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Padilla cuffed, McIver indicted: Can Congress come back from the brink?
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You have lots of places to choose from to get your message out to the press if you’re House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
It’s best to get your message out succinctly, clearly and free of interference.
So when Johnson decided to boast about the House making good on the first bill to codify DOGE cuts and slash $9.4 billion from USAID and public broadcasting, he stepped just outside the House chamber and into a throng of reporters gathered by the Will Rogers Statue.
«Republicans will continue to deliver real accountability and restore fiscal discipline,» said Johnson.
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But the Will Rogers Statue area is a major thoroughfare in the Capitol. At the moment Johnson spoke Thursday, dozens of House Democrats were headed toward the office of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. They were demanding answers about why federal agents tossed Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., to the ground and handcuffed him during a press conference in Los Angeles with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
When Johnson finished talking about reeling in the money for public broadcasting and USAID, reporters only wanted to ask about Padilla.
Yours truly included.
Despite all the talk of Republican spending cuts, there was only one thing on the minds of reporters in the halls of Congress on Thursday: what had just happened to Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
«Did the federal agents go too far,» I asked. «Was that a bridge too far?»
A long line of angry House Democrats squeezed past Johnson in the Will Rogers corridor. But because Johnson chose to speak in such a heavily-trafficked locale, Democrats hectored Johnson as they marched to the Senate.
«Yes it was!» shouted an unidentified Democrat as she strode past the scrum, answering my question for Johnson.
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But Johnson immediately pivoted to what Padilla did, standing up at Noem’s press conference to holler questions at her from the back of the room.
«It was wildly inappropriate,» said Johnson of Padilla as he spoke to the Capitol press corps. «You don’t charge a sitting cabinet secretary…»
«That’s a lie!» shouted another unidentified Democrat.
«A lie!» yelled someone else.
Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-Calif., was among the members of Congress who appeared to heckle House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. (Dai Sugano/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)
Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-Calif., stopped to snarl something at the Speaker. But it was impossible to hear over the din.
«He was acting like a senator,» charged Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y. «Why don’t you stand up for Congress!»
«Can you respond to these people heckling you Mr. Speaker?» I asked.
«I’m not going to respond to that,» replied Johnson.
The Capitol was pulsing at this point. The crush of House Democrats barged into the office of Thune, who was at the White House.
Lucky him.
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The Democrats then trooped back across the Rotunda and poured into Johnson’s office.
«When the Speaker of the House refers to a sitting Member of the U.S. Senate who simply tried to exercise his First Amendment rights as acting like a thug, we’re very concerned about that,» said Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y. «Both the Speaker and Leader Thune should step up to the moment and preserve the institution of Congress, which are a balance in democracy and important balance in democracy.»
One lawmaker who didn’t join the angry Democratic mob was Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa. Dean stood apprehensively just beyond the wall of reporters and outside the invisible bubble created by Johnson’s security detail. When Johnson concluded speaking, Dean tried to pierce the security ring to have a civil conversation with the Speaker.
Johnson’s talks of spending cuts were quickly dashed by reporters demanding an explanation about Padilla. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
«Mike! Mike!» said Dean, trying to capture Johnson’s attention. «It’s Madeline.»
Johnson finally realized that «Madeleine» wasn’t some reporter trying to squeeze in an extra question for the Speaker. But someone he obviously knew. A fellow lawmaker. Someone from across the aisle with whom he must have a friendship and working relationship.
Johnson and Dean spoke in hushed tones as they walked quietly across Statuary Hall. Some in the press corps followed, trying to divine what they were saying. This wasn’t an offstage chat back in the Speaker’s Suite or on a private telephone call. But it went down in a very public part of the U.S. Capitol.
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The conversation continued as the duo stopped adjacent to the «British Steps» near the Speaker’s Office. Dean clenched both of her hands into fists as she and the Speaker were about to part ways. She lightly touched Johnson on the right arm as he ducked into the Speaker’s Office.
«Thank you, sir,» said Dean.
«What were you speaking to the Speaker about?» I asked the Congresswoman.
«I just want to keep that to myself,» answered Dean. «But the one thing I wanted to say is that it’s up to the President to turn the temperature down. Everyone is inflamed. And agitated. But it starts with the President. He said ‘I’m talking to the President,’» said Dean.
Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., told me «it’s up to the President to turn the temperature down» after a quiet conversation with Johnson in Statuary Hall. (Andrew Harrer/Pool via Reuters)
But other Republicans may have tried to dial up the temperature by blasting Padilla.
Padilla left Washington earlier in the week to be in LA during the riots. The senator was supposed to start at first base for the Democrats in the Congressional Baseball Game on Wednesday night.
Republicans charged that Padilla should have stayed moored in Washington.
«He has a responsibility to show up at work not to go make a spectacle,» said Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo.
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«The fact that he’s in California and not in D.C. while the Senate is voting means he’s not as concerned about doing his job here,» said Senate Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.
Scalise conceded he had gone home to Louisiana when hurricanes threatened the state. He argued that he «wouldn’t go back home to try to stir angst against the federal agents that were coming and help us get back on our feet.»
Outraged Democrats thundered on the Senate floor, railing against the plight of Padilla.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Padilla’s plight «despicable» and «disgusting.» (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
«This is the stuff of dictatorships. It is actually happening,» said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.
«It’s despicable. It’s disgusting. It is so un-American,» said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
«I think it’s unprecedented,» said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. «It’s obnoxious, and it’s rather escalatory.»
But the outrage wasn’t limited to Democrats.
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«I’ve seen that one clip. It’s horrible. It is shocking at every level. And it’s not the America I know,» said Sen. Lisa Murkowski,» R-Alaska.
The band of Democrats who ran over to Thune’s office never did find him. But by nightfall, Thune said he spoke to Padilla, Senate Sergeant at Arms Jennifer Hemingway and tried to contact Noem.
«We want to get the full scope of what happened,» said Thune.
This falls against the backdrop of the feds charging Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., for assaulting federal agents at a Newark detention facility earlier this spring. These episodes have shaken Congress.
Lawmakers wonder what would happen if the shoe were on the other foot. And despite the partisan chasms, they’re all lawmakers. They know that if something like this can happen to Padilla, well, they could be next.
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Confidence and trust are waning.
«I remain hopeful that Leader Thune and other Republicans can walk us back from the brink,» said Schatz. «But I am not so sure anymore.»
INTERNACIONAL
En un rincón azotado por los cárteles, los mexicanos están abiertos a la intervención de EE.UU.
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Iran moves hundreds of millions in crypto during nationwide internet blackout, report reveals
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EXCLUSIVE: Cryptocurrency infrastructure linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) continued operating during the country’s nationwide internet blackout after the Feb. 28 U.S.–Israeli strikes, a cyber intelligence report reviewed by Fox News Digital claims. It allowed hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto to move out of the country.
Omri Raiter, founder and CEO of RAKIA, a cyber intelligence firm that develops data analysis platforms used by governments and security agencies, told Fox News Digital his team began monitoring Iranian cryptocurrency activity in real time after the attacks and quickly detected a surge of funds leaving Iranian-linked crypto accounts.
«We’ve seen a surge of funds since the first hours of the war,» Raiter said. «It started with tens of millions in the first hours, and it grew to hundreds of millions and more. Money was just flowing out from Iranian crypto accounts.»
Wallets linked to the IRGC received more than $3 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025, according to the internal report based on blockchain intelligence data cited by RAKIA. The report also cites publicly available data from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, which estimated Iran’s cryptocurrency ecosystem reached $7.78 billion in activity in 2025.
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Strikes on the Iranian leadership, the IRGC and Iranian naval vessels and oil infrastructure have roiled the markets. ( Sasan/Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)
Raiter said the data suggests Iran has developed a significant crypto-based financial infrastructure capable of operating even during heavy sanctions and communications shutdowns.
«The IRGC has been financing proxy operations through the very same crypto corridors that sanctions were designed to shut down,» Raiter said.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned cryptocurrency exchanges tied to Iranian actors Jan. 30, marking one of the first times the U.S. targeted entire digital asset platforms rather than individual wallets for sanctions evasion linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move was part of a broader effort to disrupt financial networks connected to Tehran, Iran.
«The Treasury will continue to pursue Iranian networks and corrupt elites who enrich themselves at the expense of the people,» Bessent said in a Treasury press release in January. «This also applies to attempts by the regime to use digital assets to circumvent sanctions.»
The recent surge appears to reflect two parallel trends: funds moving to support Iran’s regional proxy networks and money being moved by individuals connected to the regime seeking to protect their personal wealth, according to RAKIA’s analysis.
«The proxy war funding and the personal capital flight are two sides of the same coin,» Raiter said. «They move through the same pipelines.»
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Tehran’s skyline, including the Azadi Tower, became the backdrop to a crisis shaped as much by cyber disruption as by missiles in the sky. (Kurt «CyberGuy» Knutsson)
Raiter said the firm identified cryptocurrency flows connected to networks previously associated with Iran-backed groups.
«Some of the accounts we saw are connected to areas where money historically flows to proxy wars,» he told Fox News Digital, citing activity linked to Lebanon and Yemen.
«Some of it could be people inside the IRGC trying to move their own money,» Raiter said. «But when you see the scale and the timing, it looks coordinated.»
The report produced by RAKIA claims the activity continued even after Iran imposed a sweeping internet shutdown across the country. National connectivity dropped to roughly 1% of normal levels during the blackout, according to internet monitoring group NetBlocks.
FROM MISSILES TO MINERALS: THE STRATEGIC MEANING BEHIND THE IRAN STRIKE
Military members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in western Tehran, Iran (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Despite that shutdown, RAKIA researchers said they detected more than 1,100 active cryptocurrency nodes operating inside Iran.
«When the internet is at one percent and you still see over a thousand active crypto nodes, you’re not looking at retail users,» Tom Malca, RAKIA’s head of cyber and AI research, said in the report. «Those nodes require dedicated bandwidth, stable power and deliberate exemption from the shutdown.»
RAKIA researchers said the activity suggests specialized infrastructure continued operating even as millions of Iranian civilians were cut off from the internet.
Most of the nodes were concentrated in the Tehran–Qom corridor, according to the report, an area that includes major government and IRGC institutions. Smaller clusters were detected in Iranian cities, including Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz and Kermanshah, according to the analysis.
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Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps special forces walk on the U.S. flag during a rally commemorating International Quds Day, also known as Jerusalem Day, in Tehran, Iran, March 28, 2025. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
RAKIA said its investigation relied on a combination of network monitoring and publicly available blockchain intelligence.
The Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York declined to comment on the report’s claims.
war with iran,terrorism,cybercrime
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Florida Republicans send SAVE Act–style proof-of-citizenship voting bill to DeSantis’ desk
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Florida lawmakers are sending Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis a strict elections bill modeled after the federal SAVE America Act strongly championed by President Donald Trump that mandates voters verify their citizenship when registering.
Lawmakers in Tallahassee, Florida, in the GOP-dominated state House approved the measure in a 77–28 vote Thursday, hours after the bill passed the Republican-controlled state Senate 27–12. The votes in both houses of the Florida legislature were nearly entirely along party lines.
DeSantis, a supporter of what he calls «the Florida version of the SAVE Act,» is expected to sign the measure when it reaches his desk.
«Although Florida has already enacted much of what the federal legislation contemplates, this will further fortify our state as the leader in election integrity,» the governor highlighted in a social media post.
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The developments in Florida come as the federal bill faces an uncertain future in Congress.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida supports a bill approved by his state’s legislature which mandates proof-of-citizenship when registering to vote. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
The SAVE Act, which stands for Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, narrowly passed the GOP-controlled House in February mostly along party lines. But it’s stalled in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53–47 majority in the chamber, far short of the 60 vote threshold needed to pass the bill.
The federal bill would require strict voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements across the country. Republicans say the bill is necessary to secure election integrity.
While polls indicate the vast majority of Americans — regardless of the political affiliation — support voter IDs at the polls and preventing noncitizens from voting in federal elections, Democrats argue the bill is not needed, since citizenship already is a requirement to vote and instances of noncitizen voting are rare.
THUNE GUARANTEES VOTER ID BILL TO HIT THE SENATE DESPITE SCHUMER, DEM OPPOSITION: ‘WE WILL HAVE A VOTE’
Democrats and voting rights groups also claim that the federal bill would create unnecessary barriers, making it harder for voters to cast a ballot.
President Donald Trump has said that passing a federal bill that mandates proof-of-citizenship to register to vote should be the number one priority for Congress. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Trump, who is intent on holding the Republican congressional majorities in the 2026 midterm elections, said earlier recently that the federal bill should be the top priority in Congress and that if passed, it «will guarantee the midterms» for Republicans.
But the Florida bill’s proof of citizenship requirement wouldn’t take effect until January, after the November 2024 midterm elections. And the bill also doesn’t limit the Sunshine State’s allowance for excuse-free mail-in-voting.
Trump has long railed against mail-in-balloting.
SCHUMER DOUBLES DOWN ON GOP VOTING BILL ‘JIM CROW 2.0’ DESPITE DEMOCRATIC VOTER SUPPORT
The Florida measure also would prevent college students from using their student IDs when voting in person, but that provision wouldn’t take effect until 2027.
«This bill creates real barriers for everyday Floridians, especially those with the fewest resources,» Democratic state Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis of Orlando argued in a social media post. «It will disproportionately impact working families, seniors, and college students who want to exercise their voice and right to vote.»
A view of the Florida State Capitol building in Tallahassee, Florida. (Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images)
And Florida Democratic Party Chair, Nikki Fried charged, «In the cover of night, Florida Republicans made it harder for U.S. citizens to vote.»
«While Democrats, civic groups, and voters voiced their concerns to stop this harmful policy, Republicans decided citizens’ voices didn’t matter and voted to disenfranchise hardworking Floridians,» she added.
The bill would make Florida the most populous state in the nation to mandate proof-of-citizenship to register to vote.
Arizona and Kansas enacted similar requirements in the past two decades, and Louisiana passed a law two years ago.
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Proof-of-citizenship bills passed recently in the South Dakota and Utah legislatures, and are awaiting the governors’ signatures.
And in 2024, New Hampshire mandated that all first-time voters show proof of citizenship when registering.
donald trump,ron desantis,voting,elections,midterm elections,florida
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