A former Republican candidate for a New Mexico state House seat was sentenced Wednesday to 80 years behind bars after contracting gunmen to carry out drive-by shootings at the homes of Democratic officials after his election loss.Solomon Pea was convicted of 13 felony charges earlier this year after he orchestrated the attacks in Albuquerque, New Mexico just weeks after his defeat in November 2022.He had been charged with conspiracy, being a felon in possession of a firearm, four counts of intimidation and interference with federally protected activities, four counts of using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and three counts of solicitation to commit a crime of violence.The shootings, one of which involved a machine gun, were carried out between Dec. 4, 2022, and Jan. 3, 2023. Pea personally participated in one of the attacks.FORMER CONGRESSMAN GEORGE SANTOS DELIVERS 'GLAMOROUS' FAREWELL BEFORE GOING TO PRISON: 'THE CURTAIN FALLS'Some of the shootings happened while children and other relatives of the victims were at home, although nobody was hurt.Prosecutors said Pea organized the shootings at the homes of two Bernalillo County commissioners and two New Mexico state legislators in response to unsubstantiated claims that election fraud contributed to his loss."Violence and intimidation have no place in our elections," U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Ryan Ellison said in a statement on Wednesday.The officials Pea targeted were all Democrats and included the current state House speaker.Following his unsuccessful campaign, Pea went to the homes of members of the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners and pressured them not to certify the election results, purporting that the election had been "rigged" against him.When they refused and certified the results, Pea hired co-conspirators Jose Trujillo and Demetrio Trujillo to carry out the shootings, prosecutors said.MS-13 LEADER IN TRUMPS CROSSHAIRS TO BE SENTENCED IN RACKETEERING CASE INVOLVING 8 LONG ISLAND MURDERSThe two men Pea contracted for the shooting spree pleaded guilty last year. Following his arrest, Pea attempted to havethe pair murderedto prevent them from testifying.In addition to the 80 years in prison, Pea was given three years of supervised release. His lawyer said he would appeal the conviction.Fox News' Danielle Wallace and Reuters contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump wants a Ukraine ceasefire. Even if Putin agrees, America wont be safer.For the Ukraine war has also turned the China-Russia alliance into the greatest military danger America faces.The China-Russia alliance has grown by leaps and bounds since Trump last met with Putin in 2019 on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan.China gave Russia the greenlight to try to take over all of Ukraine in 2022.China and Russia engage in high-stakes military exercises and tech deals. Both are sprinting ahead on new nuclear weapons and missiles. Dont forget Iran and North Korea, junior partners whose drones and troops have added to the bloodshed.So while Trump looks Putin in the eye at Joint Base Elmendorf, he will also weigh how close Putin really is to Chinas Xi Jinping.Its a scary scenario.FROM TALK TO TACTICS: TRUMP PIVOTS ON RUSSIA STRATEGY TO END WARChina counts on Russia as a partner in global confrontation."Grynch," NATOs new commander Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, United States Air Force, is widely known by his callsign from his days as an F-16 and F-22 pilot.He recently said he worries that China could synchronize an invasion of Taiwan with a new Russian attack on the Baltics or another part of Europe.This is the big one a potential two-front crisis with Russia and China, and allies around the world cowering at the implications.Make no mistake.On the economic front, Russia is pretty much a vassal state to China.Everybody knows China buys 47% of Russias oil.But Russias war machine is also dependent on China.During the last four years of war, Putins Russia has "refashioned its military, economic, and social structures to sustain what it describes as a long-term confrontation with the West,"notedoutgoing SACEUR Gen. Christopher Cavoli.Putin cant afford to slow down the massive rearmament that is keeping Russias economy afloat. Russia spends 40% of its federal budget on weapons and is on track to replace all the tanks, artillery, and equipment lost in Ukraine.Close ties with China are essential to keeping the factories running and preserving Putins hold on power.China sells DJI drones for "civilian uses" to Russia.Russia also gets vital rare earth strategic minerals germanium and gallium from China. Worse, Russianimportsof Chinese nitrocellulose, an explosives precursor, have soared from zero to 1300 tons in 2023.Beyond supporting the Russians in the Ukraine war, Chinas military partners with Russia to expand its reach and master new tactics for global military operations.China has no recent combat experience (fortunately) so they are making up for it with a surging tempo of military exercises. Here, Russia is often the teacher.China-Russia joint military exercises went from just two in 2012 to 14 in 2024.From Aug.1-Aug. 5, Russias navy ran submarine drills with China in the Sea of Japan. This time last summer, two Russian Tu-95 Tupolev bombers were patrolling off Alaska along with two Chinese H-6 nuclear-capable bombers. A recent reportfrom Defense Newssuggests Russia was tutoring Chinas bomber force in nuclear triad operations.CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONWashington, DC has been slow to accept the full dangers wrought by Putin and Xi.Bidens distracted approach to foreign policy didnt help, but it all started to go wrong in the Obama administration. Remember when Obama took then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev out forcheeseburgersin Arlington, Virginia in 2010?Yes, the same Medvedev whose recent threatening remarks about nuclear "dead-hand" strikes prompted Trump to move two nuclear submarines to "appropriate positions" on Aug 1.The vaunted Russia "re-set" took place between Moscow and Beijing instead.Coordinated U.S. military and economic power is essential to face down this pair.Bring on those secondary sanctions!Alaska is a strategic bastion filled with U.S. F-22s and F-35 stealth fighters, the Ground-Based Missile Defense interceptors at Fort Greeley, and more. Hence the summit is also an opportunity for Trump to remind Putin that the U.S. military wont be pushed around, even by the ugly duo of China and Russia.Trump may bring the killing to an end in Ukraine. But his biggest challenge in making America safer still lies ahead.

Washington elites of both parties are clutching their pearls at the prospect of the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska. "Hes Putins stooge!" scream Trump Derangement Syndrome Democrats. "Hell betray Ukraine to get a deal!" scream the forever war Republican NeoCons. "Hell abandon America First and get us embroiled in Europes problem!" scream the isolationists in the Republican Party.None of them understand what makes Donald Trump tick. They think hes just like them another standard issue politician who cares more about perception than reality, who values process over progress. He may have an end goal, but is usually unwilling to make compromises to achieve it.Donald Trump approaches problems from the other direction. He has an end goal, even if hes not yet sure how to get there. Hes willing to improvise, to compromise, to completely change his approach, even if its unorthodox.WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TRUMPS MEETING WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN IN ALASKAIve been in the Situation Room with four presidents, going back to President Richard Nixon.Trump is different.He focuses on getting a project completed as quickly as possible, no matter how he does it. It makes sense given his background. As a real estate developer, he didnt make money until a building was finished. All the expenses were up front -- buy the land, service the debt, and pay for workers, materials, and machinery.When Trump began a real estate development, he didnt know what difficulties hed encounter along the way bad weather, political roadblocks, labor disputes, supply chain disruptions. When he ran into problems, he improvised. His overriding goal was to finish the building as quickly as possible.Time is money. Thats why President Trump is moving on all these issues at warp speed. That is why he always has a Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. Thats why his critics call him unpredictable and mercurial and howl with outrage if he changes plans.Most politicians are understandably focused on the next election. They must appear to have all the answers, for fear their opponents will tear them apart. When was the last time a politician admitted his plan didnt work? They give speeches, have negotiations, and dont take risks for fear of failure or alienating important electorates. A politician can make process seem like progress. Politicians are less concerned with achieving their ultimate goals than in having the right approach along the way. They stick to Plan A, even if its not working.Republicans and Democrats prolonged the forever wars in the Middle East for two decades because they didnt want to admit they were wrong.President Trumps Plan A for ending the Ukraine War was to use his charm and personality to bring both sides to the negotiating table. Thats why for years he was reluctant to criticize Putin; because he wanted to flatter him to the negotiating table. But Plan A failed.Plan B was to use maximum pressure to bring them to the table. It worked with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.Trumps threats to pull support from Ukraine convinced him to sign an agreement binding our economies together to develop Ukraines rare earth minerals. He offloaded much of the wars costs to Europe. Theyre now footing the bill instead of the American taxpayer.CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONBut Plan B didnt work with Putin. During their several phone calls, Putin told Trump he wanted to end the war. But once they hung up, Putin escalated attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets.So, what does Plan C look like? We dont know yet. That is why President Trump wants to meet face to face with Putin: to assess whether he really does want a negotiated peace agreement or wants fight onand onand on in a grinding war of attrition.If Putin is willing to come to the table in good faith, President Trump is likely to push for a quick settlement. Neither side would get everything it wants, but each would get enough to live with. All along, Trumps goal has been to negotiate an end to the war without alienating Putin or pushing Russia into Chinas open arms.But if President Trump concludes Putin is just playing for time, he is likely to move quickly to a Plan D and force Putin to the table by strangling the Russian economy. He could impose secondary sanctions on those countries which ignore sanctions and still buy Russian oil and gas. He would give them a choice. They could continue to buy Russian energy and lose access to the all-important American market or stop buying Russian oil and continue to sell to the American consumer.Russia has paid for the Ukraine war with oil and gas export revenues. Without that income, Putin would be hard pressed to continue fighting. Plan D would take longer but would ultimately force Putin to the negotiating table. Russia would literally run out of the money to prosecute the war.The irony here? That they are meeting in Alaska.Russia used to own Alaska but was forced to sell it to America in 1867 because it went broke paying for the Crimean war.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM KT McFARLAND

The first thing President Trump should do with the District of Columbia police force, which he took over on Tuesday, is fire or retire much, if not most, of its upper tier of leadership, and replace them with the most successful law enforcement professionals he can recruit to the nations capitol.And, yes, President Trump can do just that, though D.C. may have to pay out some settlements if contracts are broken. (Union agreements and individual contracts do not trump Trump in this situation.)The president will be blamed by the left for everything that happens while he is in control of the Districts "thin blue line." An example of this style of "reporting" comes from ABC News, which posted at 6:03 PM Tuesday evening: "Roughly nine hours after President Donald Trump declared apublic safety emergencyin Washington, D.C., and took control of the city's police force, a 33-year-old man was shot and killed in Logan Circle, less than a mile from the White House, officials said."RADICAL DC OFFICIALS TREATED OFFICERS LIKE CRAP, POLICE LEADER SAYS 7 ATTACKS THAT LED TO TRUMP TAKEOVER"The killing marked the 100th homicide in Washington, D.C., this year," the ABC story continued, "and the first since the Trump administration took over control of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), according tostatistics."The legacy media and its left-wing journo-activists will be eager for the president to fail in his attempt to restore the sense of safety that has disappeared from much of the nations capitol. "Failure" is going to be the "narrative" from the legacy media regardless of the facts because so much of legacy media loathes everything the president does. So, as the president will be blamed for every crime while hes in control of the Metropolitan Police Department ("MPD"), the president should use his statutory authority over the D.C. cops to its fullest extent.Doubt the authority of the president to remake the D.C. police from top to bottom? Then read up on the underlying law governing the District.Law professors in the United States are among the most politically vociferous and ideologically committed of all academics, and the vast majority of them are men and women of the left and often the far left.Some of them are objective, even if from the left, though, and that includes Professor Steve Vladeck of Georgetown University Law Center, who earlier this week provided a great summary of the history of the District of Columbia and the links to the statutory authority the president invoked Monday.In his "One First" newsletter this week, Professor Vladeck concedes that "the Home Rule Actgives the President the powerto take control of the D.C. Police whenever [he] determines that special conditions of an emergency nature exist which require the use of the Metropolitan Police force for federal purposes.""The authority is limited to no more than 30 days (its limited to 48 hours unless the President sends a special notification to the Chair and Ranking Members of the relevant congressional committees explaining why he needs the authority for longer)," the professor adds. "And even within those 30 days, the authority is simply to use the MPD for federal purposes.""In other words," Vladeck concludes, "the President canborrowthe MPD for his own priorities; but he cant control how they discharge theirotherduties."In other words, about Professor Vladecks "in other words" phrase, the presidents control of the D.C. police is complete for at least 30 days. Hes in complete charge of the department. That means President Trumps authority is "plenary," in other words: "full," "entire," "absolute," or "comprehensive," and that includes all aspects of a topic or situation, which means hiring, firing, retiring or reorganizing.It is arguable from the face of the statute that the president can renew the authority for many 30-day periods, if Congress does not provide him a resolution making his control of the D.C. police explicit and limited to a certain time. Perhaps he ought to make them non-consecutive to err on the side of complying with the law, but repetitive 30-day periods separated by a day or two could work. What isnt in doubt is President Trumps control of the MPD for another 28 days.How to make a lasting change in 25 days if the president would prefer to both reform policing and yet not have to litigate his way through successive 30-day declarations? Personnel is policy, of course, so switch up the leadership.The president should thank the existing hierarchy of the department for their service and then dismiss them and bring in his own people to run the department while simultaneously expanding its budget for officers on the street significantly.The president need only ask GOP governors for suggestions on a new chief and other senior leaders, and then select a new #1 from the suggestions offered by the governors (or from his FBI Director Kash Patel). The president and the new chief should appoint a new senior level of leadership.There is no doubt that there are many fine, courageous and superbly trainedprofessionals already within the department, and some, if not many, will want to stay on the job, and the president and the new leadership will want them to stay on. But for a clean break to occur with the culture that has allowed chaos to spread in the city over the past decade and beyond, a sharp separation from the past will be needed.Some retirement or farewell receptions will be teary-eyed, but not as sad as the funerals taking place because of brazen and increasingly shocking crime. (The murder of the two employees of the Israeli Embassy, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, on May 21 is only the most shocking of the many awful crimes of this spring and summer. For a rundown of the climate of lawlessness in D.C., listen to Tuesdays episode of "The Ruthless Podcast.")Among many disturbing allegations about the District is the one that reported stories of the purposeful mischaracterization of crimes that are being committed in order to minimize the shock of the bleak statistics. Very few people who have lived in or near D.C. doubt the allegation because the happy talk about falling crime rates does not match the experience of downtown, even in its relatively peaceful Northwest quadrant. Near-by residents of Maryland and Virginia are of the same mind as the non-criminal class within the District: The feeling of safety that was common in D.C. even a decade ago has faded away, slowly at first but accelerating rapidly in the years of President Bidens tenure when Democratic Party political posturing was more focused on getting the District statehood and two United States senatorsrather than the equal of any police force in the city. (This DNC talking point is unconstitutional gambit absent an actual amendment to the Constitution replacing the 23rd Amendment)President Trump asserted lawful authority on Tuesday. Now he must use it lawfully of course to effect the reforms of MPD that almost everyone inside the Beltway longs for, even if only inside their thoughts. Its a "deep blue" District, but parents in deep blue cities want their children as safe as parents in deep red jurisdictions.Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor, and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show," heard weekdays from 3 pm to 6 pm ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh drives America home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channels news roundtable hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman Universitys Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcast, and this column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM HUGH HEWITT

A Democrat-leaning professor is calling for reforms in the social sciences that have been "captured" by a progressive agenda after joining a coalition of scholars from both sides of the political aisle dedicated toending wokeness in higher education."The idea is that really, one would think that when we're talking about science, whether it's social science or medical science or anything like that, political opinion shouldn't matter. It shouldn't cloud the pursuit of truth," Wayne State University professor Jukka Savolainen toldFox News Digital."And we are doing this because we are convinced with good evidence that this mission has been, this plot has been lost over the years, over the decades, and we want to restore these traditional values of objective inquiry and truth."Savolainen teaches criminal justice and "Sociology of Sport" atWayne State University in Detroit.CHRIS RUFO LAYS OUT REFORMS TO TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ON HOW TO 'SAVE' HIGHER EDUCATIONWhile Florida was considering cutting sociology as a core general education requirement in 2023, Savolainenwrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal arguing that he saw the discipline "morph from a scientific study of social reality into academic advocacy for left-wing causes."His comments bucked the majority of his academic counterparts who were pushing to "Save Sociology." He added that there are other sociology professors who "silently" agree with him.Now, Savolainen is the point person of the sociology community of the Heterodox Academy."Eric Kaufman is the director of the Institute for Heterodox Social Science, and heterodoxy, of course, means the opposite of orthodoxy, the opposite of groupthink. We are all joined in our displeasure with groupthink and monoculture in academia, and we are interested in viewpoint diversity and those types of things," he said.Savolainen signed "The Buckingham Manifesto for a Post-Progressive Social Science" that was published byThe Chronicle of Higher Education in July.The manifesto, led by political science professor Eric Kaufmann, calls for a "post-progressive social science" to be "pursued in new universities and centers, among dissident scholars in the academic mainstream, in think tanks, or, best of all, in a future academe rededicated to open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and civil discourse."Savolainen said that Kaufmann is seeking a coalition between people from all political backgrounds that care about the truth.He added that critics of the manifesto may consider all of the signatories conservative because they do not subscribe to the "sort of left-wing social justice type of narrative."ANTI-ISRAEL PROFESSOR CURSES OUT EMPLOYER UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, SAYS SHE TEACHES TO BUILD POWER"I guess we're all conservative in a sense that science is conservative, that we are conservative about truth. We have to be careful. We have be tolerant of different viewpoints. We have to be open, to be challenged about our perspectives and we have to be very rigorous about what counts as evidence, not just something that you want to believe is true, but there has to be a scientific method we need to respect," Kaufmann said.Among the signers were conservative activist Christopher Rufo and liberal scholars like Steven Pinker from Harvard.Academics from other countries, including Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Argentina, signed the manifesto as well."What I hope to happen is that this is just an affirming [of] something,"Savolainen said."It's also signaling to politicians that not all social scientists are captured, that there is a healthy group of social science people, academics who agree with the problems of ideological bias and maybe to the extent that there's political effort to build and reform universities along these lines, here we are, we're ready to participate in that effort," Savolainen said.Savolainen described himself as a "classical liberal" and a Democrat who has never voted for a Republican."I'm not leftist in this sort of identitarian-social justice perspective that I think is harmful in the long run when it comes to these goals, because it divides people by race and identity and those types of things. I'm not in favor of the gender ideology that pushes unscientific or biologically incorrect agendas about sex differences, for example," he said.He went on to say, "The problem that these signatories, people like me who agree with this statement, is that the social science part of academia, a lot of humanities as well, has been captured, as the term goes, by kind of illiberal f that makes sense illiberal, leftist, quote unquote, woke folk, so illiberal progressive people.""What we mean by that is that folks who do not respect open inquiry, these sorts of classical liberal perspectives of freedom of speech, are more comfortable censoring and suppressing points of view because they are harmful or they disturb the woke or the progressive agenda."

Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund warned Breitbart News Daily that Washington D.C.s homicide rate is "five to six times that of any other major city in the United States."President Donald Trump announced Monday that he plans to deploy approximately 800 National Guard troops and assume oversight of the Metropolitan Police Department to tackle rising crime in Washington, D.C.The announcement caused shockwaves across the media, with some critics arguing that increased concern about crime is based on a faulty perception of Americas cities. Meanwhile, others, like MSNBCs Joe Scarborough, hinted that there may be some truth to Trump saying there is a crisis.Sund praised Trump in particular for being a "very, very detail-oriented person," to the point he notices potential issues with the capital during rides in the motorcade."In case people dont know that, it is not uncommon for him to be driving in a motorcade and realize, hey, street lights are out, or look at that or look at that graffiti and make a notification on it. That is how detail-oriented this President is. So for him to see some of the crime thats happening and some of the assaults that are occurring and Navy Yard is just six blocks south of the Capitol, a short distance from the White House. Its a big area," Sund said.TOP DEMOCRATS RIPPED ON SOCIAL MEDIA OVER 'BONKERS' REACTIONS TO TRUMP'S DC CRIME PLAN: 'MASSIVE LIAR'"To see these gangs of youth kind of taking it over, it doesnt surprise me that theyre now going to pull these federal resources together and form [a] task force," Sund said of Trumps new initiative.But what has been stopped before can be stopped again, and Sund argued that Trumps methods have indeed been tested in recent history."We did this in the early 90s, when I was with D.C. police, we were able to drive down homicide rates. When Chief Lanier was chief, think about 2010 to 2014, we had a homicide rate that was maybe right around 100, 170 a year," he said. "Now 2023, you got 274 homicides. So you had a significant increase."The rise in crime in Americas capital city is something noticed by commentators across the political spectrum, but many Democrats continue to downplay it, claiming it is actually at a 30-year low.TRUMP CLAIMS DC CRIMES TROUNCE STATS FROM NOTORIOUSLY VIOLENT CITIES WORLDWIDE"So when people talk about, Oh, theres a big drop, theres a drop from 2023 to 2024, but its still significant double what we had in around 2010," Sund pointed out, noting the nuance that there "used to be a time the crime really stayed in certain neighborhoods."Other former members of law enforcement have sounded the alarm as well."You have less chance of being victimized, but if you are victimized, you have more of a chance of dying," John Jay adjunct lecturer Jillian Snider, a retired New York Police Department officer, told Fox News Digital Tuesday of violent crime trends in the nation's capital.CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURESnider was referring to a report published by the Council on Criminal Justice in July, which studied violent crime data of 17 large U.S. cities between 2018 and 2024, specifically diving into the lethality of violent crimes in those cities.It found Washington, D.C., had the highest lethality level out of the group which included cities such as Baltimore and Chicago at a 38% increase in lethality in 2024 compared with 2018.

Some illegal immigrants were allegedly given drivers licenses in Louisville, Kentucky, by paying $200 under the table, according to an ex-clerk who worked for a government contractor at a licensing facility, and it's prompting backlash from a top former Republican official in the state."The employees were being paid under the table," Melissa Moorman told WDRB, adding that it would happen multiple times a day for a minimum of two years.A whistleblower lawsuit from Moorman alleges that she was fired after reporting the situation to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.KENTUCKY WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIMS LICENSING CENTER SOLD IDS TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS 'UNDER THE TABLE'"I immediately let my supervisor know," Moorman told the outlet. The workers she reported were also fired at the end of last year, according to the news outlet.She alleged that the coworkers used her login without permission to give the licenses out without the proper Homeland Security check first, and that fake documents were used for illegal immigrants to avoid taking driving tests, WDRB reported.Illegal immigrants can not legally get drivers licenses in the Bluegrass State.Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said he was "appalled" to learn about the allegations.LOUISIANA 'MEDICAID MILLIONAIRE' BOUGHT LAMBORGHINI WHILE CLAIMING GOVERNMENT BENEFITS FOR YEARS"Under Democrat President Joe Biden, we were lax with our laws, we were letting illegals into the country. We weren't following the rule of law. I think President Trump said it best when he said, 'Turns out we didn't need new laws, we needed a new president that was willing to enforce the laws,'" Cameron, who is the CEO of the 1792 Exchange, told Fox News Digital in an interview.CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE"And apparently we had some rogue employees here in Kentucky that simply refused to follow the law. And again, I think it's courageous of a whistleblower to come out publicly and say that, Hey, this was wrong and I think it needs to be addressed.' And I'm hopeful that this will be addressed and folks in state government will be accountable because at the end of the day, they are entrusted with the responsibility to ensure that our laws are being upheld," he added.Cameron, who's running for U.S. Senate in 2026, commended the whistleblower who recently went public, saying she "had the courage to speak out and be a whistleblower because this again is in contradiction to the rule of law that this is occurring.""I think these folks have got to be held accountable, and I think there needs to be serious questions asked of the Kentucky Department of Transportation on how they could allow these sorts of employees to flout the laws of our state," he continued.The incumbent attorney general, Russell Coleman, said an investigation is underway.DISCOUNTED COLLEGE TUITION FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS POLICY LEADS DOJ TO SUE KENTUCKY"This weeks media reports show troubling and unacceptable conduct. Hand in hand with our state and federal law enforcement partners, weve been aggressively investigating this potential fraud for some time now, well before this weeks reporting," Coleman told Fox News Digital in a statement.Fox News Digital reached out to Gov. Andy Beshears office. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet responded to the local report in a statement to Fox News Digital."Ensuring the integrity of state-issued identification is a high priority and any irregularity is treated seriously and investigated. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) routinely reviews credential applications and during this process identified a number of irregularities and revoked 1,985 credentials. KYTC immediately contacted law enforcement, who are engaged in an active criminal investigation. The revoked credentials if used would not work and be flagged at any airport or traffic stop. To our knowledge, all employees involved had been hired through a temp agency and have been terminated. We are continuing to work with law enforcement on this matter to ensure anyone who violated the law is held accountable," a Transportation Cabinet spokesperson stated."This is an ongoing criminal investigation with numerous state and federal agencies participating, including Kentucky State Police, the Kentucky Attorney General, U.S. Attorneys and others. We have been asked not to share documents or certain information so as not to compromise the investigation.KYTC has turned over all requested information to law enforcement who are investigating the facts, and further questions should be directed there," the statement continued.

A fracas broke out in a WNBA game on Wednesday night between the Chicago Sky and the Connecticut Sun, resulting in multiple ejections.The incident occurred with about six minutes left in the second quarter. Sky guard Rebecca Allen and Sun forward Bria Hartley got tangled up fighting for a rebound. Allens teammate Ariel Atkins appeared to run from the other side of the court and rushed Hartley during the entanglement.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMPlayers from both teams needed to be held back as Hartley and Atkins appeared to say some not-so-nice things to each other. Hartley and Allen were ejected for their role in the fracas, and Atkins was tossed for being an "escalator," according to ESPN.Sky head coach Tyler Marsh lamented that the intensity between the two teams went that far and said officials "overlooked" an elbow from Hartley to Allen's face.MINNESOTA LYNX HEAD COACH CHERYL REEVE RIPS SEXUALIZATION OF WOMEN AS LEWD WNBA DISRUPTIONS CONTINUE"I think things like that have a tendency to happen when there's not a control put on the game prior to," Marsh said. "There's usually an incident that goes overlooked that leads to something like that."(Allen) clearly got elbowed in the face right in front of the ref, and it wasn't called. Then other things ensued. It's unfortunate for us. Two players that play high-quality, high-valuable minutes for us."Sun players have been in heated moments this season most notably against the Indiana Fever, when Marina Mabrey and Jacy Sheldon got wrapped up with Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham in separate incidents earlier this year.Connecticut picked up the win, 71-62, over Chicago.Follow Fox News Digitalssports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Biological male transgender volleyball player Emma Morquecho is suing Westcliff University and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes (NAIA) an alternate college sports governing body to the NCAA after claiming a scholarship offer was revoked and eligibility was denied.The lawsuit was announced by the civil rights organization Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF).CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM"The Latino community is often first to be targeted under practices of irrational discrimination, and this case falls within that pattern," said MALDEF president and general counsel, Thomas A. Saenz, in a statement. "Discrimination, based on stereotype and false assumption, against trans athletes must end, especially in California where so many of those harmed will be members of the states largest racial/ethnic community."Fox News Digital has reached out to Westcliff University and the NAIA for comment.The lawsuit alleged Morquecho disclosed the athlete's birth gender to university officials in 2022 and later received a scholarship offer. Morquecho alleges that on Aug. 10, 2023, the head coach of the Westcliff womens volleyball team sent an email back saying the athlete was not eligible to play that fall and that Westcliff revoked the scholarship.FOOTAGE SHOWS LGBTQ PROTESTER ATTACKING CONSERVATIVE AT CALIFORNIA TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP AMID TRANS ATHLETE DRAMA"By taking a stand, Im not just fighting for myself. Im speaking for every trans person who has been silenced, and I hope my voice empowers others in our community to know their stories and their rights matter," Morquecho said via statement from MALDEF. "Together, we can create a future where everyone is treated with dignity and respect."President Donald Trump signed the "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order on Feb. 5, igniting a crackdown on males in women's college sports. The NCAA changed its gender eligibility policy the very next day to exclude all biological males from competing in the women's category.However, the NAIA got a head start on that trend in April 2024, when it changed its gender eligibility policy.The revised policy stated that all athletes may participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports but only athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth is female and who have not begun hormone therapy will be allowed to participate in women's sports.A student who began hormone therapy may participate in activities such as workouts, practices and team activities, but not in interscholastic competition.Now, Morquecho is looking to challenge that rule in court.Follow Fox News Digitals sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

With all eyes on Alaska for President Donald Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's right-hand man Andriy Yermak's profile is rising, but not always for the right reasons.As the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, he will likely be by Zelenskyy's side once Trump calls following his meeting with Putin."Yermak is convinced that he's got all the answers, even though, quite frankly, he often doesn't," a former senior official in the Biden administration told Fox News Digital.His influence is considered second only to Zelenskyy, and he has even been accused of making personnel moves that not even Zelenskyy is fully aware of.WHY PUTIN IS WILLING TO RISK A CATASTROPHIC WAR TO DOMINATE UKRAINEThe senior official said Yermak has his own agenda and devises strategy for Zelenskyy. Hes a key figure in terms of personnel and determines who takes important decisions in the presidential office."He is an unelected official who wields immense power in Ukraine," the former Biden official said.Echoing this sentiment, a senior Senate Republican staffer said Yermak is politically tone-deaf on Washington, D.C., politics and would oftentimes request meetings on Capitol Hill without an agenda or concrete asks on behalf of Ukraines needs."Dealing with Donald Trump, MAGA Republicans is also very different from dealing with Joe Biden liberals, and you have to be able to talk to both camps in this town and be able to do it at the same time in a lot of different ways. It's a hard thing to do. And he's just terrible at it," the staffer who asked to remain anonymous told Fox News Digital.Like Zelenskyy, Yermaks previous experience is in entertainment, as a martial arts movie producer and a copyright lawyer. He had no prior experience in government before teaming up with Zelenskyy to join his historic presidential campaign in 2019.Zelenskyy appointed him as his top advisor on international affairs, but even his harshest critics admit that Yermak is someone who gets things done."Yermak knows how to manhandle the government and the apparatus. He has installed loyalists throughout the government. And so he can use all of those levers of power to get results," Josh Rudolph, anti-corruption expert at the German Marshal Fund, told Fox News Digital.When power is concentrated and personalized, as is the case with Yermak, mistakes can happen. Rudolph and others who spoke with Fox News Digital said it was Yermak who advised Zelenskyy on the contentious February Oval Office meeting with Trump.Several Ukrainian officials who spoke to Fox News Digital allege that Yermak was the force behind Zelenskyys decision to sign a law that targeted Ukraines independent anti-corruption institutions, which led to international condemnation and the largest anti-government demonstrations against Zelenskyys government since Russias full-scale invasion began in February 2022."It was a plan made and implemented by Yermak. Everyone else was just the instrument in this plan. It was his idea to go after the anti-corruption law enforcement agencies," Yaroslav Zheleznyak, chairman of the Finance Committee in Ukraines parliament, told Fox News Digital.Zheleznyak described a dynamic where Yermak acts as prime minister, defense minister, foreign affairs minister and the head of parliament, all at once. He is the only one who can speak for Zelenskyy with any authority.Zelenskyy ultimately reversed course in response to the large outcry of opposition, and Ukraines parliament subsequently passed new legislation to restore the independence of the anti-corruption agencies.ZELENSKYY WON'T CEDE TERRITORY FOR PEACE DEAL AHEAD OF TRUMP-PUTIN SUMMIT AS TRILATERAL MEETING TEASEDYermak told Fox News Digital through his spokesperson that, despite the criticism of some of the internal decision-making within Ukraine, Zelenskyy is firmly in control."Anyone who knows President Zelenskyy will tell you the same: he always makes his own decisions. He listens, weighs the facts and context but he cannot be pressured. "Thats part of his strength," Yermak's spokesperson told Fox News Digital.He downplayed the recent outpouring of opposition to Zelenskyys move to weaken two key anti-corruption agencies and appoint a politically-backed lead prosecutor."If people, especially young people, came out to express their views thats democracy in action. And they werent protesting against the President they wanted to be heard. And the President heard them," Yermak's spokesperson said.Yermaks been a pivotal conduit for Ukraine in negotiating with the U.S. and its European allies, particularly in pushing for tougher sanctions on Russia. While his unorthodox approach undoubtedly rankles the sensibilities of the Washington, D.C., foreign policy world and his compatriots in Ukraine, he is still a trusted advisor with key allies."In every country, certain posts are easily demonized by the media. Not because of the people on them, but because of the position's proximity to the leader. Whatever the media reports, I can only share my personal experiences working with Andriy. I've seen him in the bunker beside the President since the first hours of the full-scale war," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told Fox News Digital in a statement."He was there. Working literally around the clock, ready to take on any task, no matter how complex. He is a true workaholic, but he also has a sense of humor that gets him through even the most difficult situations," Sybiha added.ZELENSKYY FORCED TO RETHINK ANTI-CORRUPTION LAW AFTER PUBLIC BACKLASHPersonal loyalty is one aspect of Yermaks character and power projection that all officials who spoke to Fox News Digital confirmed was most important.Volodymyr Ariev, a member of the Ukrainian Rada with the European Solidarity political party, told Fox News Digital that Yermak has built up a power base that consists of loyalists and individuals who lack professionalism."Yermak is willing to be a top person in diplomacy, but at the same time, I don't think he is very effective, especially in relations between United States and Ukraine, and he has become a bipartisan irritant," Ariev said.He claimed that officials on both sides of the Atlantic lack trust in Yermak.Zelenskyy, Rudolph and others argued, is better when he takes counsel from other sources."Zelenskyy has achieved better results when listening directly to his peers on the world stage, like President Trump and the European leaders, whether it relates to his readiness to accept an unconditional ceasefire or the backtrack on undermining the anti-corruption institutions," Rudolph said.Zelenskyy took calls from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron as soon as the crisis over the independence of the anti-corruption institutions blew up.The president ultimately listened to their direct pleas and promised them that he would fix the situation, which he then promptly did.Yermaks role as Zelenskyys most trusted advisor will be put to the test as Russia continues to make steady gains on the battlefield with intense international pressure mounting for a ceasefire.