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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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Respuesta del gobierno británico
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INTERNACIONAL
Trump orders signs outside Smithsonian museum amid row over its depiction of American history
House to hold hearing on Smithsonian Museum’s alleged attempts to rewrite American history
Fox News’ Alex Hogan reports on a House Oversight Committee hearing regarding claims that the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibits are politically biased and attempt to rewrite American history. A White House report alleges the National Museum of American History disparages the nation’s past, prompting congressional scrutiny over its governance and stewardship of federal funds.
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President Donald Trump on Friday ordered his administration to install signs outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History directing visitors to what the White House describes as «accurate» information about the nation’s past.
The executive order instructs the National Park Service, which maintains the sidewalks outside the museum, to place signs informing visitors about a White House report released July 4 that criticized the Smithsonian’s portrayal of American history. Trump also directed the creation of a temporary exhibit intended to correct what his administration considers inaccurate historical information.
TRUMP WHITE HOUSE CALLS OUT SMITHSONIAN FOR PUSHING ‘ONE-SIDED, DIVISIVE POLITICAL NARRATIVES’
The move follows a report from Trump’s Domestic Policy Council that accused the Smithsonian and the National Museum of American History of failing to present history «in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic.»
President Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it during an indoor inauguration parade at Capital One Arena on Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Because the Smithsonian operates independently of the executive branch, Trump cannot directly remove museum leadership or unilaterally change exhibits. Instead, the order targets federal property outside the museum that falls under National Park Service jurisdiction.
National Museum of American History Director Anthea M. Hartig defended the museum during congressional testimony this week.
«As we continue to fact check the report, we unwaveringly attest that it does not fairly or accurately characterize the full body of work at the museum,» Hartig told lawmakers. «There is always room for improvement. But I also know the beauty and the inspiration and the expertise that lies in our collections, our exhibits, and our programming.»
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The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is being called out for being ‘ideologically captured’ and presenting woke revisionist history on the weekend of America’s 250th birthday. (Kevin Carter)
Friday’s order builds on Trump’s broader effort to reshape the Smithsonian’s exhibits.
In March, Trump signed an executive order directing the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents to eliminate what the administration described as «improper, divisive or anti-American ideology» from the institution’s museums.
The White House later criticized the National Museum of American History’s «Entertainment Nation» exhibit, arguing displays about American pop culture framed the nation’s history through an ideological lens rather than celebrating its achievements. White House official Lindsey Halligan previously told Fox News Digital that «American taxpayers should not be funding institutions that undermine our country or promote one-sided, divisive political narratives.»
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People walk on the National Mall near the Smithsonian Castle in Washington, D.C., on May 10, 2021. President Donald Trump has ordered signs installed outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History directing visitors to a White House report criticizing the museum’s portrayal of American history. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
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At the time, the Smithsonian said it was conducting a review of museum content and remained committed to «continuous and rigorous scholarship and research and unbiased presentation of facts and history.»
The Smithsonian is overseen by a Board of Regents that includes Vice President JD Vance, Chief Justice John Roberts, members of Congress and citizen regents. The institution receives roughly two-thirds of its approximately $1 billion annual budget through federal appropriations.
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
donald trump, politics, museums exhibits, white house, washington dc
INTERNACIONAL
Destituyeron al fiscal general de la Corte Penal Internacional tras una denuncia de agresión sexual
La Asamblea de los Estados Partes de la Corte Penal Internacional (CPI) decidió este viernes destituir al fiscal general Karim Khan, acusado de agresión sexual por una integrante de su equipo de trabajo, en una votación secreta realizada durante una reunión extraordinaria celebrada en la sede de las Naciones Unidas en Nueva York.
Según confirmaron fuentes diplomáticas a la agencia de noticias AFP, 82 de los 125 Estados miembros de la CPI votaron a favor de remover al jurista británico de 56 años, superando ampliamente el mínimo de 63 votos requerido para aprobar la medida.
Khan rechaza las acusaciones y anunció que impugnará la decisión por las vías legales disponibles.
“El señor Khan impugnará la legalidad y la justicia de la decisión mediante todos los mecanismos legales disponibles”, escribió en la red social X su abogado, Tayab Ali. El letrado reiteró que su cliente niega los hechos que se le atribuyen.
Khan había dejado sus funciones en mayo de 2025 para concentrarse en su defensa, luego de que se abriera una investigación por una denuncia presentada por una compañera de trabajo. El mes pasado, además, fue suspendido por la Mesa de la Asamblea de los Estados Partes, un órgano directivo de la CPI integrado por 21 miembros que convocó la reunión en la que finalmente se resolvió su destitución.
La denunciante, identificada públicamente como Sarah, una abogada de origen malasio, brindó recientemente una entrevista a CNN en la que relató detalles de los presuntos hechos. La mujer aseguró haber sido víctima de una “escalada de intentos” de agresión y afirmó que la relación jerárquica con Khan impedía cualquier posibilidad de consentimiento.
“Es imposible que exista consentimiento cuando hay un desequilibrio de poder de tal magnitud. Lo que mucha gente no entiende es que el señor Khan no era sólo mi jefe, sino el jefe de todo el mundo”, declaró.
Leé también: La administración Trump aseguró que la Corte Penal Internacional representa “una amenaza intolerable” contra los Estados Unidos
Antes de la votación, la defensa del fiscal había pedido a los Estados miembros que se abstuvieran de avanzar con la destitución. En una carta abierta difundida esta semana, sus abogados sostuvieron que los procedimientos seguidos no habían garantizado adecuadamente su derecho a la defensa y cuestionaron los informes que sustentan la investigación, cuyos detalles aún no fueron divulgados públicamente. El fiscal jefe de la Corte Penal Internacional (CPI), Karim Khan, y la fiscal general de Ucrania, Iryna Venediktova, investigaron una fosa común en la localidad de Bucha, en las afueras de Kiev, el 13 de abril de 2022. (Foto: REUTERS/Volodymyr Petrov/Archivo)
El equipo legal también advirtió que una eventual remoción podría afectar la independencia de futuros fiscales de la Corte. “La independencia conlleva un precio y la maquinaria de la Corte puede volverse contra sus propios responsables cuando dicha independencia se torna incómoda”, señalaron.
La figura de Khan había cobrado relevancia internacional en los últimos años por investigaciones de alto perfil. Entre ellas, el pedido de órdenes de arresto contra el primer ministro israelí, Benjamin Netanyahu, y el entonces ministro de Defensa Yoav Gallant por presuntos crímenes vinculados a la guerra en Gaza. También impulsó acciones judiciales contra dirigentes de Hamas. Como respuesta a esas iniciativas, Estados Unidos le impuso sanciones económicas y restricciones de ingreso al país.
La destitución generó reacciones inmediatas. El ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Israel, Gideon Sa’ar, celebró en X la salida de Khan y la calificó como un relevo “largamente esperado”. Además, acusó al exfiscal de haber promovido órdenes de arresto “escandalosas” contra funcionarios israelíes para desviar la atención de las denuncias en su contra.
Por su parte, Stephen Rapp, exembajador estadounidense especializado en crímenes de guerra, había afirmado antes de la votación que existían pruebas suficientes para justificar la remoción. A su juicio, no actuar habría perjudicado seriamente la credibilidad de la Corte y la habría dejado más expuesta a cuestionamientos externos.
(Con información de AFP)
Corte Penal Internacional, agresión sexual
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Marc Stanley destacó el potencial de Vaca Muerta para “estabilizar la economía” y evitó hablar de política interna
