Nationwide, Americans are struggling with affordability, public safety, and government waste—and Democrats’ big, bold solution is a revenge tour against President Donald Trump. During a Thursday on NewsNation’s “Katie Pavlich Tonight,” Daily Signal Senior Political and Legal Analyst Mehek Cooke argued that the Democratic Party’s new agenda, “Project 2029,” focuses more on opposing Trump than on confronting the problems affecting American families. “The Democrats did not learn anything from their autopsy report,” Cooke said. “Their hatred for President Trump is actually clouding their judgment. They are not able to bring back the issues that matter most to the American people.” Cooke said voters are not demanding another partisan revenge cycle but want solutions instead. Taxpayers are watching billions of dollars flow through government programs with weak oversight as fraudsters exploit programs meant for vulnerable American families. “What Americans want are solutions for affordability, safety, and security,” Cooke said. “Hate has no place in America.” On Thursday, top federal and Ohio state officials announced a partnership targeted at fighting taxpayer fraud. Ohio entered a memorandum of understanding to become the first state to share its corporate registration records with the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. The act of transparency allows investigators to identify more quickly suspicious entities, shared addresses, shell companies, and other warning signs of fraud. Cooke spent months investigating suspected Medicaid fraud in the state based on whistleblower complaints in December 2024. She warned state officials about empty offices, weak verification procedures, and potential abuse within home health care programs. Cooke said the “biggest obstructionists” are government officials who refused to properly investigate allegations and whistleblower complaints. “They have had a lack of political will or desire. It was back in December when I uncovered millions in potential Medicaid fraud.” Cooke said it should not have taken national embarrassment to force action against fraud. “I am in Ohio, and I am a taxpayer,” Cooke said. “Finally, we have all eyes on Ohio. I applaud the work that has been done,” highlighting that this press conference was a turning point.

Trump-endorsed Fox News host Steve Hilton will likely face off against Xavier Becerra this November, leaving California conservatives hopeful that they have a shot at the first Republican governor in over a decade. California’s top-two primary system advances the two highest vote-getters to the November general election regardless of party affiliation. After months of waiting for the June 2 election, with 60% of ballots counted as of Friday, Hilton led the field with 27.2% of the vote, while Becerra held on to the second-place position with 26%, according to The Associated Press. Tom Steyer sat in third place with 20.2%, followed by Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 11.2%, and Democrat Katie Porter, who had just 4.5% of the vote. With plenty of mail-in ballots still uncounted, however, it could be weeks before voters find out which two candidates will face off in the general election. Becerra entered the race touting his experience as a member of Congress and as former secretary of Health and Human Services, campaigning on fighting the Trump administration, protecting immigrants, and increasing health care coverage. Hilton campaigned heavily with working-class Californians, arguing that the Golden State’s affordability challenges, homelessness crisis, and sanctuary state policies demonstrate the need for a different direction in Sacramento. Onstage at his election night party in Huntington Beach, Hilton shared his hope for California. “It looks very much as if Californians really will have the chance to vote for change in November … and take our state in a new direction—a fresh start for our state, which is long overdue,” Hilton said. “Whether you voted for me or not, I am here for you.” Becerra appeared confident that he had secured a top-two finish during remarks to supporters on election night as well. “We will not be bought, we will not back down—November, here we come,” he said. For Republicans, early vote results give hope that they can take their message directly to voters in a state where Democrats have dominated statewide offices for more than a decade.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Trump administration convened a symposium Tuesday on combating threats posed by pro-Hamas terrorist groups that the State Department says were ignored for years by the Biden administration. The State Department held a “Symposium on the Rise of Far-Left Political Terrorism” at the Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace, according to an internal document obtained by The Daily Signal. “Since Oct. 7, there has been increased convergence between these groups and those participating in antisemitic violence, including Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Iran-backed entities,” a State Department official said. “We must anticipate and counter new threats; we risk blind spots by ignoring emerging trends.” Speakers at the symposium focused on ending threats posted by left-wing terrorism. The event was a precursor to a higher-level discussion that State will host in July in Washington, D.C., with countries from Europe, the Western Hemisphere, and East Asia. Tom DiNanno, under secretary for arms control and international security, opened the symposium by outlining the agency’s plans to establish mechanisms for collaboration and deepen a “shared understanding of how intangible ideologies congeal into malfeasant and operationally lethal networks.” “We recognize a long-standing foe (dormant no longer) which once again rears its head and threatens to harm our polities and degrade our societies,” DiNanno’s prepared remarks stated. “It is an objective these networks pursue with increasing sophistication.” DiNanno then introduced Sebastian Gorka, the Trump administration’s counterterrorism chief, who recently released a report examining terrorism threats against the United States. The United States’ counterterrorism “operating system” needs an “update” to mitigate modern threats, a State Department official said. “What we are seeing is that—and our partners are the first to raise this with us—is that they’re seeing that a lot of these pro-Hamas, very violent groups that are operating in all of our respective countries,” a State Department official said, “that these different groups are starting to converge with what you could call your like far-left terrorist groups or anarchist groups that engage in these kinds of terrorist violent acts.” The speakers touted steps the agency has taken to dismantle transnational far-left and anarchist terrorism, including from Antifa-aligned groups. These steps include the use of Rewards for Justice, a program offering a financial incentive for actionable tips on terrorism, and visa restrictions, as well as designations of four Antifa-aligned groups as foreign terrorist organizations: Antifa Ost in Germany, Informal Anarchist Federation in Italy, Armed Proletarian Justice in Greece, and Revolutionary Class Self-Defense in Greece.  DiNanno’s remarks urged vigilance on visa applications. “A U.S. visa or a U.S. passport is a privilege,” his prepared remarks say. “If you abuse that privilege by firebombing a Tesla dealership or attacking police, you will find it difficult to travel outside the United States if you are an American, or enter the United States if you are not.” The State Department is targeting activity that meets its definition of terrorism: assassinations, kidnappings, violent threats against U.S. facilities and law enforcement, as well as attacks on critical infrastructure, military personnel, and civilian populations. Jen Rogalski, supervisory intelligence analyst at the FBI, gave an threat briefing titled “Domestic and Transnational Far-Left Terrorism.” That was followed by two case studies of radicalization by far-left groups. The first case study was Revolutionary Organization 17 November, a Greek radical leftist group established in 1975 to oust U.S. bases from Greece. The organization was responsible for shootings, rocket attacks, and car bombs, leading to the deaths of four Americans. Journalist Jay Solomon then highlighted the case of Calla Walsh, a 21-year-old American who was radicalized and now lives in a Hezbollah-controlled neighborhood of Beirut, where she makes pro-Iran propaganda. Solomon wrote about Walsh’s transition into a far-left activist in The Free Press. “America First means protecting our country, people, and way of life,” an official said. “We are leveraging counterterrorism tools and global partnerships to deter this threat before it metastasizes.”

If a major Senate candidate abused a past girlfriend, isn’t that newsworthy? If a major Senate candidate knowingly sported a Nazi tattoo, isn’t that newsworthy? If a major Senate candidate, already under fire for his past remarks about rape, talked about raping intruders, isn’t that newsworthy? You’d think so. Yet in an extensive new article about Maine Democrat Graham Platner, The New York Times reporters penned over 1,000 words before revealing the detailed allegation of physical abuse. (There is a very brief mention of Platner being “physically threatening” in paragraph six.) There are over 500 words before reporting that an ex-girlfriend says Platner knew his tattoo was a Nazi symbol. And there are about 1,300 words before the revelation that Platner “said … a lot: If anybody ever broke in here, I would rape them” and “He was like, I would rape them to show them that I’m dominant,” according to that same ex. As anyone with experience in journalism knows, most readers generally won’t read a full article—or even most of an article, depending on how long it is. Most people are busy. That’s why journalists are taught to put the most important facts in the first few paragraphs of an article. So it’s telling that The New York Times, a major outlet with employees most definitely familiar with journalism norms, decided that the opening paragraphs of its article should include sentences like “several women … [described] Mr. Platner as a fun and caring partner, and saying they felt safe with him,” but not the most explosive allegations of his former girlfriend, Lyndsey Fifield. >>> Watch Tony Kinnett dissect The New York Times’ coverage of the allegations against Graham Platner: Fifield, I should disclose, is someone I worked with for years. As part of her work, Fifield expertly ran much of the Daily Signal’s social media. She’s someone who deserved to be treated better by The New York Times, not to have her story buried in an article headlined, “Several Women Who Dated Graham Platner Recall ‘Unsettling’ Behavior.” “Unsettling” is a good word to describe actions such as when a boyfriend makes plans and then cancels them last minute or seems a touch flirtatious with another woman. It’s not the right word to describe actions of physical force. In her interview with the Times, Fifield made some extremely concerning allegations. She “said [Platner] regularly grabbed her by the shoulders — sometimes hard enough to leave marks — and, on one occasion, yanked her out of a cab by her wrist after an argument when she wanted to stay in the car.” That wasn’t all. “During one argument, she recalled, he twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn’t get out, telling her to remain there until she was ‘calm.’ Eventually, Ms. Fifield said, she fell asleep and left the next morning,” Katie Glueck and Lisa Lerer write in paragraph 23. Fifield, by the way, operated the way that journalists wish every interviewee making serious allegations did. She spoke on the record, allowing the Times to use her name. Because of her social media expertise, Fifield, I’m sure, knew exactly what it would mean for her personally to come forward publicly with allegations about a Senate candidate. She would understand the kind of vitriol she could expect on social media for speaking up. She would be aware of how, perhaps for the rest of her life, these allegations would affect how she was viewed on social media, how any comment she makes in the future may well trigger responses about this. Yet, knowing the heavy personal price she would pay, she still spoke up—on the record. As any journalist knows, it’s very hard—understandably—to convince most people to speak on the record about this kind of thing. They don’t want the blowback. They don’t want to be the public figure. They don’t want to be revictimized, criticized, and shamed by strangers. But journalists often demand that sources go on the record, and for good reason: If the persona making the allegation is transparent, it gives the public more information to make an honest assessment of an allegation’s veracity. Fifield didn’t just ask The New York Times to interview her and just accept what she said. She also provided them with supporting documentation. “The Times reviewed texts between Ms. Fifield and Mr. Platner, along with Google Chat exchanges, texts, and Facebook messages between Ms. Fifield and her friends during and after the relationship,” report Katie Glueck and Lisa Lerer, who also note Lyndsey showed them old diary entries. These are the actions of a serious accuser. Glueck and Lerer also extensively detail Fifield’s past work for right-leaning groups and the Nikki Haley campaign. That’s relevant context, but here it’s revealing what isn’t mentioned. Fifield posted on X after the article was released that she had also told the Times, “I’d supported local democrats and that most of my family (and husband) are liberal.” I bucked all advice from my friends (and resisted my conservative bias) and decided to fully trust the Times journalists.As they left my home they asked that I not talk to any other outlets and I insisted then and repeatedly over the following weeks that I would keep my word…— Lyndsey Fifield (@lyndseyfifield) June 5, 2026 She also criticized the Times for leaving out this relevant information: “The Times also failed to include any mention that I DID confide in multiple friends through the years that Graham had been abusive — long before he was running for office. Those friends confirm they told the Times so.” Asked to respond to Fifield’s criticism of the piece, Times spokesperson Nicole Taylor wrote in an email that the outlet “stands by our reporting.” “We published accounts provided by several women who were in romantic relationships with Graham Platner,” Taylor wrote. “Our story accurately presents each of these accounts as told to our reporters and according to our standards. We stand by our reporting of the accounts from Ms. Fifield and the other women, who provided a revealing look at the behavior of a major candidate for the U.S. Senate.” Platner, for his part, denied the allegations in a MSNOW interview Thursday night. “There are some allegations in this piece that I just want to be kind of unequivocal about are simply not true,” he said. “Anything alleging physicality, anything alleging that I knew what my tattoo was, these are the statements of someone who’s politically motivated.” Fifield wrote on X Friday morning, “It dawned on me that this really was a set-up all along.” “The journalists I trusted who convinced me to share a story I never wanted to tell methodically delayed and twisted this into a gift to the Platner campaign,” she added. “Violating the trust of his victims. Shattering the trust I placed in them with the most vulnerable story of my life.” There was a right way to report this story—and then there was the way The New York Times did it. Conservative women who have info to share about political candidates or officials shouldn’t reward the Times with future scoops.

The House Oversight Committee task force, led by Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, met on Wednesday to study Medicaid fraud in Ohio. Lawmakers heard from The Daily Wire’s Luke Rosiak, as well as Ohio Auditor Keith Faber and State Rep. Mike Dovilla. The hearing also saw a simple question from Gill nearly bring a Ohio lawmaker to tears. ‘No Verification, No Oversight’ As Rosiak explained, “unsupervised and untrained workers” can collect money for providing services, even and including companionship and conversation, or family members who are Medicaid beneficiaries. There’s “no verification and little oversight,” Rosiak warned about the home health care system, highlighting how his investigation “found millionaire tax cheats, almost all of them foreign-born, ripping off taxpayers at a scale that threatens to bankrupt America.” Columbus has the second largest concentration of Somalis in the country and the largest concentration of Bhutanese outside of Bhutan. In northeast Columbus, this was “a side hustle” for many suspected fraudsters. While many were taking in money from taxpayers, they weren’t paying their own taxes, and often had criminal records. Many used relatives as company owners on paper. “Whistleblowers in the area tell me companies knock on doors in ethnic neighborhoods where most people are on Medicaid, and most people live in multigenerational households, and they tell the older family member to go to particular doctors and claim particular symptoms, and then they will put the younger family member on their payroll, with the parent as their only patient,” Rosiak explained, which can result in $90,000 a a year. .@lukerosiak talks about a Medicaid fraudster who flaunts on social media a life of private jets, yachts, etc. "These are people that came here as refugees & now they’re living as millionaires [via fraud]."ROSIAK: "Whistleblowers in the [Columbus] area tell me companies knock… pic.twitter.com/lJIL7EEjSd— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 3, 2026 For this year’s audit, Faber’s office identified up to $4.44 billion in fraud related exposure connected to ineligible recipients in Ohio’s Medicaid program and an ineligibility rate of 15.6%, which he said “again highlighted the need for substantially stronger oversight and internal controls.” Approximately 56% of home health care services were not processed through the electronic visit verification system to verify services, that they came from the right caregiver, and within an authorized time and location. That this represents an estimated 1.1 billion claims not matched with EVV visits “is a significant control weakness,” Faber said. A March 2024 report found that more than 124,000 individuals were enrolled in Ohio Medicaid and at least one other state for three consecutive months, with organizations associated with such enrollees receiving more than $1 billion. In the General Assembly, Dovilla is working on a Medicaid integrity bill as a member of the Medicaid Committee. He described the bill as having provisions to “strengthen provider enrollment, improve electronic visit verification, impose additional safeguards on high-risk providers, enhance fraud reporting, and increase penalties for fraud.” Thanks to @RepBrandonGill for the opportunity to testify this morning before @GOPoversight on my ongoing work to address Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse in Ohio.Here is my opening statement to the task force, which met today for the first time to explore these matters. https://t.co/j5FPrv6ezu— Rep. Mike Dovilla (@mikedovilla) June 4, 2026 Brought Nearly to Tears An exchange between Gill and state Sen. Nickie Antoni grew heated when the congressman asked her, “Has Somali immigration been good for Ohio?” She first claimed it was outside of her purview. Gill pressed further, asking if she’d like to see more immigration. “I’m processing your question, and I have to say that I was almost brought to tears just now,” Antonio responded. While Gill pointed to 72% of Somali immigrants being on welfare, Antonio spoke out against “the rate and the level of hateful rhetoric based on false information.” They continued to speak over one another, with Gill reiterating about Somalis “defrauding your state at an astounding rate,” to billions of dollars, while Antonio stressed how “shocking” she found the framing. Ohio Democrats aren’t serious people. https://t.co/W24VldHHds— Ohio Republican Party (@ohiogop) June 3, 2026 Gill had just asked Rosiak about alleged fraudsters who were of Somali, other African, or Bhutanese origin, which was 100% of the companies he looked into. When asked if there was a connection between the Medicaid fraud in Ohio and the Somali fraud in Minnesota, Rosiak replied, “Yeah, it’s the same people. They all have relatives in both places and they move back and forth,” Rosiak further testified, “there is a large interstate criminal enterprise of Somali fraudsters that are defrauding the federal government in multiple states of bill potentially billions of dollars.” When task force member Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, brought up race as well, Rosiak testified that a home health owner he spoke told him he was “going to tell everyone you’re a racist.” Jordan responded, “That’s how the Left operates.” The congressman also offered a contrast between Ohio and Minnesota. “The only difference is… in Ohio they’re actually doing something about it,” while in the more liberal Minnesota they “didn’t do squat” at the state level, Jordan said, citing the issue “might cause backlash among the Somali community… a core voting bloc.” “Politics stopped them in Minnesota, it’s not stopping Mr. Faber, Mr. Dovilla from doing their work,” Jordan continued. The Democrats' playbook is clear.@Jim_Jordan lays it out: "That's how the left operates … the left will tell a lie … big media will report … big tech will amplify. You tell the truth. They call you racist."People are not buying it. Ohio deserves better. pic.twitter.com/sHl6EFKtNd— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) June 3, 2026