Federal prosecutors’ stunning indictment of a left-wing activist group for alleged financial crimes is reverberating in Georgia’s 2026 Senate race, with Republicans targeting Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., for his past ties to the organization. 

The Department of Justice brought criminal charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center in April for allegedly defrauding its donors by secretly transferring money to extremist groups with the goal of infiltrating and monitoring their activities. 

Ossoff, the most vulnerable Senate Democrat running for re-election in 2026, is endorsed by the law center’s 501(c)(4) arm. The group contributed more than $700,000 to his campaign account in 2020, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.

The Georgia Democrat has also praised the group’s purported efforts to combat racism.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) building seen in March 2020 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Barry Lewis/InPictures via Getty Images)

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“Thank you for decades of work defending civil rights in the United States,” Ossoff said in a video celebrating the nonprofit group’s 50th anniversary in November 2021.

“I’m deeply concerned, like many of you, by the rising level of polarization, hatred and mistrust in our society,” he added. “We must recommit to the path of love, tolerance and peaceful coexistence if we are to flourish as a nation and as a world.”

During that time, federal prosecutors allege that instead of combating extremism, the SPLC was providing financial support to organizations that spread it.

Between 2014 and 2023, the Alabama-based organization paid more than $3 million to informants belonging to the United Klans of America, the Aryan Nation and other neo-Nazi groups, according to the 11-count indictment, which included charges of bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. The group allegedly concealed the payments by setting up bank accounts under fictitious names and did not inform federal law enforcement about their activities.

One informant, who the law center paid more than $270,000, was a member of an online group that helped plan the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, according to the indictment. Federal prosecutors said the informant attended the rally at the direction of the SPLC and “made racist postings” on behalf of the left-wing nonprofit.

Thirty-two-year-old Heather Heyer died after a man drove his vehicle through a crowd of counter-protesters while injuring nearly 20 others.

“The SPLC was not dismantling these groups,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a news conference in April. The group, he added, “was instead allegedly manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred.” 

SPLC interim CEO Bryan Fair slammed the charges as politically motivated and has argued the since-defunct program “saved lives.” 

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., has not commented on the Southern Poverty Law Center indictment despite his past ties to the group. (AP)

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The Republican National Committee (RNC) hammered Ossoff’s ties to the law center.

“If Jon Ossoff is too spineless to reject the Southern Poverty Law Center’s endorsement and return their money, he’s complicit in funneling millions to violent extremist groups like the KKK,” RNC spokeswoman Emma Hall said. “Anyone who doesn’t condemn these indicted fraudsters is wrong for Georgia — plain and simple.” 

Ossoff has not commented on the grand jury indictment. His campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Ossoff is facing a crowded field of GOP challengers ahead of November.

Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter, R-Ga., and former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley are vying for the Republican nomination in an increasingly bitter three-way contest. President Donald Trump has yet to intervene and a significant chunk of the state’s Republican voters are undecided, according to recent polling.

University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley, Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., and Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., are aiming to take on Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., in November’s midterm elections. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP Photo)

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The GOP candidates have raised just a fraction of the Ossoff campaign’s $31.7 million war chest.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report changed its race rating to “lean Democrat” in Ossoff’s favor earlier in April, citing an “increasingly sour national environment” for Republicans.

Over 100 historic shipwrecks have been uncovered at a strategic maritime gateway — and researchers warn they may be at risk of fading away.

The vessels were found on the seafloor of the Bay of Gibraltar, part of the narrow waterway linking the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, by researchers with Project Herakles.

The project, a joint venture between Spain’s University of Cádiz and the University of Granada, has been underway for six years.

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Researchers have identified 150 underwater archaeological sites — the majority of which are shipwrecks, according to The Guardian.

The wrecks span centuries, from as early as the 5th century B.C. to World War II-era vessels.

A major research effort has uncovered dozens of shipwrecks in a key maritime corridor linking the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. (Felipe Cerezo Andreo; Project Herakles)

The vessels include 23 Roman ships, four medieval ships, and the engine and propeller of a plane from the 1930s, according to The Guardian.

The findings were “not a chance discovery,” said Felipe Cerezo Andreo, a lecturer in archaeology at the University of Cádiz — and the discovery took years in the making.

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The archaeologist told Fox News Digital in translated comments that his team’s research has dramatically expanded what was previously known about the area.

“Before starting Project Herakles in 2019, only four underwater sites were known in the area; today we have information on more than 150 documented sites in just three years of work,” he said.

Project Herakles researchers used advanced marine scanning technology and historical records to locate and map the underwater sites. (Felipe Cerezo Andreo)

“They can now be studied, protected and shared.”

Researchers combined historical research with advanced technology to locate, map and study the wrecks.

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“We began by analyzing historical archives, museums and interviewing the local community of fishermen and divers, who know the seabed better than anyone,” Andreo recalled.

Archaeologists then used advanced marine scanning technology to map the seafloor and locate buried shipwrecks, including magnetometers to “detect metallic anomalies.”

The shipwrecks range in age from the 5th century B.C. through vessels used during World War II. (Project Herakles)

Andreo said most of the recorded shipwrecks are from the 18th to 20th centuries — but older Phoenician, Punic and Roman vessels are also buried in the sands.

“The bay was a very important space in antiquity,” he said. “We have evidence of settlements such as Carteia and Iulia Traducta that used these waters as their main port.”

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He added, “Although the more recent ships are more visible, beneath them lie Phoenician, Punic, and Roman wrecks that tell the maritime history of both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.”

The scale of the findings suggests the area holds a continuous record of maritime history, he said.

“A large portion of these 150 sites are at significant risk of deterioration.”

“This tells us we are not dealing with isolated shipwrecks, but rather a submerged historical archive that has recorded every commercial and military movement since antiquity,” said Andreo.

“The bay has functioned as a funnel of global history, and this is reflected in a seabed that preserves archaeological evidence.”

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Most of the ships are in “critical” condition, he said — with the biggest threats coming from human activity, including port work, construction and looting.

“We have identified that a large portion of these 150 sites are at significant risk of deterioration,” he said.

Researchers are prioritizing non-intrusive documentation methods such as photogrammetry and 3D modeling to record the sites. (Alejandro Mañas)

“Some are directly exposed on the seabed, making them vulnerable to erosion.”

An invasive algae called Rugulopteryx okamurae is “drastically altering the marine environment and hindering the preservation and study of the remains,” he said. 

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“That is why, in Herakles, we prioritize non-intrusive documentation, [such as] photogrammetry and 3D models, to record everything before it disappears, following UNESCO principles of in situ conservation,” he said.

The archaeologist stressed that the shipwrecks are still a living cultural resource, and that his team is “working to make this heritage accessible to everyone.”

“We want society to feel that these shipwrecks are their ‘museums beneath the sea.'”

The team is planning an underwater park and VR experiences, so that people can explore the shipwrecks without risking further damage to the sites, Andreo added.

“We want society to feel that these shipwrecks are their ‘museums beneath the sea,'” he said.

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“Ultimately, protecting these remains is about protecting the pages of the book that explain who we are today.”

Former congressman Barney Frank warned on Sunday that Democrats of going too far left while dying in a hospice of congestive heart failure in Maine.

Frank, 86, was a liberal stalwart who fought to legalize same-sex marriage and helped pass Dodd-Frank, the Wall Street regulations, after the 2008 financial crash.

“We didn’t get to marriage until after these other things had been resolved,” Frank said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” 

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Democrats have been wrestling with their messaging as rising star New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani became the party’s face of progressives.  (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

He added, “And that’s what I’m suggesting that we do today. The analogy is males and female transsexuals playing sports that are for women.”

Frank is set to release a book criticizing the far-left wing of the Democratic Party, claiming that they have neglected more pressing issues like economic inequality and instead pushed more progressive causes. The former lawmaker wants Democrats to be more strategic about pushing far-left issues. 

“I understand there’s a lot of anger about that,” he continued. “And I think, in the interest of the transgender community, as well as others, it would be better to go at that in a more granular way, and not simply announce that, if you don’t support it, you’re a homophobe.”

Frank served in the House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013.

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Democrats scored decisive victories and overperformances in the 2025 elections and in a slew of special elections and other ballot box showdowns last year, which were fueled by their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation. (Kylie Cooper-Pool/Getty Images)

A new national poll released earlier this month is the latest to indicate that Democrats are facing major problems with their party’s image as they try to win back congressional majorities from the Republicans in this year’s midterm elections.

Just 28% of Americans questioned in a CNN poll view the Democratic Party positively, with 56% seeing Democrats in an unfavorable light.

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Former Rep. Barney Frank warned Democrats of going too far-left while dying in a hospice of congestive heart failure in Maine.

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Fox News Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.

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Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown accused NBA officials of having an “agenda” against him in the team’s playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers, which ended in a Game 7 defeat.

Brown touched on 76ers center Joel Embiid getting calls after Boston lost to Philadelphia on Saturday night. He further went after referees in a livestream.

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Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown dribbles the ball against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pa., on April 30, 2026. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)

“They keep saying there are push-offs and stuff like that,” he said, via Mass Live. “Do you know how many players do that? That’s the common play, a basketball play. Every player does it. So why are you targeting me? They clearly had an agenda. Maybe because I had spoken and was critical of the refs in the regular season. So you know how they responded? You’re going to lead the playoffs in offensive fouls. That was the response from the officiating crew.

“I actually spoke to some refs and there was an agenda going into each game. Anytime Jaylen brings his arm up, just from reputation, just call it. Paul George does the same thing. Jalen Brunson does the same thing. I can go down the list. It’s a basketball play, whether y’all believe it or not. Everybody does that when you drive, especially when you got bodies on you. Philly took advantage of it and they took advantage of the officiating and it cost us to some degree.”

Philadelphia won the final game of the series, 109-100. Embiid had 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Embiid made nine of his 11 free-throw attempts.

Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George and Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown compete for a loose ball during the first quarter of game seven in the first round of the 2026 NBA playoffs at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on May 2, 2026. (Winslow Townson/Imagn Images)

Brown made critical comments toward Embiid.

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“Embiid put a lot of pressure on us, like on all our bigs and our guards,” he said. “We didn’t really have an answer for him. We tried a bunch of different things and he just, he’s a big body, and also he was flopping around, he got some extra calls and stuff like that, and they rewarded him for that. That’s the league that we’re in. So, that’s all I got to say.”

Brown averaged 25.7 points per game and shot 45.5% from the floor.

He was the best Celtics player all season as the team was without Jayson Tatum for most of the season. He played in 71 games and averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.

Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey drives past Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown during the third quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 30, 2026. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)

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Boston was 56-26 and finished second in the Eastern Conference.

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The State Department’s account of its evacuation efforts is at odds with on-the-ground reports from private rescue teams who helped extract U.S. citizens from conflict zones during the opening days of the U.S.-Iran conflict.

Bryan Stern, founder and CEO of Grey Bull Rescue, a nonprofit evacuation service, is contesting claims that the State Department offered assistance to every American who asked for it, asserting instead that thousands of U.S. citizens were left trapped by missiles, bombs and security threats crowding airspace in the region.

“It’s not for lack of effort. Our State Department colleagues are tremendous. But their process doesn’t work. There is also no one — there’s no job specialty,” Stern told Fox News Digital, noting a lack of a dedicated government position for handling evacuations.

The contrasting assertions raise questions about the logistical efficiency of American rescue efforts while prompting calls from lawmakers for more specialization to get U.S. citizens out of conflict zones in the future.

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Grey Bull founder Bryan Stern, left, pictured alongside a mostly-empty evacuation flight, right. (Grey Bull Rescue)

Stern believes slow-moving bureaucracy is preventing the government from fully utilizing its rescue options.

As one data point, Stern pointed to a video sent to Fox News Digital depicting a mostly empty flight from Israel to Florida near the start of the conflict.

A source, who recorded the video, confirmed they had been evacuated by the State Department from Israel on flight LY1017 from Tel Aviv to Miami, Florida, on March 8 — a point at which Stern said Grey Bull Rescue was being flooded with hundreds of evacuation requests.

In response to inquiries about the video, State Department officials did not address why they had only booked a handful of seats. While the government sometimes purchases individual tickets on a commercial flight for evacuations, they rarely buy the entire aircraft’s capacity, sources familiar with the Department’s evacuation practices told Fox News Digital.

Beyond that particular instance, Department officials said their offers of assistance exceeded the demand on the ground.

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Rep. Nancy Mace, left, R-S.C. joined Grey Bull Rescue and its founder Bryan Stern, right, on the ground in Israel during the group’s evacuation efforts earlier this year. (Grey Bull Rescue)

“The State Department has reached out to every American who has registered interest in our support,” a State Department official said. “Most Americans who requested assistance have declined seats when offered, opting either to remain in country or book commercial flight options which offer greater flexibility in terms of destination and luggage.”

Stern believes the answer is misleading.

“That answer is inaccurate in totality,” Stern said.

“There’s a difference between a State Department-contracted aircraft that is filled with Americans to come out and getting them to safety. That’s an evacuation. That’s different from: ‘Hey, go book a commercial ticket. Good luck to you,’” Stern said.

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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who joined Grey Bull Rescue’s operations in Israel last month, applauded government efforts but believes there is room for reform.

“It really opened my eyes to some of the challenges that we have, the bureaucracy that we have,” Mace said.

“I’m going to come back to Washington with some ideas on how to streamline what we currently have and how to ensure that we’re allocating resources to the State Department, to [the Department of Homeland Security].”

Like Stern, Mace suggested that part of the problem stems from a lack of a single position in the State Department that deals with rescue efforts.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said she traveled to the Middle East on March. 8, 2026, after she learned a South Carolina family was trapped in the wake of the Iranian conflict. (Nancy Mace’s Office)

Stern, whose group has worked on over 800 missions to evacuate Americans from Afghanistan, Israel and Venezuela, believes current operations have too many moving pieces.

He said his team’s efforts allow him to communicate more directly with Americans requesting assistance.

“We know them, we talk to them 10 times a day. The current manifest we’re working right now has 338 people on it. We do a Zoom call once a day with all the families. Because of that kind of thing, the chain between the person and the airplane is zero, because it’s us,” Stern said.

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“With [the Department of State] you’re calling a center in West Virginia, talking to somebody reading a script who doesn’t know anything; they refer you to a website that goes to a data processing thing somewhere which gets [put] onto an Excel spreadsheet.”

Over 43,000 Americans have safely returned to the United States since late February, according to the Department of State. Of those, government operations directly assisted 30,000 Americans.