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Military families want DOJ to distribute nearly $800M from French cement company found guilty of bribing ISIS
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In November 2017, Chief Petty Officer Kenton Stacy was injured in Raqqa, Syria, while clearing the second floor of a hospital that ISIS had booby-trapped with explosives.
Now a quadriplegic, Stacy, his wife Lindsey and their four children are part of a lawsuit brought by military families against the French cement company Lafarge, which was recently found guilty by a French court of paying millions of dollars in bribes to ISIS to keep its factory open in ISIS-controlled territory in Syria.
«I mean, they were essentially funneling money to fund terrorists and ISIS and all these heinous crimes and evil acts,» Lindsey Stacy told Fox News while standing by the side of her husband, the former Navy explosives ordnance disposal (EOD) specialist, who just had another surgery to deal with injuries sustained in Syria nine years ago.
9/11 FAMILIES CELEBRATE ‘HISTORIC, LANDMARK DECISION’ IN LONG-RUNNING SAUDI ARABIA LAWSUIT
«It’s very overwhelming. Kenton struggles mentally and physically with his own battles, and the kids and I, we have our own struggles,» she said. «It’s hard to juggle, especially when our oldest son has cerebral palsy, and he requires his own 24-7 care.»
President Donald Trump praised Stacy’s service to the nation in his 2018 State of the Union Address to Congress. Army Staff Sgt. Justin Peck bounded into a booby-trapped building to rescue Kenton and then gave him more than two hours of CPR while medics worked to save his life.
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth watch as carry teams move the transfer case with the remains of Iowa National Guard Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, killed in an attack in Syria, during a casualty return at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Dec. 17, 2025. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
«Kenton Stacy would have died if not for Justin’s selfless love for a fellow warrior. Tonight, Kenton is recovering in Texas. Raqqa is liberated. … All of America salutes you,» Trump said.
In a landmark ruling in April, a French court convicted Lafarge, the world’s largest cement manufacturer, of providing material support to a terror group and sentenced its former CEO to six years in prison. Eight former Lafarge employees were found guilty. Lafarge is appealing.
The company acknowledged the court’s finding describing the issue as a «legacy matter,» which was «in flagrant violation of Lafarge’s Code of Conduct.»
Nearly 1,000 plaintiffs, most of them military families, are part of earlier litigation in the Eastern District of New York.
«They were killed, in Syria, by a gruesome terrorist organization that was funded in part by Lafarge. And that’s not an allegation. That is undisputed fact. Lafarge [pleaded] guilty to doing that in 2022,» said Todd Toral, the lawyer from Jenner & Block representing Stacy and about 25 other families.
Toral, who is also a U.S. Marine, is seeking compensation for those families from the $777 million Lafarge paid to the Justice Department as part of the settlement. The Justice Department has had that money since October 2022.
AMERICAN VICTIMS OF TERRORISM COULD SOON SUE INTERNATIONAL ORGS IF CRUZ’S BILL PASSES
The Lafarge logo is displayed outside a facility in Paris on Sept. 8, 2017. Lafarge pleaded guilty to paying $17 million to the Islamic State group to keep a plant in Syria open, according to the Justice Department. The charges were announced in federal court in New York City. (Francois Mori/AP)
«I think the ruling by the court in France is significant generally, because it’s the first time in many, many years that a corporation, and not just the corporation, but executives at a corporation have been held to account for their misconduct in aiding terrorism,» Toral said in an interview with Fox News.
To operate in ISIS-controlled areas of Syria, Lafarge paid more than $6.5 million to ISIS from 2013 to 2014 through its Syrian subsidiary to keep production facilities running. The cement produced at its factory in Jalabiya, a factory which was bought for $680 million months before the Syrian uprising began in 2011, was also used for tunnels and bunkers, which helped the terrorist group.
The lawsuit is significant because it marks the first time a company has faced U.S. charges for supporting a terrorist group.
In October 2022, Lafarge settled with the U.S. Justice Department before the French ruling, paying more than $777 million into an asset forfeiture fund currently controlled by the DOJ, funds that are supposed to compensate victims of the ISIS attacks, many of them American Gold Star families like Hailey Dayton, whose father was the first American killed by ISIS in Syria on Thanksgiving Day 2016.
«I was 15 when my dad was killed,» Dayton told Fox News from her home in Florida. «I saw six guys in Navy white step out of the van. I got so excited because I thought my Dad came back to surprise us. I remember opening the door, huge smile on my face, and I was looking at the men, trying to find my dad and I didn’t find — I didn’t see him. But instead I saw six guys with tears in their eyes.»
The Biden Justice Department denied requests to distribute the Lafarge funds while the case was still pending before a French court. Lafarge was found guilty by that court in April. In February, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., pressed then-Attorney General Pam Bondi on when the DOJ planned to release the funds to the families.
FEDERAL JUDGE ISSUES $20M VERDICT AGAINST SYRIA FOR TORTURE OF US CITIZEN TAKEN CAPTIVE IN 2019
Lafarge pleaded guilty to paying $17 million to the Islamic State group to keep a plant in Syria open, the Justice Department announced in federal court in New York City on Nov. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
«In February 2025, my colleagues and I sent you a letter urging the department to review the petitions for remission submitted by the families of those fallen service members, including several of my constituents. The previous administration ignored these victims and our requests and left their petitions unresolved,» Biggs told Bondi during a congressional hearing.
«Congressman, we are aware of that, and we’re committed to doing everything we can to support the victims and work with you. Thank you for that question,» Bondi replied. That was more than a year ago, and the DOJ still has not distributed the compensation funds.
Now the plaintiffs, most of them military families, say the decision to release the funds rests with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
«I don’t know why. I don’t know why they’re ignoring us. To me, it feels like being a pawn. My dad, he went in when he was 19. He served 23 years,» Dayton, the Gold Star daughter of Chief Petty Officer Scott Dayton, said. «To the current Department of Justice, I would say make things right.»
Lindsey Stacy says she and her family have difficulty making ends meet given Kenton Stacy’s severe injuries.
«There’s a lot of families out there that could benefit from these funds. I mean, it’s been almost nine years. It would be nice to, you know, for justice to be served. They have been convicted recently in their own country, guilty. It has been a long battle, but it’d be nice just for it to come to an end, get some closure and be able to just take care of our family,» Stacy added.
«I mean, he made a huge sacrifice for our country, and it would just be nice if they’d stand right by us and all the other co-plaintiffs.
«We can think of no group of people who are more worthy of receiving compensation from that victim’s compensation fund than these families who lost a son, lost a brother, lost a husband, and they deserve to be treated better by the United States of America,» Toral, who continues to press his clients’ case, said in an interview ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
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The DOJ, which controls the $777 million dollars in penalties forfeited by Lafarge, issued the following statement:
«The Department is committed to compensating all victims to the maximum extent permitted by law. While we cannot comment on a pending matter, the department will always engage in the appropriate process to evaluate claims and ensure that our brave service members receive any amount of compensation to which they are entitled.»
veterans, military, france, justice department
Apple acusó el viernes a OpenAI de robar secretos sobre productos aún en desarrollo, lo que ha dado pie a un enfrentamiento legal entre dos de las mayores empresas tecnológicas del mundo.
En una demanda presentada ante el Tribunal de Distrito de los Estados Unidos para el Distrito Norte de California, el gigante tecnológico de consumo afirmó que OpenAI, líder en inteligencia artificial que cuenta con una nueva división de hardware, había solicitado a los candidatos a puestos de trabajo de Apple que compartieran detalles sobre proyectos secretos y que llevaran componentes y prototipos de dispositivos a sus entrevistas.
Apple también acusó a un empleado de OpenAI de descargar documentos internos de un ordenador portátil propiedad del fabricante del iPhone.
Según la demanda, OpenAI utilizó la información confidencial para contactar con los socios fabricantes de Apple, llegando incluso a pedirle a uno de ellos que demostrara la técnica de Apple para el acabado de metales en sus dispositivos.
Según la demanda, Apple envió una carta a OpenAI en febrero para expresar su preocupación de que información confidencial pudiera estar llegando a OpenAI de forma indebida. Apple afirmó que OpenAI no respondió.
“El incipiente negocio de hardware de OpenAI se asienta ahora sobre cimientos sumamente inestables, podrido hasta la médula por su dependencia ilegal de secretos comerciales malversados”, escribió Apple en su demanda.
OpenAI no respondió de inmediato a la solicitud de comentarios.
(El New York Times ha demandado a OpenAI y Microsoft, alegando infracción de derechos de autor por contenido informativo relacionado con sistemas de IA. Ambas compañías han negado dichas acusaciones).
La demanda de Apple contra OpenAI agrava el deterioro de la relación entre estos gigantes tecnológicos. Apple se ha mantenido al margen de la IA, incluso mientras otros gigantes tecnológicos invierten cientos de miles de millones de dólares en la creación de modelos de IA y centros de datos, y mientras las empresas emergentes impulsan los límites de esta tecnología.
Para ponerse al día, Apple llegó a un acuerdo con OpenAI en 2024 para utilizar la tecnología de la startup de IA y renovar sus productos, incluido su asistente digital Siri. Sin embargo, OpenAI se mostró decepcionada por la forma en que Apple integró ChatGPT e incluso consideró emprender acciones legales. En enero, Apple anunció su colaboración con Google para impulsar Siri y sus otros productos de IA.
Para colmo de males, OpenAI, que ha presentado de forma confidencial una solicitud para salir a bolsa, está creando por sí misma una nueva familia de productos de hardware.
El año pasado, OpenAI pagó 6.500 millones de dólares para adquirir IO , que en aquel entonces era un estudio de diseño con apenas un año de existencia, fundado por Jony Ive, antiguo jefe de diseño de Apple. Desde entonces, ingenieros y diseñadores han abandonado Apple progresivamente para unirse a OpenAI.
En su demanda del viernes, Apple acusó a Tang Tan, director de hardware de OpenAI y ex ejecutivo de Apple, de instruir a sus nuevos empleados procedentes de Apple sobre cómo eludir los procesos de seguridad de Apple para los empleados que abandonan la empresa.
El señor Tan no respondió de inmediato a la solicitud de comentarios.
Apple acusó a otro exempleado, Chang Liu, de usar la computadora portátil de Apple de una excompañera para acceder y descargar documentos técnicos mientras trabajaba en OpenAI. Según Apple, Liu le indicó a esa empleada qué información sobre productos no anunciados debía estudiar antes de las entrevistas de trabajo.
Según la demanda, el Sr. Liu también planeaba acceder a documentos internos a través de una computadora portátil propiedad de Apple que no devolvió cuando dejó la empresa.
El señor Liu no respondió de inmediato a la solicitud de comentarios.
Según la demanda, OpenAI engañó a la empresa fabricante a la que se dirigió para obtener información sobre la técnica de acabado de metales, haciéndole creer que tenía el permiso de Apple para verla.
Apple solicita una orden judicial que impida a OpenAI poseer, usar o compartir los secretos comerciales de Apple, así como una orden que obligue a OpenAI a devolver la propiedad intelectual de Apple.
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Michigan Senate hopeful calls AIPAC donations ‘legalized bribery,’ remains silent on other donations
Rep Debbie Dingell says Democrats ‘made a mistake’ ignoring Maine scandal
Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., reacts to Democratic Senate hopefuls Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens engaging in a fiery debate, revealing a deep divide over support for Israel and AIPAC. Dingell emphasizes the significance of Israel-related issues for Michigan’s diverse Jewish and Arab American communities.
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Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, called dinations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) a form of «bribery.»
«Next week, AIPAC is set to spend at least $3,847,990 against me. Why? Because [Haley Stevens] is more committed to the future of a foreign country than keeping your tax dollars here to provide schools and healthcare for you and your kids,» El-Sayed said in a post to X.
«Legalized bribery at its worst.»
The post, which comes a little under a month before a primary against Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., a pro-Israel and establishment candidate, raises questions about foreign interests represented in American elections and whether El-Sayed’s criticisms could be applied to other groups.
JOSH SHAPIRO WARNS THAT ATTACKS ON AIPAC ARE BEING USED TO ‘SILENCE CERTAIN VOTERS’
Michigan Senate Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed has spent his campaign denying he wanted to defund the police, but in an unearthed clip he asked, «Do police really need to use guns?» (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)
«Does that apply to PAL PAC and Arab American PAC?» Chuck Ross, an investigative reporter, wrote in a post to X, referring to two pro-palestine groups.
El-Sayed’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital along those lines.
Israel and its influence in American politics have been key themes for the Michigan Senate primary. Stevens, a member of the House of Representatives, endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has heavily criticized El-Sayed for questioning the U.S.-Israel alliance amid the conflict with Hamas.
«I can say that Israel has a right to peacefully exist alongside the people of Palestine and Gaza,» Stevens said at a debate on Tuesday evening.
DEMOCRATS’ CIVIL WAR HEADS TO MICHIGAN WHERE PROGRESSIVES FACE BIGGEST TEST YET IN HIGH-STAKES SENATE SHOWDOWN
Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan, right, and former Wayne County Health Department Director Abdul El-Sayed are facing off in the August 4, 2026, Democratic Senate primary in the Great Lakes battleground state. ( )
El-Sayed, for his part, has maintained that the Israel lobby has amassed too much power in U.S. elections, preventing candidates from questioning the partnership or under what circumstances the U.S. should withhold its assistance.
«For too long our foreign policy has been handed to us by the likes of the state of Israel and AIPAC, who has made sure that both Democrats and Republicans are doing their bidding,» El-Sayed said on Tuesday.
Notably, El-Sayed has a modest foreign asset.
In response to criticisms that he had yet to release his tax returns, El-Sayed acknowledged that his family had been holding the evaluations abroad, delaying the process.
«Taxes get complicated,» El-Sayed replied when asked about the topic on a recent programming appearance. «My wife and her family own property abroad and getting all those tax forms is a thing.»
DEM CIVIL WAR HITS PRIMARY DEBATE STAGE IN FIERY BATTLEGROUND SHOWDOWN: ‘WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?’
Abdul El-Sayed, candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, speaks before U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., takes the stage at Mumford High School on May 3, 2026, in Detroit, Michigan. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)
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As a part of his candidate report disclosures filed on June 2025, El-Sayed has reported a number of holdings. Among them: a salary from Wayne County worth $278,900 and an assortment of other assets totaling a net worth somewhere between $580,000 and $1.7 million.
As a part of that report, his wife reported holding up to $15,000 in real estate in India.
politics, lobbying, senate
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Israel’s leaders are publicly signaling that their country is prepared to strike Iran for a third time, while a U.S. official tells Fox News Digital that Washington remains closely coordinated with Jerusalem.
«The IDF is on high alert and prepared to resume the campaign, regain air superiority, and carry out an independent Israeli strike against Iran to eliminate threats — even for a third time,» Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Minister Israel Katz said Thursday at a graduation ceremony for the Israeli Air Force’s newest pilots.
«If we have to return, we will return with even greater force,» Katz added.
ISRAEL DEFENSE CHIEF WARNS STRIKES ON IRAN COULD RESUME SOON, SIGNALS CAMPAIGN NOT OVER
U.S. Central Command shared this footage in a July 8, 2026, press release about strikes against Iran. (CENTCOM)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also warned Thursday that Israel’s campaign against Iran was not finished and said Tehran would not be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon, regardless of any agreement reached with Washington.
«The war has not yet ended,» Netanyahu said at the air force ceremony. «Alongside the old challenges, new challenges are emerging. Axes are falling, and axes are rising. We are paying attention to this. We are prepared for every scenario.»
Two Israeli sources told CNN Friday that the Trump administration does not currently want Israel to participate in the latest U.S. strikes against Iran.
«Netanyahu would really want to join the U.S. strikes, but the U.S. doesn’t want Israel involved at the moment,» one of the sources told CNN.
A U.S. official denied the report, telling Fox News Digital, «This is fake news. The United States has a strong relationship with Israel, which contributed to the resounding success of Operation Midnight Hammer and Operation Epic Fury. We remain in close coordination with our Israeli partners.»
Israel first launched a major campaign against Iran in June 2025, with the United States later joining the fighting by striking the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities. On Feb. 28, the two allies launched a new, coordinated military campaign against Iran.
While Israeli leaders are openly presenting the military as ready for another campaign, some Israeli officials and analysts say there is little appetite for renewed fighting unless it produces a clear strategic result.
The public warnings may overstate Israel’s desire to reenter the fighting, said Israeli analyst and journalist for Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth, Nadav Eyal.
«On the record, Israel is signaling that it is prepared and even eager to strike Iran. But off the record, sources are saying that it is anything but that,» Eyal told Fox News Digital. «The reason is clear: Any Israeli strike in Iran will lead to Iranian ballistic missile attacks against Israel.»
US CLAWS BACK KEY CONCESSION TO IRAN AFTER FRESH ATTACKS ON COMMERCIAL SHIPS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, from left, US President Donald Trump and US Vice President JD Vance during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. Trump insisted Egypt and Jordan will take in Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, dismissing the countries’ refusal to accept people from the war-shattered territory. Photographer: Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Getty Images)
Eyal said the domestic political consequences could make Netanyahu reluctant to begin another round of fighting, particularly as Israel approaches another election.
«If these strikes are meant to provide meaningful, strategic change, it is something the prime minister can sell to the public,» Eyal said. «But if the intention is only to use Israel as leverage, why should Israelis again experience a couple of weeks or more of sitting in safe rooms and losing their summer vacations, children’s day camps and summer camps? That could play out badly for the prime minister politically.»
«The truth is that Israel was not really enthusiastic about another strike,» he added. «That doesn’t mean it is not going to happen. If President Trump demands that Netanyahu join, it is very hard to see the Israelis saying no. But right now, I don’t see any passion for it.»
The diplomatic outreach continued even as Trump declared that the ceasefire with Iran was over.
«The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!» Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
A source with knowledge of the situation told Fox News that Qatari negotiators have traveled to Iran, in coordination with the United States, to meet with Iranian officials in an effort to de-escalate the situation and create the conditions for negotiations to resume.
On Thursday, Netanyahu and Trump spoke by phone, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office, which said the two agreed to continue coordinating across several regional fronts. Trump briefed Netanyahu on American operations in the Gulf, the statement said.
NETANYAHU REJECTS REPORTS OF A RIFT WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP, SAYS THE TWO REMAIN ALIGNED ON IRAN
A satellite image shows damage at the control tower in the port of Chabahar, Iran, July 9, 2026, after the U.S. military said July 8, 2026, it launched fresh strikes on Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping. ( 2026 PLANET LABS PBC/Handout via Reuters)
The military warnings came as the Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Israel had provided the United States with intelligence about what is described as a fresh Iranian plot to assassinate Trump.
The developments follow renewed attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, where U.S. naval officials said the maritime threat remained «severe.» U.S. Naval Forces Central Command reminded commercial vessels Friday that an expanded southern route through the strait remained open and that no controlling authority could require ships to pay a fee for passage.
A U.S. official told Fox News on background that Iran’s attacks against commercial vessels were «acts of terrorism» and constituted failed performance under the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran.
«The United States is still committed to finding a resolution, and technical talks continue,» the official said. «Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.»
Brig. Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser, a former senior Israeli military intelligence officer who now heads the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, said Israel had never regarded the memorandum as an adequate guarantee.
«From Israel’s perspective, the MOU was never a good deal,» Kuperwasser told Fox News Digital, speaking of the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran.
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CENTCOM shared footage of strikes against airplanes amid Iran war (U.S. Central Command on X)
«Israel should be on high alert, ready to face an Iranian attack and prepared to strike back if necessary,» he added.
For now, Israel’s leaders appear to be leaving Iran — and Washington — with little doubt that they are prepared to act. Whether the United States allows Israel to join the renewed campaign, however, could determine whether the latest confrontation remains limited or develops into another full-scale regional war.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
war with iran, iran, benjamin netanyahu, donald trump, defense
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