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Illegal immigrant arrested in Indiana for allegedly voting in federal election: DHS
EXCLUSIVE: An illegal immigrant from Guatemala is accused of voting in a national election in Indiana, a crime federal officials said Friday while announcing the woman's arrest steals votes from American citizens.
Helda Araceli Mendez-Merida was arrested on Sept. 3 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Indianapolis, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.
"The patriots of ICE arrested this illegal alien from Guatemala after she illegally voted in a past election," said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. "This illegal alien will be deported so she can never again poison our elections."
"If even one non-citizen casts a vote, it steals a vote from an American citizen," Mullin added.
It wasn't clear which election Mendez-Merida allegedly voted, officials said, however, she illegally entered the U.S. through Arizona in September 2015, during the Obama administration.
WHITE HOUSE UNLOADS ON VIOLENT ‘CRIMINAL ALIEN’ NABBED AFTER INVESTIGATORS UNCOVER ELECTION OFFENSE
She was arrested by a U.S. Border Patrol officer and released. An immigration judge issued a final order of removal for her in September 2019.
"The right to vote is the cornerstone of democracy in the United States," ICE Enforcement Division Acting Assistant Director Patricia Hyde said. "Helda Araceli Mendez-Merida attempted to subvert a national election by unlawfully casting a vote."
DHS APPROVES PLAN TO VERIFY VOTER CITIZENSHIP, MONITOR MAIL BALLOTS AS TRUMP PUSH INTENSIFIES
"Voting in U.S. elections is a privilege that is reserved exclusively for U.S. citizens, and we cannot allow that sacred right to be perverted by foreign nationals who seek to undermine American democracy," Hyde added.
Judge says issues in Trump administration anti-weaponization case 'alive and kicking' despite DOJ push
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Department of Justice lawyers have asked U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema to dismiss a case connected to the Trump administration's $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund," arguing that Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a formal recission order in August and has affirmed many times, including under oath before Congress, that the fund is dead.
However, Brinkema seemed skeptical Friday.
"The issues that underlie this case are still alive and kicking in my view," Brinkema said.
"The real concern that lurks ... is the concept of taxpayer money being used to promote particular political views," Brinkema said, pointing to pro-life activists convicted of violating the FACE Act and others who attempted an "insurrection" on Jan. 6 "to overthrow the legitimate election."
CLINTON JUDGE INDEFINITELY BLOCKS TRUMP'S $1.776B ANTI-WEAPONIZATION FUND
"That entity is gone," said Brinkema, referring to the Anti-Weaponization Fund and agreeing that Blanche has said under oath at his confirmation hearings that the fund is dead.
"But is there a functional equivalent?" Brinkema said, referring to the DOJ's ordinary Judgment Fund authority.
The Judgment Fund is a permanent U.S. Treasury account managed by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service that pays court judgments and DOJ legal settlements against the federal government. Brinkema called that fund "a less transparent structure" and suggested that some defendants convicted of FACE Act crimes have already received large payouts from the DOJ's Judgment Fund.
JUDGE TEMPORARILY BLOCKS TRUMP DOJ'S NEARLY $2B 'ANTI-WEAPONIZATION' FUND
Here, Brinkema affirmed she was talking about the case of Paul Vaughn.
Vaugh, of Centerville, Tennessee, was convicted in January 2024 for his role in blockading an abortion clinic in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, in March 2021. Vaughn ultimately received a pardon and a taxpayer-funded payout from the DOJ's Judgment Fund that confirmed to Fox News is "seven figures."
DOJ lawyer Andrew Block asked what remedy the plaintiff wants, given "the fund is dead."
Brinkema countered that although the case is nowhere near the remedy stage, "I think there are remedies." She brought up the possibility of requiring a "neutral" person to oversee a fund, "not someone from the DOJ, which I see unfortunately as coerced" in this matter.
"A proper, unbiased look. ... There's been too much talk from members of the administration, which undercut [DOJ's] position," Brinkema said. "They contradict themselves all the time."
Brinkema closed the hearing by telling both sides she intends to craft a new discovery order in the coming days, suggesting this case is far from over.
Robert De Niro gets emotional as Amy Poehler praises him for speaking 'truth to power' as regular Trump critic
Actress Amy Poehler made actor Robert De Niro emotional Tuesday when she thanked him for being so vocal as a regular critic of President Donald Trump and his administration.
Poehler thanked De Niro during an interview on her podcast, "Good Hang," telling the actor, "I just personally want to thank you for doing what you do and speaking out in the way that you do about where we are in the world.
"There's a lot of people that are asked to speak truth to power, and they're usually members of the margins. They are people that are young, don't really have as much currency or a footing as other people. It's often people of color. It's often women.
"To see a person like yourself, the age that you are and the status that you are, it reminds me of — the best way I can describe it is when it's like if someone's giving a terrible speech at a wedding, and they're ruining the wedding, and the wedding is America and there's another adult who says like, 'We don't talk like that. That's not how you're supposed to treat people. This is insane,'" she added, telling De Niro it made everyone feel "safe."'
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN REIGNITES TRUMP FEUD, SAYS 'CRITICAL PATRIOTISM' DEFINES A PATRIOT
De Niro grew teary as he thanked her for her words.
The actress told De Niro he was standing up for a lot of people who don't have the same kind of power he does.
"It's true. It is," she said. "There's not a lot of men who, in your position, who do that, and White men of a certain age, like who, frankly, you know, have a ton of power and don't use that responsibility in a way that they could. So, thank you," Poehler said.
De Niro told Poehler it was "so upsetting" to see what was happening in the U.S., adding, "It's so crazy."
"I mean, in a way, that's better that it's so blatant because this will happen again, and this guy will influence people, and they'll come up, and they'll say, 'Well, I can do it this way or that way.' And we have to always be on guard with what's happening now," De Niro said.
The actor told Poehler people had to fight, even if they feel hopeless.
Christian Toto, editor of Hollywood in Toto, told Fox News Digital in a statement, "Amy Poehler is one of our most talented comic actresses. Her work on 'Parks and Recreation' alone proves it. And she's just as clueless about the culture as most celebrities, alas.
"What Robert De Niro has done over the last decade is nothing less than beclown himself over all things Trump. His ill-informed, one-note attacks on the president are embarrassing. He's done nothing to raise the level of discourse, and using every bully pulpit to rage against a political leader has made many look askance at his otherwise sterling film career," he continued.
"He's neither brave nor inspired. He's simply regurgitating what all his peers think and say. And many say what he says, but often in a slightly more coherent tone. He should know better. And Poehler should understand how badly the Oscar winner's ravings land with the public."
De Niro grew emotional over the state of the country during a February 2026 interview with Nicolle Wallace on her podcast, "The Best People." Wallace told him he played a big role as one of Trump's most outspoken celebrity critics.
After accusing Trump officials of not respecting many of America’s law enforcement institutions, she asked the 83-year-old actor what he worries about for New York under the ongoing Trump administration. He voiced concern that there would be a campaign of retribution against the people of New York, such as sending in ICE agents.
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"People have to resist, resist, resist, resist, resist. That's the only way. There's no magic. There's no nothing. People are not going to go away, even if Trump dies for some reason by having an illness or something," he warned. "Parts of that movement are still there, and that's the scary part. It has to be neutralized by the people."
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Wallace followed by recalling an Academy Award speech De Niro gave in 1981, when he thanked the people he worked with, saying he has continually lifted people up around him. When she asked him why he emphasized lifting people up around him so much, he went right back to politics.
"You have to," he said, starting to cry. "You have to lift people up. You have to bring them together. Period. You can't divide people. You can't win that way. It's a no-win situation."
De Niro claimed in June that he can't love an America led by Trump.
The best cheese for a burger, according to an expert, and why some popular picks fall flat
It's National Cheeseburger Day, but while Americans may agree that cheese makes a burger better, deciding which cheese belongs on top is another matter.
A 2015 YouGov/HuffPost survey of 1,000 U.S. adults found that 71% preferred cheeseburgers compared with just 20% who preferred hamburgers.
American was the top choice among cheeseburger fans, with 40% choosing it, followed by cheddar at 31%. Swiss cheese earned 10% of the vote, while provolone garnered 5% and blue and Jack both received 4% each.
AMERICA'S BEST FAST-FOOD BURGER REVEALED — AND IT’S NOT AVAILABLE IN EVERY STATE
But choosing the right cheese isn't just a matter of taste. How a cheese melts — and whether it stays put on the burger — comes down to science.
"A classic cheeseburger, what I think of is that orange slice, which is usually an American cheese or cheddar cheese," Gina Mode, coordinator of the Cheese Industry and Applications Group at the Center for Dairy Research (CDR) in Madison, Wisconsin, told Fox News Digital.
The slice has to do three things at once, she said: taste like something, melt well and stay put.
"You want it to have that nice cheese flavor, that cheddar flavor," Mode said. "You want it to have a nice softness to it when it melts, and you also don't want it to flow off your burger."
A good melt comes down to a few scientific variables, Mode explained. The cheese needs to have the right composition, the right pH and the right amount of intact casein, which is the milk protein. As cheese ages, that structure changes, building flavor but working against meltability.
"You'll notice an older cheddar is going to crumble, and it's probably going to oil off if you melt it," Mode said.
Young, natural cheeses that hold their structure are safe bets for a burger. They include colby, Monterey Jack, Muenster, Swiss, low-moisture mozzarella and provolone.
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That doesn't mean aged cheese is off the table, however. Mode said it can and should be included as part of a cheeseburger, just incorporated differently. CDR's own research chef is a fan of a smoked blue cheese or Brie with a burger, she noted.
"You could shred those cheeses or crumble those cheeses on your burger," Mode said. "Or you could even put them inside the burger patty for one of those Juicy Lucy burgers."
American cheese is a favorite because it melts the same way nearly every time.
"American cheese is a processed cheese," Mode explained. "You start with a natural cheese, like a cheddar, and you shred it or grind it, and then you cook it along with an emulsifying salt."
Cheese is essentially protein, fat and water, and the latter two "don't want to mix together," Mode said. The emulsifier binds the components together and leads to a smooth, complete melt.
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Mode grew up on a fifth-generation dairy farm, and CDR is dairy farmer-funded and serves cheesemakers across an 11-state region.
She encourages people to try new cheeses with their burgers and pointed to a new "natural American cheese" with no emulsifying salt recently introduced by a Wisconsin cheesemaker.
"They changed the cheesemaking recipe — the way they make the cheese — so that it has the same or similar functionality to an American processed cheese while it still is a natural cheese," Mode said. "So, there's that out there, too, for folks [who] are looking for a cleaner label."
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Mode is also enthusiastic about flavored cheeses that contain a little spice, herbs or smoke. She also recommends people consider cold pack cheese, the spreadable kind usually reserved for crackers.
"It's great to spread on your burger bun, especially if you toasted the bun so it's a little warm," she said.
As far as when and how to apply cheese for a perfect melt, Mode said to do it at the very end.
"The burger is finished cooking, and usually at the end you let it rest a little, and that's the perfect time to add the cheese," she said.
"If it's one that takes a little more oomph to melt, like a nice thick piece of cheddar, you can put a cover on it, and it'll hold that heat in."
Socialist Claire Valdez faces calls for federal probe after Mexico ‘fight’ pledge
A New York City socialist seeking to replace a retiring Democrat drew criticism Thursday after pledging to carry the "fight" inspired by Mexico’s struggle for independence into Congress. And critics pointed to her disclosure that she met with members of Mexico’s ruling left-wing party.
Claire Valdez, who is seeking Rep. Nydia Velázquez's seat in a district that includes Bushwick and Ridgewood, is facing calls for the State Department to investigate her under the Logan Act. It's a rarely enforced 1799 law that criminalizes certain unauthorized efforts by private citizens to influence foreign governments in disputes involving the U.S. Democrats have also invoked the law in connection with President Donald Trump.
In response to her post, immigration attorney and columnist Alicia Nieves tweeted at Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, a former ambassador to Mexico, calling for an investigation of Valdez after the candidate disclosed that she had met with members of Morena, Mexico’s ruling left-wing party.
"Given that she is currently a congressional nominee, not a member of Congress, and appears to have discussed facilitating support contrary to current U.S. policy as well as describing our country an ‘empire’ that has ‘stolen from us’ … I hope the administration will review whether these communications warrant investigation under the Logan Act."
The act, enacted in 1799, came after the John Adams administration and congressional Federalists objected to Pennsylvania politician George Logan’s unauthorized trip to France, where he sought to ease tensions during what was called the "Quasi-War." Federalists feared private diplomacy could undermine the U.S. government’s foreign policy.
Adams and his Federalist allies also viewed Logan’s actions through the partisan tensions surrounding the 1800 presidential race against Thomas Jefferson.
In her tweet, Valdez wrote, "215 years ago, Mexicans fought an empire that demanded our land and our labor. And we won.
"I'll carry that fight with me to Congress as New York's first Mexican-American representative," Valdez pledged. "And I'm strengthened not just by Mexico's history but its present."
She said she met "comrades" in the Morena party who are "standing up to the empires and corporations that have always taken from us — and building a government for the working class. Viva la Independencia, Viva México!"
MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALIST PREVAILS IN CROWDED PRIMARY TO REPLACE RETIRING REP
Fox News Digital reached out to Valdez and the Mexican government for comment. Morena could not immediately be reached.
Critics also pointed out that Valdez's father, Larry, is linked to a company that helped construct a Texas immigration center during the Obama administration. They contended that the connection conflicts with her opposition to immigration enforcement.
"This would be a great campaign for Congress in Mexico," added Christina Pushaw, a top communications official for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Fox News Digital also reached out to community organizer Melvin Rivera, the Republican opponent facing Valdez, for comment.
Democrats cited the Logan Act in connection with Trump after he publicly remarked, "Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing" in reference to his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton.
Then-Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada suggested that Trump had violated the Logan Act. The law has also been invoked against other public figures, including former Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, but no prosecution under the statute has resulted in a conviction.
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Two men faced proceedings under the Logan Act but were never convicted. A grand jury indicted Kentucky farmer Francis Flournoy in 1803 after he advocated a separate Western United States allied with France. Jonas P. Levy was arrested and held to bail under the law in 1853 after writing to Mexico’s president.
Valdez, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 7th Congressional District, will face Rivera and other candidates in the November general election.
Dems abandon candidate who said MAGA is 'more destructive' than Nazis, but she’s stuck on the ballot
A Democrat running for the state legislature in battleground North Carolina remains on the ballot despite her party publicly abandoning her after inflammatory social media posts she made resurfaced.
The North Carolina House Democratic Caucus and a county party group both condemned posts by Shelly Headen in which the legislative candidate called for an attack on U.S. soil targeting red states and compared President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler.
But Headen remains a candidate because the filing deadline to drop out of the race was Aug. 20, and the general election ballots are finalized and were sent out to voters starting on Sept. 4.
Headen, who is challenging Republican state Rep. John Blust for the House District 62 seat in Greensboro-anchored Guilford County, posted a year ago, "I think our only hope is an attack on US Soil … preferably Alabama, Louisiana … where the stupid people live."
WATCH: HUGH HEWITT'S TAKE ON THE HEADEN CONTROVERSY
In separate posts, she argued that the damage done by Trump was "getting close to surpassing Hitler" and claimed the "MAGA cult may be more destructive and evil than the Nazis."
Breitbart reported that a Facebook post by Headen that pictured her at a memorial at the Nazis' Dachau concentration camp in Germany, where tens of thousands of people were murdered during World War II, with the words, "This is where Trump supporters belong."
Headen denied last week to the Greensboro News and Record that she posted the concentration camp image and said she believed the image was edited to include the words over a real photo.
Her old comments grabbed new national attention earlier this week when the White House Rapid Response account that supports Trump shared them on X and charged that Democrats "ARE SICK PEOPLE!"
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North Carolina Republican U.S. Senate nominee Michael Whatley posted on social media a photo of Headen and former Gov. Roy Cooper, the Democratic Senate nominee, and argued, "Roy Cooper still stands with NC Dem who called for the genocide of Republicans. This is against everything America stands for."
"These remarks are reprehensible – Roy strongly condemns them and all forms of political violence and he believes it’s up to all of us to speak responsibly," Cooper's campaign emphasized in a statement.
Headen, a certified public accountant and small business owner, told WFDD, a public radio station in North Carolina, that she didn't remember making the posts but apologized to those hurt by them. And she added that she understood the party’s decision to drop support for her.
But in an interview with The Assembly, a digital-first news operation in North Carolina, Headen defended her posts, describing them as "a few angry moments."
"I’ve sacrificed myself just like Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross, and Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln and all the people that put themselves out there to sacrifice for our country," Headen also told The Assembly.
"If a few angry moments on social media are the end, then so be it. MAGA will keep winning if we continue with not standing up for what’s right."
The Assembly's reporting preceded the move by Democrats to drop support.
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"Shelly Headen’s posts are unacceptable and do not reflect the values we expect of our candidates," the North Carolina House Democratic Caucus said in a statement. The caucus added that it "condemns these comments without qualification and will not support Shelly Headen’s candidacy."
The Guilford County Democratic Party said in a statement, "We unequivocally reject and condemn the social media posts by Shelly Headen. These statements violate everything our party represents. Effective immediately, the county Democratic Party is formally withdrawing all financial, operational and organizational support for Shelley Headen’s campaign."
Headen earlier this week told Fox News Digital she's received death threats in recent days but declined to give any further responses regarding her posts.
In an article published Thursday in The Rhino Times, Headen reiterated, "I’ve been getting death threats, and now all I want to do is protect myself and my family. My whole world has been collapsing."
And she acknowledged that she took down her social media pages, saying, "I don’t have access to any of my accounts anymore."
Republicans have spotlighted the controversy.
North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall called Headen's comments "Absolutely disgusting."
And the North Carolina House Republicans wrote on X, "Democrat Shelly Headen who is "Running to Restore Human Decency" just posted that she wants an attack on US soil. It is unclear whether Shelly would prefer ISIS or China to attack the United States, but it’s clear she wants an attack."
Meanwhile, the popular conservative X account Libs of TikTok argued that Headen "should drop out immediately. She doesn’t belong anywhere public office."
The attention over the resurfaced comments comes a week after Headen faced a separate controversy following a move by State House Republicans to release two 2024 Guilford County Sheriff's Office incident reports involving her and her husband, Gregory Thomas Headen.
The reports, which identify the alleged domestic offense as physical assault, list Headen as the suspect and her husband as the potential victim.
In a statement she released earlier this month, Headen said that during a stressful time in their marriage, she and her husband had "a couple of arguments that escalated." She said that, during one argument, her husband grabbed her, causing her to fall backward and hit her head. She then called 911.
Headen, in her statement, described herself as having experienced abuse. And she argued that Republicans were using a private family matter for political gain.
How CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin's family foundation became a major funder of left-wing activist groups
CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin's family foundation became a major financial backer of a network of left-wing activist organizations over more than two decades, providing nearly $3.2 million to CodePink while also bankrolling protest groups, legal advocacy organizations and progressive nonprofits, a Fox News Digital investigation found.
The foundation, Arc of Justice, is a $54.6 million private foundation formerly known as The Benjamin Fund. A review of its complete IRS filing history found it made nearly 1,500 grants totaling about $24.6 million to organizations involved in anti-war activism, progressive policy, legal advocacy and campaigns involving immigration enforcement, China, Cuba and the Israel-Hamas war.
Among its largest recipients were CodePink, Global Exchange, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Grassroots International and Social Good Fund, alongside grants to dozens of other organizations involved in anti-war activism, progressive policy, legal advocacy and progressive media.
Arc of Justice provided CodePink more than twice the approximately $1.33 million the group received from the funding network linked to Shanghai-based Marxist tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham. A previous five-part Fox News Digital investigation found Singham's network directed at least $278 million into organizations that promoted pro-China messaging.
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Arc of Justice has come under scrutiny after California revoked its charitable registration following years of financial compliance failures, though the foundation has been working to regain its standing with California regulators.
Benjamin, who co-founded CodePink with Singham’s wife Jodie Evans, has remained one of the group's most visible public faces, frequently leading protests and interrupting congressional hearings. On Tuesday, she was escorted from a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on alleged foreign malign influence after protesting during the proceedings.
The Fox News Digital investigation also found the foundation itself has undergone sweeping changes in recent months, with Benjamin stepping down from the board, new leadership taking over and the organization saying it intends to chart a different course for its charitable giving.
Arc of Justice began funding CodePink in 2009 and provided grants to the organization in 15 tax years through 2024, totaling $3,195,280.
According to the documents, CodePink was Arc of Justice's largest activist beneficiary. Since 2009, the foundation and its predecessor, The Benjamin Fund, also directed about $2.05 million to Global Exchange, the anti-war and social justice advocacy group Benjamin co-founded with her former husband, Kevin Danaher, which has long campaigned against U.S. military intervention and economic sanctions.
Arc of Justice also provided about $2.24 million to Grassroots International, which funds grassroots social movements around the world; $1.61 million to Social Good Fund, which provides nonprofit infrastructure and fundraising support for charitable projects; about $1.29 million to the Center for Constitutional Rights, a legal advocacy organization; and about $114,000 to Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), an activist nonprofit.
AFGJ has drawn scrutiny over its past fiscal sponsorship of Samidoun, a pro-Palestinian activist group later sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury. Benjamin said Arc's final grant to Alliance for Global Justice was $10,000 in 2022 and that the foundation "was not aware of any specific groups fiscally sponsored by AFGJ" when it made its grants.
Through attorney David Levitt, the foundation said both CodePink and Alliance for Global Justice were recognized by the IRS as tax-exempt public charities and that Arc was entitled to rely on that status when making its grants.
The grantmaking reached across a much broader activist network. Since 2009, IRS filings reviewed by Fox News Digital show Arc of Justice and its predecessor gave about $492,000 to World Beyond War, roughly $255,000 to the Institute for Policy Studies and about $124,000 to Jewish Voice for Peace. It also gave $110,000 to Grassroots Global Justice and about $90,000 to the Center for Popular Democracy.
IRS filings also show Arc of Justice and its predecessor provided about $65,500 to Democracy Now! since 2009, where Benjamin has frequently appeared as a guest over the years.
Founded in 2002 with the aim of preventing the Iraq War, CodePink has grown into one of the country's most visible anti-war protest groups, repeatedly disrupting congressional hearings and protests involving senior U.S. officials, including then-Secretaries of State John Kerry and Mike Pompeo. The group has also participated in nationwide No Kings protests, opposed ICE enforcement actions, organized anti-Israel rallies and campaigned against U.S. policy toward China, Cuba and Iran. Earlier this year, CodePink led a delegation to Cuba that included Twitch political streamer Hasan Piker.
Asked about Arc's long-term funding of CodePink and other activist organizations, Matthew Johnson, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, said sustained financial support can have an impact well beyond the dollar amounts involved.
"Small amounts of money can actually go a long way toward impacting the broader media ecosystem... from the perspective of political organization, they may be having an outsized impact on the kind of information that is available to Americans," Johnson told Fox News Digital.
Johnson, who testified before Congress Tuesday about how foreign adversaries may use nonprofits and other organizations to shape U.S. public opinion and policy, told lawmakers that CodePink launched its "China Is Not Our Enemy" campaign in 2020 following meetings in Beijing and has since pursued China-focused advocacy and organized travel. The campaign argued the United States should pursue cooperation with Beijing rather than confrontation. CodePink and Benjamin have denied taking direction from the Chinese government.
WATCH: Heritage Foundation senior fellow confronts CodePink's Medea Benjamin before House hearing
Benjamin told Fox News Digital the grants were intended to support CodePink's anti-war work.
"The foundation's donations to CodePink were made to support its anti-war work," she said in an email response.
At the House hearing on Tuesday, Benjamin also rejected suggestions that she or CodePink took direction from foreign governments. "I've been an anti-war activist from the days of Vietnam," Benjamin said. "I never had a foreign government tell me what to do."
Singham and the organizations he has funded, identified in the Fox News Digital report, have denied taking direction from the Chinese government, and neither Singham, Benjamin nor the organizations have been charged with wrongdoing.
CHINA EXPERT WARNS BEIJING WANTS AMERICANS — NOT THE CCP — TO SPREAD ITS MESSAGE
Arc of Justice was formerly known as The Benjamin Fund, Inc., with California corporate records showing the foundation formally changed its name in November 2019.
Benjamin's father, Alvin Benjamin, a prominent Long Island real estate developer who founded The Benjamin Companies in the early 1960s, provided some of the foundation's earliest documented financial backing.
The Benjamin Fund's initial 2003 IRS return shows he contributed a partnership interest valued at $683,715 to the foundation, with Medea Susan Benjamin serving as president.
Much larger contributions followed. In 2010, the estate of Benjamin's mother, Rose Benjamin, contributed $10,863,060, according to the foundation's IRS filing. Five years later, the Estate of Alvin Benjamin contributed another $15 million, followed by another $8,603,450 in 2019.
Medea Benjamin — identified as Susan Benjamin on the filing — personally contributed $1 million to Arc of Justice in 2022, listing a Miami address.
Arc of Justice's wealth was largely tied to an investment portfolio that continued to grow while the foundation distributed millions of dollars in grants.
Federal tax returns reviewed by Fox News Digital show the foundation's assets grew from $39.63 million at the end of 2020 to $54.64 million in 2024, as it distributed millions of dollars annually in grants.
Arc of Justice generated much of its annual income from its investment portfolio, collecting dividends from stocks and mutual funds, interest on cash holdings and profits from investments that had increased in value.
In 2023, the foundation reported nearly $2 million in revenue, including $1.11 million in dividends and interest from securities, $166,421 in interest on savings and temporary cash investments and $686,919 in net gains from asset sales.
Its investment holdings also produced substantial gains as the portfolio increased in value. In 2020, Arc of Justice reported $12,344,501 in unrealized gains on securities, helping push its year-end assets to nearly $40 million.
Over more than two decades, IRS filings reviewed by Fox News Digital repeatedly reported no compensation for the foundation's officers and no highly paid employees, while the foundation directed millions of dollars to outside organizations.
After California revoked Arc of Justice's charitable registration, Fox News Digital reported that a new Florida nonprofit using the Arc of Justice name was incorporated at the Miami home of Benjamin's longtime partner, Tighe Barry, raising questions about the future of the foundation and whether its assets or operations were being moved out of California.
The address is a modest turquoise home largely obscured by trees — an unassuming setting for an organization tied to a private foundation with more than $50 million in assets. Benjamin and Barry have frequently appeared together at CodePink demonstrations over the years.
Levitt later told Fox News Digital the Florida corporation had been created as a "placeholder" while the foundation considered relocating its operations from California, but the move was never completed. He said the California corporation was never formally dissolved, no assets were transferred and the Florida entity "holds no assets and has conducted no business."
The foundation has been attempting to get its registration reinstated after recently filing five years of overdue reports covering 2020 through 2024 and paying $1,800 in filing fees and penalties as part of a petition for reinstatement, documents submitted to California regulators show.
$54M CODEPINK-LINKED FOUNDATION SHUT DOWN IN CALIFORNIA POPS UP AT RAMSHACKLE MIAMI HOME
In the reinstatement petition, Levitt attributed the missed filings to what he described as an administrative misunderstanding over whether the foundation had successfully relocated from California to Florida.
He wrote that, during the tenure of the foundation's "former president," who served through the end of 2025, foundation leaders believed Arc was no longer subject to California's charitable registration requirements because it had moved to Florida.
The petition says the foundation later appointed a "new president," who discovered the compliance problems in 2026 and began the process of bringing the organization back into compliance. The petition also states that the foundation's directors and officers personally paid the penalty portion of the overdue filing fees.
The filings identify Maya Danaher, Benjamin's daughter, as president of the California foundation. Danaher previously served as the foundation's treasurer before becoming president.
"As previously reported, I have resigned from the foundation's board, and its new management will set its own funding priorities going forward," Benjamin said.
It is unclear why Benjamin resigned from the board, why the proposed move to Florida was ultimately abandoned or why the foundation's new leadership decided to shift its grantmaking priorities away from the causes it had supported for more than two decades.
Benjamin was not listed as an officer or director of the Florida corporation, where Barry was listed as secretary and registered agent.
Its stated goal is blunt: "WE ARE HERE TO SUPPORT SOCIAL JUSTICE NON PROFITS," according to the articles of incorporation.
Levitt said the foundation's new leadership intends to shift its grantmaking away from the causes it historically supported.
"Going forward, the foundation's new management intends to focus its grant-making on domestic childhood enrichment programs and organizations that support the well-being of children, families and individuals in need throughout the U.S.," Levitt said.
WATCH: Cuba expert says CodePink acts like a ‘Trojan horse' for communist interests inside the US
Swing state mayor sued as city’s Muslim holiday displays ignite religious-favoritism fight
A federal lawsuit filed Thursday alleges the city of Dearborn spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on public displays celebrating Muslim holidays while ignoring a Christian resident’s repeated requests for Easter and Passover recognition.
Margot Cleveland, a journalist with The Federalist, filed a civil rights lawsuit with the American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) against the city of Dearborn and Democratic Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, alleging the city violated her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, including protections involving religious establishment, free speech and equal protection.
"The City of Dearborn spent taxpayer money to light up its streets and parks for Ramadan while stonewalling a resident who simply asked that Easter, Passover, and other Christian and Jewish holy days be treated the same way," Robert J. Muise, AFLC co-founder and senior counsel, said in a statement. "That is a straightforward Establishment Clause violation, and the retaliation our client faced for speaking up about it only compounds the constitutional harm."
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Dearborn is home to one of the largest Arab American communities in the country. The city had 109,976 residents in the 2020 Census, and 54.5% reported Middle Eastern or North African ancestry. Michigan Avenue, the city’s main thoroughfare, is lined with businesses featuring Arabic-script signs and Middle Eastern cuisine. There are ten mosques within the city limits, according to an online directory.
Hammoud was first elected mayor in November 2021, becoming the first Muslim and Arab American to lead the city of Dearborn.
"What makes this case especially troubling is that City officials, up to and including the Mayor, responded to a citizen’s respectful request for equal treatment with silence, stonewalling, and outright hostility — including the Mayor’s own words telling a Christian resident he is ‘not welcome’ in his own city," David Yerushalmi, an attorney on the case, said. "Our client is simply asking the City to treat Christians and Jews as equal citizens."
Lawyers for Cleveland pointed to a September exchange between Hammoud and Christian pastor Ted Barham as evidence of what they allege is the city’s hostility toward Christians. Barham had raised concerns during a City Council meeting over the city’s decision to rename a street after Usama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News, who has made statements expressing support for Hezbollah.
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In the exchange, Hammoud called Barham a "bigot" and an "Islamophobe."
"And although you live here, I want you to know as mayor, you are not welcome here," Hammoud told the Christian pastor. "And the day you move out of the city will be the day that I launch a parade celebrating the fact that you moved out of the city… because you are not somebody who believes in coexistence."
But Cleveland’s lawsuit alleges that city leaders ignored her requests for the city to also recognize Christian and Jewish holidays after she began seeing "Ramadan Kareem" banners and large crescent moons displayed across the city in spring 2025. A FOIA request revealed that the city had spent $1,500 on Ramadan banners and $5,000 on the crescent-moon display. The Dearborn Police Department was also selling Ramadan-themed T-shirts.
In emails to the city, Cleveland said she did not want the city to stop celebrating Muslim holidays but wanted equal recognition for Christian and Jewish holy days.
"I much prefer to ensure equality of faith traditions, as opposed to a challenge to the display," Cleveland wrote in an email.
Not only did the city allegedly ignore Cleveland’s requests, but in February 2026, it expanded its Ramadan displays, commissioning crescent-and-star lights that were displayed on municipal streetlights across the city.
"This initiative reflects who we are as a city," Hammoud said in a statement.
Tensions between Cleveland and city officials continued in April, when Cleveland alleges she was told she could attend a community meeting as a resident but not as a journalist. The lawsuit also alleges Hammoud made what it describes as a "snide comment" about residents who criticize the city on social media to monetize their posts.
The lawsuit also alleges that in February 2026, the city expanded its Ramadan displays, commissioning crescent-and-star lights for municipal streetlights across the city.
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Cleveland pushed back, according to the lawsuit, saying she was simply "a concerned resident who was ignored when I asked for the City to treat Christians and Jews equally."
"Despite the repeated requests, they treated her as if she were an outsider and not a full member of the political community," Muise told Fox News Digital.
The lawsuit comes during Michigan’s closely watched 2026 U.S. Senate race, with Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who is Muslim and the son of Egyptian immigrants, facing Republican nominee Mike Rogers for the state’s open Senate seat. Religion and antisemitism have become points of dispute in the race, with Republicans and some Democrats criticizing El-Sayed over his association with streamer Hasan Piker, who said the U.S. was worse than al Qaeda "pound for pound, as far as the number of deaths," while arguing that U.S. military actions that kill civilians can amount to acts of terror.
At the same time, El-Sayed and his supporters have accused opponents of targeting him with anti-Muslim rhetoric.
Fox News Digital reached out to Hammoud’s office and Cleveland’s attorneys for comment.
ICE officer accused of lying to FBI about Minneapolis shooting pleads not guilty
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer accused of lying to the FBI about a January shooting in Minneapolis pleaded not guilty Friday to six federal counts of making materially false statements.
Christian Castro appeared in a federal courtroom in St. Paul after prosecutors accused him of shooting 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg through the front door of a Minneapolis home during Operation Metro Surge.
Castro told investigators he was being attacked with a broom and shovel before opening fire, but prosecutors say surveillance footage contradicted his account.
During his court appearance Friday, Castro, 52, was wearing an ankle monitor and was instructed by a judge to travel only between Minnesota and South Texas. If he has any altercation with law enforcement, he is required to report it within 72 hours, the judge said. He was then released.
ICE OFFICER PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO LYING ABOUT MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING INVOLVING VENEZUELAN MAN
Castro was previously held in Texas custody for about 90 days before he was released. He was held for so long partly because Texas Gov. Greg Abbott refused to sign an extradition warrant to hand him over to Minnesota authorities.
Castro was booked in Minnesota last week following his release in Texas, his home state. Upon his release there, Castro was required to wear an ankle monitor and to surrender his passport and guns.
He faces federal and state charges related to the shooting.
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Prosecutors said Castro lied about the circumstances of the shooting, which occurred during Operation Metro Surge, part of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. He said he was being attacked with a broom and shovel before he fired his weapon.
The law enforcement operation saw thousands of federal agents in Minnesota that resulted in sweeping arrests, as well as the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens.
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Minnesota authorities have battled the Trump administration over who should handle any charges against Castro. The administration contends that only federal authorities have jurisdiction over the case.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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