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WATCH: Eye-popping illegal immigration stat prompts senator’s demand to ‘redouble’ deportations

May 18, 2026 4:03pm EDT / Fox News

Cato scholar David Bier told a House subcommittee that mass deportation would ‘destroy neighborhoods’ in the wealthy DC suburb

By Charles Creitz Fox News

Republicans pounced on a statistic from illegal immigration dove David Bier of the libertarian CATO Institute, as he testified that 1 in 5 Fairfax residents is either illegal or knows or lives with someone who is.

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Testimony from a policy analyst at a libertarian think tank was unexpectedly highlighted by immigration hawks after he delivered an opening statement at a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing featuring controversial Fairfax County prosecutor Stephen Descano.

The hearing, chaired by Rep. Thomas McClintock, R-Calif., examined several examples of allegedly lax prosecutions by Descano involving illegal immigrants with prior rap sheets — including a Sierra Leone national accused of murdering a young woman at a bus stop on U.S. 1.

In his opening remarks, Cato Institute immigration expert David Bier testified that the “way to fix Fairfax” is not to continue the “mass deportation” agenda of President Donald Trump.

“The first step would be to give up on the mass deportation fantasy,” Bier said.

SOROS-BACKED PROSECUTOR SET FOR CAPITOL HILL GRILLING AS SANCTUARY POLICIES FACE RECKONING

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephen Descano, center, listens to testimony during a hearing before a House Judiciary Subcommittee.(Tom Williams/CQ via Getty Images)

“About 1-in-5 Fairfax residents is someone who could be deported or who lives with them — It would destroy neighborhoods, rip Americans away from their spouses, parents, friends, families, customers, employees, employers, nurses, nannies, and teachers.”

While Bier later added that he believes noncitizens who harm Americans should be deported, his earlier statement drew the attention of several immigration hawks, including Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

Lee borrowed Bier’s logic to prove immigration hardliners’ point that mass deportation is the right solution:

“On the contrary: 20% of a wealthy DC suburb being illegal immigrants means we should redouble our efforts to deport them all,” Lee said.

Bier responded to Lee’s comments in a lengthy statement to Fox News Digital, arguing the Utah Republican failed to explain why mass deportation would benefit Americans in Fairfax County.

“What was the senator’s explanation for his statement? The senator never says why it would benefit the country to harm Fairfax County and the Americans who live there, so there’s nothing to rebut,” Bier said.

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS VIEW LEGAL IMMIGRATION AS HELPFUL, FAVOR DEPORTING THOSE WHO ARE HERE ILLEGALLY

Cato Institute analyst David Bier testifies before Congress.(Graeme Sloan/Getty Images)

“The senator is wrong to characterize the 20% as all illegal immigrants since half of them are just people who live with illegal immigrants, which is precisely my point.”

“Mass deportation would harm those Americans and many others by ripping them away from their spouses, parents, children, friends, family, employees, employers, customers, nurses, nannies, and teachers,” the immigration expert added.

Bier said mass deportation becomes more expensive and impractical as the population of illegal immigrants grows, meaning continuing on the current course will harm Americans.

“I would ask the senator: how many Americans would have to be hurt by mass deportation before he would reconsider his views?”

Reached for additional comment, Lee spokesman Billy Gribbin told Fox News Digital that the Utahn “believes in enforcing US law and deporting illegal immigrants — not making excuses for criminals who hurt Americans.”

Fox News Digital also asked DHS about the apparent statistical admission, and an agency spokesperson blamed Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s “reckless sanctuary policies” for making Fairfax and the rest of the Old Dominion a “hotbed for illegal alien criminals.”

“The stories of the victims and facts speak for themselves. The sanctuary politicians of Fairfax County have blood on their hands,” the spokesperson said.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin added separately that half the murders recorded recently in Fairfax were allegedly perpetrated by “illegals who shouldn’t have been in our country to begin with.”

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6395663016112

“We have politicians who want to protect the criminals, President Trump is still protecting all of our neighborhoods,” Mullin said.

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Bier’s 1-in-5 statistic was also cited in a CATO document footnoted to the K Street firm Migration Policy Institute. MPI’s data showed an estimated 102,000-person “unauthorized” population in Fairfax — which has a census count of about 1.2 million as of 2020.

The top “countries-of-birth” on MPI’s list in that regard were El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Bolivia and Peru, while only 4% combined was recorded from Canada, Europe and Oceania.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.

欧盟拟加大力度保护经济免受中国商品冲击

2026年5月19日 07:17 / 联合早报

6月在布鲁塞尔举行的下一次欧盟领导人会议将把议题列入议程。届时，各方将讨论是否应采取全欧盟统一方式应对中国。 （彭博社档案照）

知情人士透露，欧盟官员正在研究是否需要出台新的措施，以保护欧盟经济免受中国商品大量涌入的冲击。

据彭博社报道，知情人士表示，相关讨论旨在评估，成员国愿意动用哪些工具来应对中国制造业的过剩产能，以及是否有必要推出新的举措。欧盟最有力的“反胁迫工具”的启用门槛和适用条件，也将被纳入讨论范围。

由于讨论属非公开性质，知情人士要求匿名。

知情人士称，负责欧盟贸易事务的欧盟委员会将于5月29日就这一议题举行内部讨论，6月在布鲁塞尔举行的下一次欧盟领导人会议也将把该议题列入议程。届时，各方将讨论是否应采取全欧盟统一方式应对中国。

一位欧盟官员表示，各国领导人将在峰会上讨论削弱欧盟竞争力的障碍。他们还将寻求形成共同立场，以应对欧洲企业因不公平贸易而面临的挑战，其中包括来自中国的冲击。

US SEC rescinds policy on denials of wrongdoing in enforcement actions

May 18, 2026 9:44 PM UTC / Updated 2 hours ago / By Reuters / Reuters

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission logo adorns an office door at the SEC headquarters in Washington, June 24, 2011. The database is emerging alongside a new program by the FBI’s criminal profiling group in Quantico, Virginia, that is creating a series of behavioral composites to help agents investigate white collar crime…. Purchase Licensing RightsRead more

WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday ended its longstanding practice requiring that people and companies who settle allegations of ​wrongdoing refrain from publicly refuting the case against them, a practice that some conservative ‌critics had said violated defendants’ freedom of speech.

The change, which the SEC had rejected considering under former President Joe Biden, marks a further softening of the regulator’s enforcement posture under President Donald Trump.

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“Speech critical of the government is ​an important part of the American tradition,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins said in a ​statement. The change “ends the policy prohibiting such criticism by settling defendants,” he added.

Since ⁠1972, SEC regulations required that, when settling enforcement actions, defendants who do not admit to ​the agency’s accusations also refrain from denying them or causing others to do so. The agency said ​at the time it wanted to prevent the impression that the allegations could be false.

In the decades since, such neither-admit-nor-deny settlements became standard practice in settling SEC enforcement matters and continued even after former Chair Mary Jo ​White pledged in 2013 to reduce the agency’s reliance on them in the wake of the ​2008 financial crash.

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At that time, some advocates for tougher policing of Wall Street instead called on the agency ‌to extract ⁠admissions of responsibility from alleged wrongdoers.

After the SEC declined a previous request to consider ending the policy, Republican Commissioner Hester Peirce said in 2024 there was little evidence that denials of responsibility had caused problems for the agency and that other regulators had not adopted similar policies.

In Monday’s ​announcement, the SEC also said ​it would not ⁠seek to reopen previous enforcement actions if the defendants violated the no-deny provisions to which they had agreed.

Chris Iacovella, president of the American Securities Association, ​welcomed the news, saying in a statement that under its previous policy ​the SEC ⁠had sought to “extinguish” the free speech rights of every individual who felt “forced to settle rather than fight.”

Ben Schiffrin of the organization Better Markets, which advocates for stronger enforcement of financial regulations, said the SEC ⁠had ​adopted the change without first seeking comment from the public.

“The ​SEC should want the public to have no doubt that its sanctions are based on violations of the securities laws,​ he said in a statement.

Reporting by Douglas Gillison, Jasper Ward and Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Sonali Paul

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The story of the 1996 shootdown that could lead to Raúl Castro’s indictment

May 18, 2026 / 6:44 PM EDT / CBS News

In February 1996, three small civilian planes took off from a Miami-area airport, operated by a Cuban exile group that searched for people seeking to flee the island nation in rafts. Two of the planes were shot down by a Cuban fighter jet, killing four people.

Now, 30 years later, the deadly shootdown appears to be the focus of a potential federal criminal case against one of the most powerful figures in Cuba.

The U.S. is taking steps to indict Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old who led Cuba after the retirement of his older brother, Fidel, CBS News was first to report last week. An indictment would mark an escalation of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against Cuba and a new phase in the U.S.’ long, tense relationship with the Castro family.

The organization that flew the planes, Brothers to the Rescue, was founded in the early 1990s by José Basulto, a Cuban American who has described himself as a participant in the Bay of Pigs invasion, the botched CIA-sponsored operation to oust Fidel Castro in 1961.

A Brothers to the Rescue plane flies over The Democracy Movement flotilla at the twelve-mile limit north of Havana, Cuba, on July 10, 1999. ALAN DIAZ

The group operated search-and-rescue flights over the waters between Florida and Cuba, aiding thousands of people who fled Cuba on makeshift vessels, according to Basulto. He later said the group also sought to help Castro opponents. By the mid-1990s, the Clinton administration stopped automatically admitting these emigrants into the U.S., causing the number of people taking to the sea in rafts to drop significantly.

The Cuban government accused Brothers to the Rescue of repeatedly violating its airspace and distributing anti-Castro leaflets, which it called “illegal and provocative” acts. Cuba also claimed the group sought to blow up electrical infrastructure, allegations that appeared to stem from a former Brothers to the Rescue member who returned to Cuba in 1996.

Basulto has said he did not plan to drop leaflets on the day of the deadly shootdown. Asked in 1999 about allegations that Brothers to the Rescue violated Cuban sovereignty, Basulto has argued that he has a right to enter and exit his own native country.

“I’m not a foreigner there,” he said in a 1999 interview for the University of Miami’s Institute for Public History. “And that sovereignty belongs to the people of Cuba, and not to the ruler, … and I’m not infringing on the sovereignty of my country, namely Cuba, by being there.”

Three of the group’s planes, carrying eight people in total, departed from Opa Locka Airport just after 1 p.m. on Feb. 24, 1996, and flew in the direction of Cuba, according to a detailed report by the U.N.’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Shortly before 3 p.m., Basulto radioed air traffic controllers in Havana to tell them his plane was crossing into Cuba’s air defense identification zone, an area outside a country’s airspace where planes are required to identify themselves. An air traffic controller warned he was “taking a risk,” and Basulto responded that “we are ready to do so as free Cubans.”

Less than half an hour after that, one of the group’s Cessnas was destroyed by a Cuban-operated MiG-29 fighter jet, killing one U.S. citizen and one green card-holder. A second plane was destroyed moments later, killing two American citizens.

“This one won’t f*** with us anymore,” a Cuban pilot was recorded saying in Spanish after the first plane was shot down, according to a radio transcript in ICAO’s report.

“Fatherland or death,” the pilot said after the second Cessna was hit.

The third plane, carrying Basulto and three crew members, landed safely in Florida.

Basulto told CBS News Miami earlier this year, around the 30th anniversary of the shootdown: “I remember saying to Sylvia Iriondo in the plane, ‘we are next.’”

José Basulto, founder of Brothers to the Rescue, addresses the media in Opa Locka, Fla., on May 24, 2005. YESIKKA VIVANCOS / AP

An investigation by the ICAO later concluded that the planes were shot down over international waters, several miles outside of Cuban airspace. Cuban and U.S. radar data conflicted, with Cuba claiming the planes were inside its airspace, according to the ICAO, so the organization based its findings on data from a nearby cruise ship.

The ICAO also noted that international law bars countries from firing at civilian planes, even inside their own airspace. And the organization found Cuba did not attempt less drastic measures, including communicating with the planes via radio or guiding them out of Cuban airspace. Intercepting civil aircraft is supposed to be a “last resort,” the ICAO wrote.

Cuba has long defended its decision to shoot down the planes, insisting that Brothers to the Rescue had encroached on the country’s sovereignty. Months later, Fidel Castro acknowledged to then-“CBS Evening News” anchor Dan Rather that he had given “general orders” to the military to stop planes from encroaching on Cuba, though he said that he and his brother, Raúl Castro, hadn’t specifically ordered the two Cessnas to be shot down on Feb. 24.

In an interview with Time magazine, Fidel Castro said after repeated incursions on Cuban airspace: “We instructed the armed forces that we would not tolerate it again.”

The U.S. reacted furiously to the shootdowns. Within weeks, Congress passed tighter sanctions on Cuba, and former President Bill Clinton suspended charter flights to the island nation and expanded broadcasts to Cuba by a U.S.-sponsored radio station.

“The planes posed no credible threat to Cuba’s security,” Clinton said in a speech a few days after the Cessnas were shot down. “Although the group that operated the planes had entered Cuban airspace in the past on other flights, this is no excuse for the attack, and provides—let me emphasize—no legal basis under international law for the attack.”

In 1996, hundreds of demonstrators gather outside the Brothers to the Rescue hangar at Opa Locka Airport, protesting Cuba’s shootdown of two of the organization’s planes. Chuck Fadely/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Years later, one person was convicted of murder conspiracy in connection with the shootdown, after U.S. prosecutors accused him of spying for Cuba and seeking to pass on information about the Brothers to the Rescue flights. After over a decade in prison, he returned to Cuba in a 2014 prisoner swap. Two fighter pilots and the head of Cuba’s air force were also charged with murder in federal court but were never tried.

The incident was also heard in civil court. The families of some of the killed Cessna pilots sued the Cuban government, and a federal judge awarded them nearly $50 million in compensatory damages and just over $137 million in punitive damages.

But in recent months, the Brothers to the Rescue case has drawn renewed interest, with some Florida lawmakers and members of Miami’s Cuban American community calling for charges against Raúl Castro, who led Cuba’s armed forces when the planes were shot down.

The possible indictment comes at a delicate moment in U.S.-Cuba relations. The Trump administration has imposed a virtual oil blockade on the island, worsening the country’s energy shortages and leading to widespread electric blackouts. Administration officials have pressed Cuba to make political and economic reforms, and have offered Cuba $100 million in aid, while President Trump floats a “friendly takeover” of the country.

Charges against Raúl Castro could also come months after the U.S. military apprehended former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — an ally of the Cuban government — and whisked him to New York to face criminal prosecution.

Former Cuban President Raúl Castro waves to the audience at the Gran Teatro de la Habana Alicia Alonso prior to a 2016 address to the Cuban people by President Barack Obama. Paul Hennessy / SOPA Images

Skid Row election scheme allegedly fueled by pocket-change payoffs busted by Trump DOJ

2026-05-18T16:41:25-04:00 / Fox News

DOJ says Marina del Rey resident could face up to five years in federal prison for the felony charge

By Ashley J. DiMella Fox News

Published May 18, 2026 4:41pm EDT

DOJ investigating Michigan voter fraud

Harmeet Dhillon, U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, discusses the DOJ’s investigation into voter fraud in Michigan’s Wayne County, citing instances of fraudulent voting and non-compliance with the Help America Vote Act.

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The Department of Justice charged a California woman with paying people — including homeless individuals on Los Angeles’ Skid Row — to register to vote while she worked as a paid ballot-petition signature collector, according to federal prosecutors.

“False registrations undermine Americans’ faith in elections – even more so when payoffs are involved,” assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a press release Monday.

“This Justice Department is committed to ensuring that all U.S. elections are fair and free from illegal meddling – so that all Americans can accept the results with confidence,” Dhillon added.

MARYLAND BALLOT BLUNDER TRIGGERS GOP PUSH FOR FEDERAL REVIEW OF BLUE STATE’S VOTER ROLLS

The DOJ charged a California woman with paying people, including homeless individuals on Skid Row, to register to vote.(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Marina del Rey resident “Anika” Brenda Lee Armstrong, 64, solicited signatures for official ballot initiatives, including in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles, often paying people between $2 and $3, according to DOJ.

She was charged with one felony count of paying another person to register to vote and agreed to plead guilty, according to the DOJ. Armstrong made her initial court appearance Monday.

CALIFORNIA WOMAN FACING FELONY CHARGES FOR REGISTERING HER DOG TO VOTE, CASTING 2 BALLOTS

Armstrong was charged with a felony count of paying another person to register to vote, in which she could face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Armstrong worked as a “petition circulator” for approximately 20 years, and would receive payment for each registered voter’s signature, according to her plea agreement.

The amount she was paid varied depending on the specific ballot initiative. Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ to clarify which initiatives and groups Armstrong was soliciting for and how much she was paid.

Many members of Skid Row’s homeless population were not registered to vote, so prosecutors said Armstrong brought voter registration forms with her and began offering payment to people to complete them.

Prosecutors said Armstrong sometimes provided homeless individuals with her former Los Angeles address to list on voter registration forms, which registered them to vote in both California and federal elections.

CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS LAUNCH VOTER ID BALLOT PUSH, NEED 875K SIGNATURES BY DEADLINE

“False registrations undermine Americans’ faith in elections – even more so when payoffs are involved,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

California automatically sends vote-by-mail ballots to every registered voter, with prosecutors saying ballots in some individuals’ names could potentially have been sent to Armstrong’s former residence, where those individuals did not live or collect mail.

Armstrong was charged with a felony count of paring another person to register to vote, in which she could face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

Investigative reporter James O’Keefe took a victory lap over the indictment, citing O’Keefe Media Group first captured footage of the alleged scheme on Skid Row.

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Homeless people are eligible to register to vote so long as they have a location where mail can be received and “be properly assigned to a voting precinct,” according to the California Secretary of State.

Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of the California governor and state attorney general for additional comment on the matter on Monday.

Ashley J. DiMella reports on politics for Fox News Digital.

The Republican senators speaking out against Trump

2026-05-18T21:22:56.611Z / The Washington Post

Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy joins a short but notable list.

May 18, 2026 at 5:23 p.m. EDT Today at 5:23 p.m. EDT

By Amber Phillips

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) won’t be returning to Congress next year after he lost a Republican primary race on Saturday. (Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post)

During President Donald Trump’s decade leading the Republican Party, it’s been proved over and over that if you want a job in GOP politics, you need to be almost completely in line with him.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) is the latest example. He just lost his primary, after voting five years ago to convict Trump at the president’s impeachment trial after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. (Senators serve six-year terms, so this was Cassidy’s first time on the ballot since then.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/05/18/republican-senators-speaking-out-against-trump/

患肺动脉高压始终乐观开朗 法律顾问抗病20年离世

2026年5月19日 07:23 / 联合早报

司徒淑仪的丈夫谢如昌受访时说，曾下定决心倾尽积蓄，支付妻子的医药费，但始终未有机会告诉她。 （李冠卫摄）

与父亲患有相同的罕见疾病，到后期连呼吸都感吃力的司徒淑仪，在5月17日结束20年的抗病历程离世，享年50岁。

司徒淑仪毕业于新加坡国立大学法律系，后来担任新加坡知识产权局（IPOS）首席法律顾问。她在30岁那年时确诊肺动脉高压（Pulmonary Hypertension）。

丈夫谢如昌（理工学院讲师，59岁）5月18日在惹兰加由显现堂（Church of the Epiphany）的灵堂受访时说，司徒淑仪只要身体状况许可，就会继续工作，直至离世前仍居家办公。这既是为了应付高昂医疗费用，也是为了维持精神状态。

作为看护者，谢如昌（左）认为照顾妻子司徒淑仪并不困难。（受访者提供）

谢如昌说，妻子即使患病也从不抱怨，并且尽量避免使用轮椅，只要体力允许，都会坚持行走。他回忆道，有一个晚上听见她在床上哭泣，才意识到妻子正承受药物副作用带来的痛苦，但仍不愿打扰他。

作为看护者，谢如昌认为照顾妻子并不困难。“很多事情她都可以自己做，只是在呼吸比较困难时需要帮忙。”他也透露，会在妻子洗澡前帮忙拆除自动静脉注射设备，洗澡后帮忙吹干她的头发。“对我来说，这是一种享受，因为在我眼中她依旧很美丽。”

司徒淑仪临终前一周网购一个装教具的塑料容器，也成为她留给丈夫的最后一份礼物。

谢如昌（右）说，他一直尽力为妻子创造美好的回忆，会带妻子去超市、看花展，这些就能够让她感到满足。（受访者提供）

谢如昌也提到，妻子积极参与“蓝唇运动”（Blue Lips Campaign），公开分享患病经历，让社会更了解肺动脉高压这种疾病。他也呼应了妻子今年3月接受本报访问时发出的呼吁，希望社会与政府为肺动脉高压的患者提供更多经济与医疗支持，帮他们应付高昂的治疗费用。

在同事眼中“温柔、善良、能触动人心”

司徒淑仪的三妹司徒碧仪（家庭主妇，43岁）同样患有肺动脉高压，但病情较轻，偶尔仍会出现呼吸困难。她说，自己近日出现右眼发红的情况，虽然与疾病无关，但姐姐关心她的状况，还胜过自己的病情。

姐妹俩也曾是同事。她说，许多同事纷纷发来悼念信息，形容司徒淑仪“温柔、善良、能够触动人心”。

二妹司徒敏仪（体育老师，46岁）也提到，家人原本已约定6月一同享用下午茶，如今却成为未能实现的约定。

本地至今仅300起肺动脉高压病例

肺动脉高压影响肺动脉及右心功能，可能致命。至今，新加坡仅有大约300起确诊病例。

肺动脉高压的其中一个症状是嘴唇发蓝，这是患者体内血氧低的结果。

国大心脏中心总主任兼高级顾问医生叶伟麟副教授早前接受本报访问时指出，肺动脉高压的患者约七八成是女性，不少患者有这方面的家族病史。

TrumpRx will add 600 generic drugs, president says

2026-05-18T22:21:21.557Z / The Washington Post

The drug-pricing initiative has been one of the administration’s top political priorities ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

President Donald Trump speaks about TrumpRx. Administration officials launched the website in February. (Alex Brandon/AP)

By Dan Diamond

President Donald Trump on Monday announced that about 600 low-cost generic drugs would be available through TrumpRx.gov, a government website aimed at helping Americans purchase medications at discounted prices.

中国地震局：柳州5.2级地震为逆冲型破裂

2026年5月19日 07:42 / 联合早报

广西柳州市柳南区5月18日发生5.2级地震。图为工作人员支起帐篷安置民众。 （中新社）

中国广西柳州市柳南区发生5.2级地震后，专家研判，本次地震为逆冲型破裂。

据中新社报道，记者星期一（5月18日）从中国地震局获悉，当天凌晨广西柳州市柳南区发生5.2级地震后，中国地震台网中心组织专家研究分析认为，此次地震距离最近的断层是百朋断裂，小于5公里；距离河池-宜山断裂约23公里。初步震源机制解结果显示，该地震为逆冲型破裂。

本次5.2级地震区域以中等地震活动为主，总体表现为强度弱、频度低的特点。1900年以来，震中100公里范围内仅发生过一次5.0级以上地震，震中300公里范围内发生5.0级以上地震八次（不含本次）；时间最近的为2019年10月12日广西北流5.2级地震。1900年以来5级以上地震序列类型统计结果显示，震中附近300公里范围内历史地震序列类型均为主余型。

此次地震震中位于广西柳州市柳南区，距离柳州市城区16公里，柳州市中心震感强烈，南宁、河池等地均有震感。根据历史地震、地震序列衰减特征、地震前兆资料综合会商结果初步判断，此次地震为前震-主震-余震型地震。

中国地震台网中心、广西壮族自治区地震局、中国地震局地震预测研究所将密切跟踪此次地震余震活动，持续开展地震序列跟踪分析和滚动会商研判。

Who could benefit from Trump’s $1.7+ billion “weaponization” fund?

May 18, 2026 / 6:49 PM EDT / CBS News

By Jacob Rosen Justice Department Reporter
Jake Rosen is a reporter covering the Department of Justice. He was previously a campaign digital reporter covering President Trump’s 2024 campaign and also served as an associate producer for “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

Read Full Bio

When President Trump and the Justice Department settled the president’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department Monday over the leak of his tax returns, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced, as part of the agreement, the creation of a $1.7+ billion “anti-weaponization fund,” which he said would “provide a systematic process to hear and redress claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.”

The fund’s creation is the latest step Mr. Trump has taken to enact his pledge to bring “retribution” for his supporters, after pardoning roughly 1,500 defendants who were convicted of crimes committed during the Capitol insurrection, stripping security clearances from his perceived political enemies and demanding his Justice Department to investigate them.

During Mr. Trump’s second administration, Justice Department leaders have fired dozens of staff who investigated Mr. Trump and his allies as part of two special counsel investigations, one related to his alleged mishandling of classified records and the other tied to his conduct following the 2020 presidential election. They have also created a “weaponization working group” to review Biden administration law enforcement policies. And now the Justice Department will control an unprecedented amount of taxpayer money to potentially dole out to those it deems wrongly investigated or prosecuted.

A spokesperson for the Trump legal team said in a statement that Mr. Trump “is entering into this settlement squarely for the benefit of the American people, and he will continue his fight to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.”

After the fund was announced, ethics experts were quick to raise questions about how any claims against the fund would be processed — who’s eligible to receive a settlement, and who’s arbitrating the claims? Here’s what’s known about the fund.

What is the fund, and how will it be used?

According to a memorandum signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was also previously one of Mr. Trump’s defense attorneys, within 60 days, the Treasury will move $1.776 billion to an account “for the sole use” of the “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”

The fund will be overseen by a commission of five members appointed by the attorney general, which will have the power to issue formal apologies and issue monetary relief owed to claimants. One member will be chosen “in consultation with congressional leadership,” the department said. A member may be removed from the commission, but a replacement must be chosen the same way the member was selected.

The department said the fund will stop processing claims on Dec. 15, 2028, just over a month before the next president is inaugurated. Any money remaining in the fund will revert back to the federal government, the department said, adding that the U.S. “has no liability” if funds are misused by the claimants.

Who could the money go to?

It’s unclear who specifically is eligible to access the funds. The Justice Department said in a press release announcing the settlement that there are “no partisan requirements to file a claim.”

If past settlements and actions by the Justice Department provide any insight, it’s likely that some of Mr. Trump’s highest-profile supporters and allies will benefit.

Jan. 6 rioters — including those convicted of the most violent behavior during the attack but later pardoned by Mr. Trump — could likely apply for money, as could high-profile former Trump administration and campaign officials who were litigating against the Justice Department before coming to their own settlement agreements.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department also agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Mark Houck, a prominent anti-abortion rights opponent who was acquitted at trial in early 2023 on FACE Act charges. His lawyer told CBS News that the Justice Department had agreed to pay him $1.1 million to settle the suit.

The Justice Department also recently settled two claims by former Trump national security official and right-wing activist Michael Flynn, with one case settling for at least $1.25 million, a source familiar with the settlement negotiations told CBS News at the time.

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows is also asking the Justice Department to reimburse him for legal fees he incurred in multiple federal and state investigations in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.

Will there be oversight?

Outside of potential future litigation and legislation, there appears to be limited oversight of the fund, ethics experts said. Blanche or a future attorney general are authorized to audit the use of the fund.

The Justice Department said that the fund must send a report to the attorney general once a quarter with details on who has received relief and what form of relief was granted.

Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia University Law School who specializes in government ethics, said the initial lawsuit that led to the settlement was a “collusive suit” because Mr. Trump sued his own government and settled the case between two entities he controls, his legal team and the Justice Department.

“It’s not clear what — if any — kind of screening mechanism they’re going to use. How they can decide who’s going to get how much money,” Briffault said. “Does it matter what you were charged with? Does it matter whether you were under investigation? Does it matter whether you were convicted?”

Briffault said that without public guidelines and details of how the commission will work, “it’s just kind of an open-ended slush fund.”

“It’s possible some of them might have legitimate claims, but there doesn’t seem to be any requirement that they persuade a judge that they were mistreated or they persuade a jury they were mistreated, it’s not quite clear,” Briffault said. “Based on what’s come out so far, it’s just a fund that the taxpayers are going to pay for to cover claims by people who he thinks were mistreated by the prior administration, without them having to prove anything in court.”

Ethical concerns and criticism

The fund’s creation has already sparked a litany of criticism from government watchdog and ethics groups.

“This is the greatest abuse of the legal system in history, so far as I’m concerned,” Liz Oyer, a former pardon attorney at the Justice Department, said in an interview with CBS News. Oyer oversaw the handling of pardons and clemency from spring 2022 through the first days of the Trump administration before resigning.

Oyer said she believes there is a “criminal conspiracy” between the Trump legal team and the Justice Department by allowing the fund to be created with taxpayer dollars.

“There’s no transparency. The five members of the fund appear to have total discretion to award money to whomever they choose. There does not appear to be any oversight mechanism,” Oyer said, adding, “There’s no process for public input. It appears that these five people have complete discretion to give away our money to whomever they choose.”

The nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington issued a statement condemning Monday’s settlement as “the most brazen act of self-dealing in the history of the presidency.”

“While Americans are struggling with an affordability crisis, President Trump plans to use nearly $1.8 billion in taxpayer money to pay off his friends and allies — including potentially the violent insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol on January 6th,” CREW president Donald K. Sherman said, adding that it “quite likely” violates the Constitution’s Domestic Emoluments Clause.