AG Bondi makes an example out of prosecutor who broke ranks in deportation case

The Trump administration has placed a Justice Department (DOJ) lawyer on leave for not “zealously advocating” its position in the case involving a Salvadoran man living in Maryland who was mistakenly deported last month. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office placed Erez Reuveni, who argued for the government, in Friday’s hearing in which a judge ruled Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia must be returned to the U.S. by Monday, on indefinite paid leave, Fox News has learned. 

“At my direction, every Department of Justice attorney is required to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States,” Bondi told the New York Times in a statement. “Any attorney who fails to abide by this direction will face consequences.” 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the DOJ for comment. 

JOHN YOO URGES TRUMP ADMIN TO ‘WORK OUT A DEAL’ TO RETURN MISTAKENLY DEPORTED INDIVIDUALS

Reuveni on Friday admitted that Garcia’s deportation was a mistake, according to the New York Times. 

On Saturday, the Trump administration argued in an emergency appeal that U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis can’t force the administration to return Garcia to the U.S. 

Xinis on Friday ruled that the government must make arrangements to have Garcia back in the U.S. before Monday at midnight.

The Saturday emergency appeal seeks to temporarily stay Xinis’ decision until the government has time to properly appeal the ruling. 

“Late Friday afternoon, a federal district judge ordered the United States to force El Salvador to send one of its citizens – a member of MS-13, no less – back to the United States by midnight on Monday. If there was ever a case for an emergency stay pending appeal, this would be it,” the government wrote in the emergency appeal reviewed by Fox News Digital. 

The government also argued that it “does not have control over” Garcia now that he is in El Salvador. 

“Nevertheless, the court’s injunction commands that Defendants accomplish, somehow, Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States in give or take one business day,” the appeal said, calling it “indefensible.”

The filing said that the “lacked the power” to require the government “on the clock, to try to force a foreign country to take a discrete action.”

It added, “Abrego Garcia has been found to be a member of a designated Foreign 3 Terrorist Organization, MS-13. Given that status, he has no legal right or basis to be in the United States at all.” 

VANCE DOUBLES DOWN AFTER TRUMP ADMIN ADMITS ‘ERROR’ SENDING MAN TO SALVADORAN PRISON

Xinis on Friday said that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s March 15th expulsion of Garcia violated the Administrative Procedures Act, since it occurred without a judicial proceeding.

The Trump administration has acknowledged Garcia’s removal was an “administrative error,” but has also defended it, alleging that Garcia has ties to MS-13.  

“This individual is an illegal criminal who broke our nation’s immigration laws. He is a leader in the brutal MS-13 gang, and he is involved in human trafficking,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing on Tuesday. 

“And now MS-13 is a designated foreign terrorist organization. Foreign terrorists have no legal protections in the United States of America. And this administration is going to continue to deport foreign terrorists and illegal criminals from our nation’s interior,” she added. 

An immigration judge five years ago said Garcia, who came to the U.S. illegally in 2011 and asked for asylum, could not be deported to his home country, over concerns he would become a victim of local El Salvador gang members.

His request for asylum was denied, but he was given protection from deportation and ICE didn’t appeal the decision. 

Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, who is a U.S. citizen, has vigorously campaigned for his return. 

Garcia had been working as a sheet metal apprentice in Maryland and was arrested in an IKEA parking lot on March 12 while his 5-year-old son was in the car. 

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His lawyers have argued the man had a Department of Homeland Security permit to work in the country, and strongly deny any gang affiliations. They also say that the government has given little evidence to back up its claim. 

There was no indication how the government would comply, since he is incarcerated in an El Salvador prison under that government’s custody.

Communist link tied to billion-dollar industry — but Trump’s not buying it, says insider

FIRST ON FOX: A top vaping lobbyist, whose group worked closely with the Trump campaign last year and is now ramping up pressure on the Trump administration to “uphold their promise to save the flavored vaping industry,” has extensive ties to the Chinese Communist Party, a Fox News Digital review found.

Tony Abboud, the Illinois-based executive director of the Vapor Technology Association, made several smaller donations to pro-Trump GOP Senate candidates ahead of the 2024 election and met with then-candidate Donald Trump weeks before the election in a push to protect the vaping industry.

However, his past ties to the Democratic Party and CCP are setting off alarm bells with a political operative close to the Trump administration and a top Republican Congressional leadership aide as Abboud’s group ramps up pressure on the Trump administration and lobbies several states to oppose directory bills, which would crack down on Chinese vape companies.

“Tony Abboud and Vapor Technology Association have deep ties to the CCP and Never-Trumpers,” a person close to the Trump administration told Fox News Digital. “This goes against everything President Trump stands for, which is loyalty and reining in CCP influence, especially when it comes to illicit drugs pouring across the border.”

21,000% SPIKE IN MA VAPE SEIZURES THROWS CIGARETTE BAN INTO QUESTION, EX-ATF OFFICIAL SAYS

Abboud, who previously donated thousands between Obama’s Senate campaign and failed House campaign, among other Democrats, and his vaping group have a close relationship with the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (ECCC), an entity of the CCP.

Abboud’s VTA and the ECCC previously had an informal relationship but officially inked an official partnership together in late 2023, forming the Global Vape Alliance, which includes the UK Vaping Industry Association and the Independent European Vape Alliance. This alliance led to cooperation between the different entities, which entails sharing “information and strategies for best practices to educate and guide member companies on existing laws, regulations and industry standards.”

“The Alliance will share strategies for the promotion of the healthy development of the global vaping industry, and as a unified voice for the industry, will look to empower their member companies by promoting the sophistication, professionalism, and importance of the industry,” the declaration continued.

“VTA–like Temu, Shein, and TikTok–is well known for putting the interests of Chinese companies ahead of Americans,” a top Republican Congressional leadership aide warned in a statement to Fox News Digital. “No Hill Republicans are take their lobbying seriously and they should be ashamed for lobbying for interests connected to the Chinese Communist Party. American kids deserve a lot better.”

However, a senior adviser to the 2024 Trump campaign dismissed criticism of the group and Abboud, telling Fox News Digital that the “idea that VTA is an anti-Trump group is downright dishonest and utterly laughable.”

“Not only did they support President Trump’s re-election financially, but they also worked closely with the Trump campaign on a get-out-the-vote program targeting pro-vaping voters in support of the President in all the battleground states,” the former senior adviser said. “Their GOTV operation was so robust that it didn’t just extend to the President himself, but it was also used to support Trump-endorsed MAGA Senate candidates like Bernie Moreno in Ohio.”

The ECCC, which partners with Abboud’s group, was established in Shenzhen, China, in January 2017 and operates under the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (CECC), which is registered with the CCP’s Ministry of Civil Affairs of P. R. China.

A Fox News Digital review found that some of the top leaders of the CECC are former high-ranking members of the CCP, which includes a former member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, a former Vice Premier of the State Council, and a former vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the “key mechanism for multi-party cooperation and political consultation” under the leadership of the CCP, according to the CPPCC website.

FIVE-FIGURE AD BUY URGES STATES TO CRACK DOWN AS CHINA FLOODS MARKET WITH ILLICIT VAPES: ‘TRUMP WAS RIGHT’

As the executive director of VTA, Abboud has met with Ao Weinuo, the Secretary-General of the ECCC, several times over the years and is featured in several photos with Abboud. 

In a batch of photos from the 2023 InterTabac trade show in Germany, which is where the Global Vape Alliance was officially announced, Weinuo and Abboud posed together for several photographs, including one where the pair and a couple other guys from the GVA toasted each other with their drinks. During the meeting portion of the event, Weinuo and Abboud were also on the same panel that appeared to be going after the Biden administration’s FDA for feeding a “false narrative.”

That same year, Weinuo and the ECCC members participated in a team-building outing with the theme of “Seeking Red Footprints and Drawing Strength for Progress.” In the background of the photo, which included Abboud’s business partner, the hammer and sickle CCP emblem was visible.

In a promotional video that ECCC posted on Tencent in 2021, ECCC emphasized their goals for Chinese domination and price control in the vaping market, saying, “China has the pricing power” and “influence,” according to English subtitles provided by ECCC.  

When pressed for comment on VTA’s ties to China and the CCP, Abboud did not address them and instead talked about how he was a “former Democrat who became a Republican because of President Trump” and that “Joe Biden spent 4 years attempting to shut down and bankrupt American vape companies across the country and President Trump is the only person we trust to reverse Biden’s anti-vaping policies and save our industry.”

The political operative close to the Trump administration pushed back, pointing to a Linkedin post from Abboud’s group, which showed Abboud networking with Democrats, including then-DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, at the 2024 DNC Convention. The post said that VTA sponsored events for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Choose Atlanta and the Democratic Party of Virginia. 

“I’m even more proud that VTA mobilized 360,000 voters to help overwhelmingly return President Trump to the White House because we know that after years of failed Democratic leadership, he is the champion our industry desperately needs,” continued Abboud, who along with VTA, also attended the RNC Convention and moderated a fireside chat. “The brazen attempts to distort our fight to save this industry are nothing more than coordinated attacks from competitors in the tobacco industry who are working with radical leftwingers like Letitia James and would stand to benefit financially from destroying American vape companies nationwide.”

“That would ultimately mean the loss of billions of U.S. tax revenue, hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and tens of thousands of small businesses across this great country,” he concluded.

In December 2023, Abboud traveled to China and participated in ECCC’s first “International Key Buyers Exchange Meeting” in Shenzhen, which included Weinuo as one of the leaders, according to photos reviewed by Fox News Digital.

According to a press release, “The special committee gave full play to its international influence and ‘brought in’ high-quality overseas wholesalers and brand owners, aiming to connect member companies with overseas resources and channels, and help Chinese e-cigarette products sell better in the international market.”

Abboud would then partner with Weinuo and ECCC a few months later in February 2024 at the Total Product Expo in Las Vegas. The expo was aimed at helping China gain greater access to the U.S. market and attracted more than 600 companies from around the world, including more than 100 exhibitors from China. A press release highlighting the event shows several photos of Abboud and Weinuo together as they hosted an after-party for the crowded event.

A person familiar with the inner workings of Abboud’s VTA downplayed concerns about the group’s ties to China and the CCP, telling Fox News Digital that “Every tobacco company in the industry has their own manufacturing in China” and that the “biggest tobacco companies also have joint ventures directly with the Chinese tobacco monopoly.” The person went on to emphasize that the Global Vape Alliance is engaged “against the black market” and is focusing “its joint efforts on combating the illegal trade in e-cigarettes,” among other initiatives.

In September 2024, Weinuo was invited to deliver remarks on behalf of ECCC at the New Tobacco (E-cigarette) Forum at the New Approaches Summit in New York City, which Abboud also attended. An ECCC press release on the event touts Weinuo as the “first representative of the Chinese e-cigarette industry to participate in the forum in history” and said the “ECCC delegation has attracted much attention at this forum.”

The press release went on to say that the “United States has the world’s largest and most influential benchmark market” and that the “ECCC delegation’s participation in this forum is of great significance.”

“It not only uses the international platform to send out a positive voice for the industry and establish a good image of Chinese e-cigarette products in the world, but also demonstrates the ECCC’s far-reaching collaborative work ability and influence in the world as the organization of Chinese e-cigarette companies,” the press release continued, highlighting that multiple current and former leaders from the World Health Organization were in attendance. “It is a concrete action to ‘tell the Chinese story well to the outside world.’”

In December 2024, Abboud visited ECCC in China for supplier and vendor conversations, where he received a “thank you prize for speaking,” according to an individual familiar with the event. A press release highlights how “more than 30 internationally renowned wholesalers and channel dealers from 10 countries and regions, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia, France, Canada, Spain, Romania” visited ECCC as an international delegation to “accelerate the resource matching and docking of Chinese and foreign electronic cigarettes.” 

In addition to Abboud, multiple people on the board of directors for his VTA have ties to China, including Magellan and Demand Vape owner Jon Glauser, who said in a 2023 deposition that he has a “good relationship with every manufacturer over” in China and that he has “spent quite a bit of time in Shenzhen, China, over the years,” noting that this is “where 99 percent of e-cigarettes are made.” 

“We form a relationship with them, buy it from them either as a master distributor or distributor,” he added.

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Geoff Habicht is another member of VTA’s board of directors and serves as the CEO of Mi-Pod, an Arizona-based company that imports numerous vape juices from China.

Mi-Pod was recently the subject of a letter from the ranking Democratic member of the House Committee Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party for importing vape products that were banned for domestic sale in China and were the subject of safety concern in the United States.

In addition to the board of directors, several vape companies that are included in VTA’s membership, which range from $500 to $200,000 membership levels to join, are Chinese companies, including VooPoo, which has donated at least $100,000 to be a member of VTA, according to its website.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

Biden corruption story just got airtime… from the last place you’d expect

For years, some of us have written about the Biden family’s multimillion-dollar influence-peddling operation and the Justice Department’s refusal to charge Hunter Biden with being an unregistered foreign agent. Now, years later, The New York Times has found evidence suggesting that the former president’s son was acting as a foreign agent as early as the Obama administration, when his father was vice president.

‘MOST DAMNING EVIDENCE’: HUNTER BIDEN’S FULL PARDON RESURFACES DECADE OF CONTROVERSIES, ‘INFLUENCE PEDDLING’

Last August, the New York Times ran a story about Hunter Biden seeking help from the government for his client, the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. A recent follow-up story had damaging new details:

That is precisely what many of us have been writing about in asking why Hunter Biden was not charged with being an unregistered foreign agent, as Paul Manafort, Bob Menendez and others were under similar circumstances.

The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) covers anyone acting as “agent of a foreign principal,” including but not limited to (1) attempting to influence federal officials or the public on domestic or foreign policy or the political or public interests in favor of a foreign country; (2) collecting or disbursing money and or other things of value within the United States; or (3) representing the interests of the foreign principal before U.S. Government officials or agencies.

It is sweeping. So is the definition of what a “foreign principal” encompasses, including “a foreign government, a foreign political party, any person outside the United States (except U.S. citizens who are domiciled within the United States), and any entity organized under the laws of a foreign country or having its principal place of business in a foreign country.”

As I previously wrote, Special Counsel Robert Mueller seemed to charge by the gross under the act. He hit a line of Trump associates with such allegations from Manafort to Michael Flynn to George Papadopoulos to Rick Gates. The Justice Department used FARA to conduct searches on the homes and files of former Trump counsel Rudy Giuliani, Republican attorney Victoria Toensing and others.

However, the Justice Department and Special Counsel David Weiss seemed to tie themselves into knots to avoid tripping the wire on FARA even as it discussed Hunter Biden’s work for foreign clients.

The government also resisted FOIA requests from the Times and other media. More from the above article:

Now we have a copy of a key letter from Hunter Biden that gives us an insight into the evidence buried for years:

The State Department last week released a letter he wrote while his father was serving as vice president in which he sought assistance from the U.S. government for the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

How could any Justice Department official, let alone a special counsel, read that letter and not see the glaring disconnect between the handling of the case involving Joe Biden’s son and others like Manafort?

The letter references a trip on which Hunter Biden, as was his pattern, used official travel with his father to make these business connections. The letter mentions meeting a key ambassador on Air Force Two as he seeks assistance for his client.

The ambassador then sent a follow-up letter saying he knew the president of Tuscany and identified a Commerce Department official working at the U.S. embassy who could help “see where our interests may overlap.”

It was another example of alleged influence peddling through his father and work for a foreign client in lobbying the government.

During this period, the Justice Department seemed to be on a hair-trigger for FARA charges. Yet, when it came to Hunter Biden, the entire department seemed composed of legal Sgt. Schultzes.

Many in the media attacked those of us who have been writing about this corruption stretching back to the Obama administration. Many simply insisted that there was no evidence, while taking no steps to find out. While the media was unrelenting in investigating Trump allegations of Russian collusion and business improprieties, it took a largely passive stance in pursuing this story.

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Even The New York Times, which can be credited with pursuing this FOIA information, did comparably little with the ample evidence of corruption by the Bidens in securing millions through influence peddling.

What remains is a corruption scandal involving not only what the Bidens did but also what the Justice Department did not do over this extended period. It appears to heed the advice not of whistleblowers but politicians like former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) that “everybody needs to back off” the influence-peddling story.

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Of course, Joe Biden ultimately broke his repeated promise not to pardon his son. What was most notable, however, was that not only did he pardon him for any crimes from human trafficking to tax evasion but also for a period running from Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 1, 2024.

This letter explains why such a sweeping, extended pardon was needed. Yet, in the end, the greatest indictment from this scandal was of the Justice Department itself.

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What looked like routine texts uncovered a bribery scandal at the gates of America

Two U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have been charged with taking bribes to let people enter the country without showing documents at America’s busiest border crossing.

CBP Officers Farlis Almonte and Ricardo Rodriguez worked at the San Ysidro Port of Entry and prosecutors say they let dozens of vehicles carrying illegal immigrants pass through without proper checks in exchange for thousands of dollars.

According to court documents unsealed Thursday, investigators found phone messages between the officers and human smugglers in Mexico. They also found large unexplained cash deposits in the officers’ bank accounts.

US IMMIGRATION WILL ONLY RECOGNIZE 2 GENDERS GOING FORWARD, ENDS BIDEN-ERA PRACTICE

In one case caught on surveillance video, a car stopped at a checkpoint with two people inside, but only the driver was officially recorded as entering the U.S., prosecutors said.

When Almonte was arrested, investigators also allegedly seized nearly $70,000 in cash they believe his girlfriend was trying to take to Tijuana. Prosecutors say he may face more charges, including money laundering and trying to hide evidence, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

SOUTH CAROLINA AG TAKES ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT HIT-AND-RUN, PROMISES CRIMINALS ‘WE’RE COMING FOR YOU’

“Any Customs and Border Protection agent who helps smugglers is breaking their oath and putting our national security at risk,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Haden.

Rodriguez’s lawyer, Michael Hawkins, said the case is still in the early stages and reminded the public that Rodriguez is presumed innocent. “We look forward to working through the current situation,” Hawkins said, calling Rodriguez “hardworking and loyal.”

It’s not yet clear if Almonte has a lawyer. In the past two years, five CBP officers in the San Diego area have faced similar corruption charges.

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The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents CBP officers, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Universal ups the ante in new move to take down Disney World’s crown

Universal Epic Universe opens in Orlando, Florida in 46 days.

The park is currently testing out operations for team members, their families and the media. On Saturday, FOX Business got a sneak peek at the massive attraction that features portals into “five immersive worlds” that offer shopping, dining, new rides and experiences. 

Park guests’ first portal entry takes them into Celestial Park, also called “the heart of Universal Epic Universe” in a media release. It features gardens with lush foliage, pathways and walkways to bring back the “park” element of a theme park. 

Imagine Celestial Park as the hub of a wheel, with the portals to each land as spokes. But it offers its own attractions, too, with the park’s most intense roller coaster, Stardust Racers and Constellation Carousel. 

WHAT IT TAKES TO MAINTAIN AND REPAIR THE MOST FAMOUS DISNEY RIDES

From right to left, guests get their choice of How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, Dark Universe and Super Nintendo World. 

Universal Helios Grand Hotel is hard to miss while walking around Celestial Park, as the 500-room hotel is inside the park with its own dedicated entrance to the park. 

UNIVERSAL ORLANDO ANNOUNCES OPENING DATE FOR ITS NEWEST THEME PARK

Universal Destinations and Experiences, a unit of Comcast NBCUniversal, is fourth in the top 10 theme park operators worldwide, according to the 2023 TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index, which provides some of the most recent data. Disney Experiences is number one, and the two mega-entertainment operators have parks in proximity in central Florida. 

The two companies are prepared for a scorching-hot summer of competition, with Disney offering deals on tickets, stays and opening new shows featuring “The Little Mermaid” and “Disney Villains.”

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“For the first time since 2019, Disney World will have all 6 of our parks—all 4 theme parks and 2 water parks—open at the same time,” Disney Parks Blog said on Tuesday. “From May 21 through September 7, Disney World guests can enjoy the tropical shipwreck oasis of Typhoon Lagoon and the frosty fun of Blizzard Beach water park.” 

The 700-acre Universal Orlando Resort currently operates Universal Studios Florida, Universal Island of Adventure and Universal Volcano Bay prior to the opening of Universal Epic Universe to the public. 

Paige Spiranac’s shirt sends clear message after she fires back at critic

Golf influencer Paige Spiranac is not afraid to flaunt what she’s got and on Friday she sent a clear message with a shirt she wore while chatting with a friend.

Samantha Marks posted a photo of Spiranac’s shirt while the two talked on FaceTime. Marks wrote on X that she just noticed what it said.

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Spiranac had, “Yes they’re real,” emblazoned across her chest.

Spiranac has been clear about working on her fitness goals and clapped back at a critic last week on X who was upset that the golfer was showing off a little more than what was in her golf bag.

“I went from having my back connect to my thighs to this,” Spiranac wrote on X while contrasting photos of what she looked like at the start of her golf career and what she looks like now. “It’s not the biggest peach now but I’ve been working harder than I ever have in the gym and also with my diet. 

“Heck yeah I’m going to show it off! I’m proud of my body and how hard I’ve been working to achieve my fitness goals.”

She’s routinely fired back at comments about her golf attire and the way she’s dressed. In an interview with Sports Illustrated in September 2023, she explained why she wears what she does.

KORN FERRY GOLFER RYAN MCCORMICK TAPES MOUTH SHUT DURING TOURNAMENT TO HELP WITH ANGER MANAGEMENT

“I was a gymnast before I switched into golf,” the former All-Mountain West Conference golfer said. “I was so comfortable wearing spandex and very little of it because that’s just what you wear when you’re wearing a leotard and you’re competing. 

“When I switched into golf, we were struggling a little bit financially and so I didn’t have the luxury to go out and buy a whole new golf-appropriate wardrobe. And so, I wore what was in my closet which was workout clothes. That’s just how I learned to play the game.”

In July 2023, she called out the “hypocrisy” of comments in a video showing two half-naked baseball players on the mound. She noted that the players weren’t getting negative comments about what they were doing.

“Interesting how different the reaction is online when men choose to show off their bodies,” she wrote on X at the time. “Not one comment on this video calling them attention whores or sluts. Just a ton of women saying baseball is now their favorite sport but those same women harshly judge me. The hypocrisy lol.”

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Spiranac has more than 4 million followers on Instagram and another 1.6 million on TikTok.

Fans lose it over late foul call as Duke crumbles in shocking collapse

College basketball fans were upset with a foul call on Cooper Flagg late in the Duke Blue Devils’ epic collapse against the Houston Cougars in the Final Four on Saturday night.

Duke was shooting free throws with 19.6 seconds left in the game and up one point. Guard Tyrese Proctor’s shot went off the rim and bounced toward Flagg. As the future NBA pro fought with two Houston players for the ball, a referee blew the whistle and called a loose-ball foul on Flagg.

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J’Wan Roberts made two free throws to put Houston up one point. Duke missed a few shots down the stretch and the Cougars won the game 70-67 to advance to the national championship.

Duke and fans were left in disbelief.

“Got to give them a lot of credit for what they do every single night they play,” Flagg said after the game. “We could have been a little bit more sharp down the stretch executing some things. At the end of the day, you got to give them a lot of credit, as well.”

2025 MEN’S MARCH MADNESS ODDS: HOUSTON OPENS AS SLIGHT FAVORITE OVER FLORIDA

Houston closed the game on a 9-0 run in the final 33 seconds. Flagg had 27 points.

“Knowing going into that game that he was the player of the year, that he brought his team to the Final Four, we knew it would be challenging,” Roberts said.

Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer lamented the collapse

“It’s heartbreaking, it’s incredibly disappointing,” he said. “There’s a lot of pain that comes with this. That’s what the tournament is all about.”

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Houston will play Florida in the title game. The Cougars have never won a national championship.