Politics
Police ally of scandal-ridden Mayor Tiffany Henyard indicted on bankruptcy fraud charges
A top police officer and ally of controversial Dolton, Illinois, Mayor Tiffany Henyard was indicted Monday by a federal grand jury on bankruptcy fraud charges.
Lewis A. Lacey, 61, the former deputy chief of police of Dolton, Illinois, is accused of concealing assets and income to avoid paying creditors and settling a lawsuit, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Illinois. The nine-count indictment charges Lacey with bankruptcy fraud, making false statements in a bankruptcy case and perjury.
Lacey has been an outspoken supporter of the embattled Henyard, who has been dogged in scandal for months after being accused of misdeeds ranging from weaponizing police raids to spending taxpayer money on luxuries in Las Vegas.
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Mayor Tiffany Henyard has been embroiled in numerous controversies. (Fox32)
According to the indictment, Lacey filed a 2019 bankruptcy petition shortly after a plaintiff moved to enforce a settlement agreement, accusing Lacey of still owing $43,000 of the $55,000 settlement. He also filed a bankruptcy petition in 2020.
He made several false and fraudulent representations in oral statements and documents submitted in the bankruptcy cases, including underreporting his monthly income and concealing bank accounts that he controlled, the indictment states. Among other things, Lacey falsely represented that he was separated from his spouse and that she did not reside with him or contribute to his monthly income and mortgage.
The false representations allowed Lacey to fraudulently calculate his monthly income for purposes of repayment of his creditors as substantially less than it should have been if his spouse’s contributions were included, the indictment states. The indictment is part of an ongoing federal investigation.
During the charged fraud scheme, Lacey served as a police officer with the Dolton Police Department. He was fired last week as the town’s deputy police chief to save costs during a contentious village board meeting involving Henyard, Fox 32 Chicago reports.
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, left, and Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard. (Getty Images/Village of Dolton)
Lacey’s lawyer, Gal Pissetzky, told the New York Post that the indictment is part of a “bigger plan by the government to try to indict the mayor of Dolton.”
Pissetzky told the outlet that his client was innocent of the charges and that the feds only wanted to use Lacey to help build up a criminal case against Henyard. Lacey faces up to 45 years in prison if found guilty on all charges.
“They’re going after certain people in the village to see who’s gonna turn on the mayor,” Pissetzky said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Henyard’s office but did not immediately receive a response.
Last week’s meeting featured a presentation by former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot about her investigation into Dolton’s “dire” financial situation. The Village of Dolton hired Lightfoot as a “special investigator” to look into Henyard’s alleged misdeeds.
Lightfoot stated that in April 2022, Dolton’s general fund balance was $5.61 million, but by May 2024, the balance had dropped to a deficit of $3.65 million.
Lightfoot also disclosed that Henyard used the village credit card to make purchases at Amazon, Target, Walgreens, Wayfair and other retailers.
One jaw-dropping statement revealed that the embattled mayor had dropped $33,000 on Jan. 5, 2023 on Amazon.
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Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks during an event at the University of Chicago. (REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski)
“These are somebody using the credit card and charging these amounts using your tax dollars,” Lightfoot told residents.
Lightfoot said that the preliminary investigation also revealed that two police officers had received overtime pay exceeding their annual salaries.
One officer’s salary for fiscal year 2024 was $87,295, yet the officer received $114,800 in overtime pay. The second officer, with a salary of $73,515, received $102,077 in overtime pay for fiscal year 2024.
The reports have been a pressure point for the city, which has a population of slightly more than 20,000, according to a July 2023 estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The accusations of financial misdeeds have prompted an ongoing FBI investigation.
Henyard, who typically speaks into a golden microphone at meetings, has also come under fire for an alleged sexual assault by one of her allies during a Las Vegas trip, where the alleged victim claims to have been fired after speaking out. Henyard’s cancer charity is also facing scrutiny.
Fox News Digital previously reported that Henyard has been living like a royal with a combined salary of nearly $300,000 — more than the state’s governor — despite the 23,000 residents of the Illinois town having a median income of $24,000.
Mayor Tiffany Henyard is styled by her fashion consultant. (stylemebrandon | Instagram/screenshot)
In February, it was reported that the FBI was investigating Henyard after six people had reportedly spoken to the agency about her alleged misconduct, including “business owners, a former village employee and one or more public officials.”
In April, the FBI served two federal subpoenas as part of an investigation. Henyard was not served.
The first one was for employment records, personnel files and disciplinary reports for 25 Dolton employees, including three police officers and Keith Freeman, who is the village administrator and Henyard’s top aide. Freeman was charged with bankruptcy fraud.
The second subpoena was served specifically on Freeman, asking for records of all companies associated with him and possible ties to the village.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
Politics
Warren tells Trump to ‘sign the damn bill’ as bipartisan housing package remains stalled in Washington
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., lashed out at President Donald Trump during a recent local television interview, labeling him a “man-child” throwing a “tantrum” over his refusal to sign a sweeping bipartisan housing package.
Appearing on WCVB’s “On the Record,” the left-wing senator did not hold back her frustration over the stalled legislation, delivering a blunt message to the president: “Sign the damn bill.”
“If he cared about the American people, he’d have already signed the damn thing,” Warren said during the interview, arguing that Trump “does not care about the economic survival of America’s working families.”
FILE – The Senate previously advanced the massive housing package geared toward lowering the costs of homes and supercharging the housing supply. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., pitched it as legislation to prevent America from becoming a “nation of renters.” (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Protect Borrowers ; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is an expansive bipartisan package that she said contains nearly 50 provisions designed to address the nationwide housing emergency.
Warren noted that decades of under-building have driven prices up, leaving the U.S. in need of millions of new units.
The primary focus of the bill is to lower the costs of construction and make it easier to build new homes.
FILE – President Donald Trump previously said lawmakers must first approve the SAVE America Act before he moves forward with the housing package. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg)
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The bill, which was co-sponsored by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., also includes a secondary focus aimed at blocking corporate consolidation of the housing market.
Warren explained that the legislation is designed to keep private equity firms from buying up local neighborhoods and turning America “into a nation of renters.”
According to Warren, the legislation had widespread support from both sides of the aisle before it was stalled.
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She claimed the bill was “handed to the president on a silver platter” and that lawmakers from both parties were eagerly taking credit for the legislation.
“Republicans were all going online, saying, ‘well, I helped write that bill. This bill is terrific,’” Warren said. “So everybody’s out there saying, ‘my bill, I helped make this happen,’ right up until the man-child has a tantrum and announces he will not be signing it.”
FILE – Sen. Elizabeth Warren called President Donald Trump a “man-child” during the interview, describing his refusal to sign the bill as a “tantrum.” (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Critics of the legislation claim it does not allocate fresh federal funding, directly address rising costs of homeownership, or go far enough to address permitting issues.
The president previously canceled a scheduled signing event, insisting lawmakers must first approve the unrelated SAVE America Act, a voting-focused measure, before he moves forward.
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report.
Politics
MS NOW anchor Alex Witt to exit as network reduces live weekend programming
Veteran MS NOW anchor Alex Witt is leaving the news network, which is moving away from live evening programming on weekends.
The new weekend programming strategy announced Friday is a cost-saving measure that will give parent company Versant more resources for a new direct-to-consumer streaming offering that makes MS NOW available to consumers without a pay-TV subscription. The company is also looking to expand its live event business.
According to a memo from MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler, “The Weekend: Primetime,” a live discussion program launched last year, will have its final airing Saturday.
One of the program’s co-hosts, Antonia Hylton, will take over Witt’s midday shifts later this year. Hylton’s co-hosts Ayman Mohyeldin, Catherine Rampell and Elise Jordan will remain with MS NOW and continue to appear on other programs.
Kutler said job losses from the moves are minimal and encouraged staffers who lose their current roles to apply for 40 current job openings at the company with more on the way. MS NOW has been staffing up its news operation since separating from NBC News last year.
MS NOW changed its name from MSNBC in November. The network, along with other Comcast-owned cable channels, were spun off into Versant in January.
Weekends have long been a ratings weak spot for MS NOW, which while a distant second to Fox News, has seen audience growth in 2026 and remains ahead of CNN. The network has started to rely on podcasts such as “Pod Save America,” from Crooked Media, to fill some hours. The episodes have performed strongly enough for MS NOW to try similar deals with outside podcast producers.
“Throughout the summer, we will expand our taped strategy and announce new content partnerships,” Kutler said in her memo.
With the changes, MS NOW will still have 20 hours of live programming each weekend and will be staffed to handle breaking news.
Witt joined the network formerly known as MSNBC in 1999, long before it began its strong tilt toward progressive political commentary. Over the years, Witt’s weekend newscast became one of the few programs on the network that delivered straight news without opinion.
Kutler called Witt “a beloved longtime member of our MS NOW family” and “a continued, trusted, and steady presence for our audiences.”
While Witt works through the summer, Hylton will anchor the 11 a.m. weekday time period, which will eventually be handled by former NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander.
Politics
McCarthy says Trump will use ‘everything he can’ to force Senate action on SAVE America Act
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As infighting over the SAVE America Act throws congressional Republicans into disarray, President Donald Trump’s bid to get the stalled election bill across the finish line gained one notable ally.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News Digital that he supports the election integrity measure and indicated that Trump should continue to use every available tool to pressure the Senate to pass it.
“He’s going to try everything he can to make sure he passes that through,” McCarthy said in a brief interview outside the U.S. Capitol.
The ex-speaker’s comments came after Trump abruptly called off a signing ceremony Wednesday for a bipartisan housing bill to pressure the Republican-controlled Senate to act on the SAVE America Act.
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs Reading Regional Airport in Reading, Pa., on June 23, 2026. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
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The move surprised Republican lawmakers, some of whom were praising the bill’s passage at a press conference when Trump’s Truth Social post broke.
But Trump has repeatedly cast the election measure — requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections and voter identification requirements — as his top legislative priority.
The legislation’s momentum, however, has slowed in the upper chamber, where Republican leadership insists the votes aren’t there amid widespread Democratic opposition. Senate Republicans have also been unwilling to eliminate the legislative filibuster, which requires a 60-vote threshold to pass the legislation.
Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy speaks during a ceremony honoring President Ronald Reagan on the 115th anniversary of his birthday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., on Feb. 6, 2026. (Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group)
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Amid the SAVE standoff, a group of conservative lawmakers effectively shut down the House floor in an effort to force Senate action on the election bill.
But the Senate recessed Wednesday for two weeks over the July 4 holiday, leaving the measure in limbo until lawmakers return.
The conservative-led blockade sparked fierce backlash, with several members inside the GOP conference telling Fox News Digital the move risked torpedoing their own legislative agenda.
Meanwhile, the House has also yet to pass a version of the legislation incorporating several of the president’s priorities, including a mail-in voting crackdown and provisions banning men from competing in women’s sports and child sex change procedures.
Trump has not indicated whether he will sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, despite the likely existence of a veto-proof majority.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Thursday that the housing bill had been transmitted to the White House for Trump’s signature following a meeting with the president.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol on June 10, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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Trump now has 10 days to sign the package or veto it. If he does nothing, the legislation automatically becomes law at the end of the 10-day period.
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