Capitol Report Full Broadcast (June 8)

Good evening. Tonight on the Capitol Report, President Trump stepping in, and Israel and Iran standing down. Where the conflict stands tonight, and whether a lasting deal is now within reach. And hundreds of thousands of ballots still uncounted right now in California, as Spencer Pratt loses his spot in the L.A. mayor's race. Election integrity back in the national spotlight, why the president is calling it a rigged election. And a new congressional report released on Minnesota fraud. Why it alleges the governor and the state attorney general both knew, and neither one did anything about it. This is Capitol Report, live from our global headquarters in our nation's capital. Here's Steve Lance. Good evening. Israel and Iran returning to a ceasefire after President Trump demanding both sides stop shooting. And President Trump also vowing to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions permanently, as he says a deal could be very close. We go now live to NTD's White House correspondent, Mari Otsu, standing by at the North Lawn. Mari, good evening. Hey, Steve. Good evening. Yeah. Today, both Israel and Iran appear to be heeding President Trump's demand to, quote, immediately stop shooting. Both of them now halting attacks against one another that took place throughout the weekend. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivering a televised address saying that Israel will indeed pause strikes on Iran, but if Iran hits them, they will respond with force. Take a look. If the terror regime in Iran makes the mistake of attacking us again, we will respond with force. Prime Minister Netanyahu saying that Israel only attacked Iran following Hezbollah's attack on Israel, declaring that Israel has the full right to self-defense and will exercise that right whenever necessary. President Trump urging both Israel and Iran to stop fighting while calling for more precise strikes on terror proxy Hezbollah. I'd like to see Lebanon, I'd like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah. I think it should be more surgical and we can help them with that. Meanwhile, as final peace talks proceed, the president declaring the blockade will remain in place and in full force and effect until a final deal is reached. Things should move quickly. CENTCOM announcing having now directed 134 vessels trying to enter or exit Iranian ports and allowed 42 ships with humanitarian aid to pass since April 13th. The U.S. naval blockade crippling the regime's economy. They're losing four to five hundred million dollars a day. It's not sustainable for them. They have an economy that's shot. President Trump saying he knows where all of Iran's nuclear material is and that Washington's very close to a deal, but wants airtight language to ensure Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. I'm going to put it out permanently. I'm going to do it even through negotiation where we're very close to a deal or I'm going to blow the hell out of them, to be honest with you. And it's going to be very easy for me. That's actually the easier path. Meanwhile, as California's vote count drags on for days after polls closed, President Trump is renewing his criticism that U.S. elections are rigged and urging passage of the Save America Act. With a commanding lead on election night, Spencer Pratt has now fallen behind in the L.A. runoff as thousands of late mail-in ballots continue to pour in. They're still counting votes. They have entire countries in India. They can count, you know, billions of votes in 24 hours. In California, it takes them weeks, a month. President Trump calling the Pratt setback, quote, not possible, saying Third World nation rigged elections. Now they'll be working on great guy Steve Hilton won't have results for possibly two weeks, according to officials. The election was rigged. It was a dirty election. Mr. President, you never presented evidence that the 2020 election was rigged. Where's the evidence to that? They're dropping fast because it's a rigged election. Let me tell you, it's four days and they aren't even close to coming up with it. That's how they count the votes in California. You know why they're doing that? Because they're cheating on the election. And Steve, meanwhile, President Trump is formally nominating Todd Blanch to serve as attorney general. Blanch has served in this position in an acting capacity for about two months after the departure of former AG Pam Bondi Blanch over the weekend, saying that he's both humbled and honored to now serve as the leader of the Department of Justice. Back to you. And we do know that the Department of Justice has multiple active investigations into election fraud out of their Southern California office entities, Mario Tsu live from the White House. Thank you. And as California continues counting primary ballots, joining me now to discuss is Chuck DeBoer, chief national initiatives officer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Chuck, great to have you back on the program. We just saw their California elections with votes still being counted for the gubernatorial primary, the mayoral. We're seeing renewed scrutiny on election integrity with ballots still being accepted ultimately till June 9th tomorrow and results not finalized for weeks. As someone who served in the California State Assembly, Chuck, do you believe the state's election system has meaningful vulnerabilities to fraud? Yeah, there are significant vulnerabilities in California. It goes to two different levels. The first is systemic. In 2016 and 17, California passed two laws that just oddly enough, mirrored old Texas law that was itself changed in 2017. Let me try to set this up for you. The two most populous states in the country literally swapped their rules regarding mail-in ballots. So what California used to have is it used to be illegal to pay somebody to touch a mail-in ballot. And you used to have to be a relative to touch that mail-in ballot to help somebody. So what California did is they adopted Texas' old rules, which I testified were changing in 2017, and Texas did change the rules, to outlaw paying people to go door-to-door and to collect ballots. We call this ballot trafficking. So that's more of a systemic problem and you combine that with the fact that in California, you don't really need any sort of government ID to be able to vote. You can use your gym membership. You can use a copy of a utility bill to be able to register. So they're very cavalier about that. So you add that then to union members going door-to-door and collecting votes and sometimes helping people fill out the ballot so that the ballot isn't secret at all. So that's problem number one. Problem number two is that now they allow these mail-in ballots to come in after election day and they don't need a postmark. Or you could even write in a postmark, you could handwrite in your own postmark when you sent it in. And this allows some people in lower turnout Democrat elections, probably in the Los Angeles City election, it allows people to manufacture ballots that because they don't check on signatures, once that bogus ballot gets into the valid ballot stream, there's no way to disentangle it. So those are the two big problems in California as they exist today. Chuck, to your point, California actually mails a ballot to every registered voter and allows ballot curing, as they call it, letting voters correct errors after submission. Despite those measures, turnout isn't significantly improved compared to other states. That's a big point that they try to make. At what point do efforts to expand access do more damage to public confidence in elections than they do good for participation? Well, that's a major distinction between the two primary parties in America. Democrats care about access. Republicans care about integrity. And now when a Democrat talks about access, especially in California, what we're talking about really is not an election, but it's a census operation. So in other words, in California, the way the left looks at it is if you are a minority of a certain persuasion, if you are, let's say, a single woman, if you're a black American, if you're Hispanic, if you're gay, you should vote a certain way. And by golly, they're going to deploy people to make sure that every person that fits that category is going to vote by mail. Now, the challenge with that is the integrity measures have completely evaporated, especially since COVID. And this is complicated by the fact that in the modern digital age, most young adults do not have a consistent signature that can be verified. And so what do you need instead? If you don't have any sort of a signature, what you should do is what we do in Texas, which is put down your driver's license number, put down the last four of your social security number. So at least if someone picks up a ballot off of the mailroom floor of an apartment because it was sent to somebody that moved to Texas three years earlier and they're going to send him a mail-in ballot anyway, then at least somebody can't vote on behalf of that person who either died or move out of the state. Yeah, Chuck, you know, Congress is considering the Save America Act, which would ultimately require proof of citizenship for registration, voter ID for voting in any federal election, as well as stricter deadlines on these mail-in ballots. If California were to require, were required to follow these new provisions in the Save America Act, how would that affect the specific issues we're seeing in this primary count? Yeah, so the challenge is you have to enforce it. And so if you put these new rules in place, you have to recruit and train and vet and deploy a large cadre of people who are going to go out and check for these things. Because if people are checking, it's a lot harder to cheat. It's a lot harder to nudge the needle. So it's one thing to pass a law, and I'm all in favor of that. But once you do that, you have to make sure that it's enforced. And that's a difficult task. And Chuck, just one last follow-up. When it comes to the optics of this and also the morale of the voter, when they see these elections playing out, you know, going beyond election day, becoming election month, how important is it to fix the elections so that they maintain the integrity and the confidence in them? Well, I guess it depends on the sort of result that you want. If you're a young progressive that wants much larger government and more regulation and higher taxes, then you kind of like the system the way it is because it can help push those outcomes more frequently. If you're a taxpayer who's just trying to pay the bills and is looking at places like Texas or Florida with no income tax and thinking, man, those places are looking more attractive every day, then it's pretty demoralizing. So, look, I mean, the bottom line is we live in a federal republic. We have state powers and we have a federal national government. And it's important that every state, every state has a republican form of government. That's a guarantee in the Constitution. And if you start to have governments that are run in ways that are highly suspect, then it may be time for some federal intervention. Chuck DeBoer, as always, appreciate your insights. And Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping on his first trip to North Korea in seven years, meeting Kim Jong-un and pledging, quote, unbreakable friendship. What signals is Beijing sending and how serious is North Korea's growing nuclear threat? Steve Yates from the Heritage Foundation joins Tiffany Meyer tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern with those answers. Stay tuned. And right now you're looking at a live shot of the Capitol. This where President Trump is now warning about election fraud as millions of Californians wait for the results of the gubernatorial primary almost a week after Election Day. More on what's taking so long just after the break. Is deep sea fish oil really healthy? Due to pollution in the oceans, most fish contain heavy metal elements and radioactive substances. That's why it's so important to choose a pure source of omega-3. Puritan Green Vegetable Omega-3 is made from porcelain and perennial seeds, which are rich in nutrients and minerals. 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And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. Nearly one week after California's primary races, election workers are still counting mail-in ballots that are coming in. Meantime, a federal prosecutor announcing multiple election fraud investigations. So how are everyday Americans feeling about this situation? Antony Sam Wong was out in the National Mall right here in D.C. to hear from the people. The California primary happened on June 2nd, and we're almost at weekend, and they're still counting the votes. Meanwhile, Florida finished all the vote counts on the same day. How do you feel about this situation? So I think it's ridiculous. I've been following the situation, supporting Spencer Pratt from Maryland. He looked like he was doing well until all of a sudden, the last minute. I think it's ridiculous. I mean, they say it's going to take 35 days, and I read an article, India does $640 million in a day. So, I mean, it shouldn't take that long. It's milking the system. Election day is election day. It should be in by election day. I don't feel good about it at all. If you want a fair, honest election, it's an election day, not an election month. Should have no problem counting the votes. Just like in the 2020 election in some of the northeastern states, no votes for the Republicans coming in late. Only votes for Democrats coming in late. Right now, Congress is working on the Save America Act. Let's say the Save America Act is to pass. How do you think that's going to impact your confidence in our election integrity? Oh, I think it'll be, I'll be more confident in it. It's not difficult to get ID, passport, whatever you want to get. It's not that difficult to get it and show it when you vote. It's going to boost it a lot if we can clean up some of this mess through that method. You know, I mean, come on, we need ID for everything. I can't even get back on the airplane and go home without my ID. It'll increase my confidence, but only as far as they can be watched. I think that was the difference between the 2024 election and the 2020 election. There were so many poll watchers that they couldn't exactly do the same way they did before. Well, it definitely would. I see nothing wrong with the Save America Act. I think that we use ID for everything in life. I think the majority of people have expressed that they are happy or okay with ID voting. And joining us now for analysis of the California vote count are Mallie Smith, former Harris Campaign North Carolina political director, and Larry Ward, chair of the Constitutional Rights PAC. It's great to have you both back with us. So here we are almost a week after California's gubernatorial primary, the mayoral in LA, and the voting continues with the formal deadline for official results being in July. President Trump posting today on social media saying, quote, not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the LA runoffs after having a big lead he had. Third world nation rigged elections. Now they'll be working on great guy Steve Hilton. Won't have results for possibly two weeks, according to officials. Mallie, California is one of the few states that counts ballots received up to seven days after an election. Gives voters a full 22 days to cure mismatched signatures, runs a near universal mail ballot system with no photo ID requirement. In recent cycles, these late arriving ballots have repeatedly flipped early leads from Republican to Democrat. Does this structure appear designed to benefit one party over the other? And if not, why has California resisted the faster counting and stricter verification rules used in most other states? Well, two things. I think first that California should have some reforms to make this a quicker process because it shouldn't take till July to figure out who's won an election, maybe in a rare circumstance where it's like 0.01% and you got to cure some ballots and wait for some late arriving ballots. But most elections you should know within a night or the day after. So that is true. But President Trump repeatedly makes claims that there is extensive voter fraud. Anytime there is an election result he doesn't like and he's never presented the evidence to actually back up these claims. He said this in 20. Every judge threw this out. He claimed that the Iowa caucuses were rigged when he lost them to Ted Cruz. So I don't appreciate that he always cast doubt on the election results when they don't benefit the party he likes. But I do agree that California needs to make this a quicker system. Mally, I will note though that is a talking point we hear often that the judges threw everything out. They threw them out on procedural grounds. They weren't really heard on the merits. So we'll have to see what these investigations do wind up yielding. With that said, California counts ballots that are received well after the election seven days. Larry, does this slow counting seem to benefit one side and does it look like it might ultimately be by design? Do you know the, you know, Barack Obama administration actually came out with a report and it had a whole bunch of points on how you tell an election is stolen. And of course, they were talking about, you know, elections in foreign countries. But every single one of those points are hit in what's good, what happened in twenty six in twenty twenty and what happened, what's happening in California. When you stop voting, when votes keep coming in, when mail ballots keep coming in for seven days, you know, you cannot have a target for the number of votes you need to manufacture until you see the election results on Election Day. And that's what the Democrats do. They wait. You know, I'm here in Virginia and almost every single election in Virginia, they wait till the last minute to start sending in the Fairfax or the Arlington or the Alexandria votes. They hold them back to the last minute because they know they have to see how many ballots they need in order to win. Now that you've got a party, especially in L.A. County, that's run by and about communists and communists don't give up power. It's just not part of their makeup. They hold on to power through lying, cheating, stealing, killing, you know, one hundred million dead at the hands of socialists in the 20th century. So, you know, this is what this is, what the the left does. They get power and then they hold on to it by any means necessary. And the only way we're going to get, you know, to to any kind of safety in our elections is if we, you know, pass the SAVE Act, if we enforce voter I.D., if we stop taking like the Supreme Court, hopefully we'll rule that we can't take, you know, voting mail-in ballots, you know, seven days after the election. It's right for fraud. Now, here's the Republican California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton voicing his frustration on Friday. Let's take a listen. This is from the California secretary of state's website this morning, 35 days left to finish counting the election. What do we think about 35 days? What an absolute shambles, an absolute shambles for this great state of ours to be in this situation. So, Mally, California has made universal mail-in voting a cornerstone of its election system, specifically to increase accessibility and turnout, as they say. Yet states like Florida, which rely more on in-person voting, require photo I.D. and enforce same-day or next-day counting, consistently show higher overall voter turnout. So given that California's rules also produce the multi-week delays we're seeing right now, do you believe that the current mail-in approach is still delivering the accessibility benefits it was designed for, or has it created tradeoffs that are no longer worth it? I think there's a good argument to be made to increase early voting in person, but maybe we tamp back a little bit on the mail-in ballots, because the mail-in ballots are really what are causing the delay here. And I do like to note that there's a lot of concern from Republicans that the Democrats' votes come in late, and it seems to them like it's fraud. I mean, we're having this discussion about process, but the underlying issue that Republicans are worried about is fraud. You can go and look at nonpartisan election analysts like VoteHub, who explain why the vote tends to be more Democratic as the mail vote comes in, because Democrats use the mail vote more, and the vote tends to be younger. So I would encourage anyone watching this to go to VoteHub, and they will give pretty accurate explanations as to what's going on here. And different states count ballots differently. I worked the North Carolina election in 20 and 24. In 20, we knew that when Election Day opened, that the original count was going to show Democrats were ahead, because Democrats in North Carolina tend to vote early in person, and North Carolina counts those votes first. So we had an inverse of what you have in California, which showed Democrats had a big lead, but as Election Day votes happened, we lost that lead, and we eventually lost North Carolina, much to my chagrin and all my hard work. But it was the opposite, just because of how the state's rules play out, and the voting culture. So it's incredibly irresponsible to say that it's fraud, just because there are different makeups, depending on how people vote. Mal, I see your point, but I think some Republicans would argue that, you know, skew one way, okay, fine, it skews left, you know, the mail-in ballots for whatever reason, but in the 2020 election, there were some, you know, drops and batches that had zero, or maybe one Republican. It was just a, you know, statistical anomaly. With that said, Larry, the Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on whether ballots can arrive after Election Day. Do you think that that decision might help speed up election results in states like California? Well, 100 percent, and it should actually be retroactive, the Supreme Court decision should affect this race, and should disqualify all of those ballots that are still coming in from last Tuesday's election. Look, you know, you can make plenty of excuses and come up with plenty of reasons why the mail-in ballots skew left, and I can make up plenty of excuses and reasons why so many Somali learning centers, leering centers, I should say, you know, get so much money for daycare that they don't provide. You know, fraud is fraud, and there was so much evidence of fraud. The problem is, none of the courts heard it in 2020, they were too afraid to overturn. All of it got thrown out, you know, because of jurisdiction, or because, you know, they just didn't want to look at it, but if you actually look at the evidence over and over and over again, there's lots and lots of real evidence of mass fraud in our election system, and, you know, we have to get better at it. Mally, California voters have cast the majority of ballots by mail in primaries back since 2008, in general elections since 2012. This is nearly two decades of experience with this process or system, yet the Secretary of State is now projecting in California up to 35 days to count this particular primary we're seeing play out right now. After all that time and practice, why hasn't the state developed faster, more efficient ways to process these ballots? Well, what they would say, and I'm a North Carolinian and no expert in California election law, they would say they prioritize two things, which is accessibility to make sure as many people can vote as possible, and security. So that makes this long lead time where you get seven days for the ballot to arrive, and they do extensive checks, they say, to ensure that the right person has cast the ballot. I know you guys might dispute that, but that's what they would say. I am with you guys on the fact that I think it takes far too long for them to count these ballots. I don't think it's good for democracy. I don't think it's good for public integrity. Where I disagree is this idea that we have this overwhelming voter fraud and that Democrats are always stealing elections. It doesn't even make sense on the L.A. mayor race that Bass would want Nithya Raman to be the second place finisher because Nithya Raman could actually beat Bass. There's no way Spencer Pratt is going to beat Bass in L.A. on a Democratic year. So the conspiracies don't even make sense. Larry, what's your response to that point? And also, the state of California issues driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Do you believe that requiring proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration, as outlined in the Save America Act, would strengthen public confidence in election results? A hundred percent. Look, there's no confidence in election results. One side will keep saying that there's no fraud. There's no evidence of fraud. They'll keep repeating that. But the American people believe that there's fraud in these elections. And to say that Spencer Pratt didn't have a shot to beat Karen Bass, that's nonsense. Of course he did. He represented the dissatisfied voter with Karen Bass. Karen Bass might be one of the worst mayors L.A. has ever had. I mean, with the fires and not having water and filling up those reserves, even today, she's been absent. She goes on trips when, you know, tragedies are happening in L.A. The L.A. citizens are furious. So Spencer Pratt could absolutely win and upset Karen Bass. You know, so to bring in one communist and another far leftist communist, who cares? As long as the communists win. And I think that's the ultimate play here. Look, if you don't want people saying there's fraud, then speed up your elections. Then institute some real integrity. Then use voter ID. Make sure people are citizens when they're voting. These are very easy things to implement. Very easy things to implement in the state of California. They don't care. They don't care about the perception of fraud. All they care about is winning. Voter ID, one of the most bipartisan, nonpartisan issues out there, where the vast majority of Democrats also approve and would like to see it. Mally Smith, Larry Ward, really appreciate you both. And right now you're taking another live look at the United States Capitol. Congress facing a national security deadline this week as a key surveillance program nears expiration. What they're saying after the break. Hi, I'm Ryan Blaney, a third generation race car driver, and we dedicate a lot of our time to going as fast as possible. My grandpa Lou is the reason why my dad and I started racing, and I'm really proud to follow in his tracks. But when my grandpa was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, it was a very unexpected bump in the road for us. I've learned a lot on this journey with my grandpa Lou, and the memories of my grandpa will always be with me. And in our family, we're used to getting involved, and I encourage you to do the same, especially when it comes to caring for your loved ones. When I think about Alzheimer's and the impact it had on my family, I recognize that losing a race isn't such a bad day after all. It's important to notice if older family members are acting differently, experiencing problems with their memory, or having trouble with routine tasks. Talking about Alzheimer's can be really tough. But if you notice something, have a conversation with your loved one. Encourage them to see a doctor or offer to go with them. Early detection of Alzheimer's can give your family time to explore support services, make a plan for the future, and access available treatments. If you or your family are noticing changes, it could be Alzheimer's. Talk about seeing a doctor together. When I arrived in the U.S. at 19, I struggled to find job opportunities without a high school diploma. My name is Ariel, and my entire life changed when I took a chance and I got my high school diploma at age 22. Everything I have, my education, my career, my marriage, I owe to the Adult Literacy Center and my teachers. They were with me every step of the way, helping with my English and math, making sure I pushed through all the challenges. Your achievement has set an example for so many students. Most importantly, your daughter. Education was the key that blocked all my opportunities. When you graduate, they graduate. Visit finishyourdiploma.org to find free and supportive adult education centers near you. We come from a long line of farmers, and there's a sense of pride in being part of these multi-generational businesses. But there's also a significant amount of pressure. My senior year of high school, my dad made the decision that this world no longer needed him in it. I don't know if he was overwhelmed by the bills and checks that weren't going to be coming in because of the strawberries dying off, but it breaks my heart that my dad made a permanent decision for a temporary issue. Don't feel like you have to go through it alone. Farmers have to take care of their physical and their mental health, because what's a farm without a farmer? The mornings. That's my time. Watching the sun come up. I can have a cup of coffee and exercise if I want to. It helps me start the day with a sense of gratitude. Every day is a new opportunity. Don't forget to check in on yourself. Love, you're mine. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. Congress is heading into a critical week for national security. Lawmakers have just days to decide whether to extend a key surveillance authority used to track foreign threats. At the same time, members of Congress continue to debate U.S. policy after recent strikes between Israel and Iran. And today's Chris Baugh reports. Section 702 is responsible for two thirds, approximately two thirds of the president of the United States' daily national security briefing. The reason we haven't had another 9-11 on our shores is because we have this critically important national security tool. With just days until Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expires, Congress remains deadlocked over whether to extend the program. House Speaker Mike Johnson says the authority is essential to national security. I'm calling on Democrat colleagues. Put the politics aside. For the sake of FISA reauthorization, if nothing else, this is the statute that keeps Americans safe. But Democrats say President Trump's decision to appoint Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence has changed the debate. Senate Intelligence Chairman Tom Cotton and Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley had been negotiating with Democratic Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Mark Warner on a bipartisan compromise. On Friday, Cotton and Grassley sent a letter to National Security Advisor Marco Rubio, writing, quote, We write with regret to ask that you plan for a potential significant gap in foreign intelligence collection. The letter states the senators believe their bipartisan agreement could have received nearly 70 votes in the Senate before negotiations collapsed. On Sunday, Senator Rand Paul posted on X, arguing the law lacks adequate constitutional protections, writing, quote, The Fourth Amendment requires probable cause. FISA only requires that you might be associated with a foreign government. As lawmakers debate surveillance authorities, they are also watching the continuing conflict between Israel and Iran. On the House floor Monday, Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury called for the end of U.S. support for Israel's action in Lebanon. This weekend further threatened the peace of the Middle East through continued attacks. It must stop. Congress must assert not only our constitutional authority, but reclaim our moral compass. Many Republicans, meanwhile, continue voicing strong support for Israel. On Monday, Senator Rick Scott posting on X, quote, It's crystal clear. There's a good guy and a bad guy here. The Iranian regime is evil and driven by jihadist terrorism and violence. Israel is defending its right to exist. A war powers vote on actions in Lebanon failed last Thursday, 91 to 324. Congress has until Friday to extend FISA Section 702 before it expires. Chris Bobb, NTD News. And the Pentagon is labeling some of China's biggest companies as linked to the CCP's military. That says China sends its largest military patrol ship toward Taiwan. NTD's Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has more. The Pentagon's targeting some of China's biggest corporations, adding more than a dozen Chinese firms, including Alibaba, BYD and Baidu to its list of Chinese military companies operating in the U.S. Officials say that these companies support the Chinese Communist Party's military civil fusion, which uses private sector technology to advance Beijing's military capabilities. While the designation does not ban U.S. companies from doing business with them, it prohibits Pentagon contracts, and it also could raise concern among American investors and business partners. Analysts have long warned of China's espionage tactics through its civilian sector. China uses every point of contact to take down our society. 2017 National Intelligence Law of China actually codifies the obligation to commit acts of espionage. The move comes as Beijing increases pressure across the Indo-Pacific. Over the weekend, China deployed its largest maritime patrol vessel east of Taiwan, while Chinese Coast Guard ships entered restricted waters around Taiwan. Taiwan responded by dispatching its own ships, saying the Chinese ships were ultimately forced out. It comes as the CCP's upset with the recent military cooperation between Japan and the Philippines, which are working to define its maritime boundaries in disputed waters that China may claim as its own. Taiwan says Beijing's using those talks as justification for these increased operations near the island. At the same time, the U.S. is bolstering regional deterrence there. The State Department recently approved the sale of five Seahawk military helicopters to New Zealand in a deal worth roughly $1.5 billion. The move follows Chinese live-fire naval drills earlier this year in between Australia and New Zealand, all drawing concern of increased Chinese aggression across the region. For NTV News Washington, I'm Jack Bradley. And the persecution of Christians inside of China appears to be intensifying. Two pastors and an elder from an underground church are set to be on trial this week, this all for officiating a Christian wedding. Find out more tonight on China In Focus with Tiffany Meyer at 9.30 Eastern. And right now you're taking another live look at the United States Capitol. A new congressional report says widespread fraud in Minnesota was only made possible because of state authorities failing to act, despite knowing about it. What witnesses say in just a moment. Kids love it. Parents trust it. Obviously. Explore GJW Plus Kids series and Gong Jiong campus courses led by expert educators. This is spectacular. Children will learn values like respect, responsibility, and knowledge in language, science, and more. Wow. All while having fun. Perfect. Subscribe today at GJW Plus Kids where learning meets fun. Ladder control aisle. You won't shop here again. Your private business is your own. 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But this little girl remains unmoved. She's in quite a perilous situation. But she's completely strong and serene. And she's actually meditating. It was very, very well liked. Because no matter what culture or what sort of walk of life you're from, I think people, they see it and they immediately understand what that energy, what that message is. And they're drawn to it. Because everybody kind of needs a little bit of that in their own life. The steadfast calmness and something to hold on to. It's definitely an inner peace in the midst of something very chaotic. And for a lot of people right now, the whole world is very, very chaotic. So I guess that's another reason why so many people are very drawn to this. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. A new Congressional Oversight Committee report accusing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison of knowingly allowing rampant fraud to continue for years in state social service programs. The report says whistleblowers were ignored, punished and told to stand down. Entity correspondent Jason Blair has more. New report from the House Oversight Committee says that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison were aware of widespread fraud going on in their state, but didn't act despite having the authority to do so. The report says Minnesota state governor, including Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison, were aware of widespread fraud in federally funded social services programs for years, possessed the legal and procedural authority to stop payments and ban fraudulent providers from participating in these programs, but repeatedly failed to act. Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer commented in March while the investigation was still going on. We did transcribed interviews with nine state employees. They testified under oath that they had been warning Governor Walz and Attorney Ellison for years about the fraud, and they were told to stand down. Walz and Ellison responded to allegations during a March Oversight Committee hearing. We're not going to stop payments that feed children until we have the proof that things happen. My office doesn't have the authority to do a stop payment. We prosecute criminals when they're presented to us by the agency. So the answer is no, unfortunately. No one's ever from your office said to stop payments until we can get the fraud under control. The new report highlights the Feeding Our Future scandal in which a non-profit allegedly stole almost $300 million in child nutrition funds by claiming meals that were never served. The alleged scheme primarily involved individuals from Minnesota's Somali community. The findings say payments continued from the state due to fear of accusations of racism rather than legal barriers, and that whistleblowers faced retaliation. The committee recommends a thorough review by the Department of Justice and the Trump administration's Anti-Fraud Task Force. NTD has contacted Walz and Ellison for comment. And the Department of Justice has filed civil denaturalization actions against 17 naturalized U.S. citizens. These individuals are accused of serious crimes, including sexual abuse of minors and health care fraud. Many of them allegedly concealed these crimes or lied under oath. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, NTD News. And joining me now to discuss the report implicating Minnesota's leaders for looking the other way from fraud is Pete Sepp, president of the National Taxpayers Union. Pete, great to have you with us. So House Oversight Committee has released this report. It's exposing what seems to be rampant fraud in the state of Minnesota, directly implicating some of the highest officials, former governor or Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, alleging that both were aware of the fraud failing to act. Here's the committee chairman, James Comer. In case after case, state agencies identified red flags and received warnings from auditors and employees, but continued to send money out the door, not because they lack authority to intervene, but because they feared lawsuits, bad press and political backlash. While Governor Walz hesitated, taxpayers lost billions. It's hard to turn the gravy train around when it's running full steam, Pete. The report also says that the Walz administration intimidated whistleblowers, threatened them with surveillance. What would motivate a state government to go that far to suppress information rather than simply address the problem? Well, I'm afraid when the gravy train really runs on tax dollars, it is very difficult to slow down. This isn't just a Minnesota problem. This is a problem at the state and the federal level. There are often many oversight entities taking a look at the way programs are poorly run, wasting money year after year. They'll make reports, and those who have the authority to do something about it either say, we'll get to it sometime, or it's not that bad, or it's not really our responsibility, and nothing ever happens. Well, I'm really glad this investigation was conducted, because it should lead to investigations in other states, not just Minnesota. The improper payment problem at the federal and state levels, it's just gigantic. Two, three hundred billion dollars a year. Generally, for the past decade, this has been going on, and we've got to put a stop to it. We really cannot afford business as usual. I mean, when you put it in those terms, it's really a non-partisan issue, as it affects every honest taxpayer. If you're a Republican or Democrat, you're essentially being stolen from. Testimony alleges that the fraud was already widespread back in 2019 and only grew under Governor Walz. Why is it that these programs are so susceptible to fraud in the first place, and are you confident that this is a step in the right direction, that sort of the cat is out of the bag right now? Well, there are many reasons why this continues to happen. One, a lack of sharing of information among all the agencies administering these programs. The IRS, for example, may have a problem with the non-profit status of many of these organizations, like Feeding Our Future. That was never communicated to the state level. Or, you might have recipients without social security numbers, or who have been deceased long ago, or fictitious people being given benefits. I mean, this was rampant during the pandemic. Folks were getting checks and small business loans overseas with almost no way to trace it. The Associated Press put the figure at wasted pandemic money at somewhere above $300 billion. The other problems you get, well, lack of accountability up the command chain, and as this report indicates, poor treatment of whistleblowers. When a government employee puts their career on the line to say money is being wasted, their superiors just tell them to keep quiet. Another thing that we're hearing here is that the fraud was overlooked because of concerns about targeting Minnesota's Somali American community. That makes up roughly 2% of the state's population. From the taxpayer's standpoint, Pete, should the ethnic or political identity of any group ever factor into an investigation? It shouldn't matter at all. Money is green, and that's what should matter here. The fact is that taxpayers from all walks of life are the ones footing the bill for this, including honest Somalis who contributed to a wasteful and often fraudulently run program. They deserve justice the same way any taxpayer does. Now, speaking of justice, if the Governor Waltz and Ellison knew what was going on and failed to stop this, what does accountability look like? What recourse is there? Well, accountability, I think, number one, the federal government needs to turn off the money spigot. I mean, $9 billion worth of Medicaid funds wasted here, about $300 million in child nutrition funds. It would not be wrong for the federal government to say, look, you institute waste and fraud controls here, or we're not going to keep sending aid from Washington, D.C. I think that's the first thing that needs to happen. There are also federal reform bills that could help to do a better job of overseeing this money. Many of these programs are partnerships with the federal government, and Washington, D.C. falls down on the job quite often. It's also the way we design them, the so-called pay and chase model, whereby we don't do a good background check on the organizations and the people receiving the aid, and then we want to go back and police them later. That's not the way oversight should work. It's going to make it really hard for any official to justify an additional tax hike when we see these billions of dollars being stolen, essentially. Pete Sepp, thanks so much for lending your time and insights. That is all we have for you tonight on the Capitol Report. Stay connected to the stories that matter to you, and visit ntd.com and download the NTD mobile app. From the nation's capital, I'm Steve Lance. Have a great evening. See you back here tomorrow.