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‘Concerning’: Ex-Biden official under fire as pay-to-play allegations emerge in top gubernatorial race
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Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat running for governor in Georgia, has faced ethics-related scrutiny during her time in government, but that hasn’t stopped Bottoms’ ambition for higher office.
Before launching her gubernatorial bid, Bottoms drew criticism in Atlanta over her use of public resources while serving in city government — from taxpayer-funded mailers packed with photos of herself to city-paid travel expenses that initially covered her husband’s Super Bowl airfare.
Bottoms also drew criticism over her ties to a contractor that later landed lucrative city contracts after she signed an initial consulting contract with the firm while leading the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority (AFCRA) and just days before leaving the city council as she was preparing to become mayor, with the company’s CEO later donating to and fundraising for her campaign.
Even with Atlanta’s history of corruption scandals, former Atlanta City Council leader Jennifer Ide, who served as the head of a city council ethics committee while Bottoms was mayor, said the Democratic gubernatorial hopeful’s past scandals, in particular her alleged pay-to-play scheme with a contractor, should be «concerning» for voters.
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Keisha Lance Bottoms, former mayor of Atlanta, at Hotel Phoenix in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (Matt Odom/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«I mean, I think it’s concerning,» Ide told Fox News Digital. «I don’t think that the voters want to feel like special interests impact the outcome of an election.»
As executive director of AFCRA, a position she held that earned her a six-figure salary even while also serving on the city council and running for mayor, Bottoms signed the first of three contracts for a company called Con-Real to do work for the city. The first contract, awarded in April 2017, was less than $100,000, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Just days later, she exited office as her mayoral run was heating up.
Meanwhile, in June 2017, roughly two months later, Con-Real won a second $2.4 million contract, despite the company’s bid being about twice what its competitor bid, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The outlet added that both contracts appeared to have been executed without the recreation authority’s board voting to approve it.
Ide said the absence of board approval was among the issues that made the Con-Real contracts appear troubling to people in Atlanta government, though she said she was not familiar enough with AFCRA’s rules to say definitively whether any formal procurement rule had been broken. However, according to Kyle Gomez-Leineweber, policy director at watchdog Common Cause Georgia, AFCRA did amend its contracting process following the controversy with Bottoms.
«There were serious concerns that were raised around ethics,» he added.
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Con-Real founder and CEO, Gerald Alley, reportedly held a fundraiser for Bottoms’ mayoral campaign in August 2017, and campaign finance records showed he also donated close to $4,000 to Bottoms’ mayoral campaign just days after winning the lucrative arena contract.
Keisha Lance Bottoms, former mayor of the city of Atlanta, attends the Cancer Moonshot event on October 24, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)
The subsequent year, in 2018, while Bottoms was mayor, Con-Real won a third contract for $1.4 million. Again, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, they were the highest bidder.
«It sure looked fishy that Con-Real l was not the lowest bidder,» Ide pointed out. «I don’t know exactly what the procurement rules are for the recreation authority but for the city the lowest responsive bidder is who would have needed to have been selected.»
In June 2025, less than a month after Bottoms announced her bid for governor, Alley donated the maximum allowable amount for a primary election of $8,400, campaign finance records show.
«I really believe that as people start to dig under the surface, they’re going to see that she’s not fit for office,» Humberto Garcia, a Democrat who lives in Atlanta and founded the anti-Buckhead City movement Neighbors for a United Atlanta, said.
Vehicles travel along a highway in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. (Photographer: Alyssa Pointer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Beyond the Con-Real matter, Bottoms’ record already includes a string of ethics-related incidents, including a $37,000 state ethics fine over campaign-finance violations, questions over taxpayer-funded campaign-season mailers packed with photos of herself, and backlash over using public funds for certain expenses, including airfare for her husband’s Super Bowl trip and thousands of dollars in limousine spending.
Both Ide and Garcia lamented that Bottoms, as mayor, was «absent-minded,» and they questioned whether she would do what is in the best interest for Georgians if elected governor.
«If you’re going to run for the highest office in the state, there needs to be no questions about whether you’re being influenced by your campaign donations in that kind of way,» Ide told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Bottoms’ campaign and Con-Real but did not receive a response.
The Democratic primary for Georgia’s gubernatorial race will take place on May 19. Currently, Bottoms is leading in most major polls, with former Georgia General Assemblyman and Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb County Michael Thurmond coming in second in many of the same polls, per The New York Times.
elections, corruption, elections state and local, governors, georgia, corruption crime, democrats elections
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Trump announces peace deal with Iran, declares Strait of Hormuz will reopen: ‘Let the oil flow!’
JUST IN: Trump announces Iran deal opens Strait of Hormuz, lifts naval blockade
Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst covers President Donald Trump’s major announcement of a peace deal with Iran. Trump’s ‘Truth Social’ post details the toll-free opening of the Strait of Hormuz and removal of the U.S. naval blockade, allowing for increased oil flow. The deal aims to bring peace to the Middle East after months of conflict.
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President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the United States and Iran have officially reached a peace agreement, marking a major diplomatic breakthrough that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.
«The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,» Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
«Congratulations to all! I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!»
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has served as a mediator, was the first to announce the peace deal, saying a signing ceremony is scheduled to take place Friday in Switzerland.
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President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on June 11, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump added that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen once the parties formally sign the agreement.
«With the opening of the Strait upon the signing of the Deal on Friday, for purposes of mine removal, oil will flow on both ends again for the Region, and the World!» he said.
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President Donald Trump looks at Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif speaking in Egypt in 2025, following the signing of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
According to Sharif, the deal includes the termination of military operations across the region, including in Lebanon, where Iran-backed terrorist proxy Hezbollah has been engaged in conflict with Israel.
«Both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,» he said.
Additional details of the agreement, including any provisions related to Iran’s nuclear program, were not immediately released.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister said talks with the United States on a final and more comprehensive agreement will take place during a 60-day ceasefire period, according to Reuters.
The outlet reported that the future of Iran’s nuclear program will be addressed in upcoming negotiations. Trump has long maintained that Iran cannot be in possession of a nuclear weapon and has repeatedly vowed to prevent Tehran from developing, acquiring or obtaining one.
Trump further praised his administration for securing the agreement.
«This Great Deal will bring Peace and Security to the whole Region,» he said. «Many presidents have tried to make Peace with Iran, and all have failed before me. The Leaders of the Region have, for the first time, found a President who can help them achieve real Peace.»
Sharif also thanked the United States and Iran for their «commitment to finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict,» as well as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey for their contributions to the mediation effort.
With the agreement now in place, mediators are expected to facilitate a series of meetings this week that could lay the groundwork for technical negotiations and the official signing ceremony, Sharif said.
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The peace deal would formally end the high-stakes conflict that began on Feb. 28, which disrupted roughly 20% of global oil shipments that pass through the Strait of Hormuz and contributed to higher energy prices worldwide.
It comes roughly one year after Israel initiated massive strikes on Iran during Operation Rising Lion. The strikes sparked a 12-day conflict between the nations before Trump ordered strikes on a trio of nuclear facilities later that same month.
Fox News’ Ashley J. DiMella and Reuters contributed to this report.
conflicts, treaties, saudi arabia, iran, israel
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Zelenskyy congratulates Trump on turning 80 in birthday call, vows more Ukraine peace talks at G7 on Tuesday
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A gracious Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy spoke with President Donald Trump on the eve of the G7 Summit, he announced Sunday on X, congratulating Trump on turning 80 and vowing further peace talks in the coming days.
«I have just had a great conversation with @POTUS,» Zelenskyy wrote Sunday on X. «I congratulated President Trump on his birthday, and we have had quite a detailed discussion about many key things – peace, surely, was among them. «I wished President Trump every success, above all in his work to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.»
«I also thanked him for all the support America has been providing to Ukraine, and it does matter that we remember with gratitude every step of that support – from Javelins to Patriots,» Zelenskyy continued. «We discussed things that could help bring about peace now, and I informed the President about the latest developments on the battlefield and how our position has strengthened.»
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President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28, 2025. (Saul Loeb/Afp)
Notably, the G7 Summit will bring direct talks between the leaders of seven major industrialized economies, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
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«We agreed that we will discuss more during our meeting at the G7 Summit,» Zelenskyy concluded. «We have some good ideas that could help advance peace and protect lives. Thank you!»
The call came as Trump turned 80 and prepared to travel early Monday moring to France for the G7, where Ukraine and Russia’s war is expected to be s major topic. Trump will participate in a working session Tuesday morning with Zelenskyy at the summit, though not necessarily a formal bilateral meeting, according to a senior administration official.
The outreach also comes as European leaders seek to keep Trump engaged on Ukraine policy and push for renewed diplomatic efforts involving Kyiv, Moscow and Europe. European officials are expected to use the G7 gathering to press Trump on a plan to restart negotiations with Russia while also preparing additional pressure on Moscow.
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Trump has hoped to have secured an Iranian peace treaty before the G7 and has long hoped his global peacemaking efforts would ultimately «end the death» in southern and eastern Ukraine, where Russia’s Vladimir Putin has sought to stake claim to large swaths of land during the ongoing war.
donald trump, volodymyr zelenskyy, ukraine, vladimir putin, g8 global economy
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