Inside the ‘highly complex’ preparations for Trump’s UFC fight: $60M for staging, port-a-potties and other logistics

2026-06-10T21:05:49.938Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/10/politics/trump-ufc-fight

A UFC fight at the White House will cost more than $60 million, according to court documents filed by the Trump administration.

The event on Trump’s 80th birthday will draw roughly 125,000 guests and require 494 port-a-potties and extensive security infrastructure.

A lawsuit argues the event is bypassing environmental reviews by claiming it honors America’s 250th birthday rather than Trump’s.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

Building a televised sporting event accommodating more than 100,000 people without any existing arena infrastructure is a massive production. Doing so at the White House adds significant logistical complications.

Court documents submitted by the Trump administration on Wednesday show the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events scheduled this week and through the weekend will cost more than $60 million. That includes food, the brand’s signature “octagon” cage and as many as 494 port-a-potties trucked in for the crowd watching the event live on the South Lawn and via telecast at the Ellipse.

“This is a highly complex, multi-faceted Event that has been carefully planned by a multitude of public and private entities over a significant period,” White House management and administration director Joshua Fisher said in a sworn declaration, submitted as part of a lawsuit that seeks to delay the event until it goes through an environmental review and other permitting processes.

With days to go until fight night, which coincides with President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday, the expected crowd size has grown substantially. At a June 2025 appearance at the Iowa state fairgrounds, where Trump announced plans for the fight that he billed as a celebration commemorating the country’s 250th birthday, he predicted it would bring “20-25,000 people.” The new court documents show roughly 125,000 guests are expected, and that another 75,000 people requested tickets.

The documents more broadly reveal a major undertaking and investment by the UFC — bolstered by support from the federal government — to build the elaborate “octagon” stage from the ground up and plan multiple days of programming, culminating in the televised fight that will be attended by the president, first lady and top officials on Sunday night.

In his declaration, Fisher said the more than $60 million cost includes “a substantial volume of perishable food items for the anticipated 4,000 South Lawn guests and over 120,000 Ellipse guests.”

The UFC is responsible for “production, labor, construction, and promotion costs,” while the federal government is providing “emergency equipment and services, including first aid/medical services, law enforcement, and security,” Fisher said.

The underlying lawsuit argues that the event is being unlawfully held at the White House because officials are leaning on a federal rule that exempts events around America’s 250th birthday from having to follow certain permitting regulations. The UFC event, they say, is not being held in honor of the country’s founding but is instead intended to celebrate Trump’s birthday. As a result, officials and the event’s private organizers needed to jump through ordinary regulatory hoops, like conducting an environmental assessment, before moving ahead with it.

US District Judge Amit P. Mehta, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, has not set a hearing, though he could order both sides to appear before him in coming days to make their arguments in person. The Virginia residents challenging the event had asked the court to make a decision on their request by Thursday.

Logistical planning for the event began even before Trump’s Iowa announcement, with outside production companies hired, permitting applications submitted to the National Park Service, design and installation of a custom “Claw” arched lighting structure, wrangling of security and port-a-potties and, according to the documents, the coordination of schedules at the highest levels of government.

To halt that effort now, Fisher said in a sworn declaration, would “impose exorbitant costs on all parties involved.”

UFC will host a press conference and face-offs at the Lincoln Memorial on Friday, and a ceremonial participant weigh-in and other events on Saturday at the Ellipse, before the main event on the White House South Lawn takes places Sunday. Entertainment, per an hour-by-hour schedule, includes military bands, a performance by Zac Brown Band, a Golden Knights flyover, Clydesdales, the fight card itself and a ten-minute fireworks finale.

The load-in and build process for the event, which began May 20, has required a coordinated effort on a tight timeline with significant security constraints. Every day, 20 to 30 trucks filled with UFC equipment like staging infrastructure and other technical material were screened before installation on White House grounds, Fisher said. And that, he added, has required 700 to 900 subcontractors “with specialized knowledge associated with each element of the build.”

There has been setup of extensive security features, including anti-scale fencing, bike-rack barricades, and US Secret Service screening facilities. Guidance from the National Park Service requires at least one portable toilet per every 300 guests, a permit issued by NPS says, and planning documents say there will be at least 116 port-a-potties by the Lincoln Memorial and at least 350 near the Ellipse.

The quickly installed infrastructure is expected to be removed just as swiftly. Even though Trump floated keeping the Claw in place on the South Lawn, Fisher said it “will be disassembled immediately after the event concludes” and planning documents suggest that that process — along with efforts to remove broadcast equipment, barricades, lighting, staging, food and beverage setup and anti-scale fencing — will begin early Monday morning and conclude by June 23.

The production isn’t entirely without precedent, though there has never been a televised sporting event at this scale at the White House. During the Obama administration, the White House hosted a “South by South Lawn” festival and a BET-sponsored concert. And in the Biden administration, the White House was the setting for an Elton John concert taping and an ice rink.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s Devan Cole and Aileen Graef contributed to this report.

Florida Supreme Court leaves Republican congressional map in place

2026-06-10T23:26:48.173Z / Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on the day of the opening of a temporary migrant detention center informally known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in Ochopee, Florida, U.S., July 1, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

June 10 (Reuters) – Florida’s Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to block a new Republican-drawn congressional map ahead of November’s midterm elections, giving the party a boost in its effort ​to retain a narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The decision all ‌but guarantees that the map, which is aimed at flipping as many as four Democratic seats, will remain in place for this fall’s elections. The filing deadline for congressional candidates is on Friday, and ​the primary contests are scheduled for August.

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In a 6-1 decision, the court ruled that ​it did not have the jurisdiction to intervene in a lawsuit challenging ⁠the map while it remains pending before a lower appeals court.

Democrats have challenged the ​new map as unlawful based on a state constitutional prohibition on drawing district lines to benefit ​one party over another, a process known as partisan gerrymandering. The plaintiffs had asked the high court to put the map on hold and order state officials to use the previous map until the lawsuit ​is resolved.

Redistricting typically occurs at the start of each decade following the decennial U.S. ​Census count. But President Donald Trump set off an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting fight last summer, when he pushed ‌Texas ⁠Republicans to install a new, more friendly map.

Since then, both Republican- and Democratic-led states have sought to redraw their districts for partisan advantage.

Florida Republicans approved the state’s new map in late April, on the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling hollowing out ​the Voting Rights Act’s ​protections for districts ⁠with significant racial minority populations. Several Republican-led Southern states rushed to capitalize on that decision by eliminating majority or near-majority Black districts, which ​typically favor Democrats.

Those efforts have helped Republicans build an advantage overall ​in the ⁠redistricting war, though Democrats may still capture a House majority given Trump’s weak approval ratings.

In a statement, Genesis Robinson, the executive director of advocacy group Equal Ground, which filed the lawsuit, said, “The ⁠Florida ​Supreme Court’s failure to stop this brazen partisan power ​grab is not only an assault on democracy, but an abdication of its duty to the people of Florida.”

Republicans ​already hold 20 of Florida’s 28 U.S. House seats.

Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Sonali Paul

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

与内坦亚胡存在分歧 万斯称对方“犯了一些错误”

2026年6月11日 07:13 / 联合早报

美国副总统万斯在近期的访问中说，以色列是美国的合作伙伴，但“如果两者出现分歧，我们——对以色列人来说不幸的是——就必须站在美国人民一边”。 （路透社档案照片）

美国副总统万斯在访问中，承认与以色列总理内坦亚胡存在分歧，并称这位以色列领导人在中东战争中“犯了一些错误”。

据哥伦比亚广播公司新闻网发布的访问视频片段显示，万斯强调以色列是美国的亲密伙伴，但他指出“有时，我们的利益完全一致；有时，我们的利益却不一致”。完整版采访将于星期天（14日）播出。

万斯说：“他们在很多方面都是我们优秀的合作伙伴，但我们也必须关注美国的最佳利益，如果两者出现分歧，我们——对以色列人来说不幸的是——就必须站在美国人民一边。”

当被问及内塔亚胡在与华盛顿就伊朗问题合作方面是否犯过错误时，万斯指出“他肯定犯了一些错误”，但拒绝具体说明是什么错误。“我认为，有些谈话最好还是私下进行。”

另据美媒Axios报道，近几周来，美国总统特朗普与内坦亚胡的关系明显紧张。在最近的一次通话中，特朗普甚至称内坦亚胡“疯了”。

内坦亚胡上周末批准对伊朗进行报复打击，此举违背特朗普的意愿。

特朗普：美军已“秘密”助200多艘商船通过霍尔木兹海峡

2026年6月11日 07:25 / 联合早报

美国总统特朗普星期三（6月10日）在社交媒体上发文称，他上月下令美军执行一项秘密任务，为途经霍尔木兹海峡的油轮及其他商船提供支援。 （法新社档案照片）

美国总统特朗普称，美军已“秘密”帮助200多艘商船通过霍尔木兹海峡。

新华社报道，特朗普星期三（6月10日）在社交媒体上发文称，他上月下令美军执行一项秘密任务，为途经霍尔木兹海峡的油轮及其他商船提供支援。

目前，这一行动已促成“超过1亿桶石油顺利通过该海峡并进入公开市场，200多艘商船安全通过该海峡”。

他也称，掌控霍尔木兹海峡的“是美国，而非伊朗”。

美军5月初曾启动寻求疏导霍尔木兹海峡被困船只通行的“自由计划”，但特朗普随后很快宣布这一行动暂停。据美国媒体报道，由于此次行动未提前与海湾盟友协调，引发沙特阿拉伯方面不满，拒绝美军使用沙特基地和空域。

此后，特朗普多次宣称可能恢复“自由计划”行动。美国《纽约时报》5月31日引述匿名美方官员报道说，美军过去三周内“悄悄”引导约70艘商船通行霍尔木兹海峡。

Published 6:35 PM EDT, Wed June 10, 2026

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Concerns grow over 2026 midterm elections amid new Trump attacks on mail-in voting, election fraud probes

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5:33 • Source: CNN

U.S. launches more strikes on Iranian targets after Trump promises to hit Iran “hard”

June 10, 2026 / 7:15 PM EDT / CBS News

By Joe Walsh, James LaPorta, Eleanor Watson

The U.S. military launched an additional round of strikes on targets within Iran early Thursday morning local time, U.S. Central Command said, hours after President Trump vowed to hit Iran “hard” in a bid to force the country to agree to a deal on the administration’s terms.

CENTCOM said on X that it hit “multiple targets in Iran … in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression.” It described the strikes as self-defensive. The operation targeted key Iranian facilities such as ammunition depots, command-and-control nodes and warehouses, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the airstrikes.

Iranian media outlets reported that explosions were heard or air defenses were activated in multiple cities, including Bandar Abbas, a port city in southern Iran that abuts the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s military early Thursday morning declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to all traffic, including commercial vessels and oil tankers. Mr. Trump has pressed to reopen the strait, a key oil industry chokepoint that has been largely closed for months.

The latest strikes could put new stress on an already brittle two-month-old ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, which has prevented most large-scale attacks but hasn’t stopped the two countries from exchanging fire.

In an earlier salvo on Wednesday, the U.S. struck nearly 20 targets inside Iran in retaliation for Iran’s downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz this week. Iran then launched drones at several U.S. allies in the region. It was the latest flare-up between the two countries, though the Trump administration has insisted the ceasefire is still in place.

For weeks, Iranian and American negotiators have held indirect negotiations on extending their ceasefire, ending a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and launching talks on the thorny longer-term question of Iran’s nuclear program. But a deal has proven elusive. Iran’s foreign ministry accused the U.S. earlier Wednesday of sending contradictory messages and “damaging the diplomatic process” with the strikes.

Mr. Trump told reporters on Wednesday that “we’re going to hit them hard again today,” accusing Iran of “playing us for suckers” and refusing to strike an agreement with the U.S. He said on social media Iran has “taken too long to negotiate a deal,” and “now they will have to pay the price.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the goal of the latest round of strikes is to force Iran to the negotiating table.

“If we need to negotiate with bombs, we’ll negotiate with bombs. And we’re very good at it,” he said.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/us-forces-conduct-more-strikes-against-iran/

美国古巴关系紧张之际 美访长赫格塞斯访问美军基地

2026年6月11日 07:34 / 联合早报

美国国防部长赫格塞斯星期三（6月10日）访问古巴关塔那摩湾美国海军基地时，向驻守当地的美国部队发表讲话。 （路透社）

美国国防部长赫格塞斯星期三（6月10日）访问古巴关塔那摩湾美国海军基地时，向驻守当地的美国部队发表讲话。 （路透社）

在美古关系紧张之际，美国国防部长赫格塞斯访问了位于古巴关塔那摩的美海军基地，并称美国防部将做好准备以应对“任何可能发生的突发事态”。

新华社报道，美国防部星期三（6月10日）在社交媒体发布消息，赫格塞斯称， 这次访问旨在确保美国基地“具备履行任务所需的一切条件”。

他在会见美军士兵时也称，“古巴的未来掌握在美国总统和古巴领导层手中”。

赫格塞斯在美国防部发布的视频中称，如果古巴试图获取能够打击关塔那摩美海军基地或美国本土的武器，将是“极不明智”的举动，这可能引发古巴“既不希望看到、也无力承受”的对抗。

近期，已有多名美国政府和军方高官前往古巴。5月29日，美军南方司令部司令多诺万在关塔那摩美海军基地附近同古巴军方高级将领举行会晤。此前，美国中央情报局局长拉特克利夫于5月14日到访古巴首都哈瓦那，与古内务部官员举行会晤。

美国长期对古巴实施经济、金融封锁和贸易禁运。继今年相继对委内瑞拉、伊朗发起军事行动后，美国又对古巴发出威胁，称“下一个是古巴”，并进一步加大对古巴施压，实行石油封锁。

据美国媒体5月27日报道，美国在加勒比海针对古巴的军事部署已经完成。同时，美古继续进行对话，但没有实质性进展。

1903年2月23日，美国强行租借古巴东南部战略要地关塔那摩湾的部分领土，并建起军事基地。1959年古巴革命胜利后，古巴政府一直反对关塔那摩美军基地的存在，拒绝接受美方租金，要求美军撤出。2002年，美军在关塔那摩军事基地内设立监狱，该监狱因虐囚而臭名昭著。

Justice Department officials dance around Trump’s unsupported claims of California election fraud

2026-06-10T20:25:59.533Z / CNN

When President Donald Trump made claims of Democratic vote-rigging in the Los Angeles election, his top appointed prosecutor in the city took to the cameras to validate those beliefs while hinting his office may never be able prove that kind of grand conspiracy.

The Justice Department has launched no new criminal cases connected to how the city administered last week’s contest, according to a source familiar with the matter, even as the president said on social media last week that such an investigation was underway.

The agency’s leaders have been quick to tout the potential for fraud prosecutions. Front and center in the current media cycle is First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli, the Trump appointee leading the Los Angeles US Attorney’s Office.

“We’re doing the work, we are doing the best we can in the circumstances, I expect people will be charged,” Essayli said this week on “The Glenn Beck Program,” where he was asked whether the department had seen a scale of fraud that would have changed the results.

“We are looking for any sort of wide-scale conspiracies,” Essayli said, while promoting the department’s tip line. “Right now, I would say, our investigations lean into more individual actors.”

Essayli in recent days has promised prosecutions in California were only a matter of time — while also suggesting his office needed whistleblowers to come forward. He’s acknowledged that the department hasn’t found the kind of fraud that would impact electoral outcomes, but he’s blamed California for a system that, he says, makes such evidence nearly impossible to find.

The playbook is a familiar one — both for Trump, who faced criminal charges for his schemes to overturn the 2020 election, and now for the Justice Department leaders whose standing in the administration depends on keeping the president happy. They have seized on long-standing gripes about how long it takes California officials to report election results.

But without providing evidence of a sweeping plot to steal elections from Republicans, DOJ officials are instead hyping singular cases they have prosecuted dealing with illegal voter registration or single-digit noncitizen voting, while accusing Democrats of getting in the way of their investigations.

The dust has yet to settle at the department from Trump’s ouster of former Attorney General Pam Bondi in the spring, as it has been made clear that officials’ ability to deliver for the boss is the difference between a firing and a promotion. On Trump’s election fraud fixations — as well as his desire for revenge against his political foes — federal officials are left tap-dancing around what he wants and what can practically be achieved.

In the meantime, their willingness to feed into Trump’s claims — without offering any proof of criminal wrongdoing that would sway elections — could undermine public confidence in the vote, election veterans told CNN.

“This has just created this environment where you’re tearing away the very fabric of the trust that has built up for decades for local county officials and city officials,” said Neal Kelley, a Republican who ran elections in Orange County, California, for nearly two decades before his 2022 retirement.

Essayli’s office declined to comment for this story.

“The Department of Justice has statutory authority to enforce our nation’s election laws, including through requesting state voter rolls and monitoring returns when candidates for federal office are on the ballot,” a Justice Department spokesperson told CNN in a statement. “The Department’s investigations into voter fraud in California are in line with this authority and will continue despite the state’s unwillingness to comply and reassure voters that their elections are in fact free, fair, and transparent. Protecting election integrity is a top priority for the Trump Administration.”

In their media appearances, Justice Department leaders have walked the line between promoting the work they’re doing to find election fraud, while attempting to manage expectations that they will actually be able to deliver a case that alleges widespread voter fraud in a Democratic district.

“The system is not designed to protect or prevent fraud. The system sucks,” Essayli said Thursday on CNN, in an appearance just after the Trump post suggesting his office was probing Los Angeles’ vote.

Nonetheless, a few days later, Essayli expressed confidence on Glenn Beck’s podcast that charges would come in 1 to 2 months, once the primary was certified.

Election officials in Los Angeles and California have defended their handling of the vote, and county officials granted a DOJ request last week to observe the ballot processing at the L.A. counting site.

“The key here is that election officials are welcoming the transparency,” said David Becker, a former DOJ voting section attorney who now advises election officials as head of the Center for Election Innovation & Research. “As usual, the election officials are showing their work. The federal officials — who, without evidence, are claiming fraud — are once again hiding the ball.”

The Justice Department has already been grappling with vows by Trump that DOJ would bring prosecutions for the 2020 presidential election, which Trump still falsely claims was stolen from him. Sweeping moves by the Justice Department to obtain 2020 ballots in Georgia and audit materials from Arizona’s election that year have unnerved election officials, but the administration has yet to show it’s found any evidence that would prove fraud was to blame for Trump’s loss.

Earlier this year, as he told Fox News that there was “a ton of evidence that the election was rigged,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche claimed that those engaging in the fraud were “very good at hiding up misconduct and hiding what they’re doing.”

A handful of prosecutions related to illegal voting or registration by foreigners are what the administration has produced instead, having poured significant resources into finding noncitizens on voter rolls.

In another case, which Essayli and others at the department repeatedly cited, prosecutors charged a California woman with illegally paying people — some of them on Los Angeles’ Skid Row — to register to vote as part of a scheme to maximize compensation she was receiving in petition drives. The woman pleaded guilty to one count in the case, which included the allegation that on “several occasions” she had homeless people use her own former address on the registration forms. Prosecutors are also looking at whether she worked with any organizations that could also be charged with a conspiracy, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Still, the DOJ has not put forward evidence in the court proceedings that the illegal registrations resulted in fraudulent votes. Essayli and others have nonetheless used the case to criticize California’s universal mail voting system, under which every registered voter receives a mail ballot, while criticizing its lack of a photo voter ID requirement and how the state allows outside groups to collect and submit mail ballots.

Much of the flak California election officials are getting now is focused on the pace of the ballots count. But the process that election officials must go through to verify that mail ballots are authentic is partly why California’s results take time to report.

“They’re complaining about the speed of counting when what the election officials are doing right now is checking voter ID, confirming integrity, making sure there’s no fraud,” Becker said.

The time it takes for the results to be finalized is the fault of the state legislature, Kelley said, because of the election rules that allowed Californians turn in their ballots at the last minute, creating a bottleneck in the canvassing process for election officials.

“You’ve given them the opportunity to wait, they’re going to take it,” Kelley said.

Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, US Attorney Jay Clayton, was grilled on CNBC this week on the distinction between state laws that make California’s vote tabulation a slow process and actual evidence of fraud.

“There’s a great phrase, ‘opportunity for fraud,’” Clayton said.

Justice Department officials have also used the California spotlight to rail against election officials for resisting its demands for the state’s unredacted voter rolls, in a legal battle that the administration so far has lost not just in Golden State, but also in seven others.

The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is currently examining a federal judge’s ruling that the DOJ could not force California to turn over its confidential voter registration files. The administration has brought 31 lawsuits in total against both Democratic and Republican election offices that have declined to comply with the voter registration data requests, which sought normally confidential information about voters, such as their Social Security numbers or driver’s license numbers. The Trump administration has not won a favorable ruling in any of those cases, and district courts in eight of them have thrown out the lawsuits. Several appeals courts are now weighing the matter.

The DOJ’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, Harmeet Dhillon, is leading the voter data collection effort, as her division includes the department’s voting section. She has vowed to take the issue to the Supreme Court.

Essayli highlighted the work Dhillon was doing to obtain California’s rolls in a social media post laying out the election-related work the department was doing in California.

“Teamwork/dreamwork,” Dhillon said in her own response to the post on X.

CNN’s Abigail Roedersheimer has contributed to this report.

‘Squad’ Dem dismisses fraud probe speculation after $29M net-worth drop

June 10, 2026 7:00pm EDT / Fox News

James Comer wants the Ethics Committee to investigate Omar’s connection to the $250M ‘Feeding Our Future’ scheme

By Hannah Brennan Fox News

WATCH: Omar dismisses questions about Ethics Committee investigation into her finances

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., brushed off questions about an Ethics Committee investigation into her reported net worth decline, insisting no investigation is taking place despite continued scrutiny. (Credit: Nicholas Ballasy for Fox News Digital)

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Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is continuing to deny looming questions over an Ethics Committee investigation into her financial filings, showing a significant drop in her net worth.

Scrutiny of Omar’s finances intensified after financial disclosure filings appeared to show her estimated net worth falling from a range of roughly $6 million to $30 million in one filing period to between about $18,000 and $95,000 in a later disclosure.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has publicly voiced his interest in the House Ethics Committee opening an investigation into both Omar’s personal finances and her connection to the ‘Feeding Our Future’ fraud scheme, a scandal that federal prosecutors say cost taxpayers roughly $250 million.

JAMES COMER RAISES FELONY QUESTIONS OVER ILHAN OMAR’S FINANCES AFTER DISCLOSURE DISCREPANCY

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has asked Vice President JD Vance to scrutinize fraud prevention deficiencies in Minnesota’s social services programs after the release Monday of his committee’s 205-page final staff report.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Omar dismissed suggestions that she is facing an Ethics Committee investigation.

“No,” Omar told Fox News Digital, laughing, when asked if she is under an Ethics Committee investigation. “No. We go over this all the time.”

She was pressed about continued reporting surrounding the discrepancy — the possibility of the roughly $29 million drop in her financial disclosure.

“There’s also the possibility that it might rain on this sunny day,” Omar replied.

Along with Comer’s efforts to launch an investigation into Omar, Vice President JD Vance said just last month that the U.S. Department of Justice will be opening a probe into the Minnesota Democrat’s alleged fraud as part of the administration’s new anti-fraud taskforce.

OMAR CAMP BREAKS SILENCE ON FRAUD PROBE, BLAMES WALZ, TRUMP AS NEW CLAIMS CLASH WITH EARLIER STATEMENTS

Rep. Ilhan Omar dismissed Vice President JD Vance’s claims that the Justice Department is investigating her for alleged immigration and fraud violations, referring to House Republicans attention to the matter as politically motivated.(Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Omar has declined ever being aware of the scheme happening behind doors with the organization, which claimed to be helping supply children in need of meals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Justice Department described the scheme as the “single largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country,” The Associated Press reported. The orchestrator of the non-profit, Aimee Bock, was sentenced to 42 years in prison for her involvement in spearheading the fraud scheme.

Republicans have pointed to Omar’s MEALS Act, part of a federal pandemic relief measure which she sponsored, as a factor they say contributed to conditions that allowed the fraud to occur. They argue her bill was a mass contributor to the fraud occurring as it broadened USDA waiver authority at meal sites. It has also been claimed that this same act helped to dismantle anti-fraud safeguards that verified the people actually being serviced in federal nutrition programs.

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

Rep. Ilhan Omar speaks at Karmel Mall in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 28, 2026.(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

In a previous statement to Fox News Digital from Omar, she claimed that President Donald Trump’s USDA Secretary, Brooke Rollins, imposed the regulations for the framework of the program.

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While Omar continues to reject suggestions time-after-time that she is facing an Ethics Committee investigation, Republicans have shown little sign of backing away from their demands for a proper investigation into Omar’s finances and fraud allegations.

Hannah Brennan is a Digital Production Assistant on the Politics team. She previously interned at the Aspen Daily News, where she covered local government meetings, community developments, cultural events and nationally significant political events. Her reporting included coverage of the Aspen Security Forum and appearances by prominent leaders such as former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. She graduated early with high distinction from the University of Colorado Boulder in December 2025 and joined Fox News Digital in January 2026.

Judge declines to halt “anti-weaponization fund” since Blanche says it’s dead, but warns DOJ not to “play possum”

2026-06-10 19:58:54 EDT / CBS News

By Katrina Kaufman,

June 10, 2026 / 7:58 PM EDT / CBS News

A federal judge on Wednesday denied a request to block the Trump administration’s “anti-weaponization fund,” accepting the government’s argument that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had already vowed not to move forward with the controversial $1.776 billion fund.

But in a court hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon issued a warning to the Justice Department: “Don’t play possum with this court.”

Leon’s decision not to issue a temporary restraining order marked an early victory for the Justice Department in one of the lawsuits it’s facing over the anti-weaponization fund, which was unveiled last month to settle a suit that President Trump filed against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns. The fund — tasked with paying claims to alleged victims of government persecution — drew bipartisan pushback, with Democrats casting it as a “slush fund” for Trump allies.

Blanche testified during a congressional hearing last week that the Justice Department is “not moving forward with the fund,” following pressure from Republicans and a ruling in a separate lawsuit that temporarily blocked the government from moving forward.

Since then, the government has argued that courts should reject other lawsuits against the fund because Blanche has already declared it dead, making the cases moot.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Leon sided with the government over the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which had filed a lawsuit calling the fund “brazenly illegal.” The judge said he is “not persuaded a live controversy remains,” citing the government’s representations that the fund is not moving forward.

Leon said he will decide separately about the group’s request for a preliminary injunction.

A lawyer for the group, Nikhel Sus, argued in court that the fund’s charter remains “in full force and effect,” and modifications must be made in writing by all parties. He said Blanche’s statement is not a legally valid rescission of the policy, and noted that Mr. Trump hasn’t said the fund is dead.

The judge noted that Mr. Trump “may be doing what he’s doing for political benefit.”

When the judge asked the Justice Department’s attorney, Andrew Block, why the government would not rescind the order creating the fund, he said he didn’t know: “All I know is that the acting attorney general has said the fund is not moving forward.”

Block argued the case is moot, there is no standing and it is not ripe for judicial review. He said no members of the five-person board to administer the fund have been appointed, no processes have been adopted, no claims have been submitted and no money has been sent out.

At one point, the lawyer for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington pointed out that Blanche declined to rescind the fund in writing when he testified to the House Appropriations Committee.

“This is highly unusual,” Sus said.

“This whole case is unusual, to say the least,” Leon said.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/rep-jamie-raskin-on-anti-weaponization-fund-we-need-to-stop-it/

Rep. Jamie Raskin on “anti-weaponization” fund: “We need to stop it”

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