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SCOOP: Liberal city mayor hit with ethics complaint over alleged lavish gifts
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FIRST ON FOX: A nonpartisan government watchdog filed an ethics complaint against Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser on Tuesday morning.
The complaint by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) requests the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability investigate Bowser for allegedly accepting illegal travel and hospitality gifts on high-profile trips to Doha, Qatar, for the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, and trips to Dubai, Las Vegas, Miami and Mar-a-Lago.
«The basic standard for elected officials is honest transparency, which means following all disclosure laws and willingly answering the public’s questions. The mayor’s unwillingness to provide basic information about numerous high-profile trips is unacceptable,» Kendra Arnold, executive director of FACT, shared first with Fox News Digital.
FACT cited WJLA’s investigation into missing records from Bowser’s prominent trips, in which they discovered Qatar paid Bowser and four staff members $61,930 to fly to the Middle East in 2023.
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Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on March 10, 2024. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
«It is not simply the Qatar trip, but a troubling pattern from Mar-A-Lago to Doha to Augusta National – the District has no record of who paid for these trips or what public purpose they served, if there was one at all,» Arnold said. «The ethics rules exist to protect against corruption, and when they are ignored, the public’s trust erodes. I urge the Board to investigate and enforce the law without delay.»
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While the Middle East trip should have been disclosed in order to be accepted as a legal donation to the District of Columbia, FACT said in the complaint that there is no record of who paid for the trip.
«When questioned by the press, initially the mayor’s office said the trip was paid for by the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber said that was not true. Then, the mayor’s office said the trip was paid for by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. That was also false,» FACT claimed.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Then, in February 2025, the mayor’s office requested the trip’s expense breakdown, labeled it an «in-kind donation» and sought a «retroactive donation agreement,» despite the two years that passed, according to FACT.
«Yet, unbelievably, it wasn’t until a reporter’s Freedom of Information Act request in March 2025 that this information was publicly revealed—more specifically that Qatar paid more than $61,930 for the trip the mayor’s office was now attempting to retroactively describe as an ‘in-kind donation.’ As of May 2025, the District still does not have a record of Qatar paying for Bowser’s 2023 trip,» according to the complaint.
Again, citing WJLA’s investigative reporting, FACT said the District of Columbia has no expense records for several more trips, including to the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, and trips to Las Vegas, Miami and Mar-a-Lago.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks at a press conference after testifying for hours before the D.C. City Council outlining the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget in Washington, D.C., on April 3, 2024. (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
FACT accused Bowser of violating a «fundamental ethics principle» that prevents corruption and discourages elected officials from accepting bribes and donations.
Under Washington, D.C., law, government officials cannot accept certain gifts, including trips, lodging and transportation. The law allows donations to the district itself if the government entity «uses the gift or donation to carry out its authorized functions or duties.»
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In that case, detailed and accurate records must be available for «audit and public inspection.» Those donations to the district must be «recorded and approved before the donation is used.»
«Clearly Mayor Bowser’s trip to Qatar qualifies as a gift, and one that elected officials are personally prohibited from accepting. Additionally, this gift would not qualify as a donation made to the District because the donation was not recorded and approved before the donation was used. The District still does not even have a record of it,» FACT concluded in the complaint.
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UN Security Council moves up session on Gaza, West Bank ahead of Trump’s inaugural Board of Peace meeting
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The United Nations Security Council will convene a high-level meeting Wednesday to address the fragile Gaza ceasefire and Israel’s expanding operations in the West Bank as diplomatic attention shifts toward President Donald Trump’s upcoming inaugural Board of Peace meeting.
The session in New York was initially planned for Thursday but was moved up, according to The Associated Press, after Trump announced that his newly formed Board of Peace would meet the same day, creating scheduling conflicts for diplomats expected to attend both events.
The AP reported that the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Indonesia are expected to attend the monthly Middle East meeting of the 15-member U.N. Security Council.
Several Arab and Islamic nations requested the session last week to address the situation in Gaza and Israel’s expansion of settlements in the West Bank before some of their leaders head to Washington.
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Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour speaks to the media on behalf of the Arab Group at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City Feb. 17, 2026. (Zamek/VIEWpress via Getty Images)
Trump announced Monday that member states of his newly formed Board of Peace have pledged more than $5 billion toward humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts in Gaza.
He said participating countries have also committed thousands of personnel to an international stabilization force and local policing efforts aimed at maintaining security in the enclave.
In outlining the initiative, Trump said Hamas must adhere to what he described as a commitment to «full and immediate demilitarization,» framing the effort as a broader push toward regional stability.
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Palestinians shop for food beneath a destroyed building in Gaza City’s Zawiya market Feb. 18, 2026, during the first days of Ramadan. (Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP via Getty Images)
Israel formally joined the Board of Peace Feb. 11 ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump at the White House.
Netanyahu was not present at the initial ceremony held in Davos, Switzerland, in late January, where leaders from 17 countries, including presidents and other senior government officials from Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Central and Southeast Asia signed the founding charter alongside Trump.
Netanyahu later agreed to join the initiative after previously raising concerns about the composition of the Gaza executive board, particularly the roles of Qatar and Turkey.
President Donald Trump, center, holds up a signed Board of Peace charter during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2026. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)
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A number of other countries were invited by the White House to participate, including Russia, Belarus, France, Germany, Vietnam, Finland, Ukraine, Ireland, Greece and China.
Poland and Italy said they would not join the board.
united nations,middle east,donald trump
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Duffy gives Illinois 30-day ultimatum after audit finds 1 in 5 noncitizen truck licenses issued illegally
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FIRST ON FOX: Illinois could lose millions in federal funding if it does not clean up its driver’s licensing system after the U.S. Department of Transportation warned Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and the state’s top licensing official that one in five commercial licenses issued to noncitizens were issued illegally.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a written ultimatum to both the Hyatt Hotels heir and Kevin Duesterhaus, the state director of driver services under Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, and listed several cases of drivers from El Salvador to Ukraine who were in violation of the law.
«I need our state partners to understand that they work for the American people, not illegal immigrants who broke the law illegally entering our country and continue to break it by operating massive big rigs without the proper qualifications,» Duffy said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.
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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, center, speaks in Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
«[Joe] Biden and [Pete] Buttigieg forced Americans to share their roads with unqualified and unvetted foreign drivers, but the Trump administration is putting the needs of American families first where they belong.»
Duffy warned Duesterhaus and Pritzker that $128 million in federal highway funding, including Illinois’ share of the National Highway Performance Program and Surface Transportation Block Grants for FY-2027, would be held up if fixes are not made within 30 days and noncompliance continues.
«In addition, if the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issues a final determination of substantial noncompliance, the agency may decertify Illinois’ CDL program,» Duffy wrote.
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Non-domiciled CDLs are commercial licenses issued to noncitizens who are not green card holders. The only exceptions to the non-domicile rule are truckers from Mexico and Canada, whose licensing systems the U.S. Department of Transportation has determined are in compliance with American standards, in deference to the reciprocal relationship between the two countries.
Duffy took issue with two main categories of illegally held licenses: drivers whose license validity dates exceeded their lawful presence in the U.S., and drivers who were given licenses without Illinois verifying their lawful presence.
The audit was also conducted as part of President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring English the official language of the U.S.
Pritzker and Duesterhaus must immediately pause issuances of all non-domiciled CDLs, identify noncompliant ones in circulation, revoke and reissue all compliant ones, and conduct their own internal audit.
Audited examples of CDL scofflaws include two Kyrgyz nationals who presented expired employment authorizations (EAD) and USCIS applications for new EADs, which Illinois should not have accepted.
A Nigerian national and a Moldovan national were found in similar situations.
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A Singaporean national was provided a license after presenting only partial documentation, and several drivers «whose citizenship is unknown» were among those scrutinized.
Fox News Digital reached out to Pritzker for comment, as well as Duesterhaus via Giannoulias’ office.
Giannoulias condemned what he called a «threat» to Springfield’s funding in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
«A strong economy depends on strong logistics,» Giannoulias said. «If trucks don’t move, supply chains fail, prices rise, and families feel it in their pocketbooks. We can see the actions by the Trump administration taking their toll on our truckers and our farmers, both of whom are essential to Illinois’ economy.»
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Newly elected Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias addresses the crowd after taking the oath of office during a ceremony Jan. 9, 2023, in Springfield, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
Giannoulias’ office said it believes its CDL issuance policies are «substantially compliant» with U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requirements and that it will conduct its own review of Duffy’s findings.
Giannoulias said the Illinois Agricultural Association raised concerns over the pause in issuing non-domiciled CDLs and that «Illinois agriculture depends on timely, practical, and legally sound regulatory decisions. Continued uncertainty places employers, workers, and food production systems at unnecessary risk.»
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