"60 Minutes" was told weeks before the segment aired that a deported Malian husband and father, who was the subject of a sympathetic report on Sunday, claimed to have been gay in his asylum application, Fox News Digital confirmed.

Fox News previously obtained records showing Moussa Diawara alleged in his 2009 asylum application that he would face persecution if he were sent back to Mali due to his sexuality.

The "60 Minutes" segment depicted an anguished father deported to Africa with his wife and two children still living in the U.S. and noted that a U.S. judge said Diawara could be persecuted, pointing to fears over converting to Christianity. However, the show did not mention that Diawara’s application contradicted his family man narrative and the reason why he claimed he couldn’t return to his native country was because of his sexual orientation.

DEPORTED MIGRANT WHO '60 MINUTES' PAINTED AS SYMPATHETIC FAMILY MAN CLAIMED HE WAS GAY ON ASYLUM APPLICATION

Fox News Digital has since obtained a copy of an email sent to CBS News by the Department of Homeland Security informing the network about Diawara's claim, which was first reported by The New York Post.

The email was sent Oct. 6, nearly three weeks before Sunday's segment aired.

A spokesperson for CBS News declined to comment.

FROM THE HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP TO KAMALA HARRIS EDITS: THE LONG HISTORY OF '60 MINUTES' CONTROVERSIES

On his 2009 asylum application, Diawara said he feared for his life as a gay man if he was forced to return to Mali.

"My asylum application is based upon ground of well-founded past persecution and an undisputable fear of life-threatening [sic] to my person if I were to return to my country Mali. In fact, I had experienced extreme punishment and persecution based on the ground of my sexual orientation," Diawara wrote in his asylum application.

"Since I came to the USA I had the possibilities [sic] to express my feelings to men without any embarrassment no reserve. Indeed, my tribal group and community as a whole had reported my sexual orientation to my family back home because such behavior is unwelcome in my society," he continued. "My life is hence worth threatened if I have to go back to my country because I could be executed either by the Islamic group or the community."

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DHS General Counsel James Percival, who was interviewed in the "60 Minutes" segment, took to social media after it aired, saying the newsmagazine made Diawara the "poster child for what it claims are wrongful deportations."

"His claimed reason for fearing Mali was that he is ‘gay,’ just in case you’re wondering how bad the immigration fraud problem is," Percival wrote.

The segment put a spotlight on Diawara, who was living in the U.S. for 25 years without a criminal record, overstaying his tourist visa and getting nabbed by ICE and sent to Ghana, which ultimately sent him to his home country of Mali. According to the report, Diawara has since fled to an undisclosed African country.

During the segment, Percival noted there is "a lot of fraud" in the immigration system and many "fear claims" are untrue.

A "60 Minutes" insider previously defended the integrity of the report, pointing to how Diawara's claim that "part of the reason he didn't feel safe" was for religious reasons did make the broadcast. According to the report, he had converted to Christianity, and Mali is a Muslim-majority nation.

"The broadcast acknowledged DHS questioned the credibility of Moussa Diawara's fear of persecution, which they're claiming now on social media," the insider told Fox News Digital.

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Fox News' Brian Flood and Brooke Taylor contributed to this report.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is investigating a potentially massive data breach that may have exposed the identities and contact information of tens of thousands of employees, sources told Fox News.

The suspected breach, which sources described as a "catastrophic" security incident, may have exposed the names, titles, locations and, in some cases, phone numbers and email addresses of approximately 40,000 DHS employees and contractors, including roughly 10,000 ICE personnel, according to sources familiar with the data.

The data also includes records associated with more than 20,000 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employees, including Border Patrol personnel.

Multiple sources confirmed the authenticity of portions of the data.

EXCLUSIVE: DHS SECRETARY MULLIN SLAMS SANCTUARY POLITICIANS AS ATTACKS ON ICE OFFICERS SKYROCKET

The data leak website Distributed Denial of Secrets said Wednesday it had released information about the employees.

Fox News independently confirmed that the leaked records include the names of several undercover ICE agents working in different parts of the country.

An anti-fascist hacking group calling itself the "Department of Peace" claimed responsibility for obtaining the data.

"DHS is aware of a potential breach and is actively working to address the situation swiftly and effectively," a department spokesperson told Fox News.

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"We take all security threats against our employees and officers seriously and will work to ensure all are properly protected," the statement continued. "We will update the public when more information is available."

Distributed Denial of Secrets co-founder Emma Best said in a statement that a tool had been developed to allow the public to search the data, saying it would "replace anonymity with accountability."

The Department of Peace said in its own statement that DHS employees "have our information, so it's only fair that we have theirs" and that it hoped the data "can be used to limit further harm by the DHS and supports all efforts in that direction."

The reported breach comes amid broader concerns about the security of government personnel records.

FOREIGN ENEMIES HAVE A SHOCKINGLY SIMPLE WAY TO TRACK US TROOPS OVERSEAS, LAWMAKERS WARN

Last month, a Pentagon personnel database breach exposed sensitive personal information belonging to more than 2.76 million living U.S. military and civilian personnel and 294,000 deceased individuals.

Unauthorized users accessed unencrypted files containing Social Security numbers and military or civilian employment information between October 2025 and July 2026, a Pentagon official previously confirmed to Fox News.

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Fox News Digital's Brittany Miller and Fox News' Liz Friden, along with Reuters, contributed to this report.

Washington's secretary of state blasted the Justice Department Wednesday after federal officials said investigators had identified more than 400 noncitizens illegally registered to vote in the state, some of whom they said had cast ballots in multiple elections dating back decades.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs pushed back against the findings, saying the state’s review of the list uncovered "several glaring deficiencies."

"This list includes United States citizens and is not reliable. Without individualized proof of ineligibility, it would be both irresponsible and illegal for election officials to decline to process a registered voter’s ballot," he said. 

"That analysis reflects a significant number of people on your list who are not currently registered to vote or are on inactive status, contradicting your representations that all the individuals included in the list will receive a ballot in this year’s election," he added. 

On Monday, the U.S. attorneys’ offices for the Eastern and Western districts of Washington said investigators had identified lawful permanent residents, or green card holders, who were registered to vote or had cast ballots.

"We have identified over 400 noncitizens who are registered to vote and have voted in multiple elections. This is only the tip of the iceberg," Neil Floyd, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, said in a statement. 

"We will continue to investigate and identify those who are committing crimes by voting illegally."

Immigration officials told Fox News Digital Tuesday that dozens of noncitizens have also been arrested nationwide in a major voter fraud crackdown.

DOJ HAS VERIFIED 20,000 NONCITIZENS ON CALIFORNIA VOTER ROLLS, FEDERAL PROSECUTOR SAYS

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Floyd said investigators identified hundreds of noncitizen voters by reviewing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) records, which showed that some people who applied for certain benefits had also voted.

While some individuals voted only once or three times in past elections, Floyd said others voted as many as 27 times. In total, his office counted approximately 1,500 instances of noncitizens casting ballots.

He emphasized that some noncitizens had been voting for decades, predating Washington’s transition to a vote-by-mail system. 

"I think the earliest moment we have is 1984," Floyd said. "It's early ‘90s, late ’80s, I believe."

However, Floyd said he had not checked whether any of the individuals voted in the upcoming midterms, explaining that he did not want to "interfere with the current election."

The number of potential noncitizen voters could represent only a fraction of the broader population, Floyd said, because the list includes only individuals who sought certain benefits in Washington state.

NINTH CIRCUIT QUESTIONS TRUMP DOJ'S EMERGENCY REQUEST TO SET ASIDE 20,000 CALIFORNIA MAIL BALLOTS

"If you take that population, and you expand it out to include all the people that are here illegally that we haven't had contact with, just my estimation is that it's going to be in the thousands," Floyd said. 

Federal officials said many green card holders were registered to vote without their knowledge through Washington’s Motor Voter program, which integrates voter registration into the state’s Department of Licensing.

"We have heard from green card holders who were registered against their knowledge via the Washington Motor Voter program. Then they receive a ballot in the mail and assume they are legally registered — that simply is not the case," the notice said.

According to the Washington secretary of state’s website, eligible residents are automatically registered to vote only if they provide proof of U.S. citizenship during a driver’s license or ID card registration process.

Floyd said investigators identified patterns they believe contributed to noncitizens being registered to vote.

According to the DOJ notice, federal officials are asking Washington state to set aside ballots cast by the identified individuals until their citizenship status can otherwise be confirmed.

"Washington is now on notice that noncitizens are voting. It is up to the state to take action to make sure that they are not allowing these noncitizens to vote illegally," the notice said.   

The move builds on DOJ's legal action against California, where federal officials are seeking to set aside mail-in ballots from roughly 20,000 voters they allege are likely noncitizens while their citizenship status is verified.

In response, the California secretary of state’s office said last week that its review "found significant accuracy problems with their sweeping claims."

"At best, this litigation is a reckless political stunt. At worst, it threatens to disenfranchise thousands of Californians this election. Plaintiff’s sole claim—that a federal criminal prohibition on individual noncitizen voting preempts large swaths of California’s election administration—borders on the absurd. The relief Plaintiff seeks is as unlawful as it is untenable," the statement said. 

Officials warned that voting as a noncitizen can have serious consequences for those seeking to become U.S. citizens. Potential criminal charges include making false statements in a naturalization application, and some individuals could also face charges for fraudulent voter registration.

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital numerous illegal aliens had also admitted to unlawfully registering to vote or casting ballots in U.S. elections.

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Of the dozens of suspects arrested, at least 18 had voted in a federal election. 

The individuals were from a range of countries, including Mexico, Somalia, Honduras, Guyana, Cuba, Germany, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Vietnam, El Salvador, Cambodia, Guatemala, Portugal and Italy.

Many also faced charges for numerous alleged crimes, including counterfeiting, fraud, kidnapping, DUI, sexual offenses, assault with a dangerous weapon, drug possession and burglary.