Connect with us

Latest

Michigan governor hopeful pressed on past SPLC work after DOJ indictment: ‘What did Jocelyn know?’

Published

on

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s campaign hit back at Republican attacks Friday after the state GOP demanded answers from the Democratic gubernatorial front-runner on her past work with the federally-indicted Southern Poverty Law Center.

Benson is a former volunteer and later board member of the SPLC, which was indicted Tuesday on 11 counts over accusations it fraudulently paid members of extremist groups like the KKK and those tied to the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the SPLC paid members of these extremist groups so it could create a “work product that reported on these activities.”

“Jocelyn Benson regularly touted her experience as a leader of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a group that the Department of Justice says secretly funneled money to the KKK and other hate groups they were purportedly tracking,” the Michigan Republican Party posted on its official X account on Friday.

“What did Jocelyn know, and when did she know it?”

JAY JONES TARGETED AS AGS URGE NATIONAL GROUPS TO DENY MEMBERSHIP OVER SCANDALS: ‘STAIN ON OUR INSTITUTION’

After her 2004 graduation from college in Massachusetts, Benson moved to Alabama to work for the SPLC where she aided investigations of hate groups and hate crimes, according to the Harvard Law Review.

She also visited the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma where civil rights figures like the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., marched and were badly beaten by law enforcement.

An official with the Benson campaign confirmed she served as a volunteer researcher for the SPLC after college and later served on the Montgomery-based group’s board from 2014-2018.

But when pressed on what Benson knew about the allegations in the DOJ’s indictment, her campaign pushed back on the Republican Party’s attacks.

“Jocelyn Benson has spent her career advancing the unfinished work of the civil rights movement and expanding economic opportunity, including helping dismantle white supremacist and neo-Nazi extremist networks responsible for hate crimes across the country,” the campaign told Fox News Digital on Friday.

“And while Donald Trump is trying to use his Justice Department to distract from his reckless economic policies that are driving up costs for Michiganders, Jocelyn remains focused on lower costs, raising wages, and protecting the rights and freedoms of the people in this state.”

Republicans continued to press Benson for answers.

MIGOP chairman Jim Runestad told Fox News Digital that Benson’s tenure on the SPLC board coincided with the timeframe in which the DOJ alleged the group began “paying the KKK and other extremist groups.”

DEM GOV’S NEW CAMPAIGN MESSAGE MAN ONCE SAID ‘RELIGIOUS RIGHT’ UNITED BY ‘WHITE SUPREMACY’

“Benson owes an explanation to the public in what she knows about the SPLC’s alleged criminal behavior, considering the criminal activity started around the same time Benson was named to the Board,” Runestad said.

Benson has previously described her early work at the SPLC as focused on investigating extremist groups.

In a 2025 interview with “Keen on America,” Benson recounted researching groups “claiming to be the reincarnation of [Adolf] Hitler,” saying she once sat alone in a hotel room in Spartanburg and feared those people “were going to find out who I was and come and kill me and no one would ever know about it and all the rest.”

“And that was an act of courage, small and no one saw it, but it helped me build a bravery muscle that and several other points throughout my life so that 20 years later, 25 years later, when I’m standing up to the president of the United States, it wasn’t the first time I’ve had to take on those harrowing fights,” Benson went on in the interview.

In prior comments, an SPLC official named Penny Weaver described Benson as coming to Montgomery “straight out of college as an unpaid intern, then worked for us.”

“Benson worked as a waitress to support herself so she could continue to volunteer at the center,” Weaver said, adding that Benson begged to be able to volunteer for the SPLC.

BLACK LIVES MATTER OKC LEADER CHARGED WITH WIRE FRAUD, MONEY LAUNDERING IN ALLEGED $3.15M EMBEZZLEMENT SCHEME

The SPLC is a longstanding left-wing nonprofit that claims to fight white supremacy and racial hatred by reporting on extremist groups and conducting research to inform law enforcement about them with the goal of dismantling the groups. SPLC’s CEO, Bryan Fair, addressed the probe in a video message posted online, arguing the Trump administration has “made no secret who they want to protect and who they want to destroy.”

“We are reviewing the charges,” a subsequent statement from Fair sent to Fox News Digital added. “However, after today’s Department of Justice press conference, we are outraged by the false allegations levied against SPLC – an organization that for 55 years has stood as a beacon of hope fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice to create a multi-racial democracy where we can all live and thrive. Taking on violent hate and extremist groups is among the most dangerous work there is, and we believe it is also among the most important work we do. To be clear, this program saved lives.”

The complete list of these groups, according to a Justice Department press release, includes the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, Unite the Right, National Alliance, the National Socialist Movement, Aryan Nations affiliated Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club, National Socialist Party of America (American Nazi Party), and the American Front.

Blanche and FBI Director Patel also argued Tuesday that the SPLC tried to hide its payments to groups the SPLC told its donors it was trying to combat, leading to several of the charges in the indictment.

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch and Alec Schemmel and Fox News’ Jake Gibson and David Spunt contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Latest

Dana White ‘wasn’t going to see 65’ before longevity expert intervened with strict new regimen

Published

on

Longevity expert Gary Brecka said his work with Dana White led to startling blood test results, revealing that the UFC CEO may have only had a few years left to live based on his prior lifestyle.

Brecka, who spent 20 years as a mortality-modeling expert in the insurance industry, said on “Hang Out With Sean Hannity” that people in White’s inner circle “quietly” asked him to get ahold of the UFC president, reporting that he was falling asleep during important meetings.

The biohacker said he “tricked” White by telling the UFC boss he needed blood work and a genetic test to predict his life expectancy due to worries over White’s symptoms, while in reality, existing medical records and demographic data could have sufficed.

He said White was experiencing sleep apnea, low blood oxygen levels, aches and pains, among other ailments. But White’s blood test provided cause for concern even before the results were in.

UFC HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP ENTERS THE RING FOR HEALTHCARE REFORM WITH NEW PRICE TRANSPARENCY PARTNERSHIP

“His blood coagulated at room temperature. As a percentage, there was more fat in his blood than blood,” said Brecka, due to “lethal” levels of triglycerides.

After sending the blood off to the lab for testing, he got a call at 1 a.m. — a move usually reserved for emergencies. The results were dire, he said.

Given the life-threatening alert, Brecka said he immediately booked a flight to White and was on the ground in Las Vegas by 9 a.m.

3 SIMPLE LIFESTYLE CHANGES COULD ADD ALMOST A DECADE TO YOUR LIFE, RESEARCH SHOWS

White was floored when Brecka rattled off a list of his symptoms based solely on his test results. It turned out the UFC president had “hyper-homocystinemia,” Brecka said, or the inability to break down an amino acid called homocysteine.

Homocysteine at high levels can irritate the interior lining of the arteries, causing them to “clamp down,” Brecka explained.

“And if you make the pipe smaller in a fixed system, the pressure goes up. So his [blood] pressure wasn’t being driven up because there was a malfunction with the heart. It was being driven because the pipes were too small.”

TRUMP GETS DANA WHITE TO ADD FIGHT TO UFC WHITE HOUSE CARD AFTER PERSONAL ASK

Because the vascular system contracted, White began experiencing hypertension. “They start to medicate the heart for a crime it’s not committing,” since the problem actually lay in his arteries, Brecka said.

He put White on a strict keto diet and blood pressure monitoring regimen.

“He wasn’t going to see 65,” said Brecka, based on his preliminary evaluation of White’s lab results.

Ultimately, he was able to extend White’s predicted lifespan from his initial assessment of 10.4 years.

Continue Reading

Latest

ACTING LABOR SECRETARY SONDERLING: A fast-track way to get a job without college debt

Published

on

Hollywood actor Patrick Ball recently made headlines for calling his $80,000 in student loan debt a “huge burden.” In an interview with Cultured magazine, Ball said he believes he would have died in debt if not for landing a starring role in the award-winning drama “The Pitt.”

Ball lucked out, but for most Americans, there’s no such happy ending. More than 42 million Americans have student loans, bringing the total outstanding federal-student-loan debt to over $1.6 trillion. The average borrower has an outstanding balance of around $40,000.

Pursuing a college degree makes sense for many individuals, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Too many students graduate to discover a drought of job prospects in their field while simultaneously struggling to afford student-loan payments. Even if they manage to land a job, the average annual salary of a recent college graduate is barely enough to sustain one person, let alone a family. The result is paralyzing debt and a stalled future.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, the Department of Labor (DOL) is working hard to create alternative pathways for Americans seeking secure, family-supporting, in-demand careers. As we celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, we’re spotlighting programs that offer hands-on training, strong mentorship opportunities, and credentials that benefit workers and employers alike.

TRUMP HAS SET THE STAGE FOR AN AMERICAN COMEBACK AFTER BIDEN’S DISMAL ECONOMY

Last year, Trump issued an executive order titled “Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future” and set a goal of securing more than 1 million active apprentices. To achieve this mission, DOL partnered with the Departments of Commerce and Education to develop America’s Talent Strategy.

For too long, there’s been a mismatch between the training workers receive and the skills that employers seek. America’s Talent Strategy aims to change that by meeting the needs of employers and preparing more Americans to access high-wage careers. We’re realigning federal workforce programs with investments in private sector training and evolving skill demands as well as partnering with American businesses who are dedicated to employing new apprentices as key pieces of their talent pipelines.

That’s not all. The Labor Department has committed $3,500 incentive payments to partner employers for every registered apprentice hired. Under Trump’s leadership, we’re also streamlining the process for potential partner companies and slashing the red tape that discourages organizations from creating similar programs.

DAVID MARCUS: MAGA’S H-1B ‘CIVIL WAR’ IS EXACTLY HOW POLITICS IS SUPPOSED TO WORK

Additionally, we’re breaking down the silos that have hampered how America prepares its workforce. Last year, DOL signed a historic partnership agreement with the Department of Education. Under this arrangement, DOL can support and influence a broader set of workforce programs previously spread across federal agencies. That means cutting redundant efforts, shrinking bloated government bureaucracy and giving more flexibility to states.

All of this has empowered the Labor Department to add more than 386,000 apprentices and more than 3,300 new Registered Apprenticeship programs since Trump took office last January. Apprentices enjoy an “earn while you learn” model, and those who complete their program can land an average starting salary of $86,000 per year — $20,000 more than that of recent college graduates.

These are significant steps toward closing our nation’s skills gap of approximately 700,000 jobs. But it’s also significant because of the lives we’re impacting.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Brent Davis is one such example. For years, Brent struggled to provide for his family — until a friend urged him to apply to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard Apprenticeship Program in Virginia. Brent was accepted as a boilermaker apprentice, eventually becoming a journeyman in the shipyard and then an official Shop 41 Boilermaker. Brent graduated with glowing marks across the board for his workmanship. Thanks to his hard work and dedication, he was nominated for the Department of Labor and Industry’s Division of Registered Apprenticeship Outstanding Apprentice of the Year.

Shane Siler of Wyoming has a similar story. For 15 years, Shane worked in the food industry and dabbled in drilling and construction. But after he became a single father, he realized he needed to pursue a more stable and promising career path. Shane was attracted to the trades because they  offered the opportunity to earn a full-time wage while still attending school. He joined a Registered Apprenticeship Program, and today he works as an Industrial and Heavy Commercial Electrician. The Registered Apprenticeship Program has empowered Shane to build a better life for himself and his son.

These stories are exactly what National Apprenticeship Week is all about. Our task is to equip Americans to find their place in an evolving economy so that testimonials like Brent and Shane’s are the standard — not the exception. Registered Apprenticeships have the power to strengthen our supply chains, fill skill gaps in industries critical to our national security, and ensure America stays on the cutting edge of innovation and industry.

Most of all, they empower hardworking Americans to achieve the American Dream. That’s something truly worth celebrating.

Continue Reading

Latest

Vance, Cruz, head to Iowa on 2026 missions as 2028 GOP race to succeed Trump heats up

Published

on

Vice President JD Vance and Sen. Ted Cruz make stops in Iowa this week, fueling 2028 presidential speculation ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2026 Political Signal