Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., in a recent interview with Fox News Digitalc, demanded that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the Biden administration take action to ensure that a U.S. nonprofit behind The Palestine Chronicle no longer receives generous tax benefits after it was discovered that one of its Gaza-based writers harbored several Israeli hostages in his home after the Oct. 7 attack. 

Abdallah Aljamal, described as a ‘contributor’ on The Palestine Chronicle website and who also worked as a spokesman for the Hamas-run labor ministry in Gaza, held Israeli hostages Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, captive at his family’s home in Nuseirat, Gaza, according to the Israeli Defense Forces. 

Aljamal had regular bylines for the Chronicle during the eight months since the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel up until June 6, the website shows. 

The IDF released its findings about Aljamal, who was also described as a ‘Gaza-based reporter and photojournalist’ on Al-Jazeera’s website, earlier this month after conducting a raid to rescue the three Israeli men he held captive, and a fourth hostage, 26-year-old Noa Argamani, from locked rooms guarded by Hamas militants in buildings in Nuseirat. The operation to rescue the hostages hidden in a civilian area also reportedly left dozens of Palestinians dead, though the Hamas-controlled health ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilian and militant casualties. An Israeli commando was also killed. 

Lawler, who sits on the House Financial Services and Foreign Affairs Committees, is among a chorus of lawmakers demanding that the People’s Media Project, the U.S. nonprofit overseeing The Palestine Chronicle, have its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status revoked as a result of the findings on Aljamal. 

The congressman told Fox News Digital that he and his colleagues have been concerned from the beginning about nonprofits potentially aiding and abetting terrorist activities, noting how photojournalists were ‘on the scene almost immediately’ after the Oct. 7 attack unfolded and pro-Hamas ‘propaganda’ has swirled online from those affiliated with Hamas in Gaza ‘to try and sow dissension and turn the world against Israel, as they seek to defend themselves and, you know, get the hostages released.’ 

‘Obviously, it’s disturbing, but to find out that a journalist, quote unquote, was engaged in the holding of hostages, is deeply troubling. And that’s why, myself and my colleagues have called for the 501(c)(3) status, to be revoked, and to make sure that we certainly, as the United States, government and U.S. taxpayers are not giving benefits, in any way to, entities or organizations affiliated with terrorism,’ Lawler said. 

The congressman called on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Justice Department to investigate further. 

‘When propaganda, put out by Hamas or by affiliates of Hamas, to try and say, ‘Oh, no, we had nothing to do with it,’ well, whose house did they find these hostages in? I mean, this isn’t rocket science,’ Lawler said on Thursday. ‘This can be pretty easily cleared up. And I think that’s really what it comes down to. From my vantage point, you know, the administration needs to take action here and direct its agencies, the IRS and the Department of Justice, to investigate.’ 

‘At minimum, obviously the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status should be revoked. But more to the point, the Department of Justice, and the IRS, and other relevant agencies should be conducting an investigation and determine, you know, the knowledge of the leadership of this entity and what they were aware of and when, and what actions they’ve taken,’ Lawler said. ‘Because obviously, they would have to be completely ignorant of what is going on with within their own organization, or complicit. And either way, it is disturbing and troubling and needs to be rectified one way or the other.’ 

In a June 10 letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., wrote to refer the People’s Media Project for revocation of its tax-exempt status. The committee has been conducting a wide-ranging investigation into tax-exempt groups for potential connections to terrorist activities since Oct. 7. 

‘This important development suggests that The Palestine Chronicle, which later put out a statement describing Aljamal as ‘one of its contributors’ in Gaza, is at the very least complicit in supporting Hamas, and at worst a full-fledged financier of terrorism in the Middle East,’ the letter says. ‘This revelation, coupled with the fact that The Palestine Chronicle has previously published articles calling Hamas ‘resistance fighters’ and falsely accusing Israel of ‘ethnic cleansing,’ calls into question what People Media Project knew about its operations in the Gaza Strip, whether it ever did any due diligence on hiring Aljamal, whether it has other employees actively holding hostages in Gaza, and whether it employs other members of Hamas.’ 

Lawler emphasized that the House had already passed legislation spearheaded by Rep. David Kustoff, R-Tenn., in April that would strip tax-exempt status from any group providing ‘material support of resources’ to Hamas or other designated terrorist groups, but so far, Schumer has failed to take up the bill in the Senate. 

‘We passed it through the House. It is sitting on Chuck Schumer’s desk, another piece of legislation, critical to supporting our allies that Chuck Schumer is just sitting on because of politics,’ Lawler told Fox News Digital. ‘This is a bill that should easily pass. Overwhelmingly, there were only 11 votes against it, the Squad. Everybody else in Congress supported it. So there’s no reason why, you know, this bill shouldn’t pass with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate.’ 

‘Sadly, I think Sen. Schumer is playing politics, and he is deeply concerned about the splintering within the Democratic Party base. And, you know, the fact that you have a pro-Hamas apologist wing of the Democratic Party, in states like Michigan and Minnesota, and they’re concerned about how that will impact their electoral chances in November,’ Lawler said. ‘And so they’re trying not to put bills on the floor that will divide the Democratic Party.’ 

Lawler accused Schumer of also sitting on his bill, the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which seeks to require the Department of Education to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism for all of its Title VI violation cases of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. 

The bill, proposed amid mass anti-Israel campus protests, passed overwhelmingly, 320 to 91, through the House, but has yet to be picked up in the Senate. 

‘He’s the highest-ranking Jewish official in American history. He should be leading the charge here against antisemitism, against those entities that would seek to attack the state of Israel simply because it’s a Jewish state,’ Lawler said. ‘From my vantage point, it’s a failure of leadership. It’s a failure to stand up for the Jewish people in this country. And to stand up for our allies. And, you know, he needs to act. That’s the bottom line.’ 

‘Bad behavior doesn’t justify tax benefits. And, you know, this is no different than with these institutions of higher learning. If you’re not going to follow federal law, you’re not entitled to tax benefits, you’re not entitled to taxpayer money,’ Lawler said. ‘Obviously, yes, we protect First Amendment rights as the Antisemitism Awareness Act does. It has constitutional protections written into the bill. It doesn’t prosecute or prohibit or prevent or criminalize. But what it does do is force the Department of Education and force these institutions of higher learning to define what antisemitism is, and use that as the basis of a Title VI violation case.’ 

A Democrat super PAC, which has received more than $500K in cash from a left-wing dark money nonprofit, has jumped into a Republican congressional primary in Colorado in the latest example of Democrats meddling in a Republican primary.

Rocky Mountain Values PAC, which is bankrolled by the left-wing dark money nonprofit Sixteen Thirty Fund, has spent at least $300,000 boosting former Republican state Rep. Ron Hanks, by attacking him as being too conservative and tying him to former President Trump. Hanks is in a six-way primary race in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, a seat abandoned by GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert, according to FEC filings.

The funding comes as Democrats are presumably calculating that Hanks is less likely to defeat Democrat Adam Frisch as opposed to the Republican Jeff Hurd, who polling suggests is the front-runner. Sixteen Thirty Fund gave $500K to Rocky Mountain Values PAC in April and over $4,500 earlier this month.

Frisch lost to Boebert by just 546 votes in 2022 in a district Trump is popular in.

‘A shock to no one, Adam and the Democrats are attacking Jeff because they know he is the only Republican who can beat Frisch and keep the seat red,’ the Hurd campaign statement told The Colorado Sun earlier this month. 

‘Voters in western and southern Colorado won’t be duped.’

The GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund has responded by dropping roughly $400,000 in ads attacking Hanks’ record on issues like gun control and accusing him of not being aligned with Trump’s policies. 

Frisch has also spent money in the primary attacking Hurd, The Colorado Sun reported.

‘Why are Democrat mega donors spending so much to prop up Ron Hanks’ campaign?’ CLF Communications Director Courtney Parella told Fox News Digital.  

‘Republicans, beware.’

‘Adam Frisch’s gutter politics play reveals one thing: he can’t win unless he plays dirty,’ NRCC Spokeswoman Delanie Bomar said in a statement. ‘Republicans must stand united to denounce Democrats’ pathetic primary meddling – because Republicans should pick our party’s nominee, not Democrats.’ 

Left-wing groups getting involved in Republican primaries has become a common occurrence over the past several years as Democrats operate under the strategy that elevating a candidate they feel is weaker by touting him or her as ‘too conservative’ in the primary will provide the Democrat with an easier opponent in November.

In 2022, Democrats spent more than $40 million to boost six pro-Trump candidates in Republican primaries, and all six of those Republicans lost their general election races to Democrats.

However, many political experts view the strategy as risky, and DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene told the Washington Post in January 2024 that her group no longer supports the strategy of propping up ‘far-right’ candidates in swing districts.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Hurd campaign, Hanks campaign and Sixteen Thirty Fund but did not receive a response. 

‘RMV PAC is committed to defeating extreme Colorado Republicans,’ Amber Miller, a spokesperson for Rocky Mountain Values PAC, told The Colorado Sun.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has not qualified for the first debate of the election cycle, CNN said Thursday.

In order to qualify for the CNN-hosted debate, candidates are required to receive at least 15% support in four separate national polls. Candidates must also be on the ballot in enough states to make it hypothetically possible to collect the 270 electoral college votes necessary to win the election.

Kennedy — the highest-performing 2024 candidate outside the Republican and Democratic parties — failed to meet the criteria by the Thursday morning deadline, the network said. A CNN spokesperson independently confirmed to Fox News that RFK Jr. did not qualify.

The independent candidate was only able to produce the necessary 15% support figure in three separate national polls, according to a news release by CNN. 

The network also reported that Kennedy hadn’t qualified for the ballot in enough states to meet the 270 possible electoral college votes threshold.

‘Presidents Biden and Trump do not want me on the debate stage and CNN illegally agreed to their demand,’ Kennedy said in a statement on Thursday. ‘My exclusion by Presidents Biden and Trump from the debate is undemocratic, un-American, and cowardly.’

‘Americans want an independent leader who will break apart the two-party duopoly,’ he added. ‘They want a President who will heal the divide, restore the middle class, unwind the war machine, and end the chronic disease epidemic.’

Kennedy has sharply criticized CNN’s standards for the debate, claiming the requirements for entry were arbitrarily enforced against him in order to maintain a one-on-one debate format.

The Trump campaign said it would have been fine with Kennedy on the stage.

‘President Trump said repeatedly he had no problem debating RFK Jr. and he believes any candidate who qualifies for the ballot should be allowed to make their case to America’s voters,’ Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said. ‘It’s Joe Biden and the Democrats who are using financial and legal resources to prevent RFK’s access to the ballot because they know RFK Jr. is a radical leftist who pulls more votes from Biden than President Trump.’

The 90-minute debate, scheduled to take place on June 27 in Atlanta, will be hosted by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. It will be the first in-person face off between Biden and Trump since they stood alongside one another on debate stages during the 2020 cycle.

CNN said there will be two commercial breaks during the debate, and candidates will not be allowed to consult with other members of their campaign during that time.

The network also noted that candidates’ podiums and positions will be determined by a coin flip, their mics will be muted outside of speaking time, and they will only be provided with a pen, a notepad and a bottle of water.

Candidates will not be allowed to bring props or prepared notes.

Fox News’ Kyle Morris contributed to this report.

Russia has entered into a defensive pact with North Korea that obligates both nations to defend each other from military adversaries ‘without delay.’

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un signed the landmark agreement on Wednesday in a move that has alarmed Western powers.

‘If one of the two sides is placed under war situations due to an armed invasion from an individual country or several nations, the other side provides military and other assistance without delay by mobilizing all means in its possession,’ the agreement states.

The agreement further cements the growing anti-West power bloc revolving around Russia as regional powers with friendships dating back to the Soviet era — such as Vietnam and China — reaffirm old bonds.

South Korean officials have been outspokenly critical of the pact, characterizing it as a direct threat to their national security. 

An individual in South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office, speaking on background, reportedly told the press that South Korea will consider providing arms to Ukraine following the pact as a political retaliation.

The trip has been a major success for Kim Jong Un, who has welcomed closer ties with Russia and China in order to bolster international legitimacy despite his nation’s dismal human rights record.

The dictator gifted Putin a pair of Pungsan dogs on Thursday — a breed native to North Korea. The two were photographed playing with the animals by state media outlets.

The two world leaders also bonded over automobiles, taking turns in the driver seat of an Aurus limousine manufactured in Russia.

North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, was founded in 1948 with direct influence from Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

The Kim family — sometimes referred to as the Mount Paektu bloodline — is the hereditary dictatorship of the country founded by communist revolutionary Kim Il Sung.

North Korea operates under the state ideology of Juche, a quasi-communist worldview founded on a cult of personality and enthusiastic nationalism.

Reel back to June 2021. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., did not yet wield the committee gavel. But he had questions about COVID-19, which gripped the planet.

‘For most of the pandemic, anyone who raised questions about the origin of the virus was dismissed as a crazy conspiracy theorist,’ opined Green on the House floor.

Many were even reluctant to dip into the idea that COVID-19 could have come from a lab in China in 2021.

Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., is a doctor and the top Democrat on the House panel investigating the start of the pandemic. Some Republicans touted the lab leak theory. Yet Ruiz was careful to note that the concept was far from proven. The Department of Energy and FBI suggested a lab leak was the culprit. But most U.S. intelligence agencies suspected the virus emanated from nature.

‘They do not strongly with high confidence say that this was a lab leak,’ said Ruiz at a July 2023 hearing. ‘But we heard that they do from the other side. That’s a lie.’

Like Green, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., argued in 2023 that Democrats ‘accused everyone who believes that there was a lab leak to be a conspiracy theorist.’ 

But the theory of a lab leak potentially sparking the pandemic no longer flits around the fringes. 

The House COVID committee unearthed a message last year from Dr. David Morens – an associate of Dr. Anthony Fauci. Fauci was the public face of the pandemic response. He just retired as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Morens wrote that ‘Tony doesn’t want his fingerprints on origin stories.’

In an appearance on Fox in January 2023, Fauci declared that ‘the evidence points very strongly, very strongly to this being a natural jump from an animal species to a human.’

But Fauci may have tempered those views.

‘I’ve also been very, very clear and said multiple times that I don’t think the concept of there being a (lab) leak is inherently a conspiracy theory,’ said Fauci to the House coronavirus committee this month. ‘What is a conspiracy is the kind of distortions that it was a lab leak and I was parachuted into the CIA like Jason Bourne and told the CIA that they should really not be talking about a lab leak.’

In 2020, Fauci cited an article from the British scientific magazine Nature when talking about what caused the pandemic. The House COVID committee is scrutinizing communications between Fauci and the essay’s authors just before the item went to print. Some Republicans accuse Fauci of trying to use the article to shield criticism about a possible lab leak.

The Senate probed the origins of the pandemic at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing this week.

‘Today we are here to examine one of the most critical and debated questions of our time,’ said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has long been suspect of what the government said about what fueled the pandemic.

‘Just like the Hunter Biden laptop story, the experts said this was disinformation,’ snapped Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., about the lab leak concept.

Tulane Medical School Dean Dr. Robert Garry co-authored the 2020 article in Nature. Garry argued it wasn’t plausible for a lab leak to trigger the pandemic. 

‘So you’re saying that (idea) came to you overnight?’ questioned Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.

‘There was new data,’ replied Garry.

‘Like a revelation from God? Overnight? ‘I’ve figured it out, and now I can definitely rule it out. It’s amazing!’ Is that what happened?’ countered Hawley.

‘It’s just the scientific method,’ responded Garry. 

Garry holds firm that he believes the pandemic started in nature. But he concedes some of the science evolved. 

That’s why Republican senators chided Garry about the article, leaning on a zoonotic origin of the pandemic.

‘That is scientific misconduct and fraud,’ charged Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. ‘The reason the American public legitimately don’t trust scientists and health agencies because people like you, you bear that responsibility for violating the public’s trust from your scientific misconduct. And fraud.’

‘It was not fraud,’ countered Garry. ‘We didn’t put anything in that paper that we didn’t believe was true. The conclusions of that paper have held up very well. In fact, there’s been an abundance of scientific evidence that has come forward since then to support all the conclusions, everything we wrote in that paper. So, there’s no fraud.’

But even other scientists upbraided Garry. 

‘This is the most egregious form of scientific misconduct. Publishing a paper where you know the conclusions are untrue,’ alleged Dr. Richard Ebright of Rutgers University.

Still, questions linger about what went down in Wuhan, China. That’s the site of the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It’s close to the Wuhan wet market. That’s the locale some identify as the geographic center of the pandemic. 

‘It’s one jump from one animal to one human. The most likely place that happens is in a laboratory,’ said Steven Quay of Atossa Therapeutics and a former Stanford University faculty member. ‘The Wuhan Institute (of) Virology. That’s where I’d look.’

However, China is seemingly impenetrable when it comes to providing western investigators data about the pandemic.

‘The Chinese government may never fully disclose all the information they have about the initial COVID-19 outbreak,’ said Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Gary Peters, D-Mich., who called the hearing.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., is advocating a 9/11-style commission to investigate the origins of COVID. Marshall also raised the possibility of classifying COVID-19 as a bioweapon. The Kansas Republican framed this in the context of national security.

‘What did the U.S. do to contribute to (this) and how do we keep this from happening again?’ asked Marshall.

Some senators acknowledge that the start of COVID many remain a stumper.

‘We might be 98% or something. But we’ll always be a little uncertain,’ said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah. 

And like much of the pandemic, that uncertainly seems to be the only thing we do know for sure.