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Maryland family speaks out after ‘4-foot-long’ rabid beaver attacks 13-year-old boy
The family of a 13-year-old boy who was viciously attacked by a rabid beaver in Maryland has spoken out about the incident, describing the animal as a massive, four-foot-long adult.
The July 26 incident was the first of three rabid beaver attacks that prompted Cunningham Falls State Park in Frederick County to close, according to the family's GoFundMe.
The teen was identified as Dominick Cebula by WUSA 9.
Dominick was swimming and looking at fish underwater in a designated area when the beaver suddenly struck his chest and latched onto him, the family said in their online fundraiser.
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The family said the unprovoked attack unfolded in front of the boy's mother and younger brother, who watched in horror from the shore.
"This 4-foot-long beaver (not a cute little cuddly beaver — this thing was as big as his 8-year-old brother) came out of nowhere from the deep of the lake, beelined straight toward D, and began biting and attacking him," Dominick's aunt, Leigh Cebula, said.
"He did not provoke it, poke it, or mess with it in any way. This was completely unprovoked."
Dad Jeff Cebula told WUSA 9 the beaver began shaking its head and refused to let go.
"He grabbed its head and a leg, and he tried to get it off of him," Jeff said. "At that point, he kind of felt that it was locked onto him. And then it started shaking its head, kind of like a dog would do."
Dominick eventually managed to pull the beaver off his chest and tried to back away with his hands raised, his dad said.
The beaver then lunged at him again and bit his right hand, prompting Dominick to fight it off a second time.
He was promptly airlifted to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where doctors began treating his wounds and administering rabies post-exposure treatment.
"It was so traumatic. He was lifeflighted to Johns Hopkins because the paramedics were worried his lung was punctured, luckily it wasn't," Dominick's mother, Alishia Cebula, told Fox News Digital.
The boy is now recovering well after undergoing surgery earlier this month.
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"He is doing much better. He just had surgery on 9/4 to repair a severed nerve in his finger," Alishia said. "He had a lot of appointments, especially with the rabies vaccines he had to get. Thank God for the vaccine.
"Luckily, we're getting to the end of this traumatic event."
Leigh added that the incident happened in an area where the family had swum for years and had never spotted beavers before.
After the attack, the beaver was euthanized after testing positive for rabies. Swimming access to Hunting Creek Lake at the park was closed soon afterward.
The incident marked the first in a series of three attacks at the park.
On Aug. 5, a 19-year-old fisherman was bitten in the ankle by a beaver.
Less than three weeks later, a 10-year-old girl at Seneca Creek State Park was also attacked while wading with an organized group.
Amanda Seyfried and Thomas Sadoski say separation is 'right move' for family after nearly 10 years of marriage
Amanda Seyfried and her husband of nine years have called it quits.
Seyfried and Thomas Sadoski issued a joint statement to People, sharing that they have been separated "for a while" and filing for divorce is what's right for their family.
"We have been separated for a while, and it’s proven to be the right move for us and our family unit. We’ve got each other forever — and it’s GOOD," Sadoski and Seyfried said.
In January, Seyfried touched on her marriage and said Sadoski "sacrifices a lot" for her.
"He also knows that, in this moment, the opportunities I’m being afforded are insane… I do say no a lot," Seyfried told Vogue.
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At the time, Seyfried was appearing in "The Housemaid," "The Testament of Anne Lee" and "Long Bright River."
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Seyfried and Sadoski first met in 2015 while starring together in the Off-Broadway play "The Way We Get By." They reunited on the set of the movie "The Last Word," began dating in 2016 and secretly eloped in March 2017, just days before welcoming their first child, daughter Nina.
They later expanded their family with the birth of their son, Thomas Jr., in September 2020.
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Seyfried and Sadoski kept their private life private. They lived together on a farm in upstate New York, raising their two children. The "Mean Girls" star gave fans little glimpses into her life via Instagram, sharing photos of her farm animals, pets and kids.
Travis Kelce among pro athletes defrauded by Ponzi scheme that funneled funds into one stock
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, 36, was officially identified as a victim in a $35 million Ponzi scheme run by a Texas fund manager.
During a Tuesday sentencing hearing in a St. Louis federal courtroom, prosecutors named Kelce among those defrauded by 38-year-old Siddharth Jawahar.
Jawahar operated Swiftarc Capital LLC, an investment firm that collapsed into a federal wire fraud investigation.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Jawahar raised more than $35 million from investors between July 2016 and December 2023.
Instead of managing a diversified portfolio, he allocated roughly 99% of client capital into a single stock, Philip Morris Pakistan.
As that position tanked, Jawahar hid the losses, issued falsified statements and used funds from new investors to pay out earlier clients.
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Federal prosecutors noted Jawahar actually invested roughly $10 million of the total funds raised. He spent the remainder funding personal luxuries, including private jet charters, upscale apartments in Austin and New York, high-end dining and exclusive private club memberships.
Court filings did not specify the exact financial loss suffered by Kelce.
Kelce was not the only professional athlete caught up in the operation.
A 2021 Forbes report previously linked Swiftarc funds to several NBA players, including Gary Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Mason Plumlee.
Jawahar pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud in January 2026.
U.S. District Judge Zachary M. Bluestone sentenced Jawahar to 11 years in federal prison and ordered him to pay $31.35 million in restitution.
Kelce is currently playing in his 14th NFL season after signing a contract extension with Kansas City. Luckily for the Chiefs star, marrying Taylor Swift earlier this year means any bad investment can easily be covered by loose change tucked behind her couch cushions.
Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela
Republican congressman presses NHL over Alex Ovechkin’s appearance in Putin party campaign ad
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., has a problem with Alex Ovechkin appearing in a campaign advertisement for the Vladimir Putin-backed United Russia party, and he wants NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to address it.
Wilson sent Bettman a letter Tuesday calling the Washington Capitals captain’s participation "shameful" and asking the league to review the matter. Capitals owner Ted Leonsis was copied on the letter.
Ovechkin does not speak in the ad. He stands behind Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a United Russia campaign video ahead of Russia’s Sept. 18-20 parliamentary elections. Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled network RT, also appears in the ad.
"While Mr. Ovechkin has every right to hold personal political views, actively participating in campaign material for Putin’s oppressive party while serving as the captain of an NHL franchise in our nation’s capital raises serious questions about the standards expected of players who represent the League and their communities," Wilson wrote.
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The letter does not ask Bettman to suspend or fine Ovechkin. Wilson wants the NHL to explain whether it has any policies governing active players who appear in political advertisements for foreign parties or regimes.
He also wants the league and Capitals to make clear that Ovechkin’s participation does not represent either organization’s position.
Wilson was more direct on social media.
"It is incredibly alarming that [the NHL] and [the Capitals] have allowed Alexander Ovechkin to appear in a campaign advertisement supporting the party of war criminal Putin," he wrote. "American hockey fans deserve better leadership from their star players!"
Wilson elaborated on the letter Wednesday during an interview with Fox News’ Dan Scully.
Asked what he wanted Bettman to do and whether he was seeking discipline for Ovechkin, Wilson did not directly answer.
"For Ovechkin to be campaigning for a person who is indeed the new Hitler of the 21st century, it’s just inconceivable," Wilson said.
Scully also asked whether Wilson had information that the NHL or Capitals knew about the advertisement beforehand.
"Ahead of time, I’m not sure," Wilson said.
The Capitals said Ovechkin was approached while spending the offseason in Russia.
"This summer, while in Russia, he was asked by his country to participate in a video campaign," Capitals spokesperson Sergey Kocharov said in a statement to Reuters.
But who asked him?
The Capitals did not say. The team also did not answer questions from Fox News Digital/OutKick about whether it knew of Ovechkin’s participation beforehand or whether anyone within the organization approved or facilitated it.
Kocharov noted that Ovechkin lives with his family in Moscow during the offseason and plans to return there after his NHL career. He said Ovechkin and the Capitals are focused on the upcoming season and his continued impact in Washington.
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Ovechkin has publicly supported Putin for years. He founded "PutinTeam" in 2017 to rally support for the Russian president, and his Instagram profile photo remains an image of the two men standing together.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ovechkin called for peace but declined to criticize Putin.
"Well, he is my president," Ovechkin said at the time. "But, like I said, I’m not in politics. I’m an athlete."
Wilson argues that the Kremlin has a history of using athletes and international sporting achievements to promote the Russian government abroad.
"An NHL superstar appearing in campaign propaganda for Putin’s political party cannot simply be dismissed as an activity wholly disconnected from the League," Wilson wrote.
Wilson also writes that the broader United Russia campaign features Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Lvova-Belova and Putin in 2023 over the alleged unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territory.
Scully asked Wilson how Ovechkin’s appearance differs from an American athlete supporting a U.S. politician.
"The difference is that the American politician is not a mass murderer," Wilson said.
"Now, we can all disagree," he continued. "There is a right to free speech, of course, but there should also be consequences of being associated in promoting a war criminal."
Wilson did not say what those consequences should be. When Scully later asked directly whether he wanted the NHL to suspend Ovechkin, Wilson again did not answer.
Wilson also said he is working with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and that Risch agrees Ovechkin’s participation "is just not right." Wilson did not describe what action, if any, he and Risch intend to pursue.
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The congressman said he has not received a response from the NHL but is willing to give the league time to answer.
Throughout the interview, Wilson repeatedly referred to Putin as a "convicted war criminal," echoing the handwritten message beneath his signature.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova in 2023, but neither has been convicted by the court.
The NHL did not respond to questions about Wilson’s letter, the advertisement or its policies governing political activity by players. Ovechkin did not provide a comment through the Capitals prior to publication.
We will update this story if we receive a response from Ovechkin, the NHL or the Capitals.
Dem insurgent turns on the charm with party establishment as Schumer leaves bitter feud hanging
Michigan’s insurgent progressive Senate nominee ran as far as he could from Washington, D.C., but, on Wednesday, he traveled to the nation’s Capitol for a closed-door meeting with top Democratic brass as the race for power intensifies.
Abdul El-Sayed met with top Senate Democrats just hundreds of yards away from Congress, where lawmakers and the wunderkind candidate huddled to discuss his campaign and how to keep Michigan blue.
Many left boasting that the Wolverine State would not turn a shade of purple.
But few, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., would say whether the fences broken during El-Sayed’s primary fight had been mended.
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"Look, we have to win Michigan, and we had a great and friendly meeting," Schumer said when asked by Fox News Digital if he and El-Sayed had moved on from their differences.
Still, El-Sayed held court with Democratic brass for hours at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s (DSCC) headquarters in Washington, where a steady flow of lawmakers — both allies and skeptics of his Senate bid — milled in and out of the building throughout the day.
Schumer and Democrats are confident and determined that they can flip the Senate, which Republicans hold with a 53-47 margin. Losing Michigan to the GOP and former Rep. Mike Rogers would serve a mortal blow to that push.
"He’s gonna win," Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who is also the DSCC chair, said.
The key mission for Democrats is getting independents and Republicans on the fence. But few, including Schumer, said they would actually hit the campaign trail with El-Sayed.
It all comes after El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., locked horns in one of the most bitter Democratic primary fights of this cycle that pitted the Democratic old guard versus a progressive movement gaining steam across the country.
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Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who initially endorsed Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow before she dropped out, told Fox News Digital, "Obviously, primaries can get really hot, and the Michigan primary got hot.
"This is what you do after a primary is you try to unite the party and then you do the work to reach out and cross over to independent voters and Republican voters," Murphy added. "So, I don't think anybody should be surprised that he's trying to build bridges after a heated primary. That's what good candidates, that's what winning candidates do."
Another McMorrow backer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., painted a rosy picture of the closed-door session and noted it was "hard to hear in there because so many people were talking and laughing and wanted to hear about the campaign.
"He makes good connections because it's a lot of people in there who are talking about, ‘What can we do next? What can we do to lower costs for families? What can we do to make this government work better for working people?’ So, it was a very enthusiastic, very cheerful group of people."
Retiring Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., whose seat El-Sayed is gunning for, initially endorsed Stevens. Now, he’s shifting gears.
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"I'm endorsing him, and he's been getting support across the board in Michigan. The Democrats are coming together," Peters said in response to a question about whether the Democratic establishment was uniting behind El-Sayed. "We understand how important this election is."
Others were more keen to lend an assist to El-Sayed, including Murphy and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who said, "I’m gonna be in Michigan here in a couple of weeks."
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who is running for re-election in deep blue Massachusetts, said that Democrats’ strategy heading into the final stretch was pitching an affordability agenda, and El-Sayed "is the answer."
"I'm helping him. I think we're all gonna help," Markey said when asked if he would raise money for El-Sayed.
The specter of El-Sayed’s relationship with controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who helped to amplify his campaign in the primary battle, wasn’t something that Democrats focused on during their huddle.
"Hasan what?," Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told Fox News Digital when asked if he came up during the meeting. "I don’t even know who that is."
When asked if Piker came up or if Democrats encouraged El-Sayed to further distance himself from him, Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said, "Not in terms of the conversation. Like I said, I was just trying to get to know him."
After initially dodging Fox News Digital’s question on whether he would campaign with Piker, El-Sayed later told reporters, "This conversation is so far removed from what people are talking about.
"Everyday, in Michigan, people sit at their kitchen tables and ask, 'How am I going to make this work next month?’ That’s not a middle, right, left issue, that’s a basic affordability issue."
When further pressed, he countered that Michigan voters "really don’t care about that."
"They really don't," El-Sayed said.
Christian Pulisic and Megan Moroney dating rumors heat up again after singer spends time in Italy
Earlier this summer (and yes, it is still summer for a few more days), USMNT star Christian Pulisic was spotted with Megan Moroney in Nashville while recovering from the ankle injury that ended his World Cup earlier than the rest of his team.
Prior to being seen with the country music star at Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row on Broadway, he had taken his cousin to one of her shows. You add that they follow each other on social media, and you have enough for a solid rumor.
At the time, I asked all the right questions. Questions I never got answers to, but the right questions that needed to be asked nonetheless.
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Are these two friends? Or is there something more going on here? Is she helping to nurse him back to full strength through the power of song and companionship?
The internet sleuths, while they didn't have the answers at that time, never lost the scent. They stayed on top of the Pulisic and Moroney dating rumor and a few days ago they believe they found some new clues.
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The first is that Moroney posted on Instagram from a stop in Italy ahead of a few European dates on her Cloud 9 Tour. Pulisic plays for the Italian soccer team AC Milan. A coincidence? Perhaps.
It's certainly not a smoking gun. But combined with a recent Instagram Story she posted, it does add some more fuel to the fire.
The Instagram Story appeared to show her wearing what Whiskey Riff reports is a PUMA Christian Pulisic Fanwear Collection jersey. As you would expect, the rumor mill suspects it belongs to him.
There's no way of knowing for sure if the jersey is one from Pulisic's personal collection or not, short of one of them saying that it is.
But the one Megan Moroney is wearing does, at the very least, look a lot like one from the soccer player's "fanwear collection," even if it's not his personally.
For now, the rumors are hot but nothing has been confirmed.
Young newlyweds killed after boat collides with water taxi and sinks in Venice lagoon
A pair of young newlyweds were killed in an accident involving a water taxi in Venice just three months after they were married.
Gabriella Querino, 26, and Sean Michieli, 25, were killed Saturday morning in a collision involving a 5-ton water taxi, Jam Press reported.
The couple was in a boat that had departed from Burano, an island in the Venetian Lagoon, about 6 miles northeast of central Venice.
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They had set out to collect bait for Michieli's work as a clam fisherman.
Shortly afterward, the couple's boat collided with the water taxi and sank.
Querino was reported missing in the immediate aftermath of the crash, and search efforts were hampered by strong currents and poor visibility.
Her body was eventually recovered from the lagoon.
Michieli was rushed to Venice-Mestre Hospital with severe head and facial injuries and other injuries across his body. He was pronounced brain-dead the next day.
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Querino, originally from Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, moved to Italy about two years ago.
She developed a passion for fishing alongside her husband, who was from Cavallino-Treporti, Italy, according to Jam Press.
She was working to obtain the necessary license to join her husband in the fishing industry, according to the outlet.
The couple was expecting their first child, Italian newspaper Il Resto del Carlino reported.
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They were married June 8.
Querino's mother, Gisele Elorriaga, told Brazilian media her daughter "was building a life for herself over there, and she was happy," Jam Press reported.
The cause of the collision remains unknown.
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The water taxi driver is under investigation for nautical homicide as authorities work to determine the circumstances surrounding the collision, Italian news outlet Notizie.it reported.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Venice Public Prosecutor's Office for additional information about the investigation.
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The tragedy comes amid a series of deadly boating incidents around the world in recent weeks.
Last week, a passenger ferry carrying 47 people sank while traveling between two islands in Vanuatu, leaving at least one person dead and more than 30 others missing.
Just a few weeks earlier, a ferry carrying 267 passengers and crew capsized off northern Cyprus, killing multiple people.
Gavin Newsom blames Trump for housing costs using chart showing massive increase under Biden
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom faced backlash Tuesday after taking a swipe at President Donald Trump for high housing costs, using a chart showing a massive cost spike during the Biden administration.
On his X account, Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, shared a post reporting that U.S. homes are "now the most unaffordable in history," along with a graph showing the income needed to qualify for a median-priced home from 2005 to 2026.
"Great work, @realDonaldTrump!" Newsom wrote.
However, several X users pointed out that although the chart reached its highest level during Trump's second administration, it shows a substantial increase between 2021 and 2024, when former President Joe Biden was in office.
"Hey @GavinNewsom, who was president during the biggest uptick in home unaffordability?" the Libs of TikTok account asked.
Meteorologist Chris Martz wrote, "Evidently, @GavinNewsom doesn't know how to read graphs. Housing prices skyrocketed under Joe Biden's presidency."
"California is the most unaffordable state in the country to buy a house, and it’s only gotten worse since Gavin Newsom took over. And no one in the media will call him out for saying this," OutKick writer Ian Miller commented.
California Post opinion editor Joel Pollak wrote, "You would be ashamed if they broke it down by state."
"Gavin, I guess you can’t read a graph. The biggest spike was before DJT took office," actor Doug Davidson commented.
Author Jens Heycke joked, "Aspiring presidential candidate Gavin Newsom demonstrates that he is unable to read a simple graph. This level of numeric and economic illiteracy is disqualifying."
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Other users compared Newsom's post to a since-deleted X post from the official Democratic Party’s account featuring a graph claiming that "U.S. Grocery Prices Reached Record Highs in 2025" with prices "higher today than they were on July 2024" in categories such as dairy, produce and meat.
At the time, users pointed out that the graph, in fact, showed prices skyrocketing in 2021, when Biden was president, and only leveling off at the end of 2024 when Trump was re-elected.
Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom's office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Newsom's post came as the California governor has been working to tackle housing affordability in his state. In 2025, he signed into law a housing package to exempt certain projects from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and streamline environmental review for qualifying housing and infrastructure development.
In July, he signed into law more housing affordability reforms focused on streamlining affordable-housing financing and project reviews.
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White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital Trump is more "laser-focused" on affordability than the "incompetent" Newsom.
"Unlike incompetent Governor Gavin Newscum, President Trump has been laser-focused on making housing more affordable. The president signed an executive order prohibiting large Wall Street firms from purchasing single-family homes, directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds that helped drive rates to four-year lows and cut unnecessary red tape at a historic pace to boost supply, speed construction, and lower costs," Ingle said.
"The president will not stop fighting until the American dream of homeownership is within reach for every American, which is why he continues to sign bold new executive orders and calls on Congress to pass further legislation."
Lawmakers say they are standing at the gates against 'Trojan horses' promoting malign foreign interests
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a series of exclusive interviews with Fox News Digital, lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee sounded the alarm on a sprawling network of "Trojan horse" activists, nonprofits and social media influencers allegedly amplifying the hostile messages of foreign adversaries straight through the open gates of American democracy.
The warning came into sharp focus Tuesday when CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin and two fellow activists walked into House Rayburn 2172 for a hearing on covert foreign influence operations, then strategically positioned themselves behind witnesses in T-shirts supporting the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Communist Party of Cuba.
About 30 minutes into the hearing, South and Central Asia Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., stopped the hearing and had Capitol Police escort them out.
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"They're coming in, trying to look like one thing, but we know that once they're inside the gates that those doors are going to spring open, and there's a whole other motivation for what they're trying to do," Huizenga told Fox News Digital.
At the center of the controversy is communist tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham, who married CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans in a tropical wedding in Jamaica in 2017, soon after funneling $285 million to six pro-China, pro-communist, anti-American nonprofits in the U.S., including CodePink, according to a Fox News Digital investigation.
Lawmakers say the answer is transparency and following the money and exposing who finances the alleged "Trojan horse."
In their series of interviews, Huizenga and other committee members explained how the modern "Trojan horse" isn't made of wood but rather a network of activists, nonprofits, social media influencers and other ostensibly American voices that foreign governments and foreign-linked actors can allegedly fund, amplify or exploit to carry their messages through the open gates of American democracy.
"They're coming in, trying to look like one thing, but we know that once they're inside the gates that those doors are going to spring open and there's a whole other motivation for what they're trying to do," Huizenga told Fox News Digital.
At the hearing, devoted to "Trojan Horses: Covert Foreign Malign Influence Operations in America," lawmakers expressed concern about how the Communist Party of China, Russia, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Communist Party of Cuba spread their propaganda and influence in the U.S.
The phrase "Trojan horse" comes from the ancient Greek story of soldiers concealed inside a wooden horse presented to the city of Troy. Once the horse was taken behind the city's fortified walls, the soldiers emerged and opened the gates, destroying Troy.
Huizenga stressed that Americans can hold sincere beliefs while also having those messages funded or amplified by foreign actors without necessarily knowing it. He argued that the answer to foreign influence is exposing the origins of the messaging through transparency and robust debate.
Inside the hearing room, as Fox News Digital reported, Benjamin and her fellow CodePink activists offered a vivid illustration of the debate over how political messages are created and amplified.
They sat directly behind the witnesses, placing their T-shirts in the sight line of the official committee cameras.
Benjamin then turned toward a television monitor on the side of the hearing room displaying the official video feed. She pulled out her phone, zoomed in on the image of herself and a fellow activist appearing behind the witnesses and took photo after photo of the screen.
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Huizenga said he viewed the episode as political theater designed for an audience beyond the committee room.
"This isn't about discourse. This is about disruption," Huizenga told Fox News Digital. "It's all planned out. You see people in the crowd filming with their phones, getting ready. You knew something was going to happen because, all of a sudden, the phones would come out.
"It's really about theatrics," he added, arguing that confrontations can subsequently be circulated on social media to attract attention, donations and volunteers.
The episode captured the central tension running through the hearing: How does the United States expose genuine covert foreign influence without treating protected American political speech as foreign subversion?
"Transparency. Transparency is the watchword," Huizenga told Fox News Digital. "We really need to make sure that people know not only the why, but the who is behind all this."
Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Wash., told Fox News Digital that America's open political system creates opportunities for foreign governments to try to influence legitimate domestic debates through social media, universities and other institutions.
"The American people need transparency and need to understand what is going on in these public policy discussions and whether it's podcast hosts, certain actors on social media or things going on our college campuses," Baumgartner said. "We need to know who's behind it and what their motivations are."
Baumgartner pointed to "clear transparency on this issue" as a solution, adding that if evidence showed organizations were acting on behalf of foreign governments without complying with applicable disclosure laws, the matter could potentially be referred to the Justice Department, which oversees the Foreign Agent Registration Act, or FARA. The law requires that people and organizations acting on behalf of foreign interests register with the Justice Department.
Other lawmakers said the modern Trojan horse doesn't necessarily have to walk physically through the doors of Congress, but rather arrive via social media.
Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., described social media, influencers and protests as potential channels through which foreign governments influence American political debate. He said "it's a real issue, whether it's on social media, influencers, protests, these things are all designed to destabilize our country."
Fine characterized what experts call "cognitive warfare" as "using our information platforms to try to poison people's minds and to create division from within."
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., focused on another battlefield: artificial intelligence.
"Trojan horses are things like the announcement that we should slow down on AI," Issa told Fox News Digital, arguing that foreign adversaries can benefit when American political pressure slows U.S. technological development.
"We are in a war in which the other side uses all the clandestine tools," Issa said. "They use their, quite frankly, their social media to our detriment."
Huizenga similarly argued that Americans should view the organizations under examination not individually but as a network.
"It's a network. It's not independent organizations or even people," he said. "You will see some of the same people at different organizations, rallies, or protests."
At the center of much of the hearing were findings from a Fox News Digital investigation into Neville Roy Singham, an American-born communist tech tycoon who lives in Shanghai and has pumped $285 million into six nonprofits, including CodePink, the People's Forum and other groups examined during the hearing.
Huizenga alleged in his official opening remarks that Singham uses his wealth and relationships in China to support organizations that promote communist ideology and destabilize American society. He explicitly described Singham, CodePink and a growing network of pro-communist, pro-China groups as "Trojan horses."
‘TROJAN HORSES’ IN AMERICA: CONGRESS PROBES INFLUENCE NETWORKS TIED TO CHINA, IRAN AND CUBA
Singham and CodePink have denied taking direction from the Chinese government. Singham has said his activities reflect his own political beliefs, while Benjamin has said CodePink doesn't receive money from the Chinese Communist Party.
As Fox News Digital reported in June, the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York have convened a grand jury investigation into alleged money laundering, bank fraud and wire fraud by Singham and the organizations he has funded.
No criminal charges have been filed against Singham or CodePink with respect to those allegations.
Huizenga argued that the funding relationships deserve scrutiny.
"Oftentimes, it's frankly the origins aren't organic, or if there is a part of it being organic, this is getting fed by outside organizations, oftentimes even outside countries," Huizenga alleged.
Being escorted through the committee room doors didn't end CodePink's political theater.
Outside the hearing room, Benjamin positioned herself beside the House Foreign Affairs Committee placard and began recording another video, pulling out a comb first to straighten her hair.
When Rep. Fine emerged from the hearing, Benjamin followed him down the hallway firing questions as another member of her team recorded the encounter.
After Fine disappeared into an office, Benjamin returned to the committee entrance, straightened her hair with a comb and resumed recording.
HOUSE COMMITTEE PASSES FOREIGN FUNDING TRANSPARENCY ACT TO EXPOSE FOREIGN DONATIONS TO NONPROFITS
About two hours after Capitol Police escorted the activists from the hearing, CodePink posted a carefully edited video of the day's confrontation on social media, where activists in the broader network began sharing it.
The physical protest was over, but the images it produced were just beginning to travel.
That sequence was precisely why lawmakers said Americans should look beyond the spectacle to who finances and amplifies political messaging.
"This is theater for many of these people," Huizenga said. He said he wanted Americans, through "transparency and disclosure," to understand "not just the what they are doing, but the who is financing them."
The lawmakers gathered to investigate modern "Trojan horses" said the lesson of the ancient story wasn't simply to keep the horse outside the gates but also to understand what — and who — might be inside.
"Transparency. Transparency is the watchword," Huizenga said.
Lawmakers say 'transparency and disclosure' are the best defense against influence campaigns exploiting America's democracy.
Fox News Digital's Reagan Schroeder and Brooke Curto contributed to this report.
Skid Row forgeries, illegal votes and a mayoral candidate: Election fraud cases pile up nationwide
The Trump administration continues to crack down on voter fraud cases, including a noncitizen who allegedly voted in a mayoral race he was fraudulently registered for and a noncitizen arrested for allegedly lying about her citizenship to vote in federal elections.
These allegations span a slate of federal election-related cases highlighted by the Justice Department in recent days, adding to a series of prosecutions targeting noncitizen voting, fraudulent voter registrations and other alleged election-related crimes.
The DOJ's latest announcements involve California, Kansas, Louisiana, Texas and Massachusetts, while federal prosecutors have brought a number of other cases across the country in recent weeks amid the Trump administration's broader efforts to bolster election security ahead of the midterms.
The White House pointed to the new cases that continue to pile up as evidence supporting the administration's crackdown.
DEMOCRAT NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR SAYS THOUSANDS OF NONCITIZENS DISCOVERED ON VOTER ROLLS, PURGED
"Despite extreme Democrats and the media claiming it never happens, the evidence of noncitizens registering and voting in our elections continues to pile up," White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital. "Any noncitizens found registering and voting in our elections will be arrested and held accountable. Only Americans should be electing American leaders."
The more than a dozen defendants charged in cases announced this week face allegations ranging from illegal voting and false claims of U.S. citizenship to fraudulent voter registration and identity fraud. U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche warned that individuals "gaming the election system, voting illegally or committing voter fraud" will face prosecution, while federal prosecutors in Texas said their seven cases "send a clear message" that laws barring noncitizens from voting will be enforced.
Among the defendants were Louisiana mayoral candidate Bridget Johnson, who prosecutors allege fraudulently registered Jamaican noncitizen Michael Wedderburn before he voted in the 2024 federal election and the same mayoral race in which Johnson was a candidate. Johnson allegedly electronically submitted a Louisiana voter registration application in Wedderburn's name on July 14, 2024, falsely stating that he was a U.S. citizen, according to court documents.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT LEARNS FATE AFTER USING STOLEN IDENTITY TO VOTE IN US ELECTIONS FOR DECADES
Johnson was charged with fraudulent voter registration and voting by an alien, while Wedderburn was charged with voting by an alien. If convicted, Johnson faces up to five years in prison, while Wedderburn faces up to one year, along with potential financial penalties, according to federal prosecutors.
Other cases announced this week included allegations against three people in California accused in an alleged scheme that used stolen identities of registered voters to manufacture signatures on ballot initiative petitions.
California frequently uses ballot initiatives to put major policy questions directly before voters, with citizen-backed measures capable of changing state law or amending the state constitution. Recent initiatives have included Proposition 36, which increased penalties for certain drug and theft crimes, and measures dealing with the minimum wage and rent control.
Prosecutors allege James Brass and Courtney Price went to Los Angeles' Skid Row, where they handed people stolen identities belonging to registered California voters and paid them to copy those voters' personal information onto ballot petitions and forge their signatures.
Brass and a third defendant, Jateisha Herron, then allegedly falsely certified that they had personally witnessed the registered voters sign the petitions. Brass allegedly received about $41,600 from coordinators working with a petition-management company helping collect signatures, according to prosecutors.
The case is the second election-related federal prosecution announced this year involving alleged payments to people on Skid Row. In May, federal prosecutors charged a longtime ballot initiative signature collector with paying individuals, including homeless people living on Skid Row, to register to vote.
In Kansas, prosecutors charged 24-year-old Peruvian national and U.S. permanent resident Mariana Alexandra Dewey with falsely claiming U.S. citizenship, fraudulent election conduct and voting as an alien in a federal election after arresting her earlier this month.
In Massachusetts, federal prosecutors announced a case this week against Nigerian national Gladys Adaeze Okafor, who allegedly claimed to be a U.S. citizen while registering to vote before casting ballots in multiple federal elections.
A handful of cases were announced by federal prosecutors in Texas this week as well, including multiple cases where individuals registered to vote illegally when applying for a Texas driver's license. On the same day those defendants were indicted, a Mexican national was also sentenced to 36 months in federal prison for aggravated identity theft, false statements of citizenship, and illegal voting by an alien, according to federal officials.
INSIDE HOUSE REPUBLICANS' PLAN TO END RUN DEM OPPOSITION AND PASS TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID
The cases add to the growing list of federal election-related cases brought in the past few weeks on top of other prosecutions earlier this year involving noncitizens accused of illegally registering or voting in U.S. elections. Less than two weeks ago, the Justice Department charged five people in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Wisconsin in cases involving alleged illegal voting or fraudulent registration tied to the 2022 or 2024 elections.
The DOJ separately charged an Indian national in Minnesota last week with falsely claiming U.S. citizenship in order to vote in the 2024 general election.
Despite the mounting prosecutions, the Trump administration also faced a setback this week in its efforts to boost election security.
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) could not implement the president's stricter mail ballot requirements for the 2026 elections, leaving a lower court's nationwide injunction in place. The blocked rules would have required states to use specially designed mail ballot envelopes with unique voter barcodes, submit envelope designs to USPS for review and provide it with information about intended ballot recipients.
The ruling, however, did not block a separate part of Trump's March executive order directing the federal government to create citizenship lists for states to use in checking their voter rolls.
Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was appointed by Trump, agreed the rules should not take effect for this year's elections, writing that state and local officials did not have sufficient time to reasonably implement them.
Nonetheless, Kavanaugh said there was "at least a fair prospect" that the Postal Service ultimately has the statutory authority to impose the requirements. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.
Trump blasted the decision Tuesday as another "bad decision" from the Supreme Court and praised Alito and Thomas as "legends," while arguing the ruling would make cheating through mail ballots easier.