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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.
GOP BILLIONAIRE TRYING TO WOO TRUMP’S SUPPORT IN KEY GEORGIA RACE BANKROLLED HIS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RIVALS
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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Pakistán anunció que Estados Unidos e Irán firmaron el acuerdo que pone fin a la Guerra en Medio Oriente

Estados Unidos e Irán firmaron el acuerdo que pone fin a la guerra en Medio Oriente, iniciada el 28 de febrero por el país norteamericano e Israel, uno de los conflictos más tensos de los últimos años en la región. Así lo anunció el primer ministro de Pakistán con un posteo en X.
“Tras intensas conversaciones, nos complace anunciar que el Acuerdo de Paz entre los Estados Unidos de América y la República Islámica de Irán ha sido ALCANZADO. Ambas partes han declarado la terminación inmediata y permanente de las operaciones militares en todos los frentes, incluido Líbano”, escribió el mandatario Shehbaz Sharif.
Después del anuncio, el precio del petróleo abrió con una caída del 5% en Estados Unidos.
En tanto, el presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, anunció que alcanzó un acuerdo con Irán para reabrir el estrecho de Ormuz tras más de tres meses de conflicto. Según afirmó, el paso marítimo se reabrirá tras la firma del acuerdo con Irán el viernes.
Desde Teherán, el viceministro de asuntos exteriores de Irán, Kazem Gharibabadi, declaró en la noche del domingo que al acuerdo con Estados Unidos pone “fin inmediatamente a la guerra”.
“En primer lugar, el fin inmediato y definitivo de la guerra y de las operaciones militares en los diferentes frentes, incluido el Líbano”, enumeró el diplomático, especialista en cuestiones jurídicas, en la televisión estatal.
El canciller iraní dijo que “el enemigo, que atacó para llevar a cabo sus designios malintencionados, ha visto todos sus objetivos reducidos a la nada, y la República Islámica de Irán ha logrado grandes victorias en esta guerra”, declaró a la televisión estatal iraní.
Irán dijo además que en un plazo de 60 días se iniciarán conversaciones para un “acuerdo final”.
Además, la agencia de noticias iraní Mers dijo que el memorando de entendimiento contempla el desembolso inmediato de 12.000 millones de dólares en activos congelados.
El documento prevé “el desbloqueo de 24.000 millones de dólares de activos iraníes congelados durante el período de negociación de 60 días” que se abre tras la conclusión del memorando de entendimiento, según Mehr. “La mitad de esta suma debe ponerse a disposición de Irán antes del inicio de las negociaciones”, precisó.
Qué dijo Donald Trump
En una publicación en su red social Truth Social, Trump explicó que, a cambio de la reapertura del estrecho, Estados Unidos levantará el bloqueo marítimo impuesto a la entrada y salida de buques en puertos iraníes.
“El acuerdo con la República Islámica de Irán ya está completo. ¡Felicitaciones a todos! Por la presente, autorizo plenamente la apertura sin peaje del estrecho de Ormuz y, simultáneamente, autorizo el levantamiento inmediato del bloqueo naval de Estados Unidos. ¡Buques del mundo, arranquen sus motores! ¡Que fluya el petróleo!“, escribió Trump, sin ofrecer más detalles del acuerdo. Un buque portacontenedores anclado, con un pequeño bote de motor en primer plano, en el estrecho de Ormuz frente a Bandar Abbas, Irán, el sábado 2 de mayo de 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA vía AP)
Por el estratégico estrecho de Ormuz, por el que circula el 20% del petróleo mundial.
La tregua del 8 de abril había terminado con la mayoría de ataques directos entre Irán y Estados Unidos, aunque en los últimos días hubo una ofensiva cruzada entre ambos países.
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Poco antes, en un mensaje en su red Truth Social, dijo que la relación con Teherán es “muy diferente y mejor que la que tuvieron las administraciones anteriores”, con duras críticas a uno de sus antecesores, el demócrata, Barack Obama: “A diferencia de los cientos de miles de millones de dólares que Obama les pagó, incluyendo 1700 millones de dólares en efectivo, aquí no habrá intercambio de dinero».
El presidente de Estados Unidos dijo además que intervendrán sobre las reservas de uranio enriquecido iraníes: “En el momento oportuno, cuando todo esté en calma, entraremos y recuperaremos el polvo nuclear, enterrado en las profundidades de las imponentes montañas de granito sumergidas, gracias a nuestros magníficos bombarderos B-2 y sus brillantes pilotos, y lo desintegraremos y destruiremos, ya sea en Irán o en Estados Unidos».
Trump planteó: “Esperamos colaborar con Irán y con todo Oriente Medio durante muchos años. Ojalá este proceso se desarrolle de forma rápida, sencilla y sin contratiempos. Si no es así, tenemos la alternativa definitiva, ¡que esperamos no tener que volver a usar jamás!“.
Estados Unidos, Irán, Medio Oriente
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Party Poopers’ Fight Card: Jane Fonda, ‘No Kings,’ communists roll out rival spectacle to Trump’s 250th

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As President Donald Trump prepares to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary today with a UFC event at the White House, a national network of angry activists has assembled its own fight card: a celebrity concert headlined by Jane Fonda, hundreds of «watch parties,» local organizing events including a «RAGE AGAINST THE CAGE!» protest and a coordinated operation aimed at fighting Trump «through the midterm elections and beyond.»
About 400 organizations in the «No Kings» coalition with combined annual revenues of about $3 billion have organized Sunday’s nationwide protest operation. Internal planning documents obtained by Fox News Digital show organizers’ plan to using the concerts, watch parties and local gatherings to build momentum for a political organizing network.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office alongside UFC Freedom 250 fighters Ilia Topuria, Alex Pereira, Justin Gaethje, and Ciryl Gane at the White House on May 06, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Scott Taetsch/Zuffa LLC)
At 4 p.m., in one of day’s many planned sideshows, «Refuse Fascism,» a pro-communism group, plans its «RAGE AGAINST THE CAGE!» protest at McPherson Square near the White House. UFC fighter Sean Strickland released a video on social media, saying he had booked a ticket to protest at the White House for allegedly being cut from the main event for criticizing the state of Israel and the war in Iran. «Ill bring a bullhorn,» he wrote in his social media post.
Meanwhile, the Women’s March, a multi-millon-dollar nonprofit enterprise, has rented portable toilets that its staffers are setting up from noon to 6 p.m. at Farragut Square, blocks from the White House, for a protest dubbed «Dump on Trump.»

Sean Strickland appears on stage during the UFC 328 press conference at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on May 7, 2026. (Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC)
A 16-page «No Kings Event Host Toolkit» describes June 14 as an opportunity to convert mass demonstrations into local political infrastructure. Organizers frame the event as a counter to Trump’s hosting of the White House UFC event, saying «we will be doing the real work of democracy.» The materials describe watch parties as «strategic community gatherings designed to build deep local connections and lay the grassroots infrastructure we need to defend our rights through the midterm elections and beyond.»
Indivisible, a Democratic nonprofit funded by mega-donor George Soros, handed the headline role to the 88-year-old Fonda’s «Committee for the First Amendment,» which is hosting the day’s premiere counter-event in New York City at a 90-minute concert, «Rise Up, Sing Out: A Concert for the First Amendment,» starting at 7:30 pm. at a theater called «The Town Hall» on 43rd Street. This weekend, tickets in the orchestra section sold for $330.15.

Jane Fonda attends the closing ceremony red carpet at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, on May 24, 2025. (Gisela Schober/Getty Images)
JANE FONDA SLAMMED DEMOCRATIC LEADERS AS ‘NOT GOOD ENOUGH’ IN FIGHT AGAINST TRUMP
The «Committee for the First Amendment» describes itself as «a large collective of artists, storytellers, and cultural leaders» launched in October 2025 with about 500 leading figures from the entertainment industry. They invoked the name of a group established in 1947 by Hollywood celebrities, including Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball and Groucho Marx, to challenge Sen. Joe McCarthy’s investigations into the spread of communism in the U.S. and Hollywood. Later, some members of the original «Committee for the First Amendment» were identified as communist, and original members of the group wrote that they were duped into joining the effort. Ronald Reagan, then an actor, reportedly called committee member «suckers.»
Actor Humphrey Bogart even published a politically frank column, headlined, «I’m No Communist,» urging fellow celebrities not to be «used as dupes by Commie organizations.»
Fast forward to today, and the anti-Trump concert will feature left-wing activists including Fonda, whose controversial 1972 trip to communist North Vietnam earned her the nickname «Hanoi Jane» and sparked backlash from critics who accused her of aligning with the North Vietnamese communist regime during the Vietnam War. She’s scheduled to be joined in New York City by 1970s «godmother of punk» Patti Smith, actress Bette Midler, singer Rufus Wainwright, singer Sasha Allen, former MSNBC host Joy Reid and actor Wilson Cruz.

Lauren Bacall embraces and kisses Humphrey Bogart in a scene from the 1944 film «To Have and Have Not.» (Warner Brothers/Getty Images)
JANE FONDA WARNS AMERICA FACES ‘EXISTENTIAL’ CRISIS AS SHE URGES TURNOUT AT ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS
Organizers describe the event as «an uplifting evening of song, solidarity, and action» celebrating freedoms of «speech, religion, press, assembly, and protest.»
But the internal planning documents reviewed by Fox News Digital show the concert is the public-facing component of a much broader anti-Trump organizing effort designed to be a funneling agent for «the midterm elections and beyond.»
The day’s messaging guidance casts the June 14 showdown as an alternative political narrative of «people power.»
«The lead-up to America’s 250th is a test of who we are,» the guidance goes. «President Trump is choosing self-promotion. We’re choosing community, participation and people power.»
Organizers repeatedly frame the effort as direct counterprogramming to Trump’s event. One suggested message prepared for supporters states: «On June 14, President Trump hosts a UFC cage fight at the White House. The main event will be in our living rooms.»
The «No Kings» coalition’s internal materials outline an extensive organizing apparatus. Host toolkits instruct local organizers to recruit co-hosts, appoint «greeters» and safety leads, collect attendee contact information, identify future organizers and schedule follow-up organizing meetings after the concert.
One host guide tells organizers their goal is to «bring people in and move them to ongoing participation.» Another instructs hosts to determine «who might help you with organizing moving forward.» Before attendees leave, organizers are directed to create «a clearly defined plan» and schedule another organizing meeting within two weeks.
Taken together, the documents show an effort focused not merely on a single day of protest but on building durable activist networks after June 14.
The coalition’s messaging guidance makes that objective explicit. One recommended talking point states: «He wants attention. We’re building a movement.»
At the same time, organizers stress legal compliance and message discipline.
The protests include a «reimbursement» program, and the material explicitly states that it’s administered through Indivisible Civics, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. In a departure from the clearly partisan nature of «No Kings» protests that have as an underlying theme that Trump is «a king,» the guidance for today states that events «cannot include lobbying or partisan political activity.»
The reimbursement material reveals for the first time that participating groups may receive up to $500 in reimbursements for watch parties connected to the event.

Jane Fonda and Rep. Ilhan Omar appear onstage during the No Kings Rallies in St. Paul, Minn., on March 28, 2026. (Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
FIRST ON FOX: POWERFUL HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS CHAIR THROWS HAMMER DOWN ON ‘FOREIGN-ALIGNED INFLUENCE NETWORK’
The guidance further states that event’s can’t be «co-hosted with any political party or partisan organization» or «feature candidates running for elected office.» The document also specifies that the program «cannot reimburse expenses from political rallies or protests (e.g. ‘No Kings’) or events hosted to prep for those activities.»
The politics has been very thinly veiled. At the last «No Kings» protest in St. Paul, Minn., just like with earlier rallies, organizers, including Fonda, openly embraced Democratic politicians like Rep. Ilhan Omar, without any Republican lawmakers around.
Organizers emphasized strict commitment to a «NONVIOLENCE CLAUSE.» One host guide warns: «DO NOT DELETE THE NONVIOLENCE CLAUSE. Your event will not be approved without this language.»
Beyond the celebrity headliners, the campaign’s leadership network overlaps with activists and organizations that have been the subject of congressional inquiries for their alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Documents released by the House Ways and Means Committee show that attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit, represents the People’s Forum, a nonprofit that has received millions of dollars Neville Roy Singham, an American businessman and self-described Marxist who lives in Shanghai, supporting the Chinese Communist Party. According to her official biography, Verheyden-Hilliard also serves on the steering committee of Fonda’s «Committee for the First Amendment.» Verheyden-Hilliard hasn’t respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
The operation is also supported by a professional communications infrastructure. Press inquiries for «Rise Up, Sing Out» are directed to Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis, a prominent New York-based public-relations firm known as «SSM&L.» The organization created many of the planning documents for the New York City headline event, its name on the metadata of several documents. The PR company didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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politics, world protests, congress, political, ufc
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EN VIVO | El acuerdo de paz entre EEUU e Irán será firmado el próximo viernes 19 de junio en Ginebra

Después de mucha expecativa, el primer ministro de Pakistán, Shehbaz Sharif, anunció este domingo que Estados Unidos e Irán llegaron a un “acuerdo de paz” que detiene de inmediato todas las operaciones militares en Medio Oriente, incluído el Líbano.
De acuerdo a lo detallado por Sharif, la firma del pacto tendrá lugar en Ginebra el próximo 19 de junio.
“Con el acuerdo ya en vigor, los mediadores facilitarán una serie de reuniones esta semana. Estos debates previos a la implementación sentarán las bases para las conversaciones técnicas y la ceremonia oficial de firma”, escribió en X el mandatario paquistaní, mediador clave entre Washington y Teherán.
Apenas minutos después, el presidente Donald Trump anunció que el acuerdo negociado con Irán “ya está completo” y ordenó la reapertura inmediata del estrecho de Ormuz y el levantamiento del bloqueo naval estadounidense que permanecía vigente en la región.
En las próximas horas el presidente norteamericano viajará a Francia para participar del G7, en Evián, por lo que hay expectativa por su posible presencia el viernes en Suiza para ser él quien firme acuerdo.
A continuación, la cobertura minuto a minuto de la nueva coyuntura en Medio Oriente:
Nuevo mensaje de Trump
Momentos después del anuncio del acuerdo con Irán, el presidente Trump volvió a usar sus redes sociales para destacar la gestión de su administración, y afirmó que este pacto traerá “paz” a Medio Oriente.
“Este gran acuerdo traerá paz y seguridad a toda la región”, sostuvo en su mensaje publicado en Truth Social.
“Muchos presidentes han intentado alcanzar la paz con Irán, y todos han fracasado antes que yo. Los líderes de la región han encontrado, por primera vez, a un presidente que puede ayudarles a lograr una paz verdadera. Con la apertura del estrecho tras la firma del acuerdo el viernes, con el fin de retirar las minas, ¡el petróleo volverá a fluir por ambos extremos para la región y para el mundo!“.
Irán dice que el acuerdo pone fin a la guerra
El viceministro de asuntos exteriores del régimen iraní, Kazem Gharibabadi, declaró en la noche del domingo que el acuerdo con Estados Unidos pone “fin inmediatamente a la guerra”.
“En primer lugar, el fin inmediato y definitivo de la guerra y de las operaciones militares en los diferentes frentes, incluido el Líbano”, señaló el diplomático, especialista en cuestiones jurídicas, en la televisión estatal.
Asimismo, afirmó que Teherán salió vencedor de la guerra con Israel y Estados Unidos: “El enemigo, que atacó para llevar a cabo sus designios malintencionados, ha visto todos sus objetivos reducidos a la nada, y la República Islámica de Irán ha logrado grandes victorias en esta guerra”.
Macron dijo que el acuerdo será tratado en el G7
Las grandes potencias del G7 discutirán a partir del lunes en Evian, Francia, las “consecuencias” del acuerdo entre Estados Unidos e Irán y la reapertura del estrecho de Ormuz, dijo el domingo el presidente Emmanuel Macron.
“El objetivo será ver las consecuencias de este acuerdo, el apoyo al Líbano, la reapertura del estrecho de Ormuz a largo plazo y, obviamente, la conclusión de un acuerdo sobre el programa nuclear y balístico en Irán”, dijo el mandatario francés en un video publicado en su Instagram.
Macron recibirá el lunes en la ciudad a orillas del lago Lemán a Donald Trump y a los líderes de Alemania, Canadá, Italia, Japón y Reino Unido.
JD Vance asistirá a la firma del acuerdo en Suiza
El vicepresidente norteamericano declaró este domingo que tenía previsto asistir a la firma del acuerdo de paz con Irán en Suiza dentro de unos días, pero que el presidente Donald Trump podría acudir.
“Sin duda tengo previsto estar allí, pero es posible que el propio presidente también acuda”, declaró a Fox News cuando se le preguntó si estaría presente en la ceremonia, que, según el mediador Pakistán, tendrá lugar en Ginebra el 19 de junio.

El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, anunció este domingo que el acuerdo negociado con Irán “ya está completo” y ordenó reapertura inmediata del estrecho de Ormuz y el levantamiento del bloqueo naval estadounidense que permanecía vigente en la región.
El primer ministro de Pakistán, Shehbaz Sharif, anunció este domingo que Estados Unidos e Irán alcanzaron un acuerdo de paz para poner fin al conflicto que enfrentó a ambos países durante los últimos meses y que la firma oficial del documento está prevista para el próximo 19 de junio en Suiza.
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