White House

Kanye West's failed presidential bid just took another hit ... his campaign committee claims they fell victim to a fraud scheme where thousands went to pay off someone's credit card.

Kanye 2020 told the Federal Election Commission someone unaffiliated with the campaign accessed the committee's bank account, swiping $3,999 to pay off their own credit card bills.

In a letter fired off Tuesday to the FEC, and obtained by TMZ, Kanye 2020 says an investigation determined someone accessed the account three times between December and February, and the campaign was unable to get the money back from the First Bank of Wyoming.

The FEC previously flagged the transactions and Kanye's campaign took a look and is now claiming they were the victim here. There doesn't appear to have been an arrest made yet, and it appears the FEC is working to gather more info. Business Insider was the first to report the filing.

The eagle has landed for desperate parents, and it couldn't have come at a more needed time ... replenished baby formula is here, even though it's far from a permanent fix.

An emergency shipment of specialty formula arrived in the States Sunday via military plane -- which carried with it around 78,000 pounds of Nestle Health Science Alfamino Infant and Alfamino Junior formula ... able to fill upwards of half a million bottles, with more coming.

The touchdown of this new load was brought in from Europe on President Biden's orders -- and while there are another 114 pallets of Gerber Good Start Extensive HA formula scheduled to arrive soon ... it's still not quite enough to replenish shelves across the country.

As you know ... there's a massive shortage going on right now at supermarkets just about everywhere -- with parents reporting having to drive hours, in some cases, to find formula.

There's a variety of reasons for the shortage -- including plants having to either shut down and/or stall production -- but the government's working on getting those up and running again ... including Nestle, which'll do a standard quality check of this shipment ASAP.

After that, they'll be sent to doctor's offices, pharmacies and hospitals -- at least first -- and presumably, to grocery stores thereafter. It appears these shipments coming in are allergy-sensitive ... as it seems parents have struggled mightily to find such products for their kids.

Looks like Pete Davidson is making some big changes ... there's a report he's expected to leave "Saturday Night Live" after this weekend.

That's right, according to Variety, Pete's final show will come after Saturday's finale. It's a pivotal move for the 28-year-old comedian. PD joined the show back in 2014, when he was just 20 years old ... as one of the youngest cast members in the show's history. Now, he's amongst the long-serving performers.

Since joining 'SNL,' Pete's career has taken off. He found himself in the Hollywood mix when he got engaged to singer Ariana Grande, before they called it quits. But now, he's with arguably the most famous woman in the world, Kim Kardashian.

The two have been all over the place lately -- including the Met Gala, the White House Correspondents' Dinner ... and even showing up to show his support in court for the Blac Chyna/Kardashian trial.

Outside of his love life, we know he's been pretty busy working on some projects other than 'SNL.' He recently missed a few SNL performances to film for the horror movie, "The Home."

NBA commissioner Adam Silver is assisting the WNBA in its efforts to get Brittney Griner home -- revealing on Tuesday he's working with the White House and even hostage negotiators to get her out of custody in Russia.

Silver said before the NBA Draft Lottery in Chicago that he's "working side-by-side" with WNBA commish Cathy Engelbert, who's made bringing Griner back to the U.S. a top priority.

"The league -- and by that, both the WNBA and its brother league, the NBA -- we have a huge responsibility to Brittney Griner as one of our players," Silver said.

"Cathy Engelbert, the commissioner of the WNBA, is on this issue every single day. I'm working side-by-side with her."

Silver says both leagues have gone above and beyond for the Phoenix Mercury star ... getting "in touch with the White House, the State Department, hostage negotiators -- at every level of government and also through the private sector as well."

"Our No. 1 priority is her health and safety and making sure that she gets out of Russia," Silver added.

Griner has been in custody in Russia since February after she was allegedly found with hash oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport.

The 31-year-old was denied house arrest by a judge last week and will be forced to stay in jail for at least another 30 days.

Jen Psaki bid farewell to the White House Press Office Friday, giving her last briefing ... and it was both emotional and apolitical.

Psaki psyched herself up to remain stoic with the press corps, but the emotions bubbled up to the surface as she looked back on her tenure as Press Secretary.

She talked about her mission statement -- to help restore integrity and grace to the office She acknowledged there were times she fell short ... saying the Irish sometimes came out in her and her boss as well. But, she added, "On my best days and as I look back, I hope I followed the example of integrity and grace that they have set for all of us, every day."

She also talked about the messy business of dealing with the media ... dealings that can get super contentious. As Psaki puts it, the arguing, the debating is actually part of democracy.

Psaki said from the jump she'd only do the job for about a year, so she actually stayed on longer than she anticipated.

Paris Hilton is on Day 2 at our nation's capital as she continues to lobby for institutional child abuse reforms -- an undertaking for which she says both sides of the aisle are needed.

We got the hotel heiress Wednesday on Capitol Hill, where PH was hand-in-hand with her hubby, Carter Reum ... and where she told us exactly why she thinks this issue was worth taking a trip over -- as she puts it, countless youth are dying "in the name of treatment."

Paris touched down in D.C. Tuesday and paid a visit to the White House, meeting with officials to discuss a bill working its way through Congress -- Federal Accountability for Congregate Care Act -- that she's fully behind ... and which will afford kids federal protection.

As you may know, Paris has been championing this cause for a while -- this after publicly claiming she herself was abused at Utah boarding school Provo Canyon in her teens.

Now, she's doing her advocacy work on a national level ... and while she's clearly got high hopes, the rancor of our red and blue politics is NOT lost on her at all.

We asked if she thought Republicans would back this Dem-drafted bill -- and she's optimistic, highlighting the importance of bipartisanship. No word on how she might try and nudge the GOP in the right direction -- but hey, it's Paris ... and she's already done some work in speaking with Republican Senator Chuck Grassley.

Barack and Michelle Obama's daughters are 2 peas in a pod now that they're both in Hollywood -- and we got a first-hand look at how close they are during an airport pickup.

We got both Malia and Sasha Obama at LAX, where little sis was picking up big sis. You can tell they were happy to see each other based on the reunion dance they busted out Wednesday afternoon as they came face-to-face.

It's a pretty sweet/surreal moment we captured -- Sasha even loaded up Malia's luggage in the hatchback she was driving.

We don't know how long it's been since they last saw each other -- they're very excited -- but, best we can tell, Malia's been gone just over a week. She flew out of LAX, in the same 'fit on May 2.

Of course, we tried firing off a few questions to the former First Kids -- including whether they like Cali life more than D.C., but, apparently, that's still classified info.

As you might have heard, Malia is a screenwriter for Donald Glover's new Amazon series -- and her boss himself was singing her praises to us not too long ago -- so she definitely seems to be putting down roots in La La Land.

Ditto for Sasha, who's reportedly attending USC now, and is frequently spotted around town.

BTW, Angelenos know fighting LAX traffic to pick up someone is a sign of true love -- so, don't ever question this sisterhood.

President Biden busted out his comedy chops during the White House Correspondents' Dinner -- and his jokes were kinda hit or miss ... but he took his shots regardless.

JB was on hand Saturday at the Washing Hilton in D.C. -- the first time the dinner's been held since 2019, and the first a POTUS was at since longer -- and after a lengthy introduction full of awards and guest speakers ... Joe took to the podium to deliver remarks.

Right off the bat, Joe made some wise cracks about the press ... but also about himself, starting out by saying he appreciated all 42% of the people who clapped for him -- a wink to his recent approval rating.

He then said this about Donald Trump ... "We had a horrible plague, followed by two years of COVID," which got a big laugh from the room. From there, Joe's reception was up and down -- he made some viewership jokes about MSNBC, and then went after FOX News.

He noted that even though FOX News might sound anti-vaxx at times ... he assured everyone, your fave FOX journalists are vaccinated to be here tonight. Another line that was interesting ... Joe acknowledging the "Let's go Brandon" gag, sort of embracing it.

He ended with a more serious note ... saying America is "not a reality show," and that too got a major reaction. All in all, not too shabby from Joe -- a mixed bag, but mostly positive.

Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian are back in D.C. -- only this time, they're in the company of some of the most powerful people in the world ... including President Biden.

The couple were among many celebs on hand Saturday for the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton ... where upwards of 2,500 guests total are expected to plop down, chow down and listen to jokes, courtesy of the MC for the night -- Trevor Noah.

As you can see ... PD and KK were shoulder-to-shoulder as they made their way in, all smiles. They were also dressed to the nines, like everyone else attending for the night.

This will be Pete's first time at the dinner, but Kim's been a couple different times -- once in 2010 and again in 2012, during the Obama years. She was one of the many people who got roasted ... and we expect this year to be no different. Ditto for Pete, in all likelihood.

They're no strangers to the nation's capital lately -- they were just here for Jon Stewart.

Anyway, what most everyone is really stoked about -- besides the fact this is the first dinner to happen in person since 2019, pre-pandemic -- is that the Prez himself will show up. Indeed, after years of Trump snubbing the event ... Joe's gonna make remarks in the flesh.

Viola Davis has heard all the criticism leveled at her over her portrayal of Michelle Obama -- as it pertains to her lip choices, that is -- and her response is ... screw the haters.

The Oscar-winning actress came out swinging against her critics in a new interview with the BBC, which asked her about the jokes and ridicule she was enduring a couple weeks ago amid the premiere of her new Showtime series, 'The First Lady.'

VD says these amateur commentators serve absolutely no purpose other than to be cruel, noting she found the score of comments to be "incredibly hurtful."

Viola acknowledges that critique is an occupational hazard of the job, and even seems to cop to the fact that her MO acting might not even be her best work ... but she insists she had to take big swings, and stands by what she did on camera.

Still, it's clear folks got to Viola and their mocking left her sour -- because she says this ... "Critics absolutely serve no purpose. And, I'm not saying that to be nasty either."

She adds, "They always feel like they're telling you something that you don't know. Somehow that you're living a life that you're surrounded by people who lie to you and 'I'm going to be the person that leans in and tells you the truth'. So, it gives them an opportunity to be cruel."

Viola also says it was damn near impossible to do Michelle justice, as some might've felt she was either doing too much or not enough to get it right. In this case, it's the former.

One other thing ... Viola says she has no idea what the real former First Lady thinks of how she did, noting she isn't in any personal contact with Mrs. Obama. Viola had previously said she did a lot of research and wanted to do MO proud ... so she clearly did her best.

As we reported, folks made a big deal about her pursed lips ... arguing it was overexaggerated/distracting. 'The First Lady' hasn't fared well with professional critics either.

President Biden is letting a lot of drug offenders out of prison who've earned lengthy sentences -- with his theme apparently being ... the punishment doesn't fit the crime.

JB just released a new clemency list, and it includes dozens of names who've been locked up for years now for crimes ranging from possession of drugs to conspiracy or intent to distribute narcotics -- including cocaine and meth -- and he's giving them a huge break.

A majority of these folks are due to be set free immediately ... or by 2023. He's commuting tons of sentences -- some of which were as long as 20-30 years, and in some cases life -- leaving most to be served out in home confinement, via supervised release or both.

All in all, there are 75 inmates he's cutting loose from the federal prison system ... and like we said, their crimes all seem to be in the drug realm ... from minor to relatively major offenses.

In addition to these commutations, Biden is also pardoning three people -- including a couple more drug offenders who've since been released from prison and gone on to become upstanding citizens.

The third pardon is a bit more noteworthy ... Biden is honoring Abraham Bolden Sr., a former U.S. Secret Service agent who was imprisoned after he was charged and convicted with attempting to sell a copy from a SS file in the '60s.

Bolden -- who was the first Black man to serve on a presidential detail back then -- got a raw deal, according to the DOJ. Key witnesses who were part of his initial trial apparently copped to lying at prosecutors' request ... and Bolden was also denied a new trial.

Sasha Obama's boyfriend is none other than Clifton Powell Jr. ... a former college basketball player and the son of Clifton Sr., the actor.

20-year-old Sasha got together with 24-year-old Clifton Powell Jr. after she made the switch from the University of Michigan to USC -- according to The Daily Mail, who broke the story.

The former hoops star was awarded a four-year basketball scholarship at the University of California at Santa Barbara ... he's now jumped into the world of commercials ... working with big brands like Peloton and Nike.

His dad's acting chops might've served Clifton Jr. well  -- Clifton Sr.'s been in movies like "Ray" and "Next Friday," with a long list of upcoming projects.

As we reported, Sasha's older sister and recent Harvard grad Malia also made the move to the west coast after getting hired as a screenwriter for Donald Glover's latest project with Amazon.

Malia's been dating her British boyfriend Rory Farquharson since 2017 ... the two met at Harvard.

The most dramatic moment from this season of "The Masked Singer" has finally played out ... as Rudy Giuliani was revealed as a contestant, causing one judge to walk off set.

The whole thing went down on the FOX singing contest Wednesday night as the disgraced politician and former right-hand-man of Trump was revealed as The Jack in the Box. Giuliani got the boot after this week's performance of "Bad to The Bone."

While he's performing the song, you see a clearly pissed-off judge, Ken Jeong, say "I'm done" before walking off the set.

It was back in February when it was reported both Ken and judge Robin Thicke walked off in disgust after Giuliani's reveal ... but that didn't appear to be the case Wednesday, with only Ken leaving.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff seemed at home Tuesday in Bev Hills ... and that's because he was on his home turf, shopping for presents and answering certain questions but avoiding others.

DE bought an art book at Taschen Books and we got him as he was leaving, flanked by Secret Service agents in casual attire (they still stick out like a sore thumb!).

Doug was quick on the draw, shutting down our photog's inquiry about the book and who it was for. Then we pivoted ... the Veep has a self-confessed affinity for cooking, so we asked if she still tries her hand in the kitchen -- here we did better and got an answer, but he was evasive on her go-to meals.

Fat Joe's taking a break from ripping mics to tear into America's healthcare system and the politicians allowing hospitals to essentially steal from patients ... and TMZ Hip Hop's learned he's taking this fight all the way to Washington, DC.

Joey Crack recorded this incredibly powerful message last month in the Bronx, calling out healthcare "crooks" for hiding hospital prices -- something that's actually illegal, but as Joe points out ... no one's policing the system.

Joe teamed up with Power to the Patients to demand change, and you can tell he's feeling this cause as much as any verse he's ever recorded. As he says on the spot, "When we can't see or compare prices, hospitals charge us whatever they want. They robbing us!!!"

The Bronx icon has some A-list companies in the fight for patients' rights. You might recall ... Susan Sarandon and Cynthia Erivo filmed their own PSAs last year for Power to the Patients, which aired during the Oscars.

Susan also joined us on "TMZ Live" to tackle the hot button issue.

We're told Fat Joe's so serious about this campaign, he'll be attending the White House Correspondents' dinner later this month to rep the org, and, hopefully, get some DC powerbrokers onboard with the effort.

Jen Psaki may or may not be leaving her post at the podium, but if she does ... she's got a few nuggets of knowledge to pass on to whomever might replace her, and they're not bad.

The White House Press Secretary sat down with 'Pod Save America' this week and was asked, hypothetically speaking ... what advice would she offer to someone who might be coming to fill her shoes? Again, assuming she exits -- and rumor has it, she will soon.

Psaki actually opened quite a bit on this front ... as she's clearly learned a lot of the job over the past year-plus that she's carried the torch for President Biden and his administration.

For starters, she says whoever gets the gig next has to realize ... the American people aren't stupid, and you don't have to speak to them like they're grade-schoolers. Psaki says folks are paying attention and quite knowledgeable -- so a Press Sec.'s words should reflect that.

She also says the best PS has a wide breadth of knowledge about what they're discussing with the press, and aren't just reading off talking points. So in other words, know you're s***!

Finally, she says a Press Secretary has to be patient with reporters, who undoubtedly ask the same questions a million different ways. It's also important to be consistent with messaging ... otherwise, as she says, you'll be taken out of context and made out to be Satan.

The last thing Psaki suggests is that ... if you don't know, don't pretend to know -- especially since you're literally speaking for the President and co. She says the best way to be good at the job is to have the lowdown on what POTUS may think on any given issue.