FIRST ON FOX: The House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance is holding a hearing centered around various Minnesota fraud scandals and will feature testimony from Nick Shirley, a YouTuber and freelance journalist who helped uncover an organized fraud network in the state.

The hearing, «When Public Frauds are Abused: Addressing Fraud and the Theft of Taxpayer Dollars,» will be held Jan. 21, and will focus on several cases of fraud that took place in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

«I pulled up earlier today a report from last July, and they’re interviewing [Minnesota] residents,» Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who chairs the subcommittee, told Fox News Digital. «You can’t keep anything on your porch or in your yard because it gets stolen, you get your windows broken out of your car.

 «It seems lawless,» he added.

GOP LAWMAKER MOVES TO AWARD CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL FOR JOURNALIST WHO EXPOSED MINNESOTA FRAUD

In 2022, federal officials in Minnesota launched an independent investigation into Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit that prosecutors later described as a key driver of what grew into one of the largest COVID-relief fraud schemes on record.

Over the course of the investigation, authorities uncovered an estimated $250 million in fraudulent claims, leading to criminal charges against 78 individuals. Prosecutors have said the total scope of the alleged fraud connected to the operation may ultimately approach $9 billion.

The hearing will feature testimony from Shirley in addition to Jennifer Larson, CEO of the Holland Autism Center and Clinic, and former Minnesota police officer and former Minnesota fraud investigator Scott Dexter.

PAM BONDI DISPATCHES FEDERAL PROSECUTORS TO MINNESOTA FOLLOWING SOMALI FRAUD ALLEGATIONS

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., will be leading the subcommittee hearing targeting fraud in Minnesota. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, will be joining members of the subcommittee during the hearing. 

Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., will also be in attendance, and told Fox News Digital the hearing’s purpose is a matter of «transparency, accountability and safeguards that prevent this kind of abuse from happening again.»

«The scale of fraud uncovered in Minnesota is staggering, and it represents an egregious abuse of federal taxpayer dollars by criminal actors,» Lee told Fox News Digital. «The House Judiciary Committee is committed to exposing the full scope of that fraud, understanding how it was carried out, and ensuring that taxpayer funds intended to help vulnerable Americans are not diverted into the pockets of criminals.»

Quality Learning Center in Minnesota was found at the center of an alleged childcare fraud scandal in the state. (Madelin Fuerste / Fox News Channel)

JD VANCE ANNOUNCES MULTI-STATE FRAUD TASK FORCE IN WAKE OF MINNESOTA SCANDAL

Tensions in Minnesota rose after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched a massive operation in the state, in an attempt to locate and arrest illegal migrants who have committed crimes, as well as those who may have contributed to the fraud scandal.

A historic number of ICE agents were deployed to the state, which prompted agitators to clash with federal agents. 

Last week in south Minneapolis, an ICE officer shot and killed a 37-year-old woman, later identified as Renee Nicole Good, during a federal enforcement operation after authorities said her vehicle charged toward agents on the street. 

Good’s death sparked widespread protests and unrest in the city in the days that followed.

Members of law enforcement work the scene following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent during federal immigration operations, Jan. 7, in Minneapolis, Minn. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

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DHS Secretary Kristi Noem described Good’s actions as «domestic terrorism,» claiming she attempted to use her vehicle against federal officers.

DHS also revealed Wednesday that the officer who shot Good suffered internal bleeding as a result of the incident.

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

Iran issued a notice to airmen (NOTAM) alert late Wednesday, closing airspace to all flights except international flights with prior permission from the country.

The NOTAM will be in effect for just over two hours.

Flight tracking data showed multiple planes were either denied entry to Iran or rerouted around the country, according to the Flight Radar 24 website.

IRANIANS ABLE TO MAKE SOME INTERNATIONAL CALLS AS INTERNET REMAINS BLOCKED AMID PROTESTS

Minutes later, the U.S. embassies in Jerusalem, Qatar and Kuwait issued security alerts advising «increased caution,» limiting non-essential travel to Al Udeid Air Base, and temporarily halting movement into facilities at Camp Arifjan, Camp Buehring, Ali Al Salem Air Base and Camp Patrio.

The U.K. Foreign Office (FCDO) also issued an advisory recommending against «all but essential travel to Israel.»

«There is a heightened risk of regional tension,» officials wrote in the advisory. «Escalation could lead to travel disruption and other unanticipated impacts.»

A U.S. official told Reuters Wednesday the Department of War was moving personnel amid rising tensions.

«All the signals are that a U.S. attack is imminent, but that is also how this administration behaves to keep everyone on their toes. Unpredictability is part of the strategy,» a Western military official told the outlet.

Hours before the NOTAM alert was issued, President Donald Trump told reporters from the Oval Office the killing of protesters in Iran had ended.

A masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during protests Jan. 9 in Tehran, Iran. (UGC via AP)

TRUMP SAYS IRAN ‘STARTING TO’ CROSS US RED LINES AS PROTESTERS DIE IN GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN

«We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping, and it’s stopped and stopping, and there’s no plan for executions or an execution,» Trump said. «So, I’ve been told that on good authority. We’ll find out about.»

When asked about potential military action against the country, Trump said, «We’re going to watch and see what the process is.

«We were given a very good, very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on.»

Demonstrators burn pictures of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, outside the Iranian embassy in London.  (Toby Melville/Reuters)

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime has recently come under fire, with reports claiming more than 3,000 people have been killed amid nationwide protests over economic grievances and political repression.

Trump announced Tuesday he canceled all meetings with Iranian officials until the killings stopped.

In a statement Wednesday, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said Khamenei, through the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), «has turned his weapons against our people, while young Iranians, armed with little more than determination, have risen to defend and protect unarmed and innocent civilians.» 

«In this ruthless confrontation, in which thousands of innocent Iranians have been killed over the past two weeks, neutrality is not an option,» NCRI president-elect Maryam Rajavi wrote in a statement on X. «At a minimum, the international community must recognize the legitimate struggle of Iran’s youth and Resistance Units against the #IRGC to bring an end to this regime.

«European governments must designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, an action long overdue. The regime’s embassies and representative offices should be closed, and its envoys expelled.»

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The Iranian United Nations (UN) ambassador later sent a letter to the UN, accusing Iranian protesters of «deliberately inciting violence» and «equipping terrorist and armed groups to turn peaceful protests into political destabilization.»

Danny Danon, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, shared the letter on X, calling it «beyond belief.»

«This is the same regime that shoots protesters, hangs opponents, and oppresses an entire people,» Danon wrote in the post. «These are nothing but crocodile tears from a murderous regime.»

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

The housing official appointed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani to lead New York City’s newly revived Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants previously said, «White, middle-class homeowners are a huge problem for a renter justice movement» and argued organizers must «undermine the institution of homeownership,» during a 2021 podcast appearance.

Cea Weaver, who was named director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants on Jan. 1 through an executive order signed by Mamdani, made the remarks during a September 2021 episode of the «Bad Faith podcast» while discussing eviction policy and renter organizing strategies.

The comments have drawn renewed attention as Weaver now holds formal executive authority over tenant policy and enforcement in New York City. 

Her appointment was announced on Mamdani’s first day in office as part of a slate of executive actions reviving the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, according to City Hall.

NYC DEM REVEALS HOW CITY COUNCIL REJECTED CEA WEAVER—NOW MAMDANI IS HANDING HER POWER WITHOUT CONFIRMATION

During the podcast, Weaver argued that resistance to progressive reform often comes not from large corporate landlords but instead from homeowners.

«I think the reality is that a lot of the people who are pushing back on the eviction moratorium and more rental assistance are not corporate landlords,» Weaver said. «They are homeowners who feel as though an eviction moratorium is an attack on their rights as a property owner.»

She added that this opposition presents a challenge for housing organizers, saying «White, middle-class homeowners are a huge problem for the renter justice movement.»

MAMDANI SAYS HE ‘OBVIOUSLY’ DISAGREES WITH AIDE’S OLD VIEWS LINKING HOMEOWNERSHIP TO WHITE SUPREMACY

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a news conference with Cea Weaver, Jan. 1, in New York. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office via AP)

Later in the conversation, Weaver said homeownership has become the primary source of stability in the U.S. because of gaps in social programs, but argued that structure itself poses an obstacle to housing activism.

«Unless we can undermine the institution of homeownership and seek to provide stability in other ways, it’s a really difficult organizing situation we find ourselves in,» she said.

Weaver framed evictions as a matter of power rather than economics, saying landlords resist the idea that tenants could remain in properties they «consider themselves to own.»

Cea Weaver walks in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. Weaver has been tapped by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to be his new director of the city’s Office to Protect Tenants. (Gregory P. Mango)

In the same podcast, Weaver endorsed policies including universal rent control, the right to form tenant unions, blocking evictions, and funding rental assistance through higher taxes on the wealthy. She also argued that broader government programs could «chip away at homeownership» by providing stability through other means.

Weaver has also drawn scrutiny for past social media posts criticizing white homeownership. In an August 2019 post on X which was later deleted but resurfaced by Fox News Digital, Weaver wrote that «private property including and kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy masquerading as ‘wealth building’ public policy.»

In a tweet on her since deleted X account, Mamdani tenant director Cea Weaver called homeownership a «weapon of white supremacy.» (Fox News)

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On her first day in office, Weaver joined Mamdani in announcing city intervention in the bankruptcy proceedings of Pinnacle Group, a landlord tied to housing violations and complaints, according to City Hall.

Fox News Digital contacted the mayor’s press office with questions about whether Mamdani stands by Weaver’s 2021 remarks but did not receive a response by publication.

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.