Iran could move shadow war in a dangerous direction, experts warn on back of two possible terror attacks
The FlyDubai stabbing is contributing to concerns that Iran could increase covert and deniable attacks as the conflict with the United States and Israel drags on. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, meanwhile, said there are “strong indications” Iran played a role in a suspected terror plot near RAF Fairford, the British air base used by U.S. forces during operations against Iran. Counterterrorism police have since arrested a dual UK-Iranian national on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts. The two suspected attacks are raising questions over whether Iran’s war strategy is shifting, but experts caution not to treat the incidents as equally indicative of Iranian involvement — or evidence yet that Tehran has changed its tactics. FLYDUBAI PILOT SHOWED WORLD ‘THE HIGHEST FORM OF COURAGE,’ INDIA’S PM SAYS President Donald Trump said early information he has received points to a possible Iranian connection to the attack aboard an Israel-bound FlyDubai flight, where a co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain and attempted to crash the aircraft with more than 180 people aboard. The United Arab Emirates and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have described the FlyDubai incident as terrorism, but UAE authorities have not publicly attributed the attack to Iran. Neither investigation has publicly established that the Iranian government directed the attacks, and Iran has denied involvement in the Fairford case. Daniel Byman, director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats and Terrorism Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the Fairford case fits more closely with Iran’s recent use of hired operatives and other intermediaries. “The attack on the airbase in the United Kingdom does fit more recent patterns,” Byman told Fox News Digital, while stressing how much remains unknown about the investigation. RUBIO CONFIRMS ‘FOREIGN ACTOR’ INVOLVED IN UK TERROR PLOT The FlyDubai attack would be a more significant departure. “That is quite different, and that is something that Iran in the past, at least we haven’t seen Iran do,” Byman said. “It is plausible to me that Iran is involved, but that seems like much more of a stretch based on Iran’s traditional way of operating.” But the uncertainty surrounding the attacks also illustrates part of the appeal of the broader strategy Iran has spent decades developing: using proxies, covert operatives, criminal networks and other intermediaries to threaten adversaries far beyond its borders while making Tehran’s own role more difficult to establish. Matthew Levitt, a former Treasury and FBI counterterrorism official who now directs the Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute, said Iran has increasingly sought to put more distance between itself and the people carrying out overseas operations. “Typically Iran does not admit that it’s involved in these types of attacks because it wants reasonable deniability,” Levitt said. “There are several advantages for Iran to using terrorism,” Byman said. “One is that there is often a degree of deniability.” “Terrorism gives Iran a lot more reach,” he added. Levitt, however, put the distinction with conventional warfare more bluntly. “If Iran shoots a drone or a missile at you, you know where it came from and you know where to shoot back,” he said. “But if Iran uses proxies, and recruits people and does things in a covert manner, it might not be so easy to point a finger back at Iran or to know exactly who did it.” That capability matters in part because Iran does not have the conventional military strength to match the United States and its allies directly, Levitt said. “They just don’t have the capability to fight soldier to soldier, airplane to airplane in an all-out kinetic war, but they’re extremely effective at asymmetric warfare, at covert terrorist activity, if that’s what this proves to be,” he said. UK AIRBASE TERROR SUSPECTS BEING RELEASED ON BAIL AS IRAN DENIES CONNECTION Recent U.S. prosecutions have shown how far that playbook can extend. Federal cases have accused Iranian operatives of seeking to recruit hitmen to kill U.S. officials and using Eastern European organized crime figures in a murder-for-hire plot targeting Iranian-American journalist and dissident Masih Alinejad in New York. Those operations relied on the same basic advantage: Tehran could pursue targets overseas without launching a conventional attack that immediately identified Iran as the aggressor. The question now is whether the current conflict gives Iran reason to push that strategy further. Levitt said Tehran could pursue overseas plots in an effort to pressure Western governments to end the conflict by demonstrating that Iran can impose costs far beyond the conventional battlefield. And if Fairford and FlyDubai are ultimately tied to Tehran, he said, they would stand out because they involve harder targets and potentially more ambitious tactics than the assassinations, kidnappings, shootings and smaller-scale bombings Iran has more commonly pursued overseas. “Perhaps this is the new normal, and Iran wants to demonstrate that it can exact a higher cost,” Levitt said. Byman, however, pointed to several reasons Tehran could exercise restraint. Iran already has other ways to pressure Washington and its allies, while a terrorist attack against Americans could backfire by uniting U.S. public opinion behind further escalation against Tehran, he said. U.S. and Israeli strikes against senior Iranian intelligence and security officials may also have disrupted some of the networks Tehran would need for overseas operations. “If Iran wants to go further, then terrorism does become more of an option,” Byman said.
Supreme Court kicks off new term with fresh questions over its legitimacy and its future
The Supreme Court begins its new term Monday, with renewed public and political concern over their recent rulings, the justices’ personal safety and even their future makeup. Chief Justice John Roberts, surrounded by his eight colleagues, will call the court into public session precisely at 10 a.m. EDT with a pair of scheduled oral arguments. Their first case from the bench will be a major one: a federal-state environmental dispute over holding oil and gas companies liable for climate change harms. Other high-profile appeals are already on the argument docket: NEWSOM PROMISES NEW LEGAL FIGHT AFTER TRUMP GETS SUPREME COURT VICTORY ON MAIL-IN VOTING But the Supreme Court under Roberts’ leadership continues to struggle against negative public attitudes over their reputation as a non-political actor upholding the law and Constitution. “The chief justice is in a tough position in that he is an institutionalist and a traditionalist at a time in our nation’s history where a lot of institutions and traditions have come under pressure like they haven’t in a long time,” said Thomas Dupree, a leading appellate attorney and former top Justice Department official. “And so in many ways, he is trying to kind of buck a lot of the tide right now by really insisting and hewing to these traditions of the institutions that have governed Washington for a long time.” The new term will feature more constitutional disputes over the power of the executive, with current or anticipated fights over immigration, federal bureaucracy reforms and possibly the White House ballroom and Kennedy Center construction projects. And if recent history is any predictor, the justices are likely to offer a mixed, nuanced series of rulings both for and against President Donald Trump’s ambitious agenda. The last term saw him and his allies lose over sweeping reciprocal tariffs, birthright citizenship and removal of Federal Reserve governors; but prevail on various immigration policies, mid-decade redistricting and political gerrymandering, and federal campaign spending. For the most part, the 6-3 conservative majority has greenlighted the administration’s power, especially in a series of preliminary decisions from its so-called “shadow docket” that allow Trump to move ahead – for now – on a range of issues. The Trump Justice Department has won over 70-percent of its emergency cases before the Supreme Court since 2025 – applications that ask a challenged executive policy be enforced temporarily, while the larger issues are further litigated in the lower courts. Those included new federal rules for verifying a voter’s citizenship status ahead of the November midterms; and approval for continued construction of the ballroom. Decisions in Trump’s second term have him and Republican lawmakers sharply criticizing their judicial losses on one hand, and Democratic leaders sounding the alarm when their side does not prevail. The judiciary has always weathered such criticism, but the personal tone of the attacks has only increased, as have the calls for sweeping accountability. Those on the right have demanded impeaching federal judges who block White House policies, while those on the left have renewed calls for drastic changes to the court’s structure. The president himself amped up the tensions dramatically, after losing a key decision over federal efforts to restrict mail ballots for the midterm elections. In a wild Truth Social post, he took aim at the three members he appointed to the bench – Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. “These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves,” wrote Trump after the September 14 ruling, adding, “The Court’s inability and unwillingness to do the right thing for our Country will go down, in a very negative way, in the annals of History.” Those on the left have their own beefs. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told the National Association of Black Journalists that “dramatic Supreme Court reform is necessary…there’s a variety of different options that are on the table and I think that we can’t foreclose any single one of them.” As the midterms approach, angry and energized Democrats hoping to take control of the House and maybe the Senate have tried to rally the base during the midterm races. Among their proposals are renewed calls for 18-year term limits for the justices, expanding the number on the bench to 13 or more from the current nine and an independently-enforced code of ethics. All this has added to increasing public perception the high court is motivated by something other than its constitutional obligations. A Washington Post/Ipsos poll in July found 46-percent of Americans think the justices rule on Trump administration policies based on their political views, while just 25 percent see the court as ruling based on the law. Gallup’s July poll showed the Supreme Court’s job approval slumped to a record low of 33 percent and a record high 61-percent disapproval, driven by a steep drop in Republicans’ backing of the court since last year. And the most-recent Fox News survey revealed a 38-percent public job approval for the court, and a record high 45-percent believing the justices are too conservative. That was up from 34-percent in 2022, and a low of 16-percent in 2015 and 2010. Numbers aside, the amplified partisan rhetoric is having real-world consequences. Several federal judges have told Fox News that budget shortfalls have compromised their physical security, at a time when they say threats against members of the bench have become more concerning. The U-S Marshals report 370 threats made to federal judges as of July 1, a 31-percent year-over-year increase. “Extraordinary safety measures” have been taken in some cases by federal law enforcement, one federal judge told Fox News, without offering details. While “criticism is fair game, intimidation is a different thing entirely,” Justice Elena Kagan told a congressional panel in July. “When political figures of any stripe are trying to intimidate judges and justices to do things that they like rather than the things that they don’t, that’s where we really have crossed a
Southern Baptist president calls on pastors to ‘step up’ ahead of midterm elections
Southern Baptist Convention President and Pastor Willy Rice called on pastors across the country to “step up” into the political process as midterm elections near. While some Christian leaders advise against wading into politics from the pulpit, Rice argues pastors have long played a key role in American politics. Members of the theological and political left have shown no hesitance to mix religion with their politics and evangelicals should not either, he says. DETROIT PASTOR SAYS PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATES ARE TRYING TO ‘VIRTUE-SIGNAL’ TO CHRISTIAN VOTERS “Should pastors engage in the political process? They absolutely should. Because there are many political issues that are, at their heart, theological issues and moral issues that strike at the very center of what we believe to be true and what we believe people need to know in order to flourish personally and as a culture.” “I think the pastors need to step up. I think throughout American history, pastors have had a strong voice at key moments in American political history,” Rice said. ‘JESUS WAS A RADICAL’: PROGRESSIVES INVOKE CHRIST TO SELL LEFT-WING AGENDA ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL Rice lamented that many Christians have been encouraged in recent decades, from both external and internal forces, to “be more quiet” and “withdraw from the political process.” “Now, the interesting thing is that those on the theological and political left did not [withdraw], and they had no intention of doing so. And in fact, statistics show that people on the political and theological left are actually more politically engaged than those on the right,” Rice said. “So what you had was, for a period of time, I felt like you had an almost a vacuum that kind of developed, a silence that was there with a lack of Christian leaders leaning in.” PRO-LIFE GROUP RAMPS UP NC GROUND GAME AS REPORT FINDS FED ABORTION MESSAGE GIVES GOP CANDIDATE BIGGEST BOOST Rice highlighted abortion, the definition of marriage, gender identity and immigration as issues where Christians should feel compelled to vote in a certain way. “These issues are deeply, profoundly theological issues. They go back to the creation; they go back to Genesis 1 and 2. They go back to our understanding of what it means to be a human being, and our understanding of what God’s creative purpose is for us as human beings,” he said. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FORCED A FALSE CHOICE ON AMERICANS ABOUT IMMIGRATION Rice argued that Christians also face “manipulative” arguments when it comes to immigration. He admits that the immigration issue does present a “challenge” for Christians but argues there is nothing wrong with enforcing America’s laws. “There is a value of compassion, a value of wanting to care for the least of these people who are poor and oppressed and wanting to help,” Rice said, noting that Christians do more of that charity than any other group in the U.S. FEDERAL APPEALS COURT COMPARES TRUMP MIGRANT DETENTION POLICY TO JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNMENT “But there is also the importance of the rule of law,” he continued. “The protection of people who are in this country. And what you’ve had is sometimes a very cynical use by some people in power of trying to manipulate Christians by saying, since you must demonstrate compassion, therefore you must embrace open immigration, or you must not insist on the enforcement of the immigration laws.” “That is very, very manipulative. No one would say that because you love people or care for people, you should leave the doors of your house unlocked, or you should open up the jail cells in your own community,” he said.
How an Uzbek truck driver’s fatal crash exposed troubling fraud trend in Middle America: ‘Chameleon carriers’
CINCINNATI, OH – A young man killed by an Uzbek truck driver earlier this year in Ohio, along with several instances of illegal immigrant truck drivers involved in fatal crashes, has sparked a larger conversation in southwest Ohio about fraud, crime, immigration and how gaps in trucking industry oversight are putting Americans at risk. Tobias “Toby” Forsythe, a 21-year-old goalkeeper from Ohio on the University of Massachusetts Lowell men’s soccer team, was killed July 5 when authorities say a semi-truck driven by 42-year-old Uzbek national Bekhzod Asrarov, who entered the country under the Biden administration’s diversity visa lottery program, rear-ended Forsythe’s Honda Accord on Interstate 71 in Madison County, Ohio. It was later determined, according to court documents, that Asrarov could not speak or understand English well enough to communicate with responding state troopers without the use of Google Translate, despite holding an Ohio commercial driver’s license, and that he allegedly removed a dashboard camera from his truck after the fatal crash in an effort to conceal or destroy evidence. “We cannot let truckers like Asrarov, who can’t read our road signs or speak to law enforcement, drive 80,000-pound rigs on America’s highways,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X after the crash. IMMIGRANT TRUCK DRIVER ADMITTED TO US UNDER BIDEN ALLEGEDLY KILLS UMASS SOCCER STAR, SPOKE NO ENGLISH In southwest Ohio, a researcher known as Nodawolf has been sounding the alarm to his growing follower count about a vast network of trucking companies, many of them owned or operated by Uzbek nationals, that have popped up in communities like Loveland, Middletown, and Maineville, where Asrarov resides, in recent years and could be contributing to the unsafe practices that took the life of Forsythe, and many others across the country. Nodawolf, who Fox News Digital granted anonymity due to the death threats he’s received from his online reporting, said his research has focused on what he describes as an interconnected network of Uzbek-linked trucking companies in southwest Ohio, including companies that have donated money toward construction of a local Islamic center, according to the center’s own website. “All of them have English violations and have manipulated ELDs,” Nodawolf said, referring to electronic logging devices that track a trucker’s driving hours and are intended to enforce federal limits on how long drivers can stay behind the wheel. The Islamic Center, located in Maineville, told Fox News Digital that a “charitable contribution or participation in a community fundraising activity, by itself, should not be interpreted as evidence of an ownership, employment, contractual, commercial, or other business relationship with the Islamic Center or its leadership.” A Fox News Digital review identified hundreds of trucking companies and other trucking entities registered in Maineville and surrounding southwest Ohio communities, including dozens that were registered in recent years. A separate review of companies identified as connected to the local Uzbek community found serious FMCSA safety violations, including drivers cited for failing English-proficiency requirements and other federal trucking violations. TRUMP ADMIN TRUCKING CRACKDOWN LANDS 51 IMMIGRATION DETENTIONS, 36 ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY VIOLATIONS “This really concerns me, you know, as a father,” Nodawolf told Fox News Digital. “I mean, it’s clearly obvious that they either don’t understand our laws, they don’t care about our laws, or they know our laws and they’re taking advantage of it.” Nodawolf has reported on Uzbek trucking networks communicating on the social media platform Telegram. One of those Telegram channels, named “UzbegimAmerica,” has routinely mentioned the Uzbek community in Maineville. Court documents show the owner of that channel, Farkhod Faiziev, is a suspected illegal immigrant from Uzbekistan. The Trump administration has made significant progress on the issue of removing foreign truck drivers who pose a danger being removed from the road – including a recent multi-agency operation in Arizona’s Yuma Sector, which led to the arrest of 95 illegal alien truck drivers earlier this month – striking at the heart of human and drug smuggling operations at the U.S. southern border. The Departments of Homeland Security, Transportation and Justice recently announced a coordinated crackdown on trucking and CDL fraud targeting fraudulent licensing, unauthorized employment, identity-document fraud, shell companies and other criminal activity. The effort includes inspections at more than 200 driving schools across 23 states, investigations based on more than 1,000 leads, enforcement operations targeting illegal immigrants with commercial licenses and a new multi-state DOJ task force focused on trucking-related fraud and roadway safety. A trucking-industry veteran with decades of experience who spoke to Fox News Digital under the condition of anonymity for his safety described a developing fraud scheme popular with immigrant communities known as “chameleon carriers”, a network of trucking companies that appear separate on paper but, he said, share the same drivers, trucks and operations. The arrangement starts when operators establish one company that is “quote-unquote legitimate,” he said, then create additional carriers and authorities while using the same underlying assets across them. ILLEGAL TRUCKER CASES FUEL GOP PUSH TO CRACK DOWN ON CDL MILLS AS DEMS LARGELY SILENT The point, the industry expert said, is to “spread out their safety liability across multiple companies.” Rather than allowing inspections and violations to pile up under one carrier, he said, the operation can distribute them among multiple motor-carrier authorities. “If they have 10 inspections and 10 violations across 10 different companies, that doesn’t hurt the safety rating as much,” he said. “But if it was one company that had 10 inspections and 10 violations, that one company is going to get hammered.” The separate companies can also serve as a contingency plan, he said. If one carrier is shut down, loses insurance or becomes too damaged by safety problems, “they’re able to immediately move all of the equipment and drivers and everything under one of the different companies,” the industry veteran said. “Their operation never stops. There’s no way to shut them down.” He further alleged the structure can facilitate cargo theft, with a company disappearing after obtaining a high-value shipment while the broader network continues operating through its remaining
Trump touts ‘golden age’ at Ohio rally, urges voters to deliver GOP midterm wins
President Donald Trump swept into Ohio Saturday night promoting what he calls a new “golden age” for America, pointing to billions of dollars in investment and new jobs in the Buckeye State as he urged voters to help keep Republicans in power in November. For the third time in as many nights, Trump rallied supporters outside Dayton for Republicans Sen. Jon Husted and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, casting the midterms as a chance to extend the economic and political gains he said the GOP has delivered since his return to the White House. And with his own name absent from the ballot, Trump gave voters gathered a simple instruction. TRUMP CAMPAIGN INSIDER REVEALS STRATEGY BEHIND MIDTERM BLITZ THAT WHITE HOUSE HOPES PAYS OFF BIG “Just pretend that I’m running,” Trump said. “When I run, we win.” Trump, who carried Ohio in all three of his presidential campaigns, later echoed the same message as he sought to rally his political coalition behind Republicans fighting to maintain control of Congress. “If you don’t mind, please pretend that I’m on the ballot,” Trump said. “And you need to turn out for a midterm victory.” The president used much of the rally to make an economic case for the Republican ticket, declaring Ohio is “booming” as he hailed investments he credited to both his trade and tariff policies. Trump pointed to a $400 million Stellantis investment in Toledo and an $850 million Electra aerospace investment near Springfield. Weaving in an anecdote about his daily aspirin habit, the president also featured Bayer’s plans for a $2.2 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing campus near Columbus, which the company says will support approximately 600 permanent jobs and 1,500 construction jobs. “Your state is booming,” Trump told the gathered crowd. “Every state is booming.” FIRST DATA CENTER BILL CLEARS HOUSE AS BOTH PARTIES SCRAMBLE FOR ANSWERS ON AFFORDABILITY Trump credited the investments to his tariff agenda, arguing the U.S. is finally leveling the playing field after years of other countries using tariffs against American products while giving companies a powerful incentive to build at home. The president also threw his support behind Husted’s Ratepayer Protection Act, legislation aimed at shielding consumers from additional electricity costs associated with data centers. “We want them,” Trump said of data centers. “There’s so much money to be made for Ohio. You can’t just turn them off. They’ll go to China.” Husted brought the legislation to the Senate floor days before the rally, where it failed to advance. President Trump pledged to sign it if Congress can send it to his desk. TRUMP DEFENDS $5,000 DIVIDEND PROPOSAL, PRAISES ‘BEAUTIFUL’ TARIFFS ON ‘INGRAHAM ANGLE’ “I will sign this Ratepayer Protection Act into law immediately,” Trump said. Trump broadened his victory lap from Ohio to the country as a whole, hailing stock market records, manufacturing growth, investment and employment while contrasting his own administration’s economic record with former President Joe Biden’s. “Our nation is doing better now than ever before,” Trump said. He also praised GOP-backed tax provisions, including no tax on tips and overtime, and reiterated his previously announced proposal for $5,000 payments to adult Americans if Republicans retain the House and Senate. Trump then shifted to immigration and Springfield, Ohio, dedicating his recitation of the poem “The Snake” to the city that became a national flashpoint during the 2024 presidential campaign over an influx of Haitian nationals into the community. “I dedicate this to Springfield, Ohio,” Trump said. “They went through hell.” After finishing the poem, which the president has long admired as an immigration allegory, he told the crowd, “That’s what happened at our border,” before hailing his administration’s immigration crackdown. The president also briefly touched on Venezuela, claiming the U.S. had more than recouped the costs of its military operation against former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro through the country’s vast oil resources. “We paid for the cost of the war many, many times over,” Trump said. “We’re making a fortune with it.” Trump repeatedly weaved the election 31 days away into his remarks, urging Ohioans to support Husted, Ramaswamy and Republican congressional candidates. He also pitched Ohio as a potential home for the U.S. National Space Academy, citing both the state’s aviation history and the Wright brothers. “If we win the midterms, Ohio will be very, very strongly considered for this,” Trump said. “I really want you to go out and vote again for John Husted and for Vivek.”
Trump drops Republican Senator’s phone number in social post over fury on stalled bill
President Donald Trump appeared to share the personal cell phone number of Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on Truth Social amid his push to pass a bill which would end daylight savings time. Trump called out Cotton, who he describes as “a friend,” for stopping the “Sunshine Protection Act” from going to a vote last October. “For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it’s very easy to do, it only takes one! It should pass overwhelmingly, in a Bipartisan fashion,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “So, everyone in Arkansas, a State I love, and won 3 times, the last by 34 points, tell Tom to, GET IT DONE!” TRUMP URGES SENATE TO PASS BILL MAKING DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME PERMANENT AFTER OVERWHELMING HOUSE VOTE Trump doubled down on his pressure campaign Saturday while speaking with reporters at the White House before boarding Marine One for a trip to Ohio, arguing that Americans are fed up with changing their clocks twice a year. “We want to get away from this ridiculous way and custom of, every twice a year, turning your clocks back, turning your clocks forward, being late for dinner, being late for very important meetings,” Trump said. “It’s ridiculous.” Trump said Americans want more daylight in the evening and argued the twice-yearly time change is costly and disruptive. “People want to have light in the evening,” Trump said. “But really, what they want more than that, more than that by a lot, they don’t want to have to go around changing clocks.” HOUSE PASSES DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME REFORM AS TRUMP SIGNALS SUPPORT FOR ENDING CLOCK CHANGE At the end of his post, Trump prompted Arkansas voters to call Cotton’s number, which he included. Fox News Digital called the phone number associated with the Dardanelle, Arkansas, area code but did not reach Cotton. The Truth Social post from Trump comes as the Senate is out of session until Nov. 3 and unable to vote on the bill until after the midterm elections. The House passed its version of the bill in July by 308–117, garnering bipartisan support. The House bill was referred to a Senate committee, but it hasn’t been touched. Trump has been a leading advocate of ending the twice-yearly clock change, arguing that it would help “decrease Robbery and Murder Rates, Reduce Car Accidents (especially those involving Pedestrians!), Lower Risk for Cardiac Issues, Stroke, and Seasonal Depression,” among a laundry list of other benefits of having an extra hour of daylight in the evening. But the bill’s failure to pass despite bipartisan support marks another setback for Trump, who has made the SAVE America Act a priority but has been unable to get it signed into law. TRUMP FACES REPUBLICAN REBELLION OVER DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME AS SENATE BILL NEARS DEAD END After Trump called out Cotton for rejecting a bipartisan unanimous consent made by Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., to move the Senate bill last Fall, the Arkansas senator doubled down on his support for daylight savings time. “No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter,” Cotton psoted on X. “Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first.” This isn’t the first time Trump has publicly disclosed a lawmaker’s cellphone number. In 2015, while campaigning for president, Trump shared the number of then-Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., at a rally in South Carolina. The move came after Graham called Trump a “jackass” on CBS that morning. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
Tennessee prison chief resigns after failed execution as former US attorney tapped to lead independent review
The head of Tennessee’s prison system is resigning after the state’s failed lethal injection of convicted murderer Christa Pike left her hospitalized and on a ventilator. Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada will step down this month, Gov. Bill Lee said Saturday. In a statement distributed by the governor’s office, Strada said stepping aside was “in the best interest of Tennesseans” while an independent review examines what went wrong during the botched execution. “I believe this review is entirely appropriate and necessary, and I look forward to doing everything I can to help determine exactly what occurred,” Strada said. DEATH ROW INMATE UNCONSCIOUS ON VENTILATOR AFTER BOTCHED EXECUTION FOR TEEN’S KILLING: ATTORNEYS At Lee’s request, the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office has retained former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to conduct an independent review of the correction department’s actions in carrying out Pike’s court-ordered sentence, the state announced Saturday. The review will examine the state Department of Correction’s actions in carrying out Pike’s court-ordered sentence, including whether the state’s execution protocol was followed and whether additional recommendations are needed. Lee also called off the remaining execution scheduled in Tennessee this year pending completion of the review. Stanton previously conducted an independent review of Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol in 2022. His work prompted the state and Attorney General’s Office to substantially rewrite the protocol before executions resumed. Lee said Strada served with integrity, adding that he appreciates his “willingness to put the interests of Tennesseans first during this difficult moment.” “I have accepted his decision to step down and am grateful for his commitment to ensuring a smooth leadership transition,” Lee said. CHRISTA PIKE’S BOTCHED LETHAL INJECTION TAKES FOCUS OFF VICTIM, JEOPARDIZES EXECUTION: FORMER POLICE CHIEF Pike, 50, was injected with two doses of pentobarbital on Wednesday night, and prison officials used at least seven needles while trying to find a vein. Pike was heard crying, whimpering, and breathing loudly during the execution, according to a Friday court filing from her lawyers. She was taken to the hospital, where she had to be intubated and put on a ventilator, her lawyers said. In a statement obtained by The Associated Press, Pike’s four-person legal team celebrated the departure of Strada but said it wasn’t enough. “What happened to her Wednesday reflects a systemic failure that goes far beyond any one person,” they said. “We hope the governor’s call for a full, independent review will expose the profound problems within Tennessee’s entire death penalty system.” Her lawyers said in the court filing that the prison staff did not correctly place the IV lines. They also claimed staff failed to realize that one of Pike’s veins burst, leading to at least some of the pentobarbital entering her body. DEATH ROW INMATE TONY CARRUTHERS WON’T FACE EXECUTION FOR AT LEAST A YEAR AFTER IV LINE FAILURE IN TENNESSEE Strada became commissioner of Tennessee’s correction department in January 2023 after serving as deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections. In late 2024, he announced that Tennessee would solely use pentobarbital as its execution drug. Four people have been executed in Tennessee since last year, according to the department. On the evening of Jan. 12, 1995, Christa Pike, then 18, lured 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer into a wooded area near the University of Tennessee’s agricultural campus. Pike and her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, then spent 30 minutes torturing Slemmer, while 18-year-old Shadolla Peterson served as a lookout. According to her confession to authorities, Pike killed Slemmer because she believed she was interested in her boyfriend romantically. Even though Shipp directly participated in the murder, he was ineligible for the death penalty because he was 17 at the time. He was sentenced to life in prison with parole, which he has not yet received. Peterson, who cooperated with investigators and testified against Pike and Shipp, was given 460 days in jail after pleading guilty to being an accessory. Pike was the only one in the case sentenced to death and became one of the youngest women to be sent to death row. She would have been the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Firebrand GOP rep: Democrats side with Iran ‘simply because they hate’ Trump
MAGA firebrand Congressman Randy Fine, R-Fla., warned the U.S. must stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons as he cautioned America is losing the battle against radical Islam. In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News Digital, he weighed in on the debate over whether Rep. Ilhan Omar D-Minn., should be deported after the recent announcement by Tom Homan that the Department of Homeland Security was investigating the congresswoman. “If she engaged in immigration fraud, she should be deported. And by the way, as should anyone who engaged in immigration fraud. And look, the woman is enmeshed. She’s bathed in fraud. I think the best example that we know is fraud is when she said she made 30 million dollars, which she either did and then lied about it and said she didn’t make it, or she made it up in the first place,” he claimed. FROM CAMPUS RADICALS TO BEIJING’S AI SABOTAGE: REP. RANDY FINE SAYS ‘US FIGHTING TO SAVE WESTERN CIVILIZATION’ “I mean, this is someone whose community that she comes from engages in wholesale welfare fraud. Some of her relatives had been involved in that as well, and if she engaged in immigration fraud she should be denaturalized. She should be deported back to her home country of Somalia.” A request sent to Omar’s office for reaction to Fine’s accusations was not returned by time of publication. Fine said that the battle against political correctness is directly tied to mainstream Islam. “Well, I don’t know that we’re winning. I think we’re losing. And you can see it in the unbelievable fear that people have about talking about mainstream Islam. I saw a video today about a mosque in Texas that [is] literally showing the erasing of a church and the building of a mosque. They are openly fundraising on the premise that they will eliminate Christianity in this country. “And people are absolutely petrified to speak the truth about it. That is a battle we are losing. And if we’re not willing to tell the truth about mainstream Islam, we’re done. You can see what has happened in the United Islamic Kingdom. That will happen to America if we are unwilling to deal with this problem,” he said. “I’m not surprised because when they stood up, the Iranians killed an estimated 100,000 of them. People are afraid. They don’t have weapons. They don’t have access to the internet to learn about what is going on.” MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD-LINKED NETWORKS EMBEDDED ACROSS CANADIAN INSTITUTIONS, NEW REPORT ALLEGES He continued, “And I think they’re hoping that the American pressure, both military and economic, will cause the regime to either restructure or collapse. I certainly would like to see them stand up for themselves and overthrow the mainstream Muslim religious leaders that are in charge there.” Following the IRGC’s recent call to the American electorate to oppose Donald Trump in the midterm elections, Fine said that the move has the potential to impact the ballot box. “Well, I hope it does. Look, it’s been clear to me, based on my time in Congress, that the Democrats are on the side of Iran, and it’s simply because they hate Donald Trump. “What’s extraordinary about it is the same Democrats who called for an overthrow of the mainstream Muslim religious leaders who run Iran all of a sudden got upset when Donald Trump did something about it. And I personally believe the conflict would have been over a long time ago if it wasn’t for Democrats supporting the enemy,” he said. “See, the mainstream Muslim religious leaders in Iran can see that Democrats aren’t on board. And they say, ‘hey, maybe we can wait out Donald Trump and the Republicans and get that nuclear weapon that we want to use in the United States.’ So, I’m not surprised.” He added, “I think we need to make sure people understand that Muslim terrorists in Iran have endorsed the Democratic Party. That’s who you’re voting for. You’re voting it for the people supported by Muslim terrorists if you vote Democrat.” Despite strong support for Trump’s military engagement in Iran, Fine does not believe that regime overthrow is an imperative. TURKEY’S NATO ROLE UNDER SCRUTINY AMID NEW REPORT ON HAMAS, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD TIES “I don’t think it should be an explicit goal of American foreign policy. I think it probably happens as a result. But I’m an America First guy. And if crazy people want to run Iran, that’s not America’s problem unless they threaten America. And that’s what they have done.” He said, “For 47 years, the mainstream Muslim religious leaders who’ve run Iran have said ‘death to America.’ They’ve killed thousands of Americans. They’re trying to build missiles that can reach America. They’re trying to build a nuclear weapon that can reach America, so stopping that is in our interest.” He added, “But if they said, ‘look America’s our friend, we’re going to leave you alone’ well then it’s not an America First problem anymore. We’re not the world’s policeman, but we have to look out for America’s interests and making sure Iran can’t nuke us: that’s about as America First as it gets.” However, given the prospect of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, Fine’s answer modulates. “I mean, the answer is they can’t have a nuclear weapon. And by the way, we had explicit intelligence that they were getting close. And so we did something about it. And I absolutely support that.” Fine said,”The most important thing about the Iran conflict that I tell people, is Iran was spending tons of money to build a missile that could go thousands and thousands and thousands of miles. They already had missiles that could make it to Israel. They had all the missiles they wanted that could hit Israel, as we’ve seen. They had missiles that could hit Europe, as we’ve also seen.” He concluded,”You know where they didn’t have a missile that could hit? The United States of America, which is why they were focused
Springsteen, other stars share stage with hardcore leftist groups at music fest
As rapper Macklemore draws controversy for his activism against Israel, rock stars Bruce Springsteen and Dave Matthews headline a “Power To The People” music festival today that features a partisan network of nonprofits and activists mobilizing against President Donald Trump ahead of the midterms. Performers from a hip-hop band, The Neighborhood Kids, launched the festival with Macklemore’s anthem of protest, chanting “Free, free Palestine!” and continuing with a declaration about protesting from “the belly of the beast,” against the “funding of genocide” and the “terrorist organization” Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” It dedicated its performance to “the martyrs” railed against “Western imperialism.” The marketing language on the “Power To The People” festival’s official website speaks to activating “the power everyday human beings have” to “shape” the world “on, and beyond, Election Day.” The festival bears clear signs of alignment with the Democratic Party and spotlights the intersection of pop culture, nonprofit fundraising and partisan politics, revealing how celebrity drawing power translates into money, visibility and voters for organizations advancing a political agenda. In the chat, awaiting a livestream broadcast on the Democratic-aligned MS NOW, a user wrote: “BLUE WAVE,” symbolizing a anticipated Democratic Party victories in upcoming elections. Others peppered their comments with blue wave and blue heart emojis. By combining performances with voter registration, activist organizing and charitable donations, “Power To The People” offers participating groups a platform to turn fans’ enthusiasm for music into political engagement – and votes – ahead of the midterms. Festival organizers didn’t respond to a request for comment. With musical artists passionately urging festival goers to vote Democratic, the event raises questions about whether participating nonprofits cross the line from permissible voter engagement into partisan campaign intervention, which federal tax law prohibits for 501(c)(3) organizations. PARTY POOPERS’ FIGHT CARD: JANE FONDA, ‘NO KINGS,’ COMMUNISTS ROLL OUT RIVAL SPECTACLE TO TRUMP’S 250TH A “Freedom Village,” set up on the festival grounds of the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., outside the nation’s capital, features a roster of nonprofit organizations, including Indivisible, which is funded by billionaire George Soros, Third Act, the ACLU and other groups that have been at the heart of coordinating “No Kings,” “Tesla Takedown” and “Hands Off” protests against Trump over almost two years. Last year, Springsteen performed at a “No Kings” protest at the state capitol in St. Paul, Minn., organized by Indivisible and featuring anti-Trump activist Jane Fonda. He also headlined a “No Kings” event at the Target Center in Minneapolis. FIRST ON FOX: ‘NO KINGS’ PROTEST NETWORK BEHIND FIGHT AGAINST AI DATA CENTERS AND FLOCK CAMERAS Many of the festival’s performers and organizers bring a documented history of campaigning for Democrats and far-left activism. Festival organizer Tom Morello, guitarist of the band Rage Against the Machine, has called socialism a “necessity.” Opening the concert after the hip-hop group The Neighborhood Kids, Morello blasted the “fascists and the would-be dictators” and the “oligarchs,” symbolic references that protesters have used for almost two years of protests against Trump. According to an online fundraising form, the “Power To The People Festival Fund” is identified as a fiscally sponsored project of Catalyst Philanthropy Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 2024 in Nashville with $6.5 million in annual revenue, according to its latest tax filing. Springsteen endorsed the Democratic presidential ticket in 2024, declaring: “I’m supporting Kamala Harris for president and Tim Walz for vice president.” He also called Trump “the most dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime.” Artist Dave Matthews participated in the 2020 “I Will Vote” concert, which his official website promoted as supporting Biden, Harris and Democrats down the ballot. Earlier, Matthews backed socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, writing: “When it comes down to it, Bernie Sanders represents what I want from my government.” Artist and festival DJ Shepard Fairey created the iconic Obama “Hope” poster and the “Forward” image supporting Harris in 2024. “I believe VP Kamala Harris and her VP pick Tim Walz are our best chance to move forward,” Fairey wrote on his website. He offered the image for grassroots activism and linked readers to Head Count Inc., a nonprofit receiving proceeds from the festival, to “help fans register to vote and learn more about how to participate in upcoming elections.” Based in New York City, Head Count Inc. has about $14 million in revenues, according to its latest IRS tax filing. The other nonprofit receiving proceeds from the festival is VoteRiders, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., with $7.8 million in revenues, based on its last tax filing. The festival’s “community partners” include Ben & Jerry’s, the ice cream company whose co-founder Ben Cohen, a far-left activist, was a guest at the wedding of communist tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham and Jodie Evans, co-founder of CodePink, a fierce anti-Trump nonprofit that has received $1.33 million from Singham. Another community partner is Red Emma’s, a bookstore in Baltimore with a “Marxism, Socialism & Communism” tab on its website, selling t”Teachings of Karl Marx” by communist philosopher Vladimir Lenin, “Black Marxism” and “Flowers for Marx.” The political leanings extend to younger performers. Musician “Grandson,” whose real name is Jordan Benjamin, has described using his platform to advance climate advocacy, voter registration and youth empowerment through his XX Resistance Fund. In a September 2020 interview, he praised Biden’s policy platform and made his electoral preference explicit: “We should elect that dude.” At the festival, he blasted “the AI apocalypse” and sang from a trademark song celebrating the self-immolation of a U.S. service member, Aaron Bushnell, in 2024 at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C., protesting Israel’s military response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas. “Martyrdom is meditation, self-immolation!” the musician sang, bouncing on stage. At “Power to the People,” the concept of “solidarity” comes with a VIP upgrade. The festival pairs its message of collective action with a familiar concert-business model: tiered admission, exclusive viewing areas and premium hospitality. Fans can choose between “People’s Park” lawn admission, “People’s Pavilion” access and the “Solidarity Circle”
Newsom slaps 25% tax on private detention centers in sweeping pushback against key Trump policy
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill earlier this week that would impose a 25% tax on private detention centers, a policy that would apply to all the facilities that partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Golden State. “If we can’t kick out private facilities, we’ll go after their profits,” Newsom said in a press release. The move, which Newsom hailed as a way to push back against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and what he sees as the practice of privatizing federal enforcement, is raising concerns among immigration experts who believe the increased tax could force the government to explore alternative facilities less suited to housing detainees. It also poses questions about what would happen if all eight of ICE’s detention facilities chose to suspend their operations in California. CITIZENS BANK CUTS TIES WITH ICE PRISON CONTRACTORS AFTER MONTHS OF ACTIVIST PRESSURE That’s the view of Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow and an immigration expert with Advancing American Freedom, a conservative-leaning think tank. “It’s very clear that there’s only one purpose to this California gigantic tax increase, and that is to make sure that the federal government cannot find any private property owners, any private contractors in California that are willing to lease space to the federal government,” Spakovsky said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “The alternative for the federal government is to look at all the different federal properties that the government actually owns out there, over which neither Newsom or anybody else in California can impose any kind of tax, and see if any of those federal facilities can be converted to being a detention facility.” Spakovsky explained that could mean repurposing warehouses or office space. The newly minted law, AB 1633, is among 20 other bills that Newsom signed on Tuesday. In its current form, the 25% tax applies to the gross income of any private detention facility and applies to federal, state and local contract recipients. Revenue from the bill will go to a “Due Process for All Fund,” designated for immigration-related services, according to the bill’s language. Now that AB 1633 has been signed into law, it will go into effect on July 1, 2028. Alongside the bill, Newsom signed a handful of other restrictions. ICE EYES $20M PURCHASE OF ELECTRIC SHOCK GLOVES AS HOCHUL WARNS OF LEGAL CONSEQUENCES “We’re also banning the Orwellian practice of using shock gloves in enforcement activity as well as further protecting access to our court system,” Newsom said. “We may not be able to dictate federal immigration policy, but we can make clear that activities taking place in California will be subject to California law.” Despite Newsom’s framing, Spakovsky believes the governor will affect federal immigration law enforcement by limiting the overall space it has to operate. He pointed to reporting from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that details its detention needs. He explained that the government relies on private contractors, at least partially, to avoid the costs of building their own facilities. “If you look at that report, currently ICE has about enough detention space for about sixty-six thousand aliens. Okay, that’s the full size of the federal government’s detention capacity,” Spakovsky said. If an entire state’s private detention contractors decided the tax is too high, ICE’s overall capacity could shrink. California is home to eight ICE detention facilities, according to reporting from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). All of them are privately operated. The GEO Group, a corrections company, owns five facilities. Imperial Valley Gateway Center LLC, a local detention company, owns one more. Two more were purchased by DHS in July but are run by CoreCivic, a prison company, and have contracts through 2027 and 2029. Although the bill won’t go into effect until 2028, in Trump’s last year of his second term, Spakovsky believes that the government might begin evaluating where else it can find partnerships to meet its detention needs sooner rather than later. ICE MAKES NATIONWIDE ARRESTS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, MURDERERS, PEDOPHILES IN HOLIDAY BLITZ “Look, if I was the federal government and I couldn’t find enough federal properties in California to do this, I would then go into neighboring friendlier states that I could quickly transport aliens I’ve detained and I would lease and rent facilities there.” “I’d go to Arizona. I’d potentially go to Nevada. I’d go to other states where they might be eager for federal government money and the increased employment from private contractors hiring people to work on these facilities.” The office of Gavin Newsom did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.