A Senate Appropriations Committee hearing was derailed Tuesday after Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin got into a heated exchange, prompting the Democrat to tell Mullin to «calm down.»

Van Hollen, who is best known for flying to El Salvador to meet with controversial illegal immigrant and alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia, accused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of having a «pattern» of abuse while enforcing immigration law. He pointed to several recent DHS-involved shootings, including those involving Venezuelan national Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.

Mullin pushed back against the allegation as an «exaggeration of words,» saying, «When you say there’s a pattern, there’s not a pattern.»

«Oh, I would say three in a row is a pattern,» retorted Van Hollen, to which Mullin shot back, «No, sir … a pattern of three people when we average 1900 a day is not a pattern.»

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Van Hollen insisted «there was a pattern.» As the two talked over each other, Van Hollen shook his head, saying, «Let’s get out the dictionary, put your semantics aside, the reality is this is a big problem.»

He pressed Mullin to commit to sharing evidence from the federal officer-involved shootings to Minnesota authorities.

«It sounds like you’re not willing to share evidence with the state authorities who are trying to get to the bottom of this. And I will just say, Mr. Secretary, that given the statements that came out of this administration, including the White House, it is hard to trust this administration to do an independent investigation,» said Van Hollen.

«But yet you trust your last administration?» Mullin fired back.

«I’m just saying if we’re calling an apple what an apple is and an orange what an orange is, don’t sit there and start cherry-picking one administration to believe and another administration not to believe,» Mullin continued.

In response, Van Hollen raised his hands and said, «Mr. Secretary, just, just please calm down.»

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Law enforcement agents during an immigration raid in Manassas, Va., on May 15, 2026. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)

During the hearing, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., pressed Mullin to commit to abiding by court orders, citing a federal judge’s claim that DHS had violated just under 100 orders in Minnesota. Murphy also criticized DHS for «spending money like stone drunk sailors,» including on «the massive detention centers that you are building.»

Murphy asked Mullin, «Now that you are on the job, can you commit to us that if a court judges something ICE is doing, something DHS is doing as illegal, unconstitutional, tells you to stop, that you will comply with the court order?»

Mullin answered, «We will never break the Constitution, and we’re not going to break the law, but we’re going to enforce our nation’s laws, and we’re going to enforce the laws that you guys passed and that we implement. We will never go outside that. And if we do, we’ll hold each other accountable for that.»

«But that doesn’t sound like the same thing as committing that you will obey a court order,» pressed Murphy. «Will you, or will you not implement court orders?»

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Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks to reporters outside his office at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Murphy has come under fire for a social media post in response to Iranian efforts to avoid a U.S. naval blockade. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

In response, Mullin said, «If we didn’t think courts were politicized, then I would probably be able to answer that. But we see courts over and over again that use their bench for their political opinion, not just the rule of law.»

He chided Murphy, saying, «Don’t put words in my mouth,» adding, «What I’m saying is we will enforce the law, and we’re never going to break the Constitution.»

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Looking aside to his colleagues on the committee, Murphy remarked, «Listen, if you’re a Republican or Democrat on this committee, you should be really, really freaked out.»

«We should be really concerned about the rulings that come out of the courts, and how often they get overturned,» retorted Mullin.

El Ministerio Público de República Dominicana puso en marcha la Operación XL526 contra una red criminal que, según la Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana, extorsionaba, chantajeaba y estafaba a residentes en Estados Unidos desde Jacagua, en Santiago, para obtener fondos que luego eran canalizados en maniobras de lavado de activos; la ofensiva dejó 20 personas arrestadas y derivará en presentaciones judiciales en las próximas horas.

La investigación, de acuerdo con la Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana, incluyó 28 allanamientos ejecutados en Santiago y Puerto Plata por un equipo de 35 fiscales.

Entre los detenidos hay cinco cabecillas, seis integrantes identificados de la estructura y otras ocho personas apresadas con fines de investigación, mientras las autoridades persiguen a otro hombre vinculado al caso.

La operación fue coordinada por la Dirección General de Persecución y la Fiscalía de Santiago, según la Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana.

También participaron la Dirección de Área de Investigación de Crimen Organizado, el Departamento Especial de Investigación de Delitos Trasnacionales de la Policía Nacional, HSI Santo Domingo, la Dirección Central de Prevención de la Policía Nacional y la Fuerza de Tarea contra el Crimen Organizado.

La estructura tenía su base operativa en el municipio de Jacagua, provincia de Santiago. La entidad oficial sostuvo que se trataba de una organización de carácter internacional integrada por personas con dominio del inglés y uso de herramientas tecnológicas para ejecutar las maniobras ilícitas.

El mecanismo, de acuerdo con la investigación oficial, comenzaba con la captación de víctimas mediante anuncios publicitarios. Después, las personas eran sometidas a extorsión y chantaje con un guion previamente estructurado por los cabecillas.

La Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana indicó que los imputados se hacían pasar, por medios tecnológicos, por supuestos miembros de organizaciones criminales como el denominado “Cartel de Sinaloa”. Con esa identidad falsa, exigían dinero a las víctimas y les enviaban imágenes de crímenes horrendos para intimidarlas.

Ese es el núcleo del caso: una red asentada en Santiago contactaba a residentes en Estados Unidos, los amenazaba con identidades criminales ficticias y obtenía dinero por coerción, según la Procuraduría General. Luego, esos fondos eran movilizados por distintos canales para dificultar su rastreo.

Durante la operación fueron arrestados los presuntos cabecillas Carlos José Parra Lantigua, Eliardo Peña Almonte, Renso Darío González Almonte, Josiel Pichardo Cabrera y Walinton Sosa Almonte, según la Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana.

La institución también identificó como miembros de la red a Moisés David Pichardo Aracena, Pedro Antonio Pichardo, Yumeiry Altagracia Cabrera, Danny Rafael Lantigua, Augusto José Reyes y Julio Antonio Peralta del Rosario.

Los integrantes de la red serán presentados ante la Oficina Judicial de Servicios de Atención Permanente de Santiago en las próximas horas, de acuerdo con la Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana. La investigación les atribuye presunta vinculación con crímenes y delitos de alta tecnología, asociación de malhechores, estafa, extorsión, chantaje, obtención ilícita de fondos, enriquecimiento ilícito, lavado de activos, distribución de sustancias controladas y uso de armas de fuego.

La Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana sostuvo que los fondos obtenidos eran canalizados mediante criptomonedas como Bitcoin, transferencias electrónicas, transferencias espejo y depósitos a través de empresas remesadoras y plataformas de pago.

En la mayoría de los casos, añadió la institución, las transacciones se hacían a favor de terceros identificados por la investigación para dificultar la trazabilidad del dinero y encubrir su origen ilícito.

La ostentación de bienestar económico por parte de los integrantes de la organización incentivaba la incorporación de nuevas personas, sobre todo jóvenes de Santiago de los Caballeros y municipios cercanos, según la Procuraduría General de la República Dominicana. La institución afirmó que esa exhibición de recursos formaba parte del entorno de expansión de la estructura.

Las autoridades también señalaron que los imputados empleaban mecanismos de intimidación y coacción que causaban afectaciones psicológicas graves en las víctimas.

Las amenazas provocaban temor, sufrimiento y perturbación emocional tanto en quienes recibían directamente la presión como en sus familiares, con impacto en su estabilidad personal y su calidad de vida.

Kuwait decried Iranian attacks in a statement issued by its foreign affairs ministry, saying that the Kuwait International Airport had been targeted.

«The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the State of Kuwait’s condemnation and denunciation, in the strongest terms, of the brutal and ongoing Iranian attacks using ballistic missiles and drones, the latest of which occurred at dawn today, targeting once again civilian and vital facilities, including Kuwait International Airport, resulting in the death of one individual, injuries to others, and damage to vital facilities, including diplomatic missions,» part of the statement declared, according to a translation of the Arabic-language post on X.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Defense spokesperson had indicated that a building at Kuwait International Airport was damaged and people were injured, according to a post on X by the official account of Kuwait Army general staff headquarters.

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«The Official Spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, Brigadier General Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi, stated that a number of hostile drones targeted today the passenger building (T1) at Kuwait International Airport as a result of the criminal Iranian aggression, which resulted in significant material damage to the building and injuries to a number of individuals, who received the necessary medical care,» according to a translation of the Arabic-language post.

«He affirmed that the armed forces are monitoring the situation in coordination with the relevant authorities, and they are in a state of complete readiness to deal with any developments, and to take all necessary measures to preserve the security of the country and its stability,» the post added.

The Iranian hostilities come more than three months since the start of the U.S. war against the Islamic Republic.

In a Tuesday statement, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) indicated that America had engaged in «self-defense strikes» against Iran.

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Imam Sadiq (AS) mosque with a giant Iranian flag installed on its front at the Palestine Square in Tehran on April 19, 2026. (ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)

«U.S. forces successfully defeated multiple Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, and conducted self-defense strikes on Qeshm Island in response to attempted attacks by Iran across the Middle East, June 2. Iran launched several ballistic missiles toward regional neighbors; however, all failed to hit their intended targets. Two Iranian missiles fired at Kuwait fell short or broke apart enroute, and three missiles launched at Bahrain were immediately intercepted by U.S. and Bahrain air defense forces,» the release noted.

«Moments earlier, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces shot down three one-way attack drones launched by Iran toward civilian mariners that were rightfully transiting regional waters. American forces also conducted self-defense strikes on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island. No U.S. personnel were harmed. CENTCOM forces remain vigilant and ready to defend against unwarranted Iranian aggression during the ongoing ceasefire,» the statement added.

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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth listens as Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon on April 16, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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CENTCOM noted in a post on X that, «An additional wave of Iranian drones attempting to attack U.S. forces in Kuwait failed to impact intended targets tonight. U.S. Central Command air defenses successfully downed multiple drones and ensured no American personnel or assets were harmed.»