investigation

A claim by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that an immigrant threatened the life of President Trump has begun to unravel.

Noem announced an arrest of a 54-year-old man who was living in the U.S. illegally, saying he had written a letter threatening to kill Trump and would then return to Mexico. The story received a flood of media attention and was highlighted by the White House and Trump’s allies.

But investigators actually believe the man may have been framed so that he would be arrested and deported from the U.S. before he got a chance to testify in a trial as a victim of assault, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press. The person could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Law enforcement officials believe the man, Ramon Morales Reyes, never wrote a letter that Noem and her department shared with a message written in light blue ink expressing anger over Trump’s deportations and threatening to shoot him in the head with a rifle at a rally. Noem also shared the letter on X along with a photo of Morales Reyes, and the White House also shared it on its social media accounts. The letter was mailed to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office along with the FBI and other agencies, the person said.

As part of the investigation, officials had contacted Morales Reyes and asked for a handwriting sample and concluded that his handwriting and the threatening letter didn’t match and that the threat was not credible, the person said. It’s not clear why Homeland Security officials still decided to send a release making that claim.

In an emailed statement asking for information about the letter and the new information about Morales Reyes, the Department of Homeland Security said “the investigation into the threat is ongoing. Over the course of the investigation, this individual was determined to be in the country illegally and that he had a criminal record. He will remain in custody.”

His attorneys said he was not facing current charges and they did not have any information about convictions in his record. The revelations were first reported by CNN.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s records show Morales Reyes is being held at a county jail in Juneau, Wis., northwest of Milwaukee. The Milwaukee-based immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera, which is advocating for his release, said he was arrested May 21. Attorney Cain Oulahan, who was hired to fight against his deportation, said he has a hearing in a Chicago immigration court next week and is hoping he is released on bond.

Morales Reyes had been a victim in a case of another man who is awaiting trial on assault charges in Wisconsin, the person familiar with the matter said. The trial is scheduled for July.

Morales Reyes works as a dishwasher in Milwaukee, where he lives with his wife and three children. He had recently applied for a U visa, which is carved out for people in the country illegally who become victims of serious crimes, said attorney Kime Abduli, who filed that application.

The Milwaukee Police Department said it is investigating an identity theft and victim intimidation incident related to this matter and the county district attorney’s office said the investigation was ongoing. Milwaukee police said no one has been criminally charged at this time.

Abduli, Morales Reyes’ attorney, says he could not have written the letter, saying he did not receive formal education and can’t write in Spanish and doesn’t know how to speak English. She said it was not clear whether he was arrested because of the letters.

“There is really no way that it could be even remotely true,” Abduli said. “We’re asking for a clarification and a correction from DHS to clear Ramon’s name of anything having to do with this.”

Balsamo, Bauer and Licon write for the Associated Press.

Eight people were injured in an attack on Sunday on a group of people in the United States city of Boulder, Colorado, who were campaigning for the release of captives held by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in Gaza.

Police arrested a man who allegedly threw incendiary devices towards people. The FBI said it was investigating the attack as an “act of terror”.

In a social media post, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the attack as an anti-Semitic act.

Here is what we know so far:

What happened in Boulder, Colorado?

A group of people were walking in a “regularly scheduled, weekly peaceful event” aimed at galvanising support for the release of captives held in Gaza when they were attacked, according to an official news release shared by the Boulder Police Department. The police were called at 1:36pm (10:36 GMT).

The news release said that witnesses saw the attacker using a makeshift flamethrower as he lobbed incendiary devices – meant to start fires – at the gathering.

Witness videos circulating on social media showed a shirtless man appearing to hold two glass bottles, which looked like Molotov cocktails.

What is a Molotov cocktail?

A Molotov cocktail is a very simple incendiary weapon. It comprises a bottle filled with a flammable liquid covered by a wick, which is lit on fire before the bottle is thrown at a target.

They are named after Vyacheslav Molotov, the foreign minister of the Soviet Union during World War II. In 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland, and the country experienced heavy bombing. Molotov insisted that the Soviet Union was not dropping bombs, only food parcels.

In response, the Finns threw handmade explosives towards Soviet tanks, sarcastically dubbing them “Molotov cocktails”.

Where did the attack happen?

The attack took place at the outdoor Pearl Street Mall, a pedestrian mall in downtown Boulder that stretches four blocks. It is home to retail stores, art galleries and restaurants. The mall is a two-minute drive, or 1.1km (0.7 miles), from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

What was the event the victims were attending?

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser released a statement on Sunday, saying that the attack was “against a group that meets weekly on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall to call for the release of the hostages in Gaza”.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a nonprofit focused on combating anti-Semitism – which was accused of double standards in January for defending a salute made by billionaire Elon Musk at an inauguration rally for US President Donald Trump – released a statement saying the event was part of an international campaign called “Run for Their Lives”.

The campaign involves weekly gatherings worldwide where Jewish community members run and walk in solidarity with the captives taken by Hamas and other Palestinian groups during their attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023.

Run for Their Lives gatherings take place in 230 locations in 24 countries, including Brazil, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Spain. Groups in multiple US states participate in this event and there are two locations in Colorado: one in Boulder and the other one in Denver’s Washington Park.

Armed Palestinian groups took about 251 captives from Israel on October 7. While some captives were returned in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, or rescued, others have died in captivity. Some 59 captives are believed to remain in captivity, and Israel believes that 35 of them have died.

Since October 7, Israeli military bombardment and other attacks have killed more than 61,700 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Government Media Office.

Who was the suspect and what did he say during the attack?

The Boulder attack suspect has been identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a 45-year-old man from El Paso County, according to the Boulder Police news release.

Soliman was also injured in the attack, though the nature of his injuries is unclear.

The release says that Soliman was medically evaluated at a hospital and then was booked in the Boulder County Jail for multiple charges. The release did not specify what exactly these charges were.

According to the news release, Soliman yelled, “Free Palestine” during the attack.

Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, claimed in a post on X that the Boulder attack was carried out by an “illegal alien”.

Without naming Soliman, Miller said the suspect had overstayed a tourist visa granted to him by the government of former US President Joe Biden. “In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit. Suicidal migration must be fully reversed,” Miller wrote.

Al Jazeera was not able to independently verify Soliman’s immigration status in the US.

What do we know about the victims?

Law enforcement officials said that eight people were injured. These include four women and four men, aged between 52 and 88.

The victims were taken to hospitals in the Denver metropolitan area.

How are authorities responding?

The Boulder Police Department called the FBI within minutes of the attack, the news release said. The FBI is investigating this as a terror attack.

“This act of terror is being investigated as an act of ideologically motivated violence based on the early information, the evidence, and witness accounts,” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino wrote in an X post. “We will speak clearly on these incidents when the facts warrant it.”

FBI Director Kash Patel also wrote in an X post that his team was investigating the “targeted terror attack” and that FBI agents and law enforcement were at the scene already.

Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, wrote in an X post that the department was working on the situation with its “interagency partners”, including the FBI.

What is the latest on ground?

According to an update by the Boulder Police Department on X on Monday at 05:53 GMT, all roads in downtown Boulder have been reopened except for a block on Pearl Street, “which should be reopened in the next few hours”.

What have been the reactions?

“We will continue to ensure that justice is pursued swiftly, support is provided to victims and their communities and preventative action is taken to protect everyone’s safety,” FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek was quoted saying in the Boulder Police news release.

Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn acknowledged that many residents were scared, and had questions about the attack. “Boulder has recovered from acts of violence before and we will again recover. I urge this community to come together. Now is not the time to be divisive,” he was quoted saying in the same news release.

Israeli Foreign Minister Saar wrote on X on Monday: “Shocked by the terrible antisemitic terror attack targeting Jews in Boulder, Colorado. This is pure Antisemitism, fueled by the blood libels spread in the media.” He did not elaborate on what he meant by this.

US Senate Democratic Party Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X: “Tonight, a peaceful demonstration was targeted in a vile, antisemitic act of terror. Once again, Jews are left reeling from repeated acts of violence and terror.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X on Sunday: “We’re united in prayer for the victims of a targeted terror attack this afternoon in Boulder.”

We’re united in prayer for the victims of a targeted terror attack this afternoon in Boulder.

Terror has no place in our great country.

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) June 1, 2025

Many Democrats have released online statements condemning the attack and describing it as anti-Semitic.

Less than two weeks after the horrific antisemitic attack at the Capitol Jewish Museum in DC—and after two relentless years of surging antisemitic attacks across the country—the Jewish community is once again shattered by pain and heartbreak. 

Tonight, a peaceful demonstration…

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 2, 2025

Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, wrote on X: “My thoughts are with the victims, their families, and the Jewish community that once again appears to have been targeted with hate. We all have a responsibility to stop these antisemitic acts.”

Another terrible attack, this time in Boulder, Colorado. My thoughts are with the victims, their families, and the Jewish community that once again appears to have been targeted with hate. We all have a responsibility to stop these antisemitic acts. https://t.co/KrAA3wwHPi

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 2, 2025

House Representative Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat, released a statement on X, saying: “Our heartfelt prayers are with all of our Jewish brothers and sisters impacted by this unconscionable act of terror, and we thank law enforcement for their swift response. Antisemitism has no place in our nation or anywhere throughout the world. It must be crushed. We stand with the Jewish community today and always.”

My statement on the Antisemitic Attack in Boulder, Colorado. pic.twitter.com/EUpdnl9M6K

— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) June 1, 2025

Have similar events taken place recently?

On May 22, a man named Elias Rodriguez was charged after fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staff workers in Washington, DC. He was charged with murdering foreign officials, causing death with a firearm and discharging a firearm in a crime of violence.

PUNTERS were quite rightly stunned and social media went into meltdown after a shock unseat on a horse who drifted like a barge at Wexford on Wednesday.

Philip Byrnes flopped off Redwood Queen – trained by the jockey’s old man Charles – in the opening 2m1f claiming hurdle.

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Although on itself merely an extreme example of desperate riding, what angered many about this was that Redwood Queen had drifted in the betting from 7-2 to 13-2.

She clearly had the race in the bag when the jockey disappeared out the ‘side door’.

Byrnes runners, more than most other stables, appear to do best when the money is down.

My Saturday NAP

A Listed winner on comeback from ages off having previously run well in the 2000 Guineas when well fancied – everything, including the strong pace, points to a big run here. Back my tip simply by clicking the odds above.

To an outsider, the County Limerick handler runs what the majority would call a ‘gambling outfit’, for all that racing fans would have no proof of any financial transactions.

So when a Byrnes runner drifts like a barge, is clear at the last and then the jockey falls off, naturally many will cry foul play.

Only time will tell if that was the case – as the IHRB launch their full investigation.

But the chances are the case will eventually be dropped.

Only money trails could really prove guilt, and with so much punting action now on the Black Market, if anyone was trying to do something untoward they would have to be very thick indeed to leave any trace.

I did ask one top class jumps rider what they thought of the fall, and their response was interesting.

“Terrible bit of riding really,” they said.

“The horse came out of his hands and he was unbalanced but who knows whether that was enough to fall off?”

They added: “Personally I don’t think he’s that good a stunt rider. I think if they wanted to throw themselves off it would have looked more obvious.

“It’s really hard to throw yourself off a horse. I just don’t think he’s that good.”

Social media is always fascinating on these occasions. People like me – journalists and presenters on TV – tend to come in for a barrage of abuse.

The general gist is that we ‘don’t tell it as it is’.

As well as that, we should ‘have an opinion’ and we won’t talk out against the ‘racing family’.

What those on social media are actually saying is that if we don’t agree with what they suggest we are on the so-called ‘gravy train’.

In this case, what those on social media wanted me to say was a jockey had deliberately fallen off a horse who had taken a walk in the betting because connections did not want it to win.

They would also like me to add the whole game is corrupt.

To say the above is fine for most, although technically there would always be a chance of action being taken against them if the authorities found there was no case to answer.

But if a TV presenter was to say such things – or someone in writing – they would be in court or before lawyers before you could count to ten.

I know this as a fact.

In my early days of broadcasting I was laid off for a month for two instances which I stand by to today, but which could not be proven.

Did one of those mouthing off on social media offer to help pay my bills because I had publicly stood up for the punters? No they did not.

Being a keyboard warrior is, naturally, a very different world to broadcasting or writing in a newspaper.

Social media has given the people an opening to express themselves like they have never had before.

But just because the rules of the land appear to matter little online, everyone should remember that for broadcasters and journalists it’s a different world.

The Wexford incident looked awful. But was it deliberate? I have absolutely no idea.

And at this stage none of you reading this have any concrete proof either. Such is life.

It’s the calm before the Derby and Royal Ascot this weekend, but one race I’m excited to watch is Saturday’s Group 3 Betfred John Of Gaunt Stakes at Haydock and live on ITV.

Old favourites Audience and Kinross are in the line-up, but it’s Alyanaabi who interests me.

He was once fancied for last year’s 2000 Guineas, and eventually finished fifth behind Notable Speech.

He carried on at about a mile for Owen Burrows, but his stamina has always been open to question and he returned over course and distance when scoring on May 10.

I was impressed then and everything looks right here for another bold run with a strong pace assured. Come on, Alyanaabi!

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Remember to gamble responsibly

A responsible gambler is someone who:

• Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
• Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
• Never chases their losses
• Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
• Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
• Gamble Aware – www.gambleaware.org

Find our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices here.

Relatives of five members of the band Fugitivo, aged between 20 and 40, received ransom demands after their abduction.

Drug cartel members are suspected of murdering five Mexican band members, who went missing after being hired to perform a concert in a crime-ridden city in the northeast of the country.

The Diario de Mexico newspaper said on Thursday that the bodies of the five musicians had been discovered after they went missing on Sunday, and nine suspects were arrested in connection with their abduction and killing.

According to authorities, the nine suspects are part of the “Los Metros” faction of the Gulf Cartel, which operates in the city of Reynosa, in Tamaulipas state, near the United States border.

“Law enforcement arrested nine individuals considered likely responsible for the events. They are known to be members of a criminal cell of the Gulf Cartel,” Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios told a news conference.

Tamaulipas is considered one of Mexico’s most dangerous states due to the presence of cartel members involved in drug and migrant trafficking, as well as other crimes, including extortion.

The announcement of the arrests came hours after officials said five bodies had been found in the search for the men, who were members of a local band called Fugitivo.

The musicians were hired to put on a concert on Sunday but arrived to find that the location of their proposed performance was a vacant lot, according to family members who had held a protest urging the authorities to act.

Relatives had reported receiving ransom demands for the musicians, who were aged between 20 and 40 years old.

Mexican musicians have been targeted previously by cartel members amid rivalry, as some receive payment to compose and perform songs that glorify the exploits of gang leaders.

Investigators used video surveillance footage and mobile phone tracking to establish the musicians’ last movements, Barrios said.

Nine firearms and two vehicles were seized, he said.

More than 480,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence and organised crime, and about 120,000 people have gone missing, in Mexico.

The U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether California, its interscholastic sports federation and the Jurupa Unified School District are violating the civil rights of cisgender girls by allowing transgender students to compete in school sports, federal officials announced Wednesday.

The Justice Department is also throwing its support behind a pending lawsuit alleging similar violations of girls’ rights in the Riverside Unified School District, said U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, who oversees much of the Los Angeles region, and Assistant Atty. Gen. Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Transgender track athletes have come under intense scrutiny in recent months in both Jurupa Valley and Riverside, with anti-LGBTQ+ activists attacking them on social media and screaming opposition to their competing at school meets.

Essayli and Dhillon, both Californians appointed under President Trump, have long fought against transgender rights in the state. Their announcements came one day after Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from California for allowing transgender youth to participate in sports.

The legal actions are just the latest attempts by the Trump administration to scale back transgender rights nationwide, including by bringing the fight to California — which has the nation’s largest queer population and some of its most robust LGBTQ+ legal protections — and targeting individual student athletes in the state.

Both Trump in his threats Tuesday and Essayli and Dhillon in their announcement of the investigation Wednesday appeared to reference the recent success of a 16-year-old transgender track athlete at Jurupa Valley High School named AB Hernandez. Trump wrongly suggested that Hernandez had won “everything” at a recent meet — which Hernandez didn’t do.

In a comment to The Times on Wednesday, Hernandez’s mother, Nereyda Hernandez, said it was heartbreaking to see her child being attacked “simply for being who they are,” and despite following all California laws and policies for competing.

“My child is a transgender student-athlete, a hardworking, disciplined, and passionate young person who just wants to play sports, continue to build friendships, and grow into their fullest potential like any other child,” her mother said.

The mother of another transgender high school track athlete in Riverside County who is the subject of the pending lawsuit the Justice Department is now backing declined to comment Wednesday.

The Justice Department said it had sent letters of legal notice to California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, the California Interscholastic Federation and Jurupa Unified.

The U.S. Department of Education had previously announced in February that it was investigating the CIF for allowing transgender athletes to compete. Dhillon said the two federal departments would coordinate their investigations.

Bonta has defended state laws protecting transgender youth, students and athletes, and advised school systems and other institutions in the state, such as hospitals, to adhere to state LGBTQ+ laws — even in the face of various Trump executive orders aimed at curtailing the rights of and healthcare for transgender youth. On Wednesday, his office said it remained “committed to defending and upholding California laws.”

Scott Roark, a spokesman for the California Department of Education, said his agency could not comment. Jacquie Paul, a spokesperson for Jurupa Unified, said the school system had yet to receive the letter Wednesday, and “without further information” could not comment. A spokesperson for the Riverside Unified School District also declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

The CIF, in a statement, said it “values all of our student-athletes and we will continue to uphold our mission of providing students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete while complying with California law and Education Code.”

However, the sports federation also changed its rules for the upcoming 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships, saying a cisgender girl who is bumped from qualifying for event finals by a transgender athlete would still be allowed to compete and would also be awarded the medal for whichever place they would have claimed were the transgender athlete not competing.

The changes brought renewed criticism from advocates on both sides of the political issue, including Chino Valley Unified school board President Sonja Shaw. Shaw is a Trump supporter running for state schools superintendent who has challenged pro-LGBTQ+ laws statewide and supports the latest investigation. She said that, in making the changes, CIF was “admitting” that girls “are being pushed out of their own sports.”

Dhillon said her office’s “pattern or practice” investigation will consider whether California’s laws and the CIF policies violate Title IX, a 1972 federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs and activities that receive federal funding.

Title IX has been used in the past to win rights for transgender people, but the Trump administration has taken a strikingly different view of the law — and cited it as a reason transgender rights must be rolled back.

Dhillon said the law “exists to protect women and girls in education,” that it is “perverse to allow males to compete against girls, invade their private spaces, and take their trophies,” and that her division would “aggressively defend women’s hard-fought rights to equal educational opportunities.”

Essayli said in a statement that his office would “work tirelessly to protect girls’ sports and stop anyone — public officials included — from violating women’s civil rights.”

LGBTQ+ advocates, civic institutions in California and many Democratic lawmakers in the state have denounced the framing of transgender inclusion in sports as diminishing the rights of women and girls and accused Trump and other Republicans of attacking transgender people — about 1% of the U.S. population — simply because they make for an easy and vulnerable political target.

Kristi Hirst, co-founder of the public education advocacy group Our Schools USA, said the Justice Department’s actions amounted to “bullying minors and using taxpayer resources to do so,” and that a “better use of public dollars would be for the Justice Department to affirm that all kids possess civil rights, and protect the very students being targeted today.”

The “pattern or practice” investigation is the second such investigation that Dhillon’s office has launched in the L.A. region in as many months. It’s also investigating Los Angeles County over its process for issuing gun permits.

Essayli’s separate decision to back the Riverside lawsuit adds another wrinkle to an already complicated case.

The group Save Girls’ Sports is suing over the inclusion of a transgender athlete in a girls’ track meet in October, a decision they allege unfairly bumped a cisgender girl from competition, and over a decision by high school officials to block students from wearing shirts that read, “IT’S COMMON SENSE. XX [does not equal] XY,” a reference to the different chromosome pairings of biological females and males.

Julianne Fleischer, an attorney with Advocates for Faith & Freedom who is representing Save Girls’ Sports, said Wednesday that Essayli’s decision to weigh in on behalf of the group was welcome.

“This case has always been about common sense, fairness, and the plain meaning of the law,” Fleischer said in a statement. “Girls’ sports were never meant to be a social experiment. They exist so that girls can win, lead and thrive on a level playing field.”

It was unclear how the case would be affected by Essayli’s interest.

The state and school district are asking for the lawsuit to be dismissed. A hearing is scheduled next month.

Essayli, formerly a state Assembly member from Riverside County, made his name in politics in part by attacking what he has called the “woke” policies of California’s liberal majority in Sacramento. Shortly before he was appointed as U.S. attorney last month, other California lawmakers blocked a bill he introduced that would have banned transgender athletes from female sports.

Hernandez, the mother of the targeted Jurupa Valley athlete, said Trump and other officials were bullying children by “weaponizing misinformation and fear instead of embracing truth, compassion and respect,” and asked Trump to reconsider.

“I respectfully request you to open your heart and mind to learn about the LGBTQ+ community,” she said, “not from the voices of fear or division, but from the people living these lives with courage, love and dignity.”

WASHINGTON — When President Trump directed his attorney general last month to investigate online fundraising, he cited concerns that foreigners and fraudsters were using elaborate “schemes“ and “dummy accounts” to funnel illegal contributions to politicians and causes.

Instead of calling for an expansive probe, however, the president identified just one potential target: ActBlue, the Democrats’ online fundraising juggernaut, which has acknowledged receiving over 200 potentially illicit contributions last year from foreign internet addresses.

Trump’s announcement contained a glaring omission — his political committees also received scores of potentially problematic contributions.

An Associated Press review of donations to Trump over the past five years found 1,600 contributions from donors who live abroad, have close ties to foreign interests or failed to disclose basic information, often making it difficult, if not impossible, to identify them and verify the legality of their donations Among those was $5,000 linked to a derelict building, and $5,000 from a Chinese businessman who listed a La Quinta Inn as his address. Another sizable donation — $1 million — was made by the wife of an African oil and mining magnate.

It’s against the law for U.S. candidates and political committees to accept contributions from foreign nationals. Laws also place strict limits on donation amounts and prohibit the laundering of contributions to get around legal caps. For the most part, such donations have been policed by campaigns and the Federal Election Commission, with only the most egregious examples being targeted by federal law enforcement.

But after reclaiming the White House, Trump embarked on a campaign of retribution against his perceived enemies, launching broadsides against universities, law firms and his own former officials. If the Justice Department were to investigate ActBlue, it could imperil a key fundraising tool for Trump’s political rivals before the 2026 midterm elections, when Republicans’ threadbare House majority — and the president’s ability to pass an agenda through Congress — will be on the line.

“This is him taking direct aim at the center of Democratic and progressive fundraising to hamstring his political opponents,” said Ezra Reese, an attorney who leads the political law division at the Elias Law Group, a leading Democratic firm that does not represent ActBlue. “I don’t think there’s any question that they picked their target first. He’s not even pretending.”

Trump’s committees collected scores of donations from people living overseas

The White House did not respond to questions about Trump’s fundraising, including what sort of fraud prevention measures his committees have in place. Instead, a senior administration official pointed to the findings of a recent House Republican investigation of ActBlue that the White House alleges “uncovered specific evidence of potentially unlawful conduct.”

“The memorandum directs the attorney general to investigate this matter broadly, and she will follow the evidence and take appropriate action as warranted,” said the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the matter.

Neither the Justice Department nor Trump’s 2024 campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita responded to requests for comment.

U.S. citizens living abroad are free to donate to politicians back home. But it can be difficult even for campaigns to discern who is allowed to give and whether a person may be serving as a “straw” donor for someone else seeking to influence U.S. elections.

The AP identified only two Trump donors out of more than 200 living abroad whose U.S. citizenship was listed as “verified” in the president’s campaign finance reports. He received over 1,000 contributions from 150 donors who omitted key identifying details such as their city, state, address or country. Trump also received at least 90 contributions from people who did not give a full name, are listed as “anonymous” or whose donations include the notation “name not provided.”

Many of these Trump donors contributed through WinRed, the Republicans’ online fundraising platform that is the GOP’s answer to ActBlue. Only about three dozen of these contributions were rejected, most of which came from an unknown source and were paid in cryptocurrency, campaign finance disclosures show.

WinRed officials did not respond to a request for comment.

“Foreign money in our elections is a legitimate concern,” said Dan Weiner, a former Federal Election Commission attorney who is now director of the Brennan Center’s elections and government program. “What’s not legitimate is to single out one political opponent and pretend the problem is limited to them.”

Donating from a La Quinta Inn

Jiajun “Jack” Zhang, for example, is a jet-setting Chinese businessman whose Qingdao Scaffolding Co. boasts of being one of the “biggest manufacturers and suppliers in China” of scaffolding. In October, he used WinRed to donate $5,000 to Trump, campaign finance disclosures show.

Zhang lives in China’s Shandong province, according to his LinkedIn account, and is described in French business filings as a Chinese national. But his contribution to Trump lists a La Quinta Inn in Hawaiian Gardens, California, as his address, records show. The donation was made around the time that Zhang posted a photo on social media of his family visiting Disneyland, which is near the hotel.

Zhang did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Other potentially troublesome donations include four from unnamed donors listing an address of “999 Anonymous Dr.”

There is also a series of contributions made through WinRed that listed the donor’s address as a vacant building in Washington that was formerly a funeral home. The donor, identified only as “Alex, A” on Trump’s campaign finance report, gave nearly $5,000, spread across more than 40 separate transactions last year. Those types of donations tend to draw scrutiny from campaigns and regulators.

Regulators and watchdogs have also long been concerned about donations from individuals with ties to foreign interests. Trump has received many such contributions, including one in December from Nnenna Peters, the wife of Benedict Peters, a Nigerian billionaire who is the founder and CEO of oil and mining businesses.

Nnenna Peters, who goes by Ella, gave $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee. A naturalized citizen, Nnenna Peters — who lives in Potomac, Maryland, a tony suburb of the capital — is allowed to make campaign donations.

Federal law, however, bars U.S. citizens from making contributions on behalf of a noncitizen spouse if the money is not a shared asset. For example, experts said, a husband could be prohibited from making a campaign donation using funds from a checking account solely in his wife’s name.

In practice, such a prohibition is hard to enforce because it is difficult to assess whether spouses are acting on their own accord or on behalf of significant others. Government watchdogs say donations like these raise the risk of an attempt to influence U.S. policy on behalf of a foreign interest.

That was precisely the kind of problem Trump cited in his executive order that singled out ActBlue.

Benedict Peters, as it turns out, has a lot to offer that could be of interest to Trump, who has made the extraction of natural resources a focus on his second administration. In particular, the Trump administration has sought to secure access to critical minerals that help power modern technology. Peters’ Aiteo Group markets itself as one of the largest energy conglomerates in Nigeria, while his company, Bravura Holdings, purports to hold the rights to vast critical mineral deposits across Africa.

His wife’s donation stands out in light of her past giving: She donated exclusively to Democrats, records show, including a $66,800 contribution to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.

“This clearly could have come from her husband,” said Craig Holman, a registered lobbyist for Public Citizen, a Washington-based government watchdog group. “This is something the FEC should take a very, very close look at.”

Benedict and Ella Peters did not respond to requests for comment.

Indifference towards campaign finance rules

The questionable donations fit a pattern for Trump, who has in the past exhibited indifference toward campaign finance rules and used his presidential powers to assist those facing legal trouble in such matters.

In January, Trump’s Justice Department dropped its case against former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, a Nebraska Republican accused of accepting a $30,000 contribution from a Nigerian billionaire. During his first term, Trump pardoned conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza and Republican donor Michael Liberty, who were both convicted of using straw donors to evade contribution limits. He also pardoned former California Rep. Duncan Hunter, who was convicted in 2020 of stealing $250,000 from his campaign fund.

Trump’s political efforts have also drawn contributions from straw donors and foreigners who have been subjected to legal scrutiny.

Among them is Barry Zekelman, a Canadian steel industry billionaire, who was fined $975,000 in 2022 by the Federal Election Commission for funneling $1.75 million to America First Action, Trump’s official super PAC, in 2018. The contribution helped Zekelman secure a dinner with Trump at which steel tariffs were discussed.

Two Soviet-born U.S. citizens, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were convicted in a straw donor scheme that funneled $325,000 to the same super PAC in the runup to Trump’s losing 2020 reelection campaign.

Jesse Benton, a Republican political operative, was convicted in 2022 of serving as a straw donor for a Russian businessman who contributed $25,000 to Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Democrats say Trump’s focus on ActBlue is a lot to stomach in light of Trump’s acceptance of questionable donations and his seeming lack of interest in enforcing campaign finance laws more generally. They noted that Trump in February fired a commissioner at the Federal Election Commission. The firing, followed by the resignation of a Republican commissioner, has denied the agency the quorum necessary to enforce campaign finance laws and regulations.

“It’s telling that while Trump and his allies attack grassroots-funded platforms like ours, their own campaigns have welcomed money from questionable sources,” ActBlue spokesperson Megan Hughes said.

Republicans counter that there is well-founded reason to investigate the Democratic platform, which eased some fraud detection protocols in 2024 before the presidential election.

Democrats are concerned about ActBlue’s future

There is, however, a political upside to investigating ActBlue. The platform has proved more successful than WinRed, the Republican platform designed to imitate it, which took in less than half of the $3.8 billion that ActBlue raised during the 2024 election cycle.

ActBlue representatives declined to say whether they have been contacted by the Justice Department.

ActBlue is expected to battle any investigation. It took a different approach when a Republican-led congressional committee launched an investigation in 2023. That committee’s findings turned out to be the basis for some of the allegations cited by Trump in his executive order.

Democrats, meanwhile, are preparing for the worst.

“There is a pervasive fear that ActBlue could cease to exist,” said Matt Hodges, a veteran Democratic operative who served as the director of engineering for Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign. “That’s the worst fear people have — that this will escalate or drain legal resources that hinder their ability to operate.”

He predicted that the Democrats could lose more than $10 million in the short term if ActBlue were forced to shut down. That has led some Democrats to begin thinking about alternatives, but they acknowledged it might be too late to create something as successful as ActBlue with the midterms around the corner.

Slodysko and Peoples write for the Associated Press. Peoples reported from New York.

He was in tears after was he booked against Tottenham two weeks ago, after which Potter said he was “frustrated” and had “given everything and in difficult circumstances”.

Later that evening Paqueta’s wife Maria Fournier said in an Instagram post that they had “been living this nightmare for two years”.

Paqueta was left on the bench for last weekend’s 2-0 win at Manchester United, which Potter said was because he had a cold.

“It has taken its toll on him. The week he had was a particularly tough week for him personally,” Potter said.

“As a result of that he was feeling under the weather on the day before the game and the day of the game, so I didn’t want to risk him and make it worse for him.

“Sometimes stress, pressure, can manifest itself in a different way.

“Generally he’s come in and conducted himself in a really good way. He’s handled it really well.”

Potter said he is keen for the case to be resolved before the start of next season.

“It’s not my thing to talk about, but the sooner the better for everyone,” he said.

Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills said the blast ‘appears to be an intentional act of violence’.

At least one person has been killed after an explosion near a reproductive health facility in Palm Springs, California, the city’s mayor said.

Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills said the blast on Friday “appears to be an intentional act of violence” and that several buildings were damaged, some severely.

“There has been one fatality, the person’s identity is not known,” Mills’ statement said.

The city’s mayor, Ron deHarte, said a bomb was either in or near a car parked outside of the clinic when it exploded, the Reuters news agency reported.

Palm Springs Fire Chief Paul Alvarado said no suspect had been identified.

Authorities said the blast occurred on Saturday around 11am local time (18:00 GMT) near North Indian Canyon Drive and East Tachevah Drive. Police urged residents to avoid the area as fire crews and investigators secured the scene.

Federal agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were dispatched to support the local investigation, which remains in its early stages.

The blast damaged the American Reproductive Centers facility, a fertility clinic run by Dr Maher Abdallah. He told The Associated Press that, while his office space suffered damage, the in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) lab and its stored embryos were untouched.

“I really have no clue what happened,” Abdallah said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”

He added that all his staff were safe and accounted for.

Nearby resident Nima Tabrizi, 37, from Santa Monica, said he was inside a cannabis dispensary when he felt the building shake.

“The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s a massive cloud smoke,” Tabrizi said. “Crazy explosion. It felt like a bomb went off … We went up to the scene, and we saw human remains.”

Palm Springs, a wealthy desert city known for its luxury resorts and celebrity history, is located about 100 miles (161km) east of Los Angeles.

May 16 (UPI) — Microsoft said Thursday it is proposing a resolution to European Commission concerns over how it bundles Teams with MS Office and Office 365.

Microsoft said its proposed commitments to resolve issues with the Commission “require Microsoft to maintain availability of those suites in the European Economic Area over the next seven years, and they set minimum price deltas that Microsoft must maintain between the versions of those suites without and with Teams.”

“The proposed commitments are the result of constructive, good-faith discussions with the European Commission over several months. We believe that they represent a clear and complete resolution to the concerns raised by our competitors and will provide European customers with more choices.”

Microsoft said that if the Commission accepts their proposed commitments, “we have decided that we will, at the same time, align the options and pricing for our suites and Teams service globally, as we’ve done in the past.”

The commission launched a public consultation period Thursday on Microsoft’s offered commitments.

“Microsoft would make available versions of these suites without Teams and at a reduced price; allow customers to switch to suites without Teams, including in the framework of existing contracts; offer Teams’ competitors increased interoperability with other Microsoft products; and allow customers to move their data out of Teams to facilitate the use of competing solutions,” the commission said under the proposed commitments.

In a preliminary finding, the commission found Microsoft restricted competition in the European market by bundling Teams with other Microsoft software giving Teams a competitive advantage in distribution.

The commission said Microsoft’s proposed commitments include offering customers purchasing EEA versions of its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites without Teams to get a lower price than the one for corresponding suites that include Teams.

In addition, Microsoft would allow Team’s competitors and certain third parties to access effective interoperability with identified Microsoft products and services.

Customers would also be allowed to extract their Teams messaging data for use in competing platforms and to switch to software suites without Teams.

Microsoft’s blog statement said, “We are hopeful that following the market test, the European Commission will conclude that the proposed commitments resolve its concerns, and in the following months, adopt a final decision closing its investigation.”

It’s a bitter feud the likes of which are seldom seen in law enforcement circles — or at least those that boil over into public view.

For over seven years now, Orange County’s top prosecutor and a decorated former cop have been locked in an acrimonious dispute that shows little sign of abating. Both parties have accused the other of fractured ethics and corruption, and even an independent arbitrator likened the situation to a simmering cauldron.

Damon Tucker, a former supervising investigator for the county, has alleged in a lawsuit that he uncovered potential evidence of money laundering, terrorist threats and extortion by his then-boss, Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer. Tucker claims in his lawsuit that Spitzer and others quashed the probe and then fired the investigator as an act of retaliation, leaving him humiliated and shunned by law enforcement.

Spitzer has publicly called Tucker a “dirty cop,” and accused him of working with his opponents — including former Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas — to launch an investigation to hurt him politically. Tucker’s behavior, Spitzer says, was a “disgrace to the badge.”

Now, in yet another escalation of this Orange County drama, Tucker has called on the California attorney general, the U.S. Department of Justice, the State Bar of California and other agencies to investigate Spitzer; the OCDA Bureau of Investigation Chief Paul Walters; and former Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Shawn Nelson, who is now an Orange County Superior Court judge.

“These allegations must be fully investigated,” Tucker wrote in a letter to those agencies.“Failure to investigate these men casts a shadow over our system of justice.”

Tucker’s call for an investigation of events dating back nearly a decade comes as the district attorney’s office is already facing increased scrutiny over its treatment of employees. Both Spitzer and Nelson face a potential civil trial next week over accusations they retaliated against female employees who say they were sexually harassed by former Senior Assistant Dist. Atty. Gary LoGalbo, a onetime friend of Spitzer’s who is now deceased.

Spitzer and Walters have declined to discuss Tucker’s accusations with The Times. Nelson, through a court spokesperson, also declined, saying judges were prohibited by ethical rules from discussing cases before the court or in media reports.

The California Attorney General’s office confirmed that it is reviewing Tucker’s complaint but would not comment further. The State Bar has also begun a review of the allegations and has requested more information and documentation, according to a letter reviewed by The Times. A spokesperson for the State Bar declined to comment or confirm whether a complaint was received, adding that disciplinary investigations are confidential.

The U.S. Department of Justice would neither comment nor confirm that it had received the letter. Tucker said he also sent a letter to California’s Commission on Judicial Performance. The commission also declined to comment.

A veteran investigator of nearly 30 years, Tucker was fired from the DA’s office in December 2020 over allegations he had initiated a unilateral investigation into Spitzer shortly after he took office.

Tucker sued the county — alleging he was fired and retaliated against for uncovering corruption — and in 2022 he won his job back, along with lost wages. Last year, he received a $2-million out-of court settlement from the county, according to Tucker’s attorney.

Kimberly Edds, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office, said a non-disparagement agreement signed by Tucker and Spitzer as part of the settlement prevented the office from commenting.

Tucker’s accusations date to an inquiry that was begun in October 2016, when another district attorney investigator, Tom Conklin, was assigned to assist the Fair Political Practices Commission in looking into allegations of campaign finance irregularities by Spitzer, who was at the time an Orange County supervisor but was considering a run for district attorney.

In his recent letter to multiple agencies, as well as in his lawsuit, Tucker alleges the investigation into Spitzer was left unfinished and, even though he and another investigator at one point suggested it should be forwarded to the FBI or state attorney general, the investigation was never referred to an outside agency.

A year after the 2016 investigation began, Conklin’s report was leaked to the Orange County Register, and the newspaper reported that Conklin had been unable to corroborate the allegations.

The leak came at a key time for Spitzer, who had just announced his campaign for district attorney. At the time, he told the Register the investigation had been politically motivated by his political rival, Rackauckas, and that nothing had been found. At the time, a spokesperson for Rackauckas confirmed the investigation but declined to comment on the allegations.

The leak sparked an internal investigation in the district attorney’s office and, when the initial investigator retired, Tucker was ordered to finish the case.

Tucker was tasked with finding out who leaked the report, but after reviewing the case, Tucker concluded that Conklin’s investigation was incomplete.

At least 10 identified witnesses in the case were never interviewed, and several leads had not been followed, according to an investigative summary written by Tucker, and given to a senior deputy district attorney he consulted with in the case.

During his investigation, Tucker reached out to superiors and colleagues at the district attorney’s office and said the allegations against Spitzer needed to be sent out to an outside agency, such as the FBI, for an impartial review.

Tucker said that as he continued to investigate and prepared to send the case to an outside agency, things suddenly changed.

The day after Spitzer was elected district attorney in 2018, Tucker said Walters ordered him to stop digging into the accusations, and to remove any mention of Spitzer’s name from questions in his investigation, according to an investigative summary and sworn depositions, taken in Tucker’s lawsuit against the county. Two days later, Tucker was removed from the case.

In a sworn deposition, Walters confirmed he ordered Tucker to remove questions about Spitzer from his investigation the day Spitzer became the district attorney-elect.

“That’s where I have to tell Tucker, ‘You can’t be asking all these questions about Spitzer,” Walters testfied. “It’s not the case. And I make him redact all that stuff.”

Tucker maintains that, up until the election, Walters supported his investigation.

“I was doing the right thing,” Tucker told The Times. “This should have been sent out.” Walters declined to respond to The Times about that accusation.

However, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said it was Tucker who refused to turn over the investigation.

“He was given the opportunity and declined to do so,” said Edds, the D.A’.s spokesperson. “He was offered the opportunity repeatedly.”

Tucker disputes that assertion.

Spitzer has characterized Tucker’s investigation as being politically motivated, and has pointed out in sworn depositions that Tucker had donated to his opponent, Rackauckas, and was friends with Rackauckas’ chief of staff, Susan Kang.

According to county records, Tucker made a $2,000 donation to Rackauckas’ campaign in August 2018, after he’d been assigned to investigate the leak.

Tucker had also been critical of Spitzer during the campaign in multiple Facebook posts, before and after he took up the case.

“I think they sent him off on this fishing expedition to get something on me after the primary election in 2018,” Spitzer said in a deposition. “He’s investigating me while he’s making a major campaign contribution to my opponent? That’s not objective.”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has opened a criminal investigation into Motown singer Smokey Robinson after four of his former staffers accused him of sexual assault and wage theft.

Robinson, 85, was sued earlier this month by three former housekeepers and a former personal assistant who allege that the singer, whose legal name is William Robinson, forced them to have sex with him and also failed to pay minimum wage or overtime pay.

The suit, which was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, also accuses the singer’s wife, Frances Robinson, of regularly screaming at the employees, using ethnically pejorative words and failing to do anything to prevent her husband’s sexual abuse despite allegedly being aware of his actions.

The couple’s attorney, Christopher Frost, has denied the allegations. Details of the Sheriff’s Department’s probe were not immediately provided Thursday.

“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Bureau is actively investigating criminal allegations involving William Robinson, a.k.a. ‘Smokey Robinson,’” said department spokesperson Nicole Nishida. “The investigation is in the early stages, and we have no further comment.”

Frost said the Sheriff’s Department is required to investigate the allegations because the women filed a police report after filing the lawsuit.

In a statement, Frost called the police report “a desperate attempt to prejudice public opinion and make even more of a media circus than the Plaintiffs were previously able to create” and said his clients welcome the investigation.

“The record will ultimately demonstrate that this is nothing more than a manufactured lawsuit intended to tarnish the good names of Smokey and Frances Robinson, for no other reason than unadulterated avarice,” the statement read.

The lawsuit states that the women previously had reservations about reporting Robinson’s alleged abuse to authorities for several reasons including fear about immigration status, losing their livelihoods, public humiliation and intimidation by Robinson and his influential friends.

Attorneys representing the four woman — who filed the lawsuit as Jane Does — said they were pleased to learn that the Sheriff’s Department had opened an investigation into their clients’ claims of sexual assault.

“Our clients intend to fully cooperate with LASD’s ongoing investigation in the pursuit of seeking justice for themselves and others that may have been similarly assaulted by him [Robinson],” attorneys John Harris and Herbert Hayden said in a statement.

The civil lawsuit accuses the Robinsons of negligence, sexual battery and sexual assault, false imprisonment, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, gender violence, and a hostile work environment, in addition to labor violations related to wages, breaks, meal periods, and holiday and overtime pay, according to the complaint.

The women allege that the “Tracks of My Tears” singer required them to have various types of sex with him — vaginal, oral and digital — over the years at his houses in Chatsworth, Bell Canyon and Las Vegas.

Jane Doe 1 worked for the Robinsons from January 2023 until February 2024. Jane Doe 2 worked from May 2014 to February 2020. Jane Doe 3 worked from February 2012 to April 2024, and Jane Doe 4 worked from October 2006 to April 2024.

Times staff writers Christie D’Zurilla and Richard Winton contributed to this report.

Interim report into sinking of superyacht that killed 7 off coast of Sicily said the vessel was ‘vulnerable’ to strong winds.

Investigators in the United Kingdom say a sudden blast of powerful wind was likely behind the capsizing of a superyacht owned by British tech billionaire Mike Lynch, which sank off Sicily last year, killing seven people.

Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among those who died when the 56-metre Bayesian overturned in the early hours of August 19. The voyage was meant to be a celebratory outing following Lynch’s acquittal in a major fraud case in the United States just two months earlier.

In a preliminary report released on Thursday, the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) found that the vessel was “vulnerable” to strong winds – potentially even less severe than those recorded at the time of the incident. The report noted that this vulnerability was unknown to the yacht’s owner and crew, as it had not been documented in the stability guidance available on board.

The agency launched its probe because the Bayesian was registered in the UK. However, it acknowledged that access to key evidence remains limited due to an ongoing criminal inquiry by Italian authorities.

According to the UK report, the Bayesian had been moved the day before the accident to what was believed to be a safer location in anticipation of thunderstorms. But at about 4:06am local time, with the vessel in a motoring state, sails stowed and the centreboard raised, it was hit by winds exceeding 70 knots (81 mph), which caused it to capsize within seconds.

“You have the wind pushing the vessel over and then you have the stability of the vessel trying to push the vessel back upright again,” said MAIB investigator Simon Graves. “What our studies found was that the Bayesian may have been vulnerable to high winds, and these winds were likely present at the time of the accident.”

Among the other victims were Jonathan and Judy Bloomer – both British nationals – Chris and Neda Morvillo from the US, and Canadian Antiguan chef Recaldo Thomas. Fifteen people survived, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares.

Efforts to recover the yacht have stalled since May 9, when a diver was killed during the operation. Salvage work resumed on Thursday. Graves said the final report will cover additional factors such as possible escape routes and what took place on board.

“There’s still more to uncover,” he said. “Once we gain access to the yacht itself, we’ll be able to paint a fuller picture of the timeline and decisions made.”

Fault Lines and Mother Jones magazine investigate how a private equity firm gutted a major United States hospital chain in pursuit of profit, leaving patients without critical care and families shattered.

The film follows Nabil Haque, whose wife died after childbirth at a Boston hospital that lacked essential equipment. It also tells the story of Lisa Malick, whose newborn daughter died after delays at a Florida facility that lacked a functioning neonatal intensive care unit. Together, their stories reveal the devastating consequences of turning healthcare into a business.

The investigation uncovers how Steward Health Care executives drained hospitals of resources, saddled them with crushing debt and triggered one of the largest hospital bankruptcies in US history – while walking away with millions.

May 13 (UPI) — The Trump administration has launched an investigation into a California state-level program that provides aged, blind and disabled non-citizens with monthly cash benefits on accusations it was illegally distributing federal funding to those ineligible for Social Security.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the probe Monday in a statement saying it was requesting all records from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, which administers California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants, to determine whether federal funds were given to ineligible undocumented immigrants.

The probe will examine the program’s records going back to January 2021, the month the previous president, Joe Biden, took office.

“Radical left politicians in California prioritize illegal aliens over our own citizens, including by giving illegal aliens access to cash benefits,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in the statement.

“The Trump administration is working together to identify abuse and exploitation of public benefits and make sure those in this country illegally are not receiving federal benefits or other financial incentives to stay illegally.”

The DHS said it is specifically looking to see if undocumented immigrants were receiving Supplemental Security Income from the Social Security Administration.

California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants dates back to the 1990s and was established to provide monthly cash benefits to specific immigrants ineligible for SSI due to their immigration status.

According to its website, the program is entirely state funded. To be eligible, applicants must be California residents ineligible for SSI and either be 65 years old or older, blind or disabled.

The investigation was met with swift condemnation from SEIU California union that accused the Trump administration of using “bullying” tactics to attack the state’s safety net.

“Donald Trump‘s campaign to instill fear in immigrant communities will meet resolute opposition here in California,” the union’s president, David Huerta, said in a statement.

Huerta said the federal government has no basis for its “legal bullying” and no right to tell California how to use its state funds to fight poverty.

“The sole purpose of this sham ‘investigation’ is clear: intimidation of people seeking safety and of all those who provide them with needed support,” Huerta said.

“We will not be intimidated, and we will not back down.”

SEIU California is a non-partisan union representing some 750,000 nurses, healthcare workers, janitors, social workers and security officers as well as city, county and state employees.

President Donald Trump ran on a platform to crack down on migration and to undertake the largest deportation in American history, while using controversial and derogatory rhetoric to spread misinformation and false claims about migrants and crime.

Since his January inauguration, he has used his executive powers to focus the federal government on targeting immigration.

A month ago, he signed an executive order directing Noem and other cabinet officials to ensure undocumented immigration do not receive funds from Social Security programs and to take civil and criminal action against governments that fail to prevent non-citizens from receiving the benefits.