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A blockbuster sports deal set to merge two rivals — the PGA Tour, an organizer of top-level professional golf tournaments mostly in the U.S., with LIV Golf, an upstart league funded by Saudi Arabia — stunned players and fans alike this week.

But the tentative plan to combine forces and position Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to invest billions of dollars in the joint venture goes beyond a lucrative power play by the oil-rich kingdom.

Observers say it’s the Saudis’ latest attempt to flex their influence across a breadth of American institutions, from Hollywood to Silicon Valley, and mine economic opportunities in spite of tense relations with the West in recent years brought on by accusations of human rights abuses and the 2018 killing of journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi.

‘This is a huge feather in the cap of the Saudis, and it’s a huge victory for them on a number of levels,’ said Bernard Haykel, a professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton University who has written about political and social changes in the country.

While the PGA Tour and LIV Golf clashed publicly, including litigation in which LIV accused the PGA Tour of acting as a monopolistic enterprise and the defections of top PGA Tour players to LIV, the surprise union gives the Saudis a foothold in one of the world’s enduring pastimes.

‘The bulk of their investments is in America. It’s the most liquid market and with the greatest returns,’ Haykel said. ‘This is a no-brainer.’

‘Sportswashing’ strategy?

Making inroads in the U.S. golf market, a multibillion-dollar industry, is merely the latest frontier for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as his government sets its sights on the global sports arena.

The country’s efforts have been gaining momentum.

In 2021, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund bought Newcastle United, transforming the beleaguered soccer club in England’s Premier League into one of the world’s richest. Newcastle this season ranks in the league’s top five teams in the standings.

Also in 2021, Saudi Arabia introduced its own Grand Prix Formula One motor races, which are held around the globe and are known for attracting celebrities, influencers and foreign dealmakers. This year’s glitzy gathering in the Saudi resort city of Jeddah included after-race concerts headlined by Travis Scott, Charlie Puth and Calvin Harris.

The kingdom’s foray into mega-sporting events has led critics to claim the Saudis are engaged in ‘sportswashing’ — an attempt to burnish its reputation through the popularity of sports and high-profile athletes — while neglecting to address human rights reforms or provide transparency in connection with Khashoggi’s death, as well as the 9/11 attacks, led by Saudi hijackers.

After the PGA Tour-LIV merger was announced Tuesday, an organization representing the families of victims of 9/11 blasted PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan for appearing to turn his back on them after he previously made comments taking aim at LIV.

‘PGA Tour leaders should be ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed,’ Terry Strada, the chair of 9/11 Families United, said in a statement. ‘Our entire 9/11 community has been betrayed by Commissioner Monahan and the PGA as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window-dressing in their quest for money — it was never to honor the great game of golf.’

Monahan has defended the deal, and he said his past comments were based on information he had at the time. ‘I recognize that people are going to call me a hypocrite,’ he told reporters Tuesday. ‘I accept those criticisms. But circumstances do change.’

Some Washington lawmakers who have criticized Saudi Arabia in the past also lauded the new partnership.

‘As a premier U.S. destination for golf, the merger of PGA and LIV Tour is beyond exciting and could be beneficial to our state,’ tweeted Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who had once harshly condemned the Saudi crown prince over his alleged role in Khashoggi’s killing.

Hollywood and tech

The deep-pocketed Saudis have become players in other profitable industries — at times to limited success.

A 2018 Vanity Fair article, ‘Prince Mohammed Does Hollywood,’ described how the crown prince hobnobbed with movie moguls and A-list actors during a whirlwind tour across the U.S.

‘A pleasure to have a private dinner with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, his royal family and distinguished cadre,’ Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson wrote on Facebook after a dinner at the home of media baron Rupert Murdoch. ‘A fun night and great to hear his deep-rooted, yet modern views on the world and certainly the positive growth of his country.’

But what would have been a major Hollywood deal in 2019 soured following the Khashoggi scandal when the Endeavor talent agency, headed by Ari Emanuel, the brother of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, returned a $400 million investment from the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund. In a television conference, Ari Emanuel said Khashoggi’s death was ‘very, very concerning,’ The Washington Post reported.

Only recently have the Saudis been able to lure serious Hollywood interest, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Gerard Butler-helmed CIA thriller ‘Kandahar,’ which opened last month to mixed reviews, was filmed on location in the kingdom.

Meanwhile, the Saudi monarchy’s attempt to find success in the U.S. tech industry has also traveled a bumpy road.

In 2016, the Saudis’ sovereign wealth fund boosted Uber with a $3.5 billion investment. Since then, the ride-hailing app has become one of the most popular in the country.

But the fund also missed out on a financial windfall after it dumped nearly all of its shares of Tesla in late 2019 just before the electric carmaker had a massive rally — which would have benefited Saudi Arabia to the tune of more than $7 billion, according to reports.

Resetting relations

The Biden administration is looking to ease relations with Saudi Arabia, which President Joe Biden had described on the campaign trail in 2019 as a ‘pariah’ state.

This week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Crown Prince Mohammed in his first bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia as the top U.S. diplomat.

The pair ‘affirmed their shared commitment to advance stability, security, and prosperity across the Middle East and beyond, including through a comprehensive political agreement to achieve peace, prosperity, and security in Yemen,’ according to a readout of the meeting shared by the State Department.

Haykel said the Saudis’ investment with the PGA Tour shouldn’t be read as their trying to rebrand their image with the broader American public.

‘They would like us to like them, but they’ve given up on trying,’ Haykel said. ‘They’re pursuing their national interests. They’re making deals with the Chinese and the Russians, too.’

Robert Jordan, who was the ambassador to Saudi Arabia in President George W. Bush’s administration, said the strained relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia in recent years doesn’t mean neither side is willing to give up an economic and military partnership.

The allure of America is real, he said.

‘When you talk to them about where they want their kids to be educated, the vast preponderance is that they want them to come to the U.S. and for holidays and vacation homes,’ said Jordan, who is also an avid golfer. ‘Maybe it’s ebbing slightly, but it’s still quite strong.’

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EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump said his federal indictment is ‘election interference at the highest level,’ telling Fox News Digital that the Biden administration is ‘the most corrupt’ in history.

During an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital Thursday night, Trump said the case is ‘election interference’ and ‘the greatest witch hunt of all time.’ Trump said he will ‘of course’ plead not guilty to charges in federal court on Tuesday, and said he is ‘totally innocent.’

Trump, the current front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, was indicted on federal charges Thursday evening stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s months-long investigation into the former president’s alleged improper retention of classified records at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump is listed in the indictment, which has not been unsealed, as a criminal defendant charged with at least seven counts involving obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and illegal retention of classified government material. He has been ordered to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday. The indictment remains unsealed. 

‘This is the most corrupt administration in history—there has never been an administration so corrupt, and they’re just starting to find it right now,’ Trump told Fox News Digital. ‘They are trying to deflect all of their dishonesty by bringing this ridiculous boxes hoax case.’

He added: ‘They’re not going to get away with it.’

‘I did absolutely nothing wrong,’ he said, citing the Presidential Records Act, saying it ‘makes me totally innocent.’

President Biden is under special counsel investigation for his alleged improper retention of classified records from his time as vice president in the Obama administration and as a senator. 

When asked whether he thought Biden could, too, be charged, Trump said, ‘Probably not—nothing will happen.’ 

He said the indictment was handed down Thursday because it was the same day an allegation, first revealed by Fox News Digital, emerged that Biden received $5 million for involvement in a bribery scheme.

Fox News Digital, hours before the indictment, exclusively reported that a confidential human source told the FBI during a June 2020 interview that President Biden was allegedly paid $5 million by an executive of the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, where his son Hunter Biden sat on the board.

Sources familiar briefed Fox News Digital on the contents of the subpoenaed FBI-generated FD-1023 form alleging a criminal bribery scheme between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national that involved influence over U.S. policy decisions.

‘The reason that they did this today, at this time, is because of the fact that the $5 million was found out in the document, and that’s just the beginning,’ Trump said.

Fox News Digital exclusively reported that the FD-1023 form was an interview with a ‘highly credible’ confidential source who detailed multiple meetings and conversations he or she had with a top Burisma executive over the course of several years, starting in 2015. Fox News Digital has not seen the form, but it was described by several sources who are aware of its contents.

Sources familiar told Fox News Digital that the confidential human source believes that the $5 million payment to Joe Biden and the $5 million payment to Hunter Biden occurred, based on his or her conversations with the Burisma executive. 

The confidential source said the Burisma executive told him he ‘paid’ the Bidens in such a manner ‘through so many different bank accounts’ that investigators would not be able to ‘unravel this for at least 10 years.’

The document then makes reference to ‘the Big Guy,’ which, has been said to be a reference to Joe Biden.

The Burisma executive told the confidential source that he ‘didn’t pay the Big Guy directly.’ 

A source familiar said according to the document, the $5 million payments appeared to reference a kind of ‘retainer’ Burisma intended to pay the Bidens to deal with a number of issues, including his effort to end the investigation into Burisma led by Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin. Another source referred to the arrangement as a ‘pay-to-play’ scheme. 

Biden has acknowledged that when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin. At the time, Shokin was investigating Burisma Holdings, and at the time, Hunter had a highly-lucrative role on the board receiving thousands of dollars per month. The then-vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion of critical U.S. aid if Shokin was not fired.

In 2019, then-President Trump, pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch investigations into the Biden family’s actions and business dealings in Ukraine —specifically Hunter Biden’s ventures with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings and Joe Biden’s successful effort to have Shokin ousted.

Trump was later impeached by the House of Representatives for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — all stemming from the phone call and the question about the Bidens’ dealings. The Senate voted for acquittal in February 2020.

‘I was asking the right question,’ Trump said, referring to his July 2019 phone call with Zelenskyy. ‘I said, ‘if you have any corruption on the Biden administration, call our attorney general.’ I was doing my job—and it turns out, my job was done correctly.’

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump’s leading rival for the 2024 GOP nomination, said the decision to charge the former president demonstrated political bias in the Biden Justice Department and it’s ‘weaponization’ of its police powers.

Trump was indicted Thursday on federal charges involving conspiracy, obstruction, and taking classified documents.

‘The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society,’ Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated Thursday.

‘We have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation. Why so zealous in pursuing Trump yet so passive about Hillary or Hunter?’

DeSantis said his administration ‘will bring accountability to the DOJ, excise political bias and end weaponization once and for all.’

Other GOP candidates made supportive statements, but not all.

Sen. Tim Scott who announced his candidacy last month, said in an interview Thursday evening with Fox News’ Harris Faulkner that Trump’s indictment indicates the ‘scales’ of the justice system ‘are weighted.’

‘One thing that makes America a city on the hill is confidence in our justice system. And today, what we see is a justice system where the scales are awaited. That seems to be the outcome of where we are today,’ Scott said. 

‘As President of the United States, I would purge all of the injustices and impurities in our system so that every American can have confidence that they will be seen by the lady of justice with a blindfold on. That is what we need in this nation,’ he said. 

But former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who threw his hat into the ring earlier this week, stated on Twitter that ‘we don’t get our news from Trump’s Truth Social account.’ Trump first announced that he was indicted via his social media platform, prior to reporting that his legal team received a summons from DOJ. The indictment itself remains under seal.

‘Let’s see what the facts are when any possible indictment is released. As I have said before, no one is above the law, no matter how much they wish they were. We will have more to say when the facts are revealed,’ Christie said. 

Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson called for Trump to end his campaign saying, ‘With the news that Donald Trump has been indicted for the second time, our country finds itself in a position that weakens our democracy.’

‘Donald Trump’s actions – from his willful disregard for the Constitution to his disrespect for the rule of law – should not define our nation or the Republican Party. This is a sad day for our country,’ he continued.

‘While Donald Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence, the ongoing criminal proceedings will be a major distraction. This reaffirms the need for Donald Trump to respect the office and end his campaign, he said. 

Entrepreneur turned GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said if he were to win the White House he would ‘promptly’ pardon Trump.

‘It would be much easier for me to win this election if Trump weren’t in the race, but I stand for principles over politics,’ Ramaswamy wrote on Twitter Thursday night. ‘I commit to pardon Trump promptly on January 20, 2025 and to restore the rule of law in our country.’

This is the second time Trump has been indicted this year. Trump pleaded not guilty in April after being charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.

Trump has been ordered to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

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The Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis camps are trading blows after the Florida governor’s 2024 campaign debuted an AI-generated image depicting the former president hugging Dr. Anthony Fauci.

It’s also further fueling concerns about how AI ‘deepfakes’ of altered video, photos or audio portraying candidates saying and doing things they did not could affect the 2024 campaign.

‘Fake images from a fake campaign for a fake candidate. This stunt had the ‘please clap’ energy of Ron DeSanctimonious’ mentor, Jeb Bush,’ a Trump campaign adviser told Fox News Digital of the images.

One of Trump’s most vocal allies in the Senate, freshman Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, tweeted on Thursday, ‘Smearing Donald Trump with fake AI images is completely unacceptable. I’m not sharing them, but we’re in a new era. Be even more skeptical of what you see on the internet.’ 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., shared Vance’s statement and added, ‘Those fake AI campaign ads need to be taken down immediately.’

However, someone with knowledge of DeSantis’ operation accused Trump of putting out misleading content long before the social media post dropped, when asked about Vance’s tweet.

‘If the Trump team is upset about this, I’d ask them why they have been continuously posting fake images and false talking points to smear the governor,’ the person told Fox News Digital.

Just last month, Trump triggered an uproar on Twitter after he shared an AI-generated video mocking DeSantis’ campaign announcement on Twitter Spaces. It depicted DeSantis along with Twitter owner Elon Musk, along with George Soros, Adolph Hitler, and the devil among the guest participants.

Amid the fallout from the AI images showing Trump and Fauci, DeSantis’ rapid response director Christina Pushaw shared a post from the ex-president’s Truth Social app account, where Trump had posted a photoshopped image of DeSantis atop a rhino.

‘I think this might be an AI-generated image. Who knows?’ Pushaw wrote on Twitter.

Vance’s office did not return a request for comment on whether he believes political campaigns should be able to use AI-generated images or photoshopped pictures.

Trump is still the leading GOP primary candidate in a crowded 2024 field. DeSantis has consistently come second in national polls, though he trails Trump by double-digits in most.

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Democrat lawmakers were quick to react following the news that former President Trump had been indicted on charges connected to his handling of classified documents, with some saying that the former president is not ‘above the law’ and calling his behavior ‘extremist’ and ‘toxic.’

‘No one is above the law,’ Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said in a Twitter post. 

‘The chaos of Trump continues,’ Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) said on Twitter. ‘What he’s doing to this country, the extremism and danger he and his allies present, has to end. Only when those who support and enable him decide to be done with this toxic behavior, will this all be behind us.’

While many Republican lawmakers accused the Justice Department of attempting to interfere with the upcoming 2024 presidential election, Democrats called the indictment an ‘affirmation of the rule of law.’

‘Trump’s apparent indictment on multiple charges arising from his retention of classified materials is another affirmation of the rule of law,’ Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) wrote in a Twitter post. ‘For four years, he acted like he was above the law. But he should be treated like any other lawbreaker. And today, he has been.’

‘Grand Jury votes to indict Trump!’ tweeted Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), cheering the decision. 

‘It’s time that we ensure Trump is banned from running for any public office again,’ echoed Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) in a press release.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) shared in the celebration, saying the indictment is ‘one of many steps’ toward eliminating Trump as a threat to fair elections.

‘I will always believe that this twice-impeached former president is a threat to our democracy,’ he tweeted.  

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) tweeted a short clip of a crowd of women giving a standing ovation. And Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) shared a short response to Trump’s indictment, writing, ‘Good,’ in a Twitter post along with an image of the former president. 

Other lawmakers responded in a more subdued manner, saying that Trump is ‘innocent until proven guilty’ and 

‘Everyone is innocent until proven guilty,’ Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) said in a Twitter post. ‘But we don’t need a judge or jury to determine if his destruction of decency and dangerous incompetence continues to stain America.’

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) cautioned Republicans against what he called the ‘dangerous rhetoric about a ‘two-tiered system of justice.’’

‘Instead of trying to divide the country and undercut our legal system, Congressional Republicans should respect the outcome of the Special Counsel’s comprehensive investigation and the decisions of the citizens serving on the grand jury,’ Raskin said in a statement, warning that ‘rhetoric about a ‘two tiered system of justice,’ to ‘prop up’ the former President ‘not only undermines the Department of Justice but betrays the essential principle of justice that no one is above the commands of law, not even a former President or a self-proclaimed billionaire.’

This is the second time Trump has been indicted this year. Trump pleaded not guilty in April after being charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.

Trump has been ordered to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, June 13.

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The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) sparked a firestorm this week after it added several prominent parental rights groups to its annual ‘Hate and Extremism’ report, including Parents Defending Education and Moms for Liberty, describing them as ‘hard-right’ and ‘reactionary anti-student inclusion groups.’

According to the new SPLC report, schools ‘have been on the receiving end of ramped-up and coordinated hard-right attacks.’

 After being ‘spurred by the right-wing backlash to COVID-19 public safety measures,’ parental rights groups appeared to have ‘grown into an anti-student inclusion movement that targets any inclusive curriculum that contains discussions of race, discrimination and LGBTQ identities,’ according to the SPLC, which has tax-exempt status from the IRS.

‘Like many other hard-right groups, these reactionary anti-student inclusion groups are constantly painting themselves as an oppressed class, while vilifying those discriminated against,’ the SPLC added.

The SPLC itself has faced a long history of allegations of discrimination while it simultaneously purports to be a ‘catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond.’

Despite its controversial past, the SPLC often partners with the federal government and is frequently cited as a reference by agencies at the state and federal levels. 

For instance, the SPLC began partnering with the FBI in 2007 for its ‘Cold Case Initiative’ seeking to identify racially-motivated murders committed decades ago, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), and SPLC research and data analyst Zachary Mahafza was recently enlisted as a panelist who helped shape the administration’s ‘Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights.’

1. The SPLC’s co-founder was driven from the organization and multiple other executives resigned following accusations of rampant internal racism and sexism

Founded in 1971, the Alabama-based SPLC gained prominence in the 1980s for winning several civil lawsuits on the behalf of Ku Klux Klan victims. However, with the exception of its co-founder Morris Dees, the SPLC’s entire legal staff resigned in protest in 1986 over a disagreement about the organization’s direction. They wanted to focus on civil rights while Dees wanted to continue targeting white supremacist groups like the KKK, AL.com reported in 2019.

In 1994, the Montgomery Advertiser published an eight-part series about the SPLC that went on to be a Pulitzer Prize finalist, examining the ‘litany of problems and questionable practices at the SPLC, including a deeply troubled history with its relatively few black employees, some of whom reported hearing the use of racial slurs by the organization’s staff and others who ‘likened the center to a plantation’’ and ‘misleading donors with aggressive direct-mail tactics,’ the publication’s former managing editor, Jim Tharpe, recounted in a 2019 op-ed for The Washington Post.

Tharpe’s editorial came soon after the SPLC fired Dees in March 2019 following accusations of unchecked internal racism and sexism. His ouster came after the SPLC faced two dozen employee complaints saying its workplace fostered an intolerable workplace environment, including mistreatment, sexual harassment and a lack of diversity based on race and gender.

The New York Times reported at the time that several employees were subject to ‘racially callous remarks’ and that some on staff were sidelined because of their skin color – ultimately affecting their pay and advancement within the organization.

‘As a civil rights organization, the SPLC is committed to ensuring that the conduct of our staff reflects the mission of the organization and the values we hope to instill in the world,’ SPLC’s then-president Richard Cohen said at the time. ‘When one of our own fails to meet those standards, no matter his or her role in the organization, we take it seriously and must take appropriate action.’

Cohen later stepped down from the organization amid the harassment and diversity allegations.

Amid the scandal, The New Yorker’s Bob Moser, who worked for the SPLC as a writer from 2001 to 2004, wrote a piece slamming the lack of diversity at the nonprofit. 

‘But nothing was more uncomfortable than the racial dynamic that quickly became apparent: a fair number of what was then about a hundred employees were African-American, but almost all of them were administrative and support staff—‘the help,’ one of my black colleagues said pointedly,’ Moser wrote at the time. ‘The ‘professional staff’—the lawyers, researchers, educators, public-relations officers, and fund-raisers—were almost exclusively white. Just two staffers, including me, were openly gay.’

2. SPLC union members protested the organization’s ‘inequitable’ policies last year

The 2019 scandal prompted SPLC staff to unionize that December in an effort to enact more equitable policies. In March 2022, the union organized an employee protest, claiming there was a racial disparity in the nonprofit’s return-to-work policy.

‘Black women, many of whom have been working at this organization for decades in positions with little or no opportunities for advancement are four times more likely to be denied telework and/or remote work than white women and are seven times more likely to be denied telework options than white men at the Center,’ the SPLC Union wrote in a news release about the protest held in Montgomery.

The union said the event aimed to ‘protest management’s forcing mostly Black women employees to return to the office while allowing the option of remote work for white and higher-paid employees.’

The SPLC’s current president and CEO, Margaret Huang, defended the organization’s policies in a statement, saying the SPLC had created a flexible work model that allowed staff in certain, eligible roles to work entirely remotely.

‘We have nearly 400 employees and have identified only 9% of employees whose positions require them to be in the office, performing activities such as processing legal mail and donor contributions,’ Huang said at the time. 

3. A D.C. gunman said SPLC’s ‘hate map’ motivated his attack on the Family Research Council

Critics have long accused the SPLC of falsely slapping the ‘hate group’ label on non-violent groups that hold traditional beliefs about hot-button issues such as gay marriage and abortion.

One of those conservative Christian groups, the Family Research Council (FRC), was targeted in August 2012 by a gunman who said he was driven by the SPLC’s ‘hate map.’

A man named Floyd Lee Corkins II showed up to the FRC building in Washington, D.C, with a 9 mm pistol, multiple ammunition clips and a box of extra rounds. 

Prosecutors said his mission was to ‘kill as many people as possible,’ but one heroic building manager’s action was ​’the only thing that prevented Floyd Corkins, II from carrying out a mass shooting.’

The shooter opened fire, striking Leo Johnson, an office manager who successfully tackled him until police arrived, preventing the intended massacre. The shooter, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges including terrorism, told the FBI that he found FRC on the SPLC’s ‘hate map.’ 

SPLC SILENT ON ADDING PRO-CHOICE EXTREMIST GROUPS TO ITS LIST OF HATE GROUPS 

‘Southern Poverty Law lists, uh, anti-gay groups,’ Corkins told the FBI, according to interrogation footage. ‘I found them online — did a little research, went to the website, stuff like that.’

More than 10 years after the attack and the FRC is still listed as an ‘anti-LGBTQ’ hate group by the SPLC, while other organizations that have openly carried out attacks on organizations across the country have not been included on its website. Jane’s Revenge, for example, has taken responsibility for dozens of attacks against pro-life and pregnancy centers from coast to coast since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but is not listed as a ‘hate group’ on the SPLC website or even mentioned, according to a search of the site.  

4. The SPLC maintains vast amounts of cash in offshore entities

Despite being based in Alabama, the SPLC has for years held vast amounts of cash in offshore accounts, which has led to criticism of its finances. 

According to its most recent financial audit, the group reported $138 million in non-U.S. equity funds as of Oct. 31, 2022. The Washington Free Beacon previously reported its offshore money has included accounts in the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands. 

The SPLC is a fundraising powerhouse and has pulled in substantial cash from the ‘hate’ industry. The group reported $108 million in contributions and $723 million in total assets on its most recent tax forms. 

Amid the 2019 scandal that led to Dees’ firing, a former staffer came forward, claiming that the SPLC used its ‘hate group’ accusation to exaggerate hate in a fundraising scheme to ‘bilk’ donors. 

In 2000, nearly two decades before Dees’ firing, Harpers Magazine’s Ken Silverstein published a series characterizing the SPLC co-founder as a con man profiting off of white guilt, as most of SPLC donors were white, and accusing the organization of spending ‘most of its time – and money – on a relentless fund-raising campaign, peddling memberships in the church of tolerance with all the zeal of a circuit rider passing the collection plate.’

Gloria Browne, a lawyer who resigned from the SPLC in the early ‘90s, told The Montgomery Advertiser at the time that the organization was cashing in on ‘black pain and white guilt.’

5. The SPLC supports parents’ rights when it comes to gender-reassignment treatments and surgeries

Despite SPLC’s new decision to consider conservative parents’ rights groups ‘extreme,’ it claims parental rights are at the heart of its fight for transgender kids to be able to access sex-change treatments and medical procedures.

In March, the SPLC Action Fund issued a statement condemning Georgia’s new law banning doctors from performing gender-reassignment surgeries or prescribing hormone replacements to Georgians under 18.

‘Denying safe, effective medical treatment to transgender youth — based only on prejudice and political pandering — is inhumane,’ the group said in March after the bill passed the state Senate. ‘The SPLC Action Fund urges Gov. Brian Kemp to leave personal healthcare decisions in the capable hands of parents, children, and their doctors by vetoing S.B. 140.’

6. The SPLC was ordered to pay $3.375 million after branding a reformed Islamist an ‘anti-Muslim extremist’

In 2018, the SPLC agreed to publicly apologize and pay $3.375 million in damages after branding British anti-extremism group Quilliam Foundation and its founder, Maajid Nawaz, ‘anti-Muslim’ extremists. 

‘We’ve found that Mr. Nawaz and Quilliam have made valuable and important contributions to public discourse, including by promoting pluralism and condemning both anti-Muslim bigotry and Islamist extremism,’ Cohen, the then-SPLC president, said in his apology. ‘Although we may have our differences with some of the positions that Mr. Nawaz and Quilliam have taken, they are most certainly not anti-Muslim extremists.’

7. The SPLC was forced to apologize and retract a 3-part series painting liberal journalists as Russian pawns

In March 2018, the SPLC was forced to retract and apologize for an article that falsely asserted several reporters were enabling white supremacists and Russia while labeling them as fascists and racists.

The SPLC published the misleading article by Alexander Reid Ross headlined, ‘The multipolar spin: how fascists operationalize left-wing resentment.’ The story attempted to frame progressive journalists as pawns being used by the alt-right and made dangerous accusations in an attempt to fit its narrative.

The convoluted 2,500-plus word article was removed the following day after journalist Max Blumenthal, who was named in the article, expressed concern that he was falsely portrayed as being part of a nefarious plot by Kremlin-backed white supremacists to advance a fascist agenda. Several of the named reporters were minorities well-known for activism on the antiwar and antiracism fronts.

The SPLC published a lengthy apology and retracted the story, as well as the two other stories in the three-part series.

8. The SPLC apologized after labeling Ben Carson an ‘extremist’

In May 2016, the SPLC apologized to Ben Carson after placing the then-potential Republican presidential candidate on its ‘Extremist Watch List’ — which is mostly made up of hate groups and white supremacists — for allegedly being ‘anti-gay.’

‘In October 2014, we posted an ‘Extremist File’ of Dr. Ben Carson,’ SPLC wrote on its website. ‘This week, as we’ve come under intense criticism for doing so, we’ve reviewed our profile and have concluded that it did not meet our standards, so we have taken it down and apologize to Dr. Carson for having posted it.’

Among the reasons the SPLC gave for initially putting Carson on the list included a March 26, 2013, interview on Fox News’ ‘Hannity.’

In that interview, Carson said: ‘Marriage is between a man and a woman. It’s a well-established pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA [North American Man/Boy Love Association], be they people who believe in bestiality — it doesn’t matter what they are, they don’t get to change the definition.’

Though the SPLC apologized for putting Carson on the list, it maintained that Carson ‘made a number of statements that express views that we believe most people would conclude are extreme’ and said ‘we believe that his views should be closely examined.’

9. The SPLC works with students and educators on far-left ‘justice’ initiatives

The SPLC, through its Learning for Justice program, works with students and educators to push its far-left mission.

Learning for Justice, previously called Teaching Tolerance, seeks to be a ‘catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people,’ according to its website. 

The project pushes its mission through four core areas: culture and climate, curriculum and instruction, leadership, and family and community engagement. Its educational resources include articles, guides, lessons, films, webinars and frameworks to ‘help foster shared learning and reflection for educators, young people, caregivers and all community members.’

The project is currently taking action ‘to support LGBTQ+ youth in increasingly hostile school environments and in our communities,’ its website states. 

10. An SPLC attorney was arrested on domestic terrorism charges during the ‘Cop City’ attack

A Georgia-based SPLC staff attorney, Tom Jurgens, was arrested following the Georgia ‘Cop City’ terror attack earlier this year.

Jurgens was one of nearly two dozen radical activists arrested for domestic terrorism after a protest of the proposed 85-acre Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, labeled by opponents as ‘Cop City,’ turned into a violent assault on law enforcement. The individuals arrested conducted a coordinated attack on construction equipment and police officers at the site east of Atlanta, using large rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails and fireworks. 

The SPLC rushed to the defense of Jurgens and the domestic terror suspects by shifting the blame to the police.

‘This is part of a months-long escalation of policing tactics against protesters and observers who oppose the destruction of the Weelaunee Forest to build a police training facility,’ the SPLC said in a statement. 

‘The SPLC has and will continue to urge de-escalation of violence and police use of force against Black, Brown and Indigenous communities — working in partnership with these communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people.’

The SPLC did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News’ Brian Flood and Emma Colton, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf announced a merger Tuesday in a stunning end to their bitter rivalry on the fairways, in the courts and on the geopolitical stage.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, who once said playing in LIV events would warrant an apology, said the deal would benefit the sport.

“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” Monahan said in a statement. ‘Going forward, fans can be confident that we will, collectively, deliver on the promise we’ve always made — to promote competition of the best in professional golf and that we are committed to securing and driving the game’s future.’

Monahan told CNBC the move was necessary to grow the sport.

‘There’s been a lot of tension in our sport for the last couple of years. But what we’re talking about today is coming together to unify the game of golf and to do so under one umbrella,’ he said.

‘Together, we’re going to move forward, and we’re going to take efforts to grow and expand this great game and take it to new heights.’

Golf legend Phil Mickelson, who had led prominent players away from the PGA Tour to help form LIV, tweeted his approval of the news Tuesday morning.

And former President Donald Trump, a backer of LIV, took a victory lap Tuesday, declaring he had predicted that the PGA Tour would have to come to an agreement with the Saudi-backed golf operation.

Loved ones of 9/11 victims have protested outside of LIV events, drawing attention to Saudi connections to the 2001 terrorist attacks.

‘PGA Tour leaders should be ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed,’ 9/11 Families United Chair Terry Strada said in a statement Tuesday.

‘Our entire 9/11 community has been betrayed by Commissioner Monahan and the PGA as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window-dressing in their quest for money — it was never to honor the great game of golf,’ Strada said. 

While the deal carries some risk for the PGA Tour, George Washington University sports marketing professor Lisa Delpy Neirotti said players, consumers and golf sponsors ultimately have short memories and just want to see the world’s best tee off every weekend.

“Players just want to get paid, and they want to play against their top competitors — and fans want it, too,” she said. “They don’t want to not have the top players playing in the PGA.” 

The agreement will also end all litigation prompted by the PGA Tour’s suspension of players who had ignored its threats and played in LIV events.

Brooks Koepka hits from the fairway during the PGA Championship golf tournament in Pittsford, N.Y., on May 21.Eric Gay / AP

The desire to end lawsuits was most likely a key factor in the unusual union, though University of Buffalo sports law professor Hellen ‘Nellie’ Drew said new lawsuits could come into play from sponsors unhappy with Saudi involvement.

‘Typically these agreements have some kind of good faith morals clause,’ Drew said. ‘You [a sponsor] want the goodwill associated with the PGA Tour. Now that PGA Tour’s goodwill is substantially connected to human rights issues, that’s a whole different animal. That’s not what you’re paying for.’

LIV was formed in 2022 with 48 players led by Mickelson, along with Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, with a prize fund of $405 million; they and other high-profile players reportedly got deals of at least $100 million to leave the PGA Tour.

Tuesday’s announcement came nearly a year after Monahan blasted players for signing up for LIV events, saying association with the Saudi fund would leave a moral stain.

A dramatic and stern-faced Monahan said last year he knows families who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks and told LIV golfers to take a long look in the mirror before they accepted Saudi government money.

“I would ask any player that has left or any player that would ever consider leaving, ‘Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?’” Monahan said from Toronto on the CBS telecast of the RBC Canadian Open.

The merger didn’t come as a complete surprise to veteran U.S. diplomat Richard N. Haass.

‘I thought it was near-inevitable, as LIV was not going away, given Saudi financial support and strength of several LIV golfers,’ said Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations.

‘Plus, efforts to isolate the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were fading in the wake of the president’s visit to and subsequent developments,’ he said.

Sports has been an increasingly important tool of the Saudi government’s efforts to ingratiate itself on the world stage and gloss over the kingdom’s human rights record. Critics of the kingdom have called the practice “sportswashing.”

While advancing in age, 38-year-old soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo could still play in an upper-tier world league. But he opted for playing in the Saudi Pro League this past season.The venerable English Premier League club Newcastle United was bought by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.The kingdom boasts of the world’s richest horse race, the Saudi Cup, with a purse of $20 million.Saudi interests, among other Middle Eastern entities, have become increasing major players in Formula One racing.

“PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan co-opted the 9/11 community last year in the PGA’s unequivocal agreement that the Saudi LIV project was nothing more than sportswashing of Saudi Arabia’s reputation,’ said Strada, whose husband, Tom, an avid golfer, was killed in the North Tower nearly 21 years ago.

‘But now the PGA and Monahan appear to have become just more paid Saudi shills, taking billions of dollars to cleanse the Saudi reputation so that Americans and the world will forget how the Kingdom spent their billions of dollars before 9/11 to fund terrorism, spread their vitriolic hatred, and finance al Qaeda and the murder of our loved ones. Make no mistake — we will never forget.” 

Neirotti, of George Washington University, said she doesn’t expect Saudi money to go away any time soon.

‘I mean, the EPL sold out, they took blood money,’ she said, referring to the English Premier League. ‘And trust me, many American companies are doing work in Saudi Arabia. Deloitte, name every big consulting company, you don’t think they don’t have their hands in Saudi Arabia?’

CORRECTION (June 6, 2023, 7:30 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the organization that merged with LIV Golf. It is the PGA Tour, not the PGA, which is a separate organization.

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Tesla may face a class-action lawsuit after 240 Black factory workers in California described rampant racism and discrimination at the electric automaker’s San Francisco Bay Area plant, including frequent use of racial slurs and references to the manufacturing site as a plantation or slave ship.

The testimonies filed Monday in Alameda County Superior Court comes from contractors and employees who worked on the production floor of the factory in Fremont, roughly 40 miles (65 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco. The vast majority worked at the site between 2016 to the present. Lawyers suing Tesla, Inc. estimate at least 6,000 workers could be part of the class.

The individual testimonies are part of a 2017 lawsuit brought by Marcus Vaughn, who complained in writing to human resources and to Tesla CEO Elon Musk of a hostile work environment in which he was called slurs by co-workers and supervisors. No investigation was conducted and he was fired for “not having a positive attitude,” according to his lawyers.

The lawsuit is just one of several lawsuits alleging racism, harassment and discrimination at the Fremont plant.

Last year, California regulators sued Tesla in state court, alleging the company turned “a blind eye” to abuses and that Musk told workers to be “thick-skinned” about racial harassment. In April, a federal jury awarded another former Tesla employee $3.2 million for racial abuse he suffered.

Bryan Schwartz, one of Vaughn’s lawyers, said the case has dragged on for years as Tesla sought to force the lawsuit into arbitration. Instead, the California Supreme Court in April allowed Black workers to seek a public injunction in court that would require Tesla to change its work environment.

“To have this scope of egregious harassment right here in Silicon Valley, it’s disgusting,” Schwartz said, adding that it’s shocking that “Tesla has allowed this kind of pervasive harassment to go on as long as it has.”

Attorneys for Tesla did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

All of the declarants said they heard use of one particular racial slur, with more than half saying they heard supervisors and managers use that word, according to a declaration summarizing the statements.

Dozens also said higher-ups direct the racial slur toward them, the summary stated, and nearly half said they experienced or saw other Black workers tasked with more physically laborious work and disciplined more frequently.

Production associate Albert Blakes said in his statement that it was difficult to go to work, knowing he would face racist slurs, references to slavery and offensive graffiti for 12 hours at a time. He said he made a verbal complaint to human resources in late 2021, but never heard back and nothing changed.

“Something needs to be done to hold Tesla accountable for the racism that takes place at the Fremont factory to set an example that this racism is not tolerated in workplaces in California,” he said.

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Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., called out politicians who are ‘complaining’ about the Canadian wildfire smoke on Capitol Hill, but ‘won’t allow’ for forest management in Western states across the U.S.

‘I have zero empathy for D.C. politicians complaining about the smoke,’ Zinke wrote in a Twitter post Thursday. ‘If you won’t allow us to responsibly manage forests, you should have to deal with the consequences just like we do in the West.’

In a video standing in front of the Washington Monument that was masked by smoke, the Montana representative said the unhealthy haze is ‘a reminder that our forests need to be managed.’

‘Whether you’re a climate change activist or denier, it doesn’t relieve you of the responsibility to manage our forests,’ Zinke said. ‘And if you don’t manage our forests, this is what happens. So welcome to Montana, Washington D.C.’

After wildfire smoke drifted from Canada into Eastern U.S. states on Wednesday, Democratic representatives immediately blamed the conditions on the ‘climate crisis.’

‘Between NYC in wildfire smoke and this in PR, it bears repeating how unprepared we are for the climate crisis,’ progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., posted on Twitter. ‘We must adapt our food systems, energy grids, infrastructure, healthcare, etc ASAP to prepare for what’s to come and catch up to what is already here.’

Proponents of the environmental movement, which opposes many forest intervention methods, say that ‘climate change’ and a warming planet ‘make these disasters worse.’

‘These Canadian wildfires are truly unprecedented, and climate change continues to make these disasters worse,’ said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. ‘We passed the Inflation Reduction Act to fight climate change, and we must do more to speed our transition to cleaner energy and reduce carbon in the atmosphere.’

Many Republicans believe that to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, forests need to be managed through logging, forest thinning to reduce fuels, and controlled burns.

The House Republicans Subcommittee on Federal Lands held a hearing in April to examine the U.S. Forest Service’s budget request for FY 2024. 

‘Over the past several years, Democrats poured billions of dollars into the U.S. Forest Service with little to no progress to show for it. House Republicans are committed to accountability and transparency for the Forest Service as we actively manage our forests, increase timber production, and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires,’ Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., said in a statement regarding the budget.

Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.

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President Biden responded to questions Thursday about his alleged involvement in an international bribery scandal with a simple joke.

‘Where’s the money?’ he quipped when asked by a reporter for his response to Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., a member of the House Oversight Committee investigating the president, who said earlier in the day the allegations are ‘worse than has been reported so far.’

‘I’m joking. It’s a bunch of malarkey,’ Biden added.

Mace, who reviewed the FD-1023 document an FBI whistleblower said proved Biden’s participation in the bribery scandal, told Fox News Digital on Thursday there is ‘damning evidence the sitting President of the United States sold out his country in an ongoing bribery scheme.’

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, were first approached by the whistleblower who said the FBI was in possession of the document, dated June 30, 2020, that explicitly detailed information provided by a confidential human source who alleged that Biden, while serving as vice president, was involved in a $5 million criminal bribery scheme with a foreign national in exchange for influence over policy decisions.

After being subpoenaed for the document, FBI Director Christopher Wray on Monday allowed Comer and House Oversight Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., to view the document in a secure sensitive compartment information facility. 

The FBI agreed on Wednesday to allow the full Oversight Committee to view the document after Republicans on the committee threatened to hold Wray in contempt of Congress.

The information in the document, according to the whistleblower, reveals ‘a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose’ and details an arrangement that involved an exchange of money for policy decisions.

Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy, Brooke Singman, Jake Gibson and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

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