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Biden special counsel’s ‘runaway train’ scooped up sensitive lawmaker info: ‘Abuse of power’

2026-07-14T18:17:25-04:00 / Fox News

Sens Grassley and Johnson say investigators circumvented their own filter review process in the Operation Arctic Frost probe

By Charles Creitz, Fox News

Published July 14, 2026 6:17pm EDT

Fox News chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports on a House hearing into former special counsel Jack Smith allegedly targeting Republican phone records during his investigation into the 2020 election.

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Former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump swept up text messages from nearly 50 members of Congress, bypassing a required review process in what one victim alleged is a direct constitutional violation.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said the situation is more proof Smith’s probe was a “runaway train” of abuses of power, and the elder statesman and Senate Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., jointly released their filings Tuesday evening.

Grassley and Johnson’s findings were from a full-scale probe of Operation Arctic Frost, the code name for Smith’s endeavor to investigate Trump for alleged corruption and election malfeasance, an operation top Senate Republicans call “worse than Watergate.”

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Jack Smith, former U.S. special counsel, arrives for a closed-door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C., Dec. 17, 2025.(Getty Images)

Forty-four members of Congress had the contents of their text messages obtained and reviewed by Smith’s team in a way that bypassed protocol. A “filter team” was tasked with reviewing millions of documents in the case and should have had first crack at determining whether such messages were relevant or potentially violated statute or ethics.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., one of the lawmakers whose texts were swept up in this way, said Tuesday such reviews amounted to clear violations of the Constitution’s speech and debate clause that protects lawmakers from being questioned in “any other place” than the Capitol for legislative acts.

Internal communications have been historically included in that clause in the courts as technology has advanced.

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Stefanik said in a statement that the new records prove Smith’s team “unlawfully and unconstitutionally accessed my private text messages, along with 43 other Members of Congress, in clear violation of the Constitution.”

She said she long suspected there had been “unconstitutional spy[ing] on members of Congress.”

The records were provided by the Trump Justice Department to Grassley and Johnson, which the chairmen said indicated Smith’s team had “circumvented its own filter review process.” The process is additionally meant to protect attorney-client privilege, they said in a statement.

OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE TORCHES TRUMP ADMIN IN LATEST COURTROOM SHOWDOWN, REFERS ATTORNEY FOR BAR REVIEW

Former special counsel Jack Smith says the Pledge of Allegiance before he prepares to testify during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill Jan. 22, 2026, in Washington, D.C.(Al Drago/Getty Images)

The news also complicated some of Smith’s prior depositions under oath, including an excerpt in which he answered “no” to a question from a congressional counsel whether records he requested from congresspeople included text messages.

Johnson called the situation a “grotesque example” of Biden-era “weaponization” of the executive branch.

“Jack Smith’s criminal investigation of President Trump was a runaway train that had no brakes,” Grassley added Tuesday.

“Based on the information that’s been produced to me and Senator Johnson, Biden DOJ and FBI investigators apparently ignored their own routine investigative protocols to obtain and review work-related messages from me and dozens of my Republican and Democrat colleagues who were outside the scope of the government’s investigation.”

Grassley added that he hopes Democrats caught up in the otherwise bipartisan text tranche will finally discard their partisanship and recognize the severity of the alleged violations by Smith.

He also indicated he planned to recall Smith before Congress to “hold him accountable.”

Of the 44 members swept up in the text reviews, several were Democrats, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington.

Grassley, Johnson and Stefanik were also swept up in the situation, along with top figures like senators Mike Lee, R-Utah; Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska; Rand Paul, R-Ky., former Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.; and the late Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

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Former House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., was one of the victims, along with current House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, as well as House Freedom Caucus member Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin of New York, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins of Georgi, and prominent Trump critic Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

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Several lawmakers sounded off on the news soon after Grassley announced his findings, including Hawley, who called for “everyone involved [to] be prosecuted.”

“Joe Biden’s DOJ not only tapped my phone; I just learned they illegally obtained my texts with members of President Trump’s administration,” the Missourian fumed.

Paul called the allegations a “blatant abuse of power and exactly what our Founders warned about,” while citing Smith’s past denial under oath.

Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for Smith for comment.

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

Mike Huckabee rejects Ro Khanna’s Israel visit claims: ‘Not held at gunpoint’

July 14, 2026 4:45pm EDT / Fox News

Khanna claims US ambassador to Israel was ‘misinformed’ over visit to Jewish state

By Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News

Ro Khanna pressed on West Bank visit after bypassing official IDF channels

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., alleges Israeli settlers, armed with M4s, detained him and other Americans in the West Bank. Khanna’s account is disputed by the IDF and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Michael Leiter, who claims Khanna chose to coordinate with Palestinian activists.

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JERUSALEM, Israel —U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Tuesday accused Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., of lying about consulting the American Embassy regarding Khanna’s visit to the Biblical heartland of Israel.

Khanna visited the West Bank last week when he said his group was aggressively detained by Israeli settlers. Critics slammed his tour as political showmanship to advance a potential presidential campaign.

Huckabee took to X to reject the account of Khanna and his delegation, writing, “The left-wing activist who set up this stunt says ‘The embassy is involved.’ That is NOT TRUE. We did NOT know a member of Congress was coming. We would have said don’t go to restricted zone. As FACTS come out, it’s not helping the desired narrative. Not ‘held at gunpoint.”’

MEET THE FAR-LEFT INSURGENTS WAGING WAR ON THE DEMOCRATIC ESTABLISHMENT IN 2026 MIDTERMS

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee speaks to Fox News Digital during an interview at the American embassy in Jerusalem, Israel.(Yoav Dudkevitch/ TPS-IL)

Speaking to Fox News Digital Tuesday, the California lawmaker said he was detained by Israeli settlers for 75 minutes Wednesday while visiting the West Bank (also known by its Biblical names Judea and Samaria).

“We had informed the Israeli embassy,” Khanna claimed.

When asked about Ambassador Huckabee’s X post asserting the embassy did not know about his visit, Khanna said, “That is just false. He was misinformed.”

Khanna responded to Huckabee on X, stating, “Ambassador, we have always had a relationship of mutual respect despite political differences. The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] has now clarified it was not a restricted zone and Israeli papers have confirmed this. Deputy Chief of Mission David Brownstein in our embassy did a superb job in getting us out. We are safe because of him. Please thank him. We obviously notified our Embassy and Israel’s embassy about the trip given we were in constant touch with David.”

Khanna said the “violent settlers who detained us need to be prosecuted and the IDF officers who furthered that detention need to be investigated. There were these extremist settlers who parked their car in front of our van denying us exit — there was only one road — they brandished an M4 gun and kicked our tires.”

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., speaks with a Palestinian resident of Turmus Ayya, near Ramallah, during a visit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank July 9, 2026.(Reuters/Ammar Awad)

Eitan Fischberger, an Israeli Mideast analyst, posted footage on X that he said debunked Khanna’s claims that he was violently detained.

Fischberger wrote,” I encourage everyone to watch footage of Ro Khanna’s supposedly violent ‘detainment,’ which was released by the crazed activists on his own team. What a glorious self-own.”

Fox News Digital sent a follow-up press query to Khanna about the video footage. He said the post by Fischberger was “false” and provided his X post with video footage.

He wrote, “When the IDF arrived, they sided with the settlers & continued our detention. They made a huge mistake.”

Khanna told Fox News, “I told the Israeli government that I wanted to go on a Palestinian-led trip to the West Bank because I’d been on three trips to Israel. I had gotten Israel’s perspective, and that this trip I was going to go to the West Bank for a Palestinian-led look for three days. They knew that. And the point is that just because an American politician wants to get the side of Palestinians that does not give Israel the right to have violent settlers detain Americans with a passport that gives Israel the right to have IDF detain us. It’s not just me.”

Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told Fox News Digital Khanna’s visit “appeared to be a publicity stunt in advance of his expected run for president in 2028. Let’s be honest, this was a publicity stunt.

“Khanna’s 72-hour visit to several PLO-PA [Palestine Liberation Organization-Palestinian Authority] villages in Judea and Samaria was carried out without any security or diplomatic coordination with Israel either of these is the embassy in Washington or the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, or security forces in a particularly dangerous visit: his history of pro-Palestinian activism, and anti-Israel activism is well known.”

Diker claimed, “Khanna had publicly endorsed a Palestinian state following the Oct. 7 Iran-backed Palestinian Hamas massacre aligning with pro-Hamas, pro BDS Boycott, Divestment, Sanction campaign against Israel groups such as American Muslims for Palestine.”

Hamas’ invasion of Israel Oct. 7 resulted in the terrorist organization’s mass murder of over 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans.

Khanna is also under fire from a fellow Democrat.

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., peaks with a Palestinian resident of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah during a visit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, July 9, 2026.(Reuters/Ammar Awad)

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., wrote on X, “What’s appalling is that Ro ignored requests to meet 10/7 survivors and hostages, or to visit sites of the 10/7 terrorist attacks. Instead, riding the anti-Zionist wave, he used the trip as a presidential campaign cameo.”

When Fox News Digital asked about Gottheimer’s criticism, including not meeting with Oct. 7 survivors, he said, “The purpose of this trip was a Palestinian-led tour through the West Bank.”

KAMALA HARRIS DROPS BIGGEST HINT YET ON 2028 WHITE HOUSE RUN

He noted that “I have been to Israel three times and met with hostage families.”

In response to Gottheimer’s accusation that he used the visit as a “presidential campaign cameo,” Khanna said, “I do not know what he was talking about.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, posted a lengthy response on X with respect to Khanna’s allegations that he was detained and his reported defamations of the Jewish state.

“Congressman Khanna was offered to coordinate his visit with the State of Israel — this goes beyond notifying of his presence in the country,” Leiter wrote. “He was offered in-depth coordination of his schedule to avoid misunderstandings, and he chose to ignore that offer. He also chose not to coordinate his visit with the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.”

“To add insult to injury, the Congressman used this instance as an opportunity to tout ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ libels to the press, propelling himself to the center of yet another anti-Israel media frenzy. The facts don’t lie — this was a cheap, anticipated provocation that could and should have been avoided….I’d be happy to host Congressman Khanna at our embassy for an in-depth conversation on his grievances regarding Israel.”

Khanna told Fox News Digital his office contacted Ambassador Leiter’s office after he offered to meet with the him. The congressman referred to his X post to Leiter.

“…I am happy to take you up on your offer to meet because I want to turn this incident into something constructive for ordinary people in Palestine,” he wrote.

When asked about Leiter’s accusation that Khanna was defaming the Jewish state, Khanna said, “That’s what I believe happened, and that’s what the U.N. believed happened.”

A handout image allegedly shows Israeli settlers blocking the convoy of U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., his press team says, in Khirbet Zanuta during a visit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank July 8, 2026.(U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna’s Press Team/Handout via Reuters)

Khanna added, “I want to be clear that I unequivocally reject Hamas’ terrorism and believe Israel has a right to exist. Hamas’ charter that calls for the destruction of Israel is appalling and why they are a terrorist group.” When pressed about whether Hamas’ invasion on Oct. 7 was genocidal and if the Hamas Charter is a genocidal document because it calls for the extermination of Jews and Israel, Khanna said it is “violent antisemitism,” and he repeatedly termed Hamas a terrorist organization but declined to call it a genocidal group.

ISRAEL SLAMS UN REPORT AS ‘POLITICAL BLOOD LIBEL’ FOR ALLEGING DELIBERATE TARGETING OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN

Khanna also told Fox News Digital he believes the Islamic Republic of Iran, which finances Hamas, is a state-sponsor of terrorism.

“The initial inquiry indicates that IDF soldiers were dispatched to the Khirbet Zanuta area in the Judea Brigade following reports that foreign nationals had entered an area that was believed to be a closed military zone,” an IDF spokesperson told Fox News Digital Tuesday.

“At the same time, an additional report was received regarding a road being blocked by Israeli civilians.

“Upon arriving at the scene, the soldiers distanced the Israeli civilians away from the area and waited for confirmation that there was no security concern regarding the foreign nationals present at the location, and awaited confirmation that the area was not, in fact, a closed military zone. The convoy was then allowed to continue on its way. This process lasted several minutes. It should be emphasized that, throughout the incident, there was no physical confrontation or violence between those involved, and no such allegations were reported.

“The armed individual present at the scene was an IDF soldier who was on leave. The matter is under review, and the soldier will be addressed accordingly. It should also be noted that the visit had not been coordinated with the IDF in advance. We emphasize that prior coordination of diplomatic visits is intended to prevent incidents of this nature. Such coordination is particularly important in areas where there is a risk of security-related incidents. The required conduct when interacting with diplomats will be further clarified and reinforced.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter(Getty Images)

The Press Service of Israel (TPS-IL) conducted an investigation of the public row. An Israeli security official told TPS-IL that Khanna’s delegation did not coordinate its arrival in advance.

“They did not coordinate the visit,” the official said. “Usually, advance notice is received.”

According to the official, visits by foreign lawmakers and other prominent delegations to sensitive areas of Judea and Samaria are generally coordinated with Israeli authorities. Such coordination allows authorities to assess access restrictions, security conditions and logistical arrangements. The official said Israeli civilian security personnel arrived and blocked the delegation before troops intervened. “Settlers arrived, blocked them, the army dispersed them and that was basically the end of the incident,” the official said.

The source added that security forces sought to resolve the obstruction quickly after learning that the vehicles had been blocked.

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Diker sees the 2028 presidential election cycle as the magnet for attracting some candidates to Israel with their alleged anti-Israel personal agendas.

Diker said, “The point here is that U.S. presidential politics, on the left flank of the Democratic Party, now exploits what can be called Israel cancellation or the inversion of legitimacy between Hamas — PLO and Israel as part of the unresolved Palestinian question as a major national issue for the American people, not the Islamic Republic of Iran and its global terror proxies, and it’s interruption of global oil shipping, kidnapping the global economy, nor is the issue the ongoing Russia, Ukraine situation, the Chinese communist parties infiltration of technology and other assets in the West or the Islamic infiltration of America.”

Benjamin Weinthal reports on Israel, Iran, Syria, Turkey and Europe. You can follow Benjamin on Twitter @BenWeinthal, and email him at benjamin.weinthal@fox.com

Congressman sounds the alarm on China: ‘We’re sleepwalking through this competition’

‘We’re spending more time fighting one another than we are trying to think about how to compete with the Chinese Communist Party’

July 14, 2026 6:07pm EDT / Fox News

Rep Dusty Johnson warns America is underestimating the Chinese threat

South Dakota’s congressman reflects on his career as a problem-solver, performance in the gubernatorial primary and his post-office plans as he warns of Beijing threat.

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During four terms in Congress, South Dakota’s Dusty Johnson has emerged as a leading voice on American agricultural policy, U.S.-China relations and fiscal responsibility.

Often known as the “problem solver,” he recently sat down with Fox News Digital at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas to discuss his congressional career, his South Dakota gubernatorial bid and his future plans as his time in the U.S. House draws to a close.

Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., arrives for the House Republican Conference caucus meeting in the U.S. Capitol June 4, 2024.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Long respected for his detailed analysis of China policy, Johnson believes the United States is routinely underestimating the geopolitical and economic threat posed by Beijing.

REP. DUSTY JOHNSON INTRODUCES GET AMERICANS BACK TO WORK ACT

“I think the biggest mistake is that we’re basically sleepwalking through this competition. I mean, every day the leaders of China get up, and they try to figure out how to beat America, how to destabilize our country, how to get an advantage.

“And we’re, frankly, in this country spending more time fighting one another than we are trying to think about how to compete with the Chinese Communist Party.”

Johnson is the former leader of the Republican Main Street Caucus, a group of center-right Republicans focused on commonsense governance and pragmatism. He has approached his career aspiring to break the famed Washington gridlock.

However, recently Johnson lamented that “it’s a tough time to be normal,” observing that the loudest and angriest voices seem to be increasingly dominating the national conversation.

“Well … looking a little further than the New York primaries last week, where just an insane bunch of really out there democratic socialists beat some pretty liberal but still kind of mainstream American political thought Democrats, I just think you see that happening in both parties.

Darializa Avila Chevalier, U.S. Democratic House candidate for New York, speaks at a Get Out The Vote rally at Kings Theater in Brooklyn, N.Y., June 18, 2026, ahead of the state’s primary election June 23.(Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Primary turnout is rarely great. Those who do turn out are generally the most interested in purity rather than in progress. And, so, when you’re trying to swim upstream, when you are trying to deliver a message of nuance and thoughtfulness, that sometimes doesn’t go over as well as just saying, ‘Let’s go fight.’”

Even as the GOP has controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress on several occasions over the past generation, it has been perennially unable to tackle the problem of balancing budgets and reducing the national debt.

Johnson argues that only a bipartisan approach has hope of offering a solution.

“Well, everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die,” he said. “I’ve certainly rolled out a number of plans that would have some pretty substantial reforms to our entitlement programs. I’m not looking to take away grandma’s Social Security or Medicare. But we simply are not going to restore solvency to those programs with a status quo approach.

“And, unfortunately, candidate Harris, candidate Biden, candidate Trump … they damn near swore on a stack of Bibles that they were not going to touch Social Security or Medicare. That approach guarantees failure.

“The other thing we have to acknowledge is one party’s not going to get this done. And I know that’s hard for Republicans to hear because so many Republican office holders have sold the American people a bill of goods that this can be done with one party alone. It cannot.

“The last time we made much-needed reform to Social Security in 1983, it took Democratic Speaker Tip O’Neill and Republican President Ronald Reagan to get it done. If we do not start thinking about avoiding fiscal calamity as a bipartisan problem, we will fail.”

Johnson entered the 2026 South Dakota GOP gubernatorial primary as the frontrunner but ended up placing third in a tight race behind real estate executive Toby Doeden and incumbent Gov. Larry Rhoden.

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks with the press during Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s Returning Education to the States tour April 8, 2026, at McCrossan Boys Ranch in Sioux Falls, S.D.(Samantha Laurey/Argus Leader/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

He acknowledges that a congressional pedigree, once seen as a boost in a bid for a higher office, now appears to be something of an albatross.

SOUTH DAKOTA GOVERNOR SURVIVES CROWDED PRIMARY — FOR NOW

“Well, I think an absolute onslaught of negative ads the last three or four weeks against me, they really worked. Told people I was a career politician, that I was a RINO, that I was a liberal, and we saw in the polling that that was resonating. Those ads worked so well because they tapped into kind of the spirit of the times.

“I have 13 of my colleagues in Congress who have lost their races for governor or senator. Normally, running as a House member, that gives you a bit of an advantage if you’re running for a different office. That’s no longer the case. People are fed up with Washington, D.C. And that clearly is a drag on my many colleagues like me who’ve lost their races.”

Despite the outcome of the crowded primary, Johnson looks to his future plans with optimism, not bitterness, and pledges that his work is not yet finished, citing previous success in the business and non-profit sectors.

Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., in the Cannon tunnel during the last votes of the week Feb. 15, 2024.(Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Well, I don’t know yet. Of course, I’ve got to spend most of my time focused on my day job, which is being South Dakota’s only voice in the U.S. House of Representatives. I’ll do that until January, but listen, I know you can lead a life of consequence.

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“You can make a better society in business. I’ve done that before. In the nonprofit sector, in lesser elected office or government office. So, I don’t really know yet, but I do know that I’m surely not ready to retire. I’m 50, but I feel like a real young 50, and I’m still filled with plenty of piss and vinegar. Let’s go get it done.”

David Unsworth reports on Latin America. You can follow David Unsworth on Twitter @LatinAmerUpdate

US Senate Democrats block $1.15 trillion defense bill over Iran war objections

2026-07-14 21:33:14 UTC / Reuters

By Patricia Zengerle

July 14, 2026 9:33 PM UTC Updated 2 hours ago

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks as Senate Democratic leaders hold a press conference following their weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 23, 2026. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon Purchase Licensing Rights

• Democrats object to waging war with no congressional OK
• Bill did not secure 60 of the 100 votes it needed to advance
• Many Democrats also object to size of Trump’s defense ​request

WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Democrats blocked a $1.15 trillion annual defense policy bill on Tuesday, citing ‌frustration with the Iran war and President Donald Trump’s failure to consult with Congress about his decision to send U.S. forces into the conflict.

“Trump started this war without authorization, without a strategy, and without an exit,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate’s Democratic leader, said in ​a Senate speech announcing he would vote no.

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The procedural vote on the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, failed. ​Even though the yes votes outnumbered no votes by 50-46, the bill fell short of the ⁠60 votes needed to move ahead in the 100-member Senate.

The vote was along party lines. Every Republican voted in favor ​of moving ahead except for the chamber’s Republican majority leader, John Thune of South Dakota, who voted no under Senate rules ​only in order to enter a motion to reconsider.

The bill had been expected to stall, after nine Democratic members of the Armed Services Committee voted against the NDAA when the panel considered it last month. The NDAA typically passes with strong bipartisan support.

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Democrats are concerned that authorizing ​a huge Pentagon budget would be seen as approval of the war on Iran that began with strikes by the ​U.S. and Israel on February 28.

The vote came just as Trump the administration said it had reimposed a naval blockade of all Iranian ports ‌in the ⁠latest escalation of the conflict and began a fresh round of strikes.

Democrats also object to the Trump administration’s push to increase military spending to a total of $1.5 trillion, even as social programs for Americans are being cut. Besides the $1.15 trillion authorized in the NDAA, Trump has asked for another $350 billion from Congress under the budget reconciliation process, which would allow the funding to ​pass without Democratic support.

In remarks ​urging support, Thune accused Democrats ⁠of putting politics ahead of security.

“It’s the bill that helps ensure our military is ready today and prepared for tomorrow,” he said.

This year’s NDAA authorizes an unprecedented $1.15 trillion for defense, determining ​everything from how many ships, aircraft and missile systems are bought to pay raises for ​the troops and ⁠how to address geopolitical threats.

Historically seen by both parties as “must-pass legislation,” the NDAA is one of the few major bills that always passes, having become law annually for more than six decades.

Despite the setback, it is early in the NDAA process. Each year, ⁠the House ​of Representatives and Senate pass their own versions of the NDAA, before ​Armed Services committee negotiators reach a compromise version that then comes up for a vote in each chamber.

If the compromise version passes, it would be sent ​to the White House for President Donald Trump to sign into law or veto.

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Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by David Gregorio

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

‘This is not normal’: AOC unloads on McConnell’s prolonged absence

Republican colleagues insist McConnell will show up for critical votes

July 14, 2026 4:02pm EDT / Fox News

By Hannah Brennan Fox News

SEE IT: AOC questions whether prolonged absence is ‘legal’ in Congress as GOP defends McConnell’s recovery

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., argues Congress needs more transparency when lawmakers are absent for months, while GOP senators insist Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will be back when needed. (Credit: Nicholas Ballasy for Fox News Digital)

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Sen. Mitch McConnell’s disclosure of new details about the medical issues that have kept him away from the Senate has sparked fresh scrutiny on Capitol Hill, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., questioning whether his prolonged absence is “legal at this point” even as Republicans insist he’ll return when the Senate needs him.

“How is everyone pretending this is normal?” Ocasio-Cortez said to Fox News Digital. “This is not normal. At all.”

“How is it that we have sitting elected members of Congress going missing for months at a time?”

MITCH MCCONNELL BREAKS SILENCE ON MYSTERY HOSPITALIZATION AFTER GRAHAM’S DEATH

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., walks down the House steps after a vote at the U.S. Capitol on April 23, 2026.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc.)

The Kentucky senator broke his silence on his previously undisclosed medical conditions that have kept him absent from the Senate since he was first hospitalized on June 14. He posted to social media claiming that his childhood fight with polio contributed to the fall that left him “briefly unconscious” and hospitalized last month, and then was hit with a “mild case of pneumonia” in the midst of his recovery.

“Leader McConnell is tough as nails,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said. “This guy survived polio. For days on end, he went through therapy. People have no idea how tough he is. “

McConnell’s silence fueled online speculation about his condition, with unsubstantiated rumors ranging from cardiac arrest to claims that he had died.

“When you’re not very forthcoming with a lot of information, whether it’s personal or professional information, you do leave the conclusion up to conspiracy theorists,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said. “And people’s imagination is far greater than reality almost every time.”

Even after McConnell released his statement on his medical absence, including a photo of him with his wife in the hospital, rumors circulated about the senator, claiming he could be in a vegetative state.

MCCONNELL FACES FRESH CALLS TO COME CLEAN ABOUT HEALTH ISSUES

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell paused in the middle of a Wednesday press conference on Capitol Hill. McConnell stepped away from the podium and later returned to say, “I’m fine,” and answer questions.(Pool/Fox News)

The statement also did not address specifically when McConnell would return to the Senate, only stating that he would not “be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet.”

But Republican senators seemed confident that McConnell would return to the Senate floor for key votes, with Cramer even claiming GOP leaders have been in “regular” contact with him throughout his absence.

“Enough of our leadership have regular conversations with him for me to be comfortable,” Cramer said.

“I don’t have any doubt if there was a vote for a Supreme Court justice tomorrow that he’d find a way to be here for that,” Marshall said. “I think he’ll be here when we need him, and I just would never count him out. He’ll be back.”

McConnell, 84, is set to retire next year at the end of his term, but has promised he will be “finishing the job” he was elected to do until then.

“I think that Mitch McConnell has always been exactly who he is right now,” Cramer said.

HOUSE DEM URGES TRANSPARENCY BY PUBLIC OFFICIALS AFTER GOP COLLEAGUE REVEALS REASON FOR EXTENDED ABSENCE

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6400990421112

“He’s not the most transparent person in the world. He thinks strategically, tactically. He thinks about what serves the institution best — what serves his political ambitions and his political priorities.”

Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News Digital that while medical emergencies can often be inevitable, she believes there needs to be some regulations pertaining to the length of absences, as well as potentially some legislation passed to prevent lawmakers from being able to be absent for long periods.

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“Listen, things do happen,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “People get into medical incidents. If you’re in the hospital, you’re in the hospital. But I do think that there should be some sort of… there’s a line here. And I think almost everyone can agree that it’s been crossed.”

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

Iraq seizes mounds of gold and millions in cash from officials in corruption crackdown

July 14, 2026 5:16 PM EDT / CBS News

By Omar Abdulkader

Iraqi authorities have seized more than 825 pounds of gold and ten of millions in cash in a series of anti-corruption operations that led to the arrest of at least 21 people, including dozens of government officials and several former and current members of parliament.

The seizures were connected to the arrest in May of a former deputy oil minister, Adnan Al-Jumaili, on suspicion of corruption.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi, who took up the role in May, has vowed to tackle graft in the country. But the mission won’t be easy, a government official who asked to remain anonymous told CBS News.

The number of implicated officials and the piles of confiscated gold and cash in U.S. dollars and Iraqi dinar, as well as vehicles and homes seized in the operation, shows the scale of graft in the country. And this probe only related to one sector: oil.

“The latest campaign was unexpected,” said the official, not only because it came soon into Al-Zaidi’s tenure, but also because many previous prime ministers have paid lip-service to tackling corruption without actually doing so.

“It came as a surprise to all involved and it will continue to include corruption cases in other sectors.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi Ahmed Saad / REUTERS

An investigative judge at Iraq’s Central Anti-Corruption Court, Diaa Jaafar, told the Iraqi News Agency that 790 pounds of gold was recovered in one operation and 37 pounds in another. He provided no additional details of the operations.

The gold has been handed back to the country’s central bank, Jaafar added.

The seizure follows another operation related to the oil ministry last Thursday in which Iraqi dinar worth $10.6 million was found in a rainwater drainage pit.

A spokesperson for the Iraqi government, Haider al-Aboudi, told Qatari news outlet Al Jazeera that the total funds seized in the al-Jumaili case were worth more than $96 million, plus another $24 million in real estate, vehicles and gold.

“The Iraqi street is looking forward to punishing those who wreaked havoc with public money, and violated its sanctity, as it is the money of all Iraqis,” he said.

Al-Aboudi told Al Jazeera that Iraq has prepared legal documents to extradite several hundred suspects living abroad as part of the anti-corruption push.

Disarming Iranian-backed militias

Al Zaidi met with President Trump in the Oval Office Tuesday to discuss investment opportunities for American companies in Iraqi infrastructure and energy, as well as the Iraqi plan to disarm the country’s Iran-backed militias by Sep. 21 and the complete withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq by Sep. 30.

Ahead of the meeting, in response to a shouted question about his message for the Iraqi people, Mr. Trump responded: “We love Iraq.”

President Trump shakes hands with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House ion July 14, 2026. Evan Vucci / REUTERS

Iranian-backed militias have been a challenge for successive Iraqi governments for over two decades.

Some of the more hardline groups have already rejected calls to lay down their arms. Several of them have targeted U.S. diplomatic missions and forces in the country and the region.

In a statement on Monday, Kuwait’s foreign ministry condemned the Iranian government and its allies in Iraqi militias for “attacks that targeted a number of border centers and an offshore drilling platform belonging to the Kuwait Oil Company, resulting in human injuries and material losses.”

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have both also made similar claims about Iraq-based militias.

US House passes bill to make daylight saving time permanent

2026-07-14T21:31:13.165Z / Reuters

A view of the dome of the U.S. Capitol building, during a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on a stopgap spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown that would otherwise begin October 1, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. U.S., September 19, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary
• Companies

• The 308-117 vote sends the bill to the Senate for consideration
• States could opt out of year-round daylight saving time if enacted
• Airlines for America warned of passenger disruption and aircraft positioning ​issues

WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted on Tuesday to pass a ‌bill making daylight saving time permanent and ending the twice-yearly practice of changing clocks that has been observed across most of the United States since the 1960s.

The 308-117 vote sends the bill to the Senate. If enacted, clocks would no longer ​return to standard time in November, though states could opt out of year-round daylight saving ​time.

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Supporters say changing the clocks disrupts sleep, increases workplace injuries and contributes to more ⁠road accidents. They also argue that keeping clocks an hour ahead year-round would provide more evening daylight ​and boost economic activity during the winter months.

Critics say the change would mean the sun rises an hour ​later on winter mornings, leaving more children traveling to school and commuters heading to work before daylight.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for an end to the twice-yearly clock changes and strongly supports the measure.

The bill still faces opposition from ​Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, and others. Cotton has argued that permanent daylight saving time would ​result in very late winter sunrises and force children in many parts of the country to go to school in ‌darkness.

On ⁠Monday, House lawmakers rejected a request to vote on an alternative proposal that would have made standard time, rather than daylight saving time, permanent.

Airlines for America, a group representing major U.S. air carriers, raised concerns, saying the bill would “have considerable implications for aviation, including passenger disruption, crew and aircraft positioning, and domestic and ​international connectivity issues…. Any ​changes would need an ⁠implementation timeline that reflects these global complications.”

In May, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 48-1 in favor of the Sunshine Protection Act. The U.S. Senate ​voted unanimously in March 2022 to make daylight saving time permanent but the ​House never took ⁠up the measure in the face of opposition. Hawaii and Arizona do not observe daylight saving time.

The U.S. used year-round daylight saving time during World War Two and enacted it again in 1974 to reduce energy use. But it ⁠proved deeply ​unpopular and Congress repealed it later that year.

Democratic Representative Frank ​Pallone said on Tuesday that commuting and work habits have changed and far fewer school children walk to school. “It’s time to finally ​end the process of springing forward and falling back,” Pallone said.

Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani

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House passes daylight saving time reform as Trump signals support for ending clock change

July 14, 2026 5:19pm EDT / Fox News

Rep Vern Buchanan’s bill heads to the Senate, where skeptics warn it would push winter sunrises past 9 am in some places

By Adam Pack Fox News

Americans share their take on daylight saving time

‘The Big Weekend Show’ panel joins the debate around daylight saving time.

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A bipartisan effort to make daylight saving time permanent is one step closer to becoming law after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the measure on Tuesday.

Lawmakers voted 308-117 to pass the Sunshine Protection Act, which would allow states to voluntarily observe daylight saving time year-round as a growing mass of lawmakers push to extend daylight into the evening hours.

“For decades, we have accepted this ritual of springing forward and falling back, even though it disrupts routines, throws off our sleep and creates unnecessary frustration for families across the country,” Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., said Tuesday, detailing how the clock changes have disrupted her infant son’s sleep schedule.

“Let’s stop asking Americans to reset their clocks every March and November,” she continued. “Let’s provide some certainty and consistency and a little more sunshine at the end of the day.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., attends a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.(Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

TRUMP-BACKED DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME BILL CLEARS KEY HOUSE HURDLE

The legislation divided lawmakers in both parties, with members largely from coastal areas, such as Louisiana, Florida and New Jersey, supporting permanent daylight saving time and others from the Midwest and agriculture-heavy states opposing it.

Democrats were nearly evenly split, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., opposing it. Just 22 Republicans voted in opposition, including Reps. Bryan Steil, R-Wis.; Rick Crawford, R-Ark.; Ryan Zinke, R-Mont.; and Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo.

The measure now heads to the Senate, where its prospects remain uncertain amid skepticism from members of both parties. President Donald Trump, who has long called for ending the twice-a-year clock changes, is expected to sign the bill if it reaches his desk.

The White House urged lawmakers to support the Sunshine Protection Act in an internal memo sent to Hill offices Tuesday, calling it a “popular, common-sense reform.”

Nearly every state follows the practice of setting clocks forward one hour in March to preserve more evening daylight before “falling back” one hour in November.

But nearly 20 states have already approved legislation to make daylight saving time permanent if Congress authorizes the practice. Hawaii and most of Arizona, however, do not observe daylight saving time.

Proponents argued the legislation, authored by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., was necessary to end disruptions caused by switching clocks, including to children’s routines and road safety, while arguing longer daylight would boost tourism and outdoor recreation.

“More evening sunshine means more time with family and more time to enjoy our local restaurants, shops, and everything Florida has to offer,” Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., wrote on social media. “It’s common sense. Let’s get it done.”

Some lawmakers, however, argue that year-round daylight saving time would delay winter sunrises until after 9 a.m. in some parts of the country, raising safety concerns about darker morning commutes and economic challenges for farmers who would likely have to start work later.

Texas rice farmer LG Raun stands in El Campo, Texas, Jan. 6, 2026.(Mark Felix/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

SLEEP DOCTOR REVEALS THE BRUTAL HEALTH DOWNSIDE OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME

Detractors have also stated that permanent standard time — meaning more light in the mornings — better aligns with circadian rhythms.

“If we’re going to make a permanent change that affects every American, we should follow the science and prioritize Americans’ health, particularly that of the children,” Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., who favors permanent standard time, said during debate Monday.

Scanlon also pointed to the nation’s brief experiment with year-round daylight saving time in 1974, which Congress reversed after widespread public backlash.

Tuesday’s vote comes as the semiannual clock change remains widely unpopular with Americans, according to recent polling.

An AP-NORC survey released in December found that just 12% of Americans favor the current daylight saving time system, with nearly half opposed. Another 40% of respondents had no opinion.

The survey also found that more Americans support having daylight saving time year-round compared to standard time by a 14-point margin.

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., argued that permanent daylight saving time would create significant health and safety risks for children, who would likely go to school during darker morning hours.(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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The Senate previously passed year-round daylight saving time legislation in 2022, but the measure failed to clear the House.

Senators introduce bipartisan plan to tackle Social Security insolvency

July 14, 2026 / 4:11 PM EDT / CBS News

By Mary Cunningham

A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill on Tuesday designed to shore up Social Security’s finances in the coming decades and prevent future benefit cuts for the 70 million Americans who rely on the program.

The bill comes after last month’s annual Social Security trustees’ report projected that the program’s retirement trust fund could become insolvent by 2032, earlier than initially forecast. If that occurs, it would trigger a 22% across-the-board benefit cut, unless Congress acts before then, the report found.

The legislation, called the Promise Act, would not itself raise taxes, reduce benefits or change eligibility. Instead, it would direct the bipartisan, seven-member Social Security Advisory Board to draft a bill, informed by public input, to keep the program’s trust funds solvent for at least the next 50 years.

“Congress has known about this challenge for more than a decade, but it has not taken up these politically challenging issues,” Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois and one of the sponsors of the bill, said in a statement. “And the longer Congress waits, the more difficult it will be to address this issue in the future.”

Any proposal developed by the advisory board would be introduced in the House and Senate by congressional leaders before being considered by committees, which could hold hearings and revise the legislation. To become law, it would need a three-fifths vote in the Senate and a majority vote in the House.

The Promise Act’s additional sponsors include Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana; Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia; Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina; and Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine.

The measure is one of several pathways legislators could take to save Social Security, which is facing a looming funding shortfall as spending for the program outpaces income. Members of Congress have introduced legislation in the past to address the insolvency issue, but none have gained enough traction to pass, according to Durbin’s office.

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A separate estimate released in June by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an advocacy group focused on fiscal issues, found that beneficiaries could see their monthly checks cut by hundreds of dollars if the trust fund reserves are depleted.

Several policy groups, including the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Progressive Policy Institute, welcomed the legislation, saying it could help advance a bipartisan solution to Social Security’s long-term funding challenges.

“The Promise Act should be commended for not only offering one possible mechanism to fast-track bipartisan solutions that are long overdue through regular order, but also creating a recurring check-in to discourage policymakers from getting this close to a similar cliff again in the future,” Ben Ritz, vice president of policy development for the Progressive Policy Institute, said in a statement.

Edited by Aimee Picchi

FBI snares an American heir indicted for allegedly bankrolling anti-cop, pro-Hamas communist revolution

July 14, 2026 5:49pm EDT / Fox News

Chambers, who praised the Oct. 7 attacks as a ‘moment of hope,’ faces extradition after Spanish police detained him

By Asra Q. Nomani, Solly Boussidan

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6399841384112

FBI says it has identified ‘nefarious’ funding sources behind violent protests

FBI Co-Deputy Director Chris Raia says investigators have identified subjects tied to financing violent protest activity and are working to build prosecutable cases as the bureau follows the money.

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The Justice Department and FBI have a new communist financier in their crosshairs for alleged financial crimes: James “Fergie” Cox Chambers Jr., the estranged bad-boy heir to the Cox cable empire.

On Friday, Spanish police detained Chambers on the luxury island of Ibiza, in response to an international arrest warrant, according to sources. Chambers is allegedly wanted for money laundering and providing support to Hamas, following years of financing anti-Israel and anti-West organizations and protests. The transnational network he helped fund and support is kicking in to cast him as a victim of the Trump administration’s “fascism,” while critics are cheering the arrest as long overdue.

A spokesman for Spain’s Balearic Islands police branch, which includes Ibiza in its jurisdiction, told Fox News Digital that a U.S. citizen was arrested on charges tied to an international arrest warrant Friday under an international arrest warrant seeking his extradition to the United States. The spokesman did not confirm the identity of the citizen, but sources told Fox News Digital that the individual is Chambers.

Fergie Chambers poses for pictures in Tunis, Tunisia, on Feb. 8, 2024.(Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto)

FBI SAYS NEW MISSION CENTER HAS IDENTIFIED ‘NEFARIOUS’ PROTEST FUNDING AND SUBJECTS

The police spokesman added that the individual is being held at the central jail in Ibiza pending a judicial decision that will be conducted by videoconference. Supporters now plan a “Free Fergie Chambers” protest on Tuesday at 7 p.m. outside the prison in Ibiza, demonstrating against “DEL FASCISMO DE TRUMP,” or the “TRUMP’S FASCISM IN PERSECUTING DEFENDERS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE.”

A spokesperson for the FBI declined to comment. Chambers and his representatives couldn’t be reached for comment.

A convert to Islam, Chambers represents the fusion of socialist and communist activists with Islamist interests that seek the destruction of the West, free enterprise and the state of Israel and the rise of political Islam, communism and a new Palestinian state.

General view of Centro Penitenciario de Ibiza, in Ibiza, Spain, Tuesday, July 14, 2026.(Photo for Fox News Digital)

Chambers’ ideological comrades leaked news of the detention to trusted colleagues on far-left media platforms – some of which Chambers funds – and his communist, socialist and Islamist comrades are flooding social media to frame the narrative around the arrest as the Trump administration unfairly targeting Chambers.

The arrest is a significant move by the Trump administration as it targets far-left financiers allegedly engaged in supporting political violence. In this case, as in other investigations, federal authorities are following the money and investigating potential tax and financial crimes.

FBI Co-Deputy Director Chris Raia recently told Fox News Digital that investigators at the FBI’s Joint Mission Center have identified subjects tied to financing violent protest activity and have been building prosecutable cases.

General view of Centro Penitenciario de Ibiza, in Ibiza, Spain, Tuesday, July 14, 2026.(Photo for Fox News Digital)

Like Neville Roy Singham, the American tech tycoon accused of financing communist and far-left nonprofit organizations from his base in Shanghai, China, Chambers has made a name for himself as a financial backer of anti-Israel and anti-American causes around the world. As reported exclusively at Fox News Digital, the Justice Department has launched a grand jury investigation into Singham for alleged money laundering and other financial improprieties. It is currently prosecuting the Southern Poverty Law Center for alleged money laundering, bank fraud and wire fraud.

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

Fergie Chambers walks near a mosque in Tunis, Tunisia, on Feb. 8, 2024.(Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto)

Fergie Chambers walks near a mosque in Tunis, Tunisia, on Feb. 8, 2024.(Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto)

Fergie Chambers performs the Muslim prayer in Tunis, Tunisia, on Feb. 8, 2024.(Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto)

Fergie Chambers smokes a cigarette while posing for photos in Tunis, Tunisia.(Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto)

Chambers was born in 1985 in Brooklyn as James Cox Chambers Jr. to his father, James Cox Chambers, and mother, actress Lauren Hamilton. He is the great-grandson of James M. Cox, a former Ohio governor, 1920 Democratic presidential nominee and founder of the media company that became Cox Enterprises. Forbes estimates the Cox family empire is worth about $27 billion.

Chambers is now the estranged heir of Cox Enterprises, walking away from the family company in 2023 with a payout estimated at about $250 million after a falling out with his family over the company’s support for Atlanta’s controversial public safety training center, known by critics as “Cop City.” In April, a grand jury indicted three allegedAntifa-linked protesters accused of throwing firebombs at the general contractor of the Atlanta police training center.

Protestors rush a police line during a demonstration against the so-called “Cop City” training facility in Atlanta, Monday, Nov. 13, 2023.(Mike Stewart/AP Photo)

Chambers openly redirected his fortune into communist collectives, bail and legal underwriting and groups engaged in hard-edged protest and property disruption.

Raised mostly in Brooklyn after his parents divorced, Chambers attended Saint Ann’s School and later enrolled at Bard College but didn’t graduate. He briefly worked for a Cox Enterprises subsidiary before operating gyms in Georgia and later became increasingly involved in left-wing activism following the anti-police protests in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014 and the demonstrations in Standing Rock, S.D., in 2016 against an oil pipeline.

Around 2019, Chambers established the “Berkshire Communists” collective in Alford, Mass., in a wealthy corner of western Massachusetts, where he built a commune, operated the Berkshire People’s Gym and launched a publication called “Combat Liberalism.”

THREE ALLEGED ANTIFA-LINKED PROTESTERS INDICTED IN ATLANTA POLICE TRAINING CENTER CONTRACTOR FIREBOMBING

Police detain Palestine Action activists at the entrance of APCO Worldwide offices in London, where the building is covered in red paint, on Sept. 3, 2024.(Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu)

Following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks, Chambers became one of the most prominent financial backers of “Palestine Action,” later renamed “Unity of Fields,” while also funding legal defense efforts for activists involved in anti-Israel demonstrations and direct-action campaigns in the United Kingdom and the U.S.

He praised the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks as a “moment of hope and inspiration,” told Mother Jones that “the most important thing for the prosperity of humanity is the destruction of the US” and said, “I chant death to America every day.”

Local and national reporting place him behind the “Stop Cop City” opposition, bail after occupations and protests against Elbit Systems, a company that provides services to Israel, in Merrimack, N.H., and the U.K., and ongoing legal support for networks in the U.S. and U.K. led by the controversial “Palestine Action.”

Communist tattoos are visible on Fergie Chambers’ hands and fingers while he sits in a cafe in Tunis, Tunisia, on Feb. 8, 2024.(Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto)

After Alford, Mass., shut his Berkshire People’s Gym for zoning violations and law-enforcement scrutiny intensified, Chambers relocated to Tunis, in the North African nation of Tunisia.

In early February 2024, Chambers was photographed in his newly adopted city of Tunis in the North African nation of Tunisia, framing his narrative as a pious Muslim convert, with a red-and-white Palestinian kefiyyeh scarf draped over his shoulders, a black Muslim prayer cap on his head and a small beard on his face, a tradition that follows the sunnah, or practice, of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.

The photo shoot included images of Chambers in Muslim prayer, at one point with his hands on his chest and at another point in “ruku” position, bent forward with his hands on his knees, staring at a point of concentration in front of him. In other shots, he walked by a local mosque, sat behind the wheel of a car with orange and green Muslim prayer beads, called “tazbi,” hanging on the rearview mirror. A pair of decorative boxing gloves with “RUSSIA” across the wrists, positioned on a red-and-white kefiyyeh spread along the dashboard.

Fergie Chambers walks his dogs in Tunis, Tunisia, on Feb. 8, 2024.(Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto)

Unconventional for traditional Muslims, who don’t often have dogs as pets because of a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam that bars dogs as pets in the home, Chambers also was photographed smoking a cigarette and walking on the beach with two small dogs who look like bulldogs. He also wore tattoos, including a sickle-and-barbells on his left hand.

By May 2026, his social media posts placed him in Ireland. This month, the self-declared communist vacationed among the wealthy in Ibiza, is now sitting in prison.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6401147165112

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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.