FIRST ON FOX: The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a conservative-leaning ethics watchdog, released a year-end round up of 2024's worst ethics violations committed by public officials that the group investigated this year.

The theme for this year's report was ethics violations tied to efforts to win elected office. The violations ranged from failures to disclose financial information and violations of federal contribution limits, to "blatant" Hatch Act violations and officials seemingly using campaign funds for their own personal pleasure. 

FACT is a nonprofit based in the nation's capital that was formed in 2014, and describes itself as "dedicated to promoting accountability, ethics, and transparency in government and civic arenas." At the end of each year, the watchdog unveils its top ten worst violators.

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"It is important to note the alarming detail that there is not one particular ethics rule implicated among them, rather they cover a wide variety of fronts, including the laws enforced by the Office of Special Counsel, the Federal Election Commission, and the Office of Congressional Ethics," the 2024 report states. "It’s clear these top violators too often prioritize themselves over serving their constituents."

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One of the examples FACT cited involved Wisconsin Democratic member of Congress, Gwen Moore, whose political action committee under her control spent 94.8% of its funds on things like food and travel, such as catering, food delivery, restaurants, hotels, a resort in California's wine country and alcohol, according to the report. 

The report said that Moore's leadership PAC spent almost eight-times more on this than it did on its required purpose of supporting candidates.

Moore ultimately beat her GOP challenger in November by a wide margin, keeping her in control of the Milwaukee-area congressional district. The congresswoman's office did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

Two other violations from the report included Hatch Act violations. The Hatch Act is aimed at ensuring that the government functions in a nonpartisan manner and bars certain public officials from engaging in political activities while they are on duty. 

FACT's report charged President Joe Biden's Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, with sending "a blatant political email," two months before November's election, which was described in a media report at the time as "a sales pitch for Kamala Harris."

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The official email from HHS was sent to people who signed up to receive updates on the government's Medicare program, which means it could have reached up to 67.5 million recipients, according to FACT. While the email did not directly say "vote for Harris," it lauded Harris for casting a tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, noting that the move from Harris served to lower healthcare costs.

HHS did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

Other ethics violations included in FACT's round-up were several instances of misused or misrepresented campaign funds. 

The report highlighted outgoing Maryland Democratic Rep. David Trone, who earned backlash during this year's election cycle for allegedly funding his campaign with money earned through his Total Wine empire despite claiming he had stepped away from his family's wine business after being elected to Congress in 2018. Trone, who left the House to run for Maryland's open Senate seat this year – losing in the primary – failed to disclose his interest in numerous Total Wine franchises in the lead up to the election, the report alleged. 

Representatives for Trone did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

The report also claims that Rep.-elect Eugene Vindman, who recently took over Virginia's seventh congressional district with a win last month, received campaign contributions significantly exceeding those allowed under federal law. VoteVets PAC, a political action committee supporting left-leaning veterans running for Congress, was reportedly engaging in illegal campaign work for Vindman's campaign by acting as their press liaison.

Vindman's campaign manager did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

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Together, all of these examples and more lay out what FACT's Executive Director Kendra Arnold called "a preview" of what elected officials are like when nobody is looking. 

"We uncover and file complaints on all types of ethics violations, but this year the ones committed in the campaign stage unfortunately stood out," Arnold told Fox News Digital. "Of all the types of violations it could easily be argued that those committed to get into office are among the very worst."

San Jose State women’s volleyball star Brooke Slusser warned the NCAA after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the organization over transgender inclusion in women’s sports.

Paxton filed the lawsuit on Sunday, accusing the organization of deceptive marketing practices for allowing transgender women to compete against biological females. Paxton said in a news release the NCAA violated the Texas Trade Practices Act "which exists to protect consumers from businesses attempting to mislead or trick them into purchasing goods or services that are not as advertised."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Slusser, who was a part of a lawsuit against her own school and the NCAA for allowing a transgender woman on the Spartans’ roster this season, posted about Paxton’s suit.

"Hey NCAA, just in case you haven’t realized yet this fight will just keep getting harder for you until you make a change!" Slusser wrote on X.

Slusser and other plaintiffs had asked a judge to grant an injunction to prohibit Blaire Fleming from competing in the Mountain West Conference women’s volleyball tournament last month, but they were denied.

SJSU RESPONDS TO VOLLEYBALL PLAYER MASS EXODUS AFTER TRANS ATHLETE SCANDAL ROCKED PROGRAM

San Jose State made it to the finals of the tournament but lost to Colorado State.

Paxton accused the NCAA of "engaging in false, deceptive, and misleading practices by marketing sporting events as ‘women’s’ competitions only to then provide consumers with mixed sex competitions where biological males compete against biological females."

"The NCAA is intentionally and knowingly jeopardizing the safety and well-being of women by deceptively changing women’s competitions into co-ed competitions," Paxton said in a statement. "When people watch a women’s volleyball game, for example, they expect to see women playing against other women – not biological males pretending to be something they are not. Radical ‘gender theory’ has no place in college sports."

Paxton said he was seeking a court to grant a permanent injunction to prohibit the NCAA from allowing transgender athletes in women’s sports in Texas or "involving Texas teams, or alternatively requiring the NCAA to stop marketing events as ‘women’s’ when in fact they are mixed sex competitions," the news release said.

The NCAA released a statement to Fox News Digital later Sunday.

"College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America, and while the NCAA does not comment on pending litigation, the Association and its members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports and ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships," the organization said.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

• Holiday scams are rising. Phishing and smishing attacks are targeting online shoppers.
• Scammers exploit the busy holiday season, using fake delivery messages to steal data.
• Law enforcement also warns of porch pirates.

Law enforcement and security professionals are warning of increased scam activity this holiday season.

Most holiday scams are phishing scams that can be found year-round, though scammers will theme their fraud to fit the season. An example could be a fake social media ad for a holiday product that sends you to a scam website or an email saying that a package you ordered for a Christmas gift is delayed and needs your approval.

"Remember, don't click on anything unknown, even if you just ordered gifts and you're expecting packages to come to your door soon," IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a release. "Double-check before you click."

One of the most popular frauds this holiday season is a "smishing" scam involving text messages from people who claim to be the United States Postal Service, Melanie McGovern, the director of public relations at the Better Business Bureau, told Business Insider. The text message might say a package you ordered is delayed and include a link to a fake website that the scammers use to steal personal information.

"The biggest thing for people to remember is if they have opted into text reminders," McGovern said. "You have to opt in to receive any kind of text message from a retailer. Keeping track of what you ordered and where, how it's being delivered, is really important."

Scammers target the holiday season because it's a time when people are "super busy" buying gifts for loved ones, McGovern said. It can be easy to fall for a phishing scam during this time of the year, McGovern said, because of the commotion around holiday shopping.

"They're panicking, you know," McGovern said. "We're a week from Christmas, and they're like, 'Oh no, my package is being held up. It's something for my child. You're naturally going to go into panic mode."

One method to spot a phishing scam is to look at where the text or email is coming from, McGovern said. The USPS says it only uses "5-digit short codes" to send and receive text messages to and from mobile phones. One example of a fake scam text claiming to be from the USPS reviewed by Business Insider shows a +63 area code, which originates in the Philippines.

"They're phishing," McGovern said. "I got one the other day for my health insurance, and it looked like it was coming from your health insurance, until I looked at the address and realized it."

The most important thing to do if you think you are being scammed is to stop, pause, and look for warning signs, McGovern said. If you feel like something is off, there's a chance that it probably is.

Law enforcement agencies have also reported a rise in "porch pirate" activity, where thieves will steal a package delivered to someone's front porch. North Carolina Attorney General John Stein said in a holiday scam warning that it's important to track packages and make sure that you are home when they are delivered.

You can also set the delivery address to a neighbor's house who is home during the day, send the package to your workplace, or ask the post office to hold your mail and collect the deliveries there, Stein said.

• Deloitte UK has had a year of reorganization and cost-cutting amid a consulting slowdown.
• It is planning to cut staff travel and expenses by 50% for the rest of the financial year, the FT reported.
• The cuts to spending were short-term, a senior exec said in internal messaging.

The Big Four consulting firm Deloitte wants to cut its spending on staff travel and expenses by more than 50% in the UK, where it is headquartered.

In an email sent to partners and directors in October, Deloitte said the "firmwide cost management measures" were being introduced because of "challenging market conditions" in the UK, the Financial Times reported.

Deloitte reportedly said it was only aiming to maintain the cost cuts until the end of its current financial year in May and described the reduction in spending as "limited" and "temporary."

The email was sent by Sarah Humphreys, chief operating officer of the tax and legal division. Humphreys said Deloitte was also reviewing its "recruitment agency costs, licence fees, bad debts and global recharges," the FT reported.

The cost-saving efforts come after a year of reorganization and redundancies at Deloitte, as the firm grapples with an industry-wide slowdown in demand for consulting services that has hit revenue growth.

Deloitte's global consulting revenues grew by 1.9% in the 2024 financial year ending 31 May. The previous year, they grew by 19.1%.

"Like many organisations, we are looking carefully at our costs to ensure we're able to meet clients' needs while continuing to make investments in our firm and our people," Deloitte said in a statement shared with Business Insider Monday.

The downturn comes after many consultancies hired aggressively during the pandemic.

In March, Deloitte carried out a global overhaul of its operations aimed at cutting costs and repositioning it for future success. It simplified its core offering from five to four categories: audit and assurance, tax and legal strategy, risk and transactions, and technology and transformation.

It has also held several rounds of layoffs in the UK, where it has around 25,000 employees. In internal messages seen by Business Insider, Deloitte said layoffs of around 180 staff in September were "necessary to enable us to navigate the remainder of a challenging FY25."

The firm has also cut UK partner's pay to save on costs, leaving the most senior class of employees with roughly £50,000 ($63,000) less than the previous year — a 4.5% decline. UK partners still took home an average of around £1 million ($1.2 million) for the fourth year running.

Do you work at Deloitte? Contact this reporter in confidence to share your thoughts on the industry at [email protected]

The shipping deadlines have passed and time has (almost) run out for us procrastinators to get gifts for our friends and family. But fear not: it’s never been easier to send a gift to someone, including an e-gift card to a store or for a service you know they use. If you’re looking for more creative digital gift ideas, we’ve got you covered. But for those hard-to-shop-for folks in your life, a gift card could do the trick. These are the gift cards that are the most helpful to send as last-minute gifts this year.

Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.

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