says the nonprofit should ‘cease to exist’

Once branded an “anti-Muslim extremist” by the SPLC, British Muslim reformer Maajid Nawaz says the SPLC should “cease to exist” as a new DOJ investigation reveals it allegedly secretly paid far-right extremists $4.1 million over many years.

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FIRST ON FOX: A pair of former top executives at the Southern Poverty Law Center used a network of checking accounts to secretly funnel $4.1 million to extremists, including one nicknamed “The Aryan Barbarian,” in a long-running pay-to-hate scheme, federal officials told Fox News Digital.

The SPLC’s former chief financial officer Teenie Hutchison and ex-Intelligence Project chief Heidi Beirich allegedly created the accounts at Synovus Bank in 2008, making the beleaguered nonprofit’s trusted bank a hub for diverting supporters’ donations to sketchy groups, sources said. The network ultimately supported secret payments to as many as 50 confidential “field sources,” called “Fs,” embedded within extremist organizations around the country. Some 13 field sources have so far been identified in court filings.

“The SPLC found its niche, and its leaders built a fiefdom with donations they got like crazy,” former NYPD intelligence official, attorney and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro said.

Former SPLC Chief Executive Officer Margaret Huang allegedly signed a letter acknowledging the operation to Synovus bank officials in September 2021 before ending her tenure at the SPLC in July 2025.

SPLC supporters have characterized the payment recipients as “informants,” and they included a right-wing extremist behind the infamous 2017 “Unite the Right” protests in Charlottesville, Va.

“The government can run informants,” said Mauro. “Private industry cannot.”

The new revelations show the federal investigation of the SPLC is significantly larger than initially reported and was orchestrated at the organization’s highest level. Beirich was previously believed to be involved in the alleged payments, but this is the first time federal officials have confirmed her involvement.

The new details about the SPLC case emerge as the Trump administration’s Justice Department intensifies scrutiny of influential nonprofit organizations. Earlier this week, Fox News Digital reported exclusively that federal prosecutors launched a grand jury investigation into Shanghai-based Marxist tech mogul Neville Roy Singham over possible illegality in his funding of left-wing activist groups. Together, the two federal investigations signal an aggressive effort by the administration to examine whether certain organizations are using their nonprofit status to conceal financial operations.

Former SPLC President and CEO Margaret Huang, left, and interim President and CEO Bryan Fair are shown in a split image as the organization navigates leadership changes and a federal investigation.(Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images; USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images)

A spokesperson for Synovus Bank told Fox News Digital that the lender, based in Columbus, Ga., is working with federal investigators in the “ongoing investigation.”

“As a matter of policy, we do not comment on specific client relationships,” the spokesperson said. “We have cooperated fully with the ongoing investigation and will continue to do so.”

Hutchison, Beirich and Huang didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment. In late May, the SPLC filed a motion to dismiss the case. On June 9, days after the U.S. government filed a superseding indictment against the SPLC, the nonprofit’s interim president and chief executive officer, Bryan Fair, denied any wrongdoing by the SPLC during a fiery hearing before the House Judiciary Committee.

The allegations sit at the center of a federal case accusing the SPLC of bank fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Sources familiar with the investigation say additional charges will likely be filed against individual executives and former executives of the nonprofit.

Fox News Digital’s investigation unpacks the government’s theory of the alleged operation through the traditional three stages of money laundering: placement, layering and integration. In the first stage of placement, U.S. officials say Hutchison and Beirich created and controlled a hidden financial infrastructure at SPLC that became the entry point for $4.1 million in allegedly illicit payments made to so-called field sources.

In the second stage, layering involves moving money through multiple accounts, transactions and entities, like a series of bank accounts Hutchison and Beirich allegedly set up for fake companies, designed to obscure the money’s origin. Finally, in the third stage, integration occurs when the proceeds or products of an operation become absorbed into legitimate activities, like the organization’s “Extremist Files,” and become difficult to distinguish from ordinary business operations.

According to federal prosecutors, the SPLC’s alleged operation involved all three stages.

DOJ LAUNCHES GRAND JURY PROBE INTO MARXIST MOGUL NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM’S FUNDING OF LEFTIST GROUPS

SPLC Intelligence Project Director Heidi Beirich speaks during an event on Jan. 12, 2018.(David Buchan/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images)

Without naming the finance and intelligence chiefs, a grand jury indictment made public in April revealed that “Employee-1” and “Employee-2” in 2008 created a secret network of nine bank accounts at “Bank-1” and “Bank-2” that funneled millions of dollars to far-right extremists from 2014 through 2023. The initial indictment put the amount at $3 million, but it was increased to $4.1 million in a superseding indictment.

The indictment notes that “individuals at the SPLC” were the ones who “secretly funneled donated money to the Fs,” including “Employee-1,” a “person who would become the Chief Financial Officer, and “Employee-2,” a “person who would become the Director of the Intelligence Project.”

Federal officials told Fox News Digital that Hutchison, who moved from the position of treasurer and corporate secretary to chief financial officer, is “Employee-1.” They said “Employee-” 2 is Beirich, who started in 1999 as a newly-minted Ph.D. student, and was named deputy director of the Intelligence Project in 2004 and later director of the Intelligence Report.

Synovus Bank’s corporate headquarters is located in Columbus, Ga.(Synovus Bank)

The duo allegedly created a banking account structure under names that didn’t identify the SPLC. The nine shell entities were dubbed “Center Investigative Agency,” “Fox Photography,” “Imagery Ink,” “J&J Electronics,” “Kelly’s Marine,” “North West Technologies,” “Tech Writers Group” and “Turner Personnel” and “Rare Books Warehouse.”

Federal prosecutors allege the accounts were used to pay informants while concealing the source of the money. The government’s theory is that the accounts became the financial infrastructure supporting a sprawling money laundering operation.

Federal prosecutors allege the accounts remained active for years, surviving leadership transitions and internal turmoil at one of the nation’s most influential civil-rights organizations.

TOP SPLC OFFICIAL ALLEGEDLY FUNNELED $1.2M TO NEO-NAZI INFORMANT WHO WAS SECRET ROMANTIC PARTNER

Video

Over two decades, Beirich became one of the nonprofit’s most influential figures, shaping how “far-right extremism,” “White supremacy” and “neo-Nazi hate” were documented, defined and communicated.

She testified before Congress, and appeared regularly on television and radio. Journalists, academics and policymakers frequently turned to her for analysis of White-nationalist groups, anti-government movements and domestic extremism. By 2017, ABC News described her as “the woman tracking hate in America.”

In contrast, Hutchison maintained a low profile and was rarely photographed, working quietly behind the scenes. In 2017, she was on the renewal document for the nonprofit’s “Mississippi Charitable Registration” as the SPLC’s treasurer and secretary, the custodian of financial records and one of the nonprofit’s two “check signers.”

The SPLC listed its official bank as Sterling Bank, a Synovus Bank subsidiary based in Montgomery.

In October 2019, Beirich co-founded a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit, “Global Project Against Hate and Extremism,” with a mailing address just three miles away from SPLC headquarters in Alabama’s capital.

Two months later, Beirich left SPLC after 20 years, according to her LinkedIn profile, just as the dragnet was closing in on the alleged pay-to-hate operation she’d been running for years. According to the SPLC’s tax filing that year, she last earned a salary of $173,090 and a bonus of $25,721.

The alleged violations continued after Beirich’s and Hutchison’s tenures at SPLC.

FIRST ON FOX: SPLC’S TAX-EXEMPT STATUS UNDER THREAT AFTER FIERY CAPITOL HILL HEARING

Video

One of the alleged recipients of secret SPLC payments was Erich Gliebe, the former chairman of a neo-Nazi organization, National Alliance. Known as “The Aryan Barbarian” during his time as a boxer, Gliebe allegedly received more than $140,000 from the SPLC between 2016 and 2023.

At the same time he was allegedly collecting payments, Gliebe was featured in SPLC materials describing extremist figures and organizations. An SPLC “Extremist Files” profile dedicated to Gliebe contained a link through which visitors could donate to the organization.

The SPLC features Erich Gliebe, “the Aryan Barbarian,” as an extremist and collects donations off the page, even though it allegedly paid him for years as an informant.(Southern Poverty Law Center)

Gliebe didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Daniel Harvill, a Virginia attorney who represented National Alliance members in litigation involving Gliebe, described Gliebe as an ineffective leader.

“Gliebe was a joke,” Harvill told Fox News Digital. “He didn’t know how to run a business or political organization. There was a large pile of stupid among them.”

Harvill said bitterness from that litigation may have contributed to Gliebe becoming an SPLC informant.

The SPLC’s current president and CEO, Margaret Huang, on the left, and a Moms for Liberty member on the right.(Getty)

Court filings indicate that larger accounts associated with the alleged operation remained active until August 2020, when the hidden account structure finally drew scrutiny from bank officials. Synovus Bank did an internal investigation, according to court filings. That review became a pivotal moment in the government’s case.

According to the indictment, around Sept. 9, 2021, the SPLC “President and Chief Executive Officer” and the SPLC “Board Chair” admitted in writing to Bank-1 – Synovus Bank – that the fictitious accounts were “opened for the benefit of the Southern Poverty Law Center operations and operated under the Center’s authority.”

They signed a document also stating that “pursuant to the discussion we had earlier this week…the accounts had been opened and operated for the benefit of the organization.” The CEO was Huang, federal sources told Fox News Digital.

Huang’s acknowledgment now sits near the center of the government’s legal theory that the account structure wasn’t the work of rogue employees but operated under organizational authority.

The nonprofit and its sister organization, the SPLC Action Fund, had hired Huang the year earlier, describing her as an “internationally renowned human and civil rights leader,” previously serving as executive director of Amnesty International USA.

It isn’t clear who the board chair was at the time of the signing, but former Goldman Sachs executive Bennett Grau was a board member at the time. Grau didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment.

Huang’s role in signing the admission hasn’t been publicly disclosed before.

SPLC INDICTMENT BUILDS MOMENTUM FOR BESSENT’S TREASURY TO PROBE PARTISAN NONPROFITS

Scott Bessent speaks during “Meet the Press” on March 22, 2026.(NBC/MeetThePress)

SPLC last listed Hutchison on its IRS 990 filing for the period ending on Oct. 31, 2022. According to that IRS filing, she last earned $237,749 and a bonus of $32,697.

In early July 2025, Huang announced her resignation as president, stepping down “to prioritize family life.” The board of directors named constitutional scholar and former SPLC Board Chair Bryan Fair as interim president and CEO.

The role of senior SPLC officials in this alleged operation raises significant red flags for law enforcement, federal officials told Fox News Digital, saying the alleged activity reflects a structured ecosystem directed from the top. Investigators describe an operation in which financial flows, informants, public content and political work by the SPLC and its sister organizations were closely linked, with senior officials like Hutchison and Beirich positioned to control the money, narrative and influence of the SPLC.

INDICTED SPLC CHIEF FACES HOUSE GRILLING OVER ALLEGED SECRET PAYMENTS TO KKK MEMBERS

In October 2017, Muslim reformer Maajid Nawaz speaks to Fox News about the Southern Poverty Law Center smearing him as an “anti-Muslim extremist.”(Fox News)

The court proceedings represent a form of vindication for some targets of the SPLC.

Back in October 2017, the SPLC and three other groups – Media Matters, ReThink Media and the Center for New Community – released a publication titled “Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists.” In interviews at the time, Beirich confirmed that Democratic billionaire George Soros’s Open Society philanthropy had provided funding for the production of the report.

The report included Maajid Nawaz, a British Muslim reformer who founded the Quilliam Foundation to combat Islamist extremism. The next year, in 2018, he sued the SPLC for defamation, winning a $3.375 million settlement and a public apology.

Nawaz recently told Fox News Digital that the SPLC’s alleged system of paying extremists is corrupt, and he feels vindicated by the federal prosecution against the nonprofit.

“They were funding both sides,” Nawaz said. “If you control the rules of the game… you’re able to control where the hate comes from… and then control the reaction.”

“They were taking money to fight hate,” he said, “and then [funding the very hate they] took money to fight.”

As the SPLC mounts its defense, Nawaz said, “This indictment demonstrates clearly that the SPLC should now cease to exist. It should come to an end.”

Fox News Digital’s Bonnie Chu and Adriana James-Rodil contributed to this report.

Asra Nomani is senior editor of investigations at Fox News Digital. She is a former reporter at the Wall Street Journal, where she covered stories related to money, politics and society. She is the author of “Woke Army: The Left-Green Alliance That Is Undermining America’s Freedom.” She can be reached at asra.nomani@fox.com and on X at @asranomani.

Justice Department threatens lawsuits over state gun laws after Second Amendment win at Supreme Court

2026-07-01T18:06:48.599Z / CNN

By Tierney Sneed, Paula Reid

1 hr 2 min ago

PUBLISHED Jul 1, 2026, 2:06 PM ET

Kainoa Kaku, president of the Hawaii Rifle Association, checks one of his personal firearms while at his home in June 2022 in Honolulu.

Marco Garcia/AP

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche threatened lawsuits against four states that have gun restrictions similar to the Hawaii law that the Supreme Court struck down last week.

He also warned states considering laws that “mirror” Hawaii’s that they could face Justice Department lawsuits as well, as the Trump administration has made challenges to firearm regulations a priority, including with two new lawsuits announced Wednesday.

“If we have to sue them, of course, we will, and they should be sued,” Blanche said at a news conference Wednesday. “But … it shouldn’t take this Department of Justice telling a state they’re violating the Constitution when the Supreme Court told them they were.”

The Hawaii law said that guns are presumptively banned on private property open to the public unless the property-owner gives explicit consent for firearm carry. The Supreme Court, divided on 6-3 ideological lines, said the law violated the Second Amendment in an opinion that noted that four other states — New Jersey, Maryland, New York and California — have similar statutes. The Trump administration supported the Hawaii gun-owners who challenged the so-called default ban and presented arguments before the Supreme Court that it was unconstitutional.

The Trump administration is testing the constitutionality of other firearm regulations in its latest blitz of Second Amendment litigation.

On Wednesday, it announced a legal challenge to Virginia’s ban on assault weapons that seeks to overturn US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals precedent upholding that type of firearms prohibition. The case comes as the Supreme Court also plans to hear a case next term on the constitutionality of those kinds of bans as well.

Additionally, the Justice Department unveiled a separate lawsuit against California for its ban on semiautomatic machinegun convertible pistols, which are commonly known as Glocks.

U.S. says it won’t extend key trade deal with Canada and Mexico

2026-07-01T13:48:00-0400 / CBS News

By
Aaron Navarro Digital Reporter
Aaron Navarro is a CBS News digital reporter. He covered the 2024 elections and was previously an associate producer for the CBS News political unit in the 2021 and 2022 election cycles.

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Updated on: July 1, 2026 / 3:37 PM EDT / CBS News

The U.S. has decided not to extend a key trade pact with Canada and Mexico, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

July 1 was the deadline for the three countries to decide whether to extend the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, until 2042. The Trump administration’s decision means the USMCA remains in effect and subject to annual reviews for 10 years, until it expires in 2036, unless another agreement is reached to extend it.

“The United States will continue to engage with Mexico and Canada to address the agreement’s shortcomings and our trade deficits with these countries,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement. “However, the agreement remains in force pending resolution of these issues or until the agreement’s termination.”

Focus on the U.S. trade deficit

President Trump signed the USMCA into law in 2020, replacing the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.

The USMCA lowered trade barriers among the U.S., Mexico and Canada, aiming to create jobs for American workers and energize the country’s manufacturing sector. Among other changes, the deal tightened rules for the auto industry, requiring that 75% of each vehicle be produced in North America to avoid any import duties.

At an event in Michigan in 2020, Mr. Trump described the pact as the “fairest, most balanced and beneficial trade agreement we have ever signed into law.” But he has since soured on the deal. Speaking to reporters in June, Mr. Trump said the U.S. would “do better as a country” without the agreement.

The USMCA has failed to ease the U.S. trade deficit with Canada and Mexico, a senior Trump administration official told reporters. “We believe that the USMCA does not operate to control the deficit like the president intended,” the person said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the U.S. is scheduled to meet with Mexico the week of July 20 for another round of bilateral negotiations. During those talks, the two countries will discuss rules of origin, intellectual property and concerns surrounding Mexico’s compliance with labor obligations, the senior administration official said.

The official did not discuss specific plans to meet with Canada, but said, “We will continue our discussions with our Canadian partners.”

Talks could take years

The Trump administration could decide to withdraw from the USMCA altogether before it expires in 10 years, though that decision will likely depend on how negotiations unfold. Those talks could drag on for years, according to trade experts.

The senior administration official expressed interest in resolving the major sticking points of the trade deal quickly, adding that Mr. Trump could reach an agreement with Mexico and Canada to alter their trade pact before his term expires in 2028.

“The president remains skeptical of this, but I think it’s in the interest of our country to keep negotiating,” the person added.

The impact of a U.S. withdrawal from the USMCA would depend on whether any bilateral trade agreements replaced the pact, according to trade experts.

“Absent bilateral deals, growth would slow in both Canada and Mexico as the tariff exemption, which has kept both countries’ external sectors afloat over the past year, was removed,” economists with investment advisory firm Capital Economics said in a report.

“But given the average tariff rate would only rise to 10%, rather than the much higher rates previously threatened under IEEPA, recessions could be avoided,” they added, referring to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Edited by Alain Sherter

Jason Miller set to join White House again — with a messaging mission

2026-07-01T18:43:19.879Z / CNN

By Kristen Holmes

PUBLISHED Jul 1, 2026, 2:43 PM ET

Donald Trump Congressional news

Jason Miller, Former Senior Advisor, President Donald J. Trump & Principal, SHW Partners LLC, speaks onstage during the 2025 Concordia Annual Summit at Sheraton New York Times Square on September 22, 2025 in New York City.

Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Annual Summit/File

President Donald Trump’s former adviser and campaign spokesperson Jason Miller is expected to join the White House, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

While those people said the paperwork and details are still being finalized, Miller will likely take on a special government employee role specific to crafting messaging around the president’s accomplishments, according to one of those sources.

That could include guiding the president to focus on certain political topics, said another one of the people briefed on the conversations, noting that Miller has earned Trump’s trust as a confidant and has worked with the president dating back to 2015.

“Jason is a hand that is trusted by the president, he respects him, he’s been around a long time,” that source said. “Having people around him reinforcing correct political advice is always a good thing.”

Trump has struggled to stay on message lately, repeatedly hijacking the Republican Party’s desire to focus on affordability and improving the economy. His Iran war drove gas prices up sharply, and he last week abruptly refused to sign a landmark bipartisan bill meant to drive down the price of housing, later calling it “a yawn.”

But he’s latched onto another message lately that is more in line with the party’s political strategy — labeling Democrats as communists after a series of democratic socialist primary wins. James Blair, who is leading Trump’s political operation, has privately outlined that portraying Democrats as the worse option is a central part of the GOP’s midterm strategy.

Johnny DeStefano, a close ally of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, is also expected to join the White House, two of the sources said. DeStefano served as assistant and counselor to the president during Trump’s first term.

“He is incredibly influential and has deep relationships that span the House, Senate and White House — he will be a huge asset,” one source familiar with the decision told CNN.

CNN has reached out to Miller and DeStefano for comment. The Washington Post first reported the proposed staffing changes.

Top federal prosecutor in Chicago says more than 1,000 cases under review after Broadview Six misconduct revelations

July 1, 2026 1:57 PM EDT / CBS News

By Sarah N. Lynch

Sarah N. Lynch Senior Justice Department Reporter
Sarah N. Lynch is the senior Justice Department reporter for CBS News, based in Washington, D.C.

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More than 1,000 grand jury presentations are under review after federal prosecutors in Chicago were forced to dismiss charges in the “Broadview Six” case due to grand jury abuses and prosecutorial misconduct, the top federal prosecutor in the district said Wednesday.

Speaking to the media in Washington, D.C., at an unrelated press conference, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois said his office is scrutinizing prosecutorial conduct in cases that date back as far as 2007, as part of an effort to shore up confidence in the grand jury process.

“When this is all said and done, I will tell you that well over 1,000 grand jury presentations will be reviewed in the Northern District of Illinois,” Boutros said.

“They will both be retroactive, looking at what happened in some cases going all the way back almost 20 years. It will cover everything that is happening now that’s pending in court.”

He said the review of current cases is designed to instill confidence in the system and ensure those cases are not suffering from the same issues as seen with the Broadview Six — a case involving a group of protesters who were arrested outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, last fall.

Boutros has faced mounting scrutiny after revelations of prosecutorial misconduct came to light in recent months.

The case fell apart after U.S. District Judge April Perry took the rare step of unsealing usually secret grand jury transcripts which revealed prosecutors had engaged in inappropriate conduct when securing the indictment against the protesters.

Andrew Boutros, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, at a press conference at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2026. Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images

At the center of the scandal is former Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg, who left to take a job working for Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat. The grand jury transcripts showed that she improperly “vouched” for the strength of the evidence against the defendants, dismissed grand jurors who disagreed with the allegations, and improperly contacted one grand juror outside of official proceedings.

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Durbin has since fired her from her post.

Boutros, in response to the revelations, announced he has instituted a remediation plan. Part of that plan entails new reforms that Boutros said create “very bright lines” about when prosecutors need to turn over grand jury material and under what circumstances.

The second part of the plan entails the extensive review of prior cases, including those handled by Mecklenburg as well as by other prosecutors in the office, he said.

“It’s going to be a massive review, a comprehensive review, and it is underway.”

Court keeps ‘Decoy Dan’ on Alaska ballot as expert warns ranked-choice system creates voter ‘traps’

2026-07-01T15:01:54-04:00 / Fox News

Honest Elections Project ED Jason Snead told Fox News Digital the candidate in question is ‘clearly’ trying to mislead voters

By Andrew Mark Miller Fox News

Published July 1, 2026 3:01pm EDT

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Alaska’s highest court ruled that a same-name Republican challenger to Sen. Dan Sullivan can remain on the ballot, a decision an election expert says exposes glaring flaws in Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system and top-four primary.

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Monday that Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher, is eligible to appear on the Republican primary ballot alongside incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, affirming a lower court’s decision keeping him on the ballot despite Republicans and the Division of Elections arguing that Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy is a “sham” attempt orchestrated by Democratic operatives to potentially trip up voters and siphon off votes from the incumbent.

“It very clearly is an attempt to mislead voters,” Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, told Fox News Digital. “When you look at the facts, they’ve been pretty clearly established.”

Snead pointed to Alaska’s ranked choice voting (RCV) and jungle primary as especially vulnerable to any nefarious tactics with same-name candidates because, unlike a traditional partisan primary, Alaska advances the top four finishers from a single primary election to the general election, regardless of party.

DAN SULLIVAN ACCUSES SAME-NAME CHALLENGER OF TRYING TO ‘RIG’ ALASKA SENATE RACE

Senate candidate Dan J. Sullivan, left, is pictured alongside Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, right.(Sullivan for U.S. Senate; Brandon Bell-Pool/Getty Images)

Snead argued that under a conventional Republican primary, a candidate he described as a “decoy” would be unlikely to eliminate a legitimate contender before the general election.

Instead, he said, voters face a crowded top-four primary ballot in this year’s Alaska Senate race, roughly 16 candidates are running, and confusion over nearly identical names could have significant consequences.

GOP FIGHTS TO STOP MULTIPLE DAN SULLIVANS FROM APPEARING ON ALASKA BALLOT, CALLS CANDIDACY A ‘SHAM’

Sen. Dan Sullivan addresses the crowd during a campaign rally at a PenAir airplane hangar on Nov. 3, 2014, in Anchorage, Alaska.(David Ryder/Getty Images)

“You’ve really got two problems in one,” Snead said. “You don’t have any party primary. There’s no Republican nominee or Democratic nominee. You have this jungle primary where everybody runs together, and the top four candidates advance to the general election.”

Snead argued that under a traditional partisan primary, a candidate he described as a decoy would have little chance of preventing a legitimate Republican nominee from advancing to the general election. Instead, he said, Alaska’s crowded all-party primary creates more opportunities for voter confusion.

“If enough of them pick the wrong Dan Sullivan, then he makes it into the general,” Snead said. “Now you’ve got two people named Dan Sullivan on the ballot.”

Snead said the ranked-choice system can compound the problem because ballots are redistributed as candidates are eliminated.

“If you only rank one person, then your ballot is eliminated if that person is eliminated,” he said.

ALASKA’S BLOCKBUSTER SENATE RACE THROWN INTO CHAOS AS SAME-NAME CHALLENGER FIGHTS DISQUALIFICATION IN COURT

Rep. Mary Peltola speaks during the Capitol Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 3, 2024.(Nathan Posner/Anadolu)

He said another possibility is that voters could mistakenly rank the wrong Dan Sullivan first and Democrat Mary Peltola second, causing those votes to transfer to Peltola if the decoy candidate is eliminated during tabulation.

“There are lots of different traps here,” Snead said. “At a minimum, I think this speaks to the fact that ranked-choice voting plus jungle primaries is especially vulnerable to these sorts of games.”

“It is definitely not an idea that is ready for prime time, no matter what the people that push ranked choice are trying to sell us on.”

The Alaska Supreme Court did stipulate that election officials could add additional identifying information to the ballot to distinguish between the two candidates, leaving those design decisions to the Division of Elections.

Dan J. Sullivan, known to his critics as “Decoy Dan,” has come under scrutiny over ties to Democratic consultant Amber Lee, who was revealed as the author of his campaign launch announcement in metadata reviewed by Fox News Digital. Lee has notably supported Peltola’s prior runs for office and expressed optimism to The Hill in January that the Alaska Democrat would unseat the incumbent Sullivan.

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Dan J. Sullivan, who has filed to run for U.S. Senate in Alaska, poses for a photo in Petersburg, Alaska, on June 26, 2026.(Katie Holmlund/Associated Press)

According to Alaska Director of Elections Carol Beecher, Dan J. Sullivan requested to appear on the primary ballot under the name “Dan Sullivan” despite previously registering as “Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.” Beecher also noted that his campaign materials are visually similar to the incumbent Republican’s campaign and that he had no affiliation with the GOP prior to jumping into the race shortly before the filing deadline.

The fate of his candidacy could prove decisive in the state’s hotly contested Senate race in which Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is seeking a third term in the Republican-leaning state. Democrats are hoping that former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, whom Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., helped recruit into the race, will unseat Sullivan in November.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign said, “Mr. Sullivan has been buoyed by yesterday’s decisive victory at the Alaska Supreme Court. To the extent that the Division of Elections is still grappling with how it will properly effectuate ballot design in a manner consistent with Alaska law and past practice, he has no comment, and looks forward to running his campaign.”

Fox News Digital’s Adam Pack contributed to this report.

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.

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Trump foe John Brennan sues administration demanding investigative records into him be preserved

2026-07-01T17:11:38.049Z / CNN

By Katelyn Polantz, Evan Perez

Updated 2 hr ago
Updated Jul 1, 2026, 1:26 PM ET
PUBLISHED Jul 1, 2026, 1:11 PM ET

Former Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Brennan testifies before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill, May 23, 2017 in Washington, DC.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Former CIA Director John Brennan, who has been under investigation by the Justice Department, is demanding the Trump administration preserve records about its inquiry into him, and asking for a court’s help, according to a new lawsuit filed in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

Brennan alleges that the Trump administration is vindictively trying to prosecute him, and that he is concerned internal Justice Department records and communications may not be kept in a way that would allow him to challenge a case in the future for improper prosecution decisions, according to the filing.

Related article Former Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Brennan testifies before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill, May 23, 2017 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images Inside the Justice Department’s shakeup of the John Brennan investigation 9 min read

“Administration officials from the Acting Attorney General to the FBI Director and the Counselor overseeing the Brennan investigations have been publicly declaring Director Brennan a criminal, not only before securing a conviction in court but even before a full investigation and an indictment,” Brennan’s lawyers wrote on Wednesday. “And, certain officials in the Department of Justice are engaging in demonstrably irregular prosecutorial activity in order to gin up a case that will satisfy the President’s direction.”

“Officials of this Administration have shown an advertent disdain for their preservation obligations,” they also wrote.

Brennan has asked a federal judge in Washington to order President Donald Trump, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, top prosecutors out of Miami who have investigated him and intelligence community chiefs to preserve their records about Brennan.

He says the court should also order the preservation of records into any broader “grand conspiracy” investigation the Justice Department may pursue, looking back into former federal officials over years of criminal investigations around Trump.

CNN has reached out to the Justice Department and White House for comment.

In recent weeks, the Southern District of Florida US attorney’s office has beefed up its prosecutorial chops. Just this week, CNN reported that the formerly high-ranking War on Terror-era Justice Department official John Yoo would be consulting with the office on a case that may involve Brennan.

Related article University of California professor John Yoo poses for a portrait in downtown San Francisco on April 15, 2016. Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle/AP Conservative presidential power expert set to assist investigation into Trump foes 3 min read

Previously, Brennan’s attorneys had said that a prosecutor told them the former CIA director was a target of investigations out of the prosecutor’s office.

Those include the so-called grand jury investigation, which has prompted a flurry of grand jury subpoenas, and an inquiry into whether Brennan lied to Congress about an intelligence report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Brennan maintains he has done nothing wrong.

This story was updated with additional reporting.

Former CIA Director John Brennan sues Justice Dept., Trump officials over criminal probes

July 1, 2026 / 3:00 PM EDT / CBS News

Former CIA Director John Brennan sued the Justice Department and top Trump administration officials Wednesday, seeking a court order to force the preservation of records in the ongoing federal investigations targeting him.

The lawsuit represents an unusual step for Brennan, a longtime political opponent of President Trump who has been the focus of two Justice Department criminal probes since the beginning of Mr. Trump’s second administration.

One is centered on allegations that Brennan lied to Congress in 2023 about the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election. The second is a sprawling “grand conspiracy” probe examining whether Obama- and Biden-era officials were part of a long-running conspiracy to keep Mr. Trump out of political office.

“This Administration has adopted a policy of using criminal process and prosecution to punish the President’s perceived adversaries,” Brennan’s legal team wrote in a 46-page complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington. “It is against this backdrop that former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, John O. Brennan, is being vindictively singled out for investigation and prosecution.”

Brennan’s legal team argues that any “eventual indictment” against him will be challenged in court as “unconstitutionally vindictive and selective,” and the loss of any relevant records would “impair, perhaps fatally, the ability of the court reviewing Director Brennan’s challenges to do so on the full record of contemporaneous communications and materials that is needed to divine the true intentions behind the prosecutors’ decisions and actions.”

Brennan is asking a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to order Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Justice Department, as well as the White House, ODNI and CIA, to “preserve materials and communications potentially relevant to Director Brennan’s legal and constitutional challenges to any future criminal charges.”

Brennan’s case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden nominee.

The complaint also singles out the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida, Jason Reding Quiñones, and Joseph DiGenova, a counselor to the acting attorney general who was tapped to lead one ongoing DOJ criminal investigation into Brennan after the career prosecutor overseeing the probe was removed from the case.

CBS News previously reported that law enforcement veterans are expressing deep concerns that the Trump Justice Department’s criminal investigation into Brennan is being systematically stacked with politically motivated personnel who are intent on a partisan indictment.

Also involved in the investigation is Kurt Olsen, who most recently served as President Trump’s director of election security and integrity, as well as John Yoo, the former senior Justice Department official who authored the controversial “torture memos” in the War on Terror during President George W. Bush’s presidency, according to sources with direct knowledge of the hires.

Olsen was the person who made the Fulton County election case referral to the FBI, prompting agents to execute a search warrant earlier this year where they seized dozens of boxes of ballots and other materials from the 2020 election.

DiGenova told CBS News that Yoo will be on hand to advise investigators on constitutional legal questions and assist with motions and appellate issues.

A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement, “While we cannot comment on the existence, or lack thereof, of an investigation, it is certainly rich that John Brennan is accusing anyone of a ‘retribution campaign.’”

Brennan’s filing echoes other moves by lawyers representing targets of recent Justice Department investigations who have had some success in arguing the department was acting unlawfully.

Last week, a federal judge in Minnesota quashed six grand jury subpoenas the Trump administration served against Minnesota state and local government offices — including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — ruling the subpoenas were retaliatory and unlawful.

In March, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. quashed a pair of grand jury subpoenas sent to the Federal Reserve Board as part of a since-closed criminal probe, ruling they were merely a pretext to pressure Chairman Jerome Powell into voting for lower interest rates or resigning.

And last year, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James argued the indictments against them should be dismissed on the grounds of a “vindictive and selective” prosecutions. Instead, the cases were dismissed because a judge found that the interim U.S. attorney who had secured the indictments had been unlawfully appointed to the role.