‘Under siege’: Inside the growing radical Islam threat critics say is hiding in plain sight in deep red Texas
A shooting in Austin, Texas, over the weekend that left three innocent people dead and is being probed as a terror-related incident is putting a renewed focus on the potential spread of radical Islam in the United States, particularly in deep red Texas where concerns about Islamic fanaticism are hitting a fever pitch. The deceased shooting suspect, identified as Ndiaga Diagne, was a 53-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Senegal and lived in Pflugerville, Texas, after entering the country in 2000. Diagne was wearing a shirt that said “Property of Allah” and another shirt underneath that depicted the Iranian flag. The FBI said the shooting, which came shortly after the U.S. and Israel’s attack on Iran, was “potentially an act of terrorism.” The likelihood that Diagne was motivated by religious ideology, bolstered by a CBS News report on his social media presence, has prompted widespread alarm about the rise of radical Islam in Texas along with the heightened scrutiny of possible Iranian sleeper cells activating in the United States in response to recent U.S. military strikes on Iran. MAGA HARDLINER PUSHES BAN ON IMMIGRATION FROM ISLAMIC COUNTRIES, US ADVERSARIES IN WAKE OF TEXAS SHOOTING “Texas is currently under siege by Islamists who want to reshape our state and America as a whole,” Republican Congressman Chip Roy, running for attorney general in the state, told Fox News Digital. “The tragic shooting over the weekend in my home of Austin, Texas, is another example of why we need to pause immigration until the system is fixed. We need to stop bringing people into our country who want to kill us.” Social media have been littered with examples in recent days of accounts voicing concern about possible radicalization in mosques throughout Texas. “330 mosques in Texas… and an average of 2 new ones per month,” conservative influencer account End Wokeness posted on X. “These mosques are popping up all over the place,” a former Austin police officer told Fox News Digital. “I have no doubt in my mind that there’s radicalization going on in these mosques. There has to be.” While it is unclear what mosque Diagne attended in Texas, if any, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has released dozens of sermons and lectures from Texas and has published a compilation video of extremist imams in Texas from 2018-2025. The compilation video shows imams from cities across Texas praising Khamenei, leading “down with Israel” chants, saying “Muslims will kill the Jews,” promoting “jihad,” and highlighting what MEMRI describes as examples of radical ideology. TEXAS DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATES SIDESTEP ISLAMIC TERRORISM CONCERNS FOLLOWING DEADLY AUSTIN ATTACK “There is a great deal of troubling activity from many influence groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, pro-Hamas organizations, and Shi’ite organizations, who express open support for Iran and have pledged allegiance to Khamenei,” MEMRI Executive Director Steven Stalinsky told Fox News Digital. Last year, MEMRI highlighted the Islamic Center of Pflugerville, led by Mufti Umer Farooq Saleem, who hosted a children’s story night where he told attendees that Israel “is the illegal state of the Jews.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Islamic Center of Pflugerville for comment. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the Muslim man who rammed a white truck into a crowd full of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans last year and fired shots at police officers killing 14 and injuring more than 30, was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas. Jabbar lived in Houston before committing the crime, inside a mobile home just about a seven-minute walk from the Masjid Bilal Mosque and Darul Arqam Islamic school. Shortly after the attack, that mosque sent congregants a message to direct FBI inquiries to a special-interest group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and avoid speaking to the media. Fox News Digital reached out to Masjid Bilal for comment. Roughly 30 miles south of Masjid Bilal Mosque, the Islamic Education Center of Houston has drawn the attention of MEMRI, which posted a video showing children pledging allegiance to Khamenei in 2022, along with a 2019 video of young boys pledging allegiance to the now-deceased leader. Fox News Digital reached out to the Islamic Education Center of Houston for comment. Similar allegiance to the fundamentalist Iranian regime and hardline Shiite ideologues can be found all across the country and a Fox News Digital investigation published earlier this week analyzed hours of sermons and scores and found that precepts shaping Tehran’s worldview, from its clerics to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, are also being preached on American soil by proxies for Iran’s propaganda. “What we’re seeing is years of deliberate investment by the Islamic Republic inside the United States,” Andrew Ghalili, policy director at the National Union for Democracy in Iran, told Fox News Digital. TEXAS GOV GREG ABBOTT CALLS FOR CAIR TO BE STRIPPED OF NON-PROFIT STATUS “This is happening on American soil, and it’s just another way in which the regime poses a direct threat to the United States, this time not with missiles but through infiltration,” he said. Texas has been in the news in recent years as some residents push back on a proposed 400-acre community known as “EPIC City” that critics say is marketing itself as a Muslims-only community. Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton recently sued the developers of that project, alleging the defendants raised tens of millions of dollars while violating securities laws, misleading investors about the project’s nature and location, and misrepresenting how funds would be used. Concerns about potential Iran-linked sleeper cells are rising as the Department of Homeland Security remains unfunded and Tehran and its proxies threaten retaliation over U.S.-Israeli strikes that American officials say killed nearly 50 top Iranian leaders. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told FOX Business that sleeper cell threats need to be taken seriously after the Austin attack. “There are other details that will be coming out about the shooter and his connections to terrorism that will make clear [that] this was a lone wolf activity where this shooter intended to wreak havoc here in Texas, here in the United States, because of
DOJ signals it’s still digging into Biden autopen use despite reports probe fizzled
The Department of Justice indicated Thursday it is still investigating the legality of former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen despite reports that the probe has been shelved because prosecutors have been unable to identify any criminal charges to bring. Multiple sources told Fox News Digital that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office was still looking into the Biden White House’s autopen use after the New York Times reported that the inquiry was recently tabled. Pirro responded to the report in an X post on Thursday, saying the DOJ “cannot comment on ongoing investigations,” signaling the investigation remained open. TRUMP TO VOID ALL DOCUMENTS ALLEGEDLY SIGNED BY BIDEN VIA AUTOPEN, THREATENS PERJURY CHARGE The New York Times reported Wednesday that the “inquiry was quietly shelved” because the DOJ failed “to build a criminal case against Mr. Biden and his aides.” Jonathan Turley, George Washington University law professor and Fox News contributor, previously said legal challenges to Biden’s autopen use would likely be unsuccessful. “Many are suggesting that the Biden pardons may now be challenged in light of the disclosures of Biden’s use of an autopen,” Turley wrote on social media in 2025. “The chances of such challenges succeeding are vanishingly low. Presidents are allowed to use the autopen and courts will not presume a dead-hand conspiracy.” While other presidents have used autopens, including Trump — who has said he used it on “unimportant” documents — Biden’s became a flashpoint as scrutiny of his mental acuity grew during his tenure. BIDEN’S ‘AUTOPEN SIGNATURE’ APPEARS ON MOST OFFICIAL DOCS, RAISING CONCERNS OVER WHO CONTROLLED THE WH: REPORT The Republican-led House Oversight Committee investigated the matter, interviewing several former Biden staffers. The committee alleged in a report that Biden’s use of the autopen amounted to a scandal and recommended the DOJ investigate further. “As President Biden declined, his staff abused the autopen and a lax chain-of-command policy to effect executive actions that lack any documentation of whether they were in fact authorized,” the report read. Trump has been eager to see accountability over the autopen, claiming on social media that any staff who used the autopen on behalf of Biden did so “illegally” and threatening the former president with perjury charges. Biden has forcefully denied the allegations, saying in a statement last year he was in charge of decision-making. “Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency,” Biden said. “I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.” The committee had homed in on Biden’s pardons, including five controversial pardons for his family members in the final days of his presidency, saying there was a lack of “contemporaneous documentation” to corroborate that Biden directly ordered the pardons. The committee asked the DOJ to investigate “all of former President Biden’s executive actions, particularly clemency actions, to assess whether legal action must be taken to void any action that the former president did not, in fact, take himself.” TRUMP RENEWS ATTACKS ON BIDEN AUTOPEN PARDONS, CLAIMS HE ‘NEVER GAVE THE ORDERS’ Asked for comment, the White House deferred to the DOJ. DOJ headquarters declined to comment. Fox News’ David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
Paxton vows he’s ‘staying in this race’ even if Trump backs Cornyn in Texas GOP clash
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is making it clear: he’s staying in the race for the Republican Senate nomination even if President Donald Trump endorses Paxton’s rival, longtime Sen. John Cornyn. “I’m staying in this race,” Paxton said in an interview Wednesday evening. “I owe it to the people of Texas.” Trump says he’ll soon take sides in the costly and combustible GOP primary showdown between Cornyn and Paxton. “I will be making my Endorsement soon,” the president wrote in a social media post hours after Cornyn and Paxton advanced to a May 26 runoff election. TRUMP TEASES ENDORSEMENT COMING SOON IN CRUCIAL GOP CLASH The two heated rivals topped a crowded field of contenders in Tuesday’s primary, but since no one cleared the 50% threshold, the nomination race heads into overtime. Trump added that he “will be asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE!” A Republican operative in Trump’s political orbit told Fox News Digital it’s expected Cornyn will get the president’s endorsement. However, the president has been known to change his mind on candidates or even reverse endorsements. A second source in Trump’s political orbit told Fox News that while there’s still jockeying to influence the president’s decision, given Cornyn’s better-than-expected performance in the primary, Trump is expected to back the senator and prevent a messy and expensive runoff. CONTENTIOUS REPUBLICAN SENATE PRIMARY IN TEXAS HEADED INTO OVERTIME Asked if he would end his Senate bid if Trump backed Cornyn, Paxton, a MAGA firebrand and longtime Trump supporter and ally, said no in an interview with Real America’s Voice. “I’ve spent a year of my life campaigning against John Cornyn because John has not represented the people of Texas well,” Paxton argued. “He’s been against Trump in both of his elections, said he shouldn’t run last time. … The people of Texas, at least the Republicans, would like something different.” And a source in Paxton’s political orbit emphasized to Fox News Digital that the Texas attorney general isn’t getting out of the race. Asked about Paxton’s comments, Trump said Thursday morning in a Politico interview, “Well, that’s bad for him to say.” “That is bad for him. So maybe, maybe that leads me to go the other direction,” the president added. Cornyn or Paxton will face off in the general election against rising Democratic Party star state Rep. James Talarico, who topped progressive firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a vocal Trump critic, in the Democrats’ primary. Talarico is trying to become the first Democrat in nearly four decades to win a Senate election in right-leaning Texas. ‘OPEN BORDERS, TRUMP-HATING RADICAL’—REPUBLICANS QUICKLY POUNCE ON TALARICO The 2026 Senate showdown in Texas is one of a handful across the country that could determine if Republicans hold their majority in the chamber in the midterm elections. The GOP currently controls the chamber, 53–47. The Cornyn campaign and aligned super PACs spent nearly $100 million to run ads attacking Paxton and Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt — who came in third — with the senator charging in the closing weeks of the primary campaign that Democrats would flip the seat in the general election if Paxton was the GOP’s nominee. Cornyn, his allies and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the campaign arm of the Senate GOP, repeatedly pointed to the slew of scandals and legal problems that have battered Paxton over the past decade, as well as his ongoing messy divorce. “Over the next 12 weeks, Texas Republican primary voters will hear more about my record of delivering conservative victories in the United States Senate, and learn more about Ken’s indefensible personal behavior and failures in office,” Cornyn told reporters on Tuesday night. “Just like the primary, we have a plan to win the runoff, and we are in the process of executing it,” Cornyn said. “Judgment day is coming for Ken Paxton.” Paxton, a MAGA firebrand and longtime Trump supporter and ally who grabbed significant national attention by filing lawsuits against the Obama and Biden administrations, told supporters on primary night, “As we head into this runoff, we’re going to make the choice even clearer. While John Cornyn was cutting deals on gun control and amnesty, I was suing corrupt Joe Biden over 107 times.” And he charged, “John Cornyn spent around $100 million trying to buy this seat. We’ve spent around $5 million.” ROUND TWO OF CORNYN VS. PAXTON GETS UNDER WAY Trump on Wednesday urged, “for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer. IT MUST STOP NOW!” And pointing to Talarico, the president argued, “We have an easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent, and we have to TOTALLY FOCUS on putting him away, quickly and decisively.” “Both John and Ken ran great races, but not good enough. Now, this one, must be PERFECT!” Trump warned. Trump, whose clout over the GOP remains immense, stayed neutral in the Republican primary race. All three candidates, who sought the president’s endorsement, were in attendance Friday as Trump held an event in Corpus Christi, Texas. “They’re in a little race together,” Trump said of Cornyn and Paxton. “You know that, right? A little bit of a race. It’s going to be an interesting one, right? They’re both great people, too.” Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, the lobbying campaign to clinch the endorsement for Cornyn hasn’t stopped, and if anything, is intensifying in the hours since primary night. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that Cornyn had “a great night” against Paxton. The top Senate Republican has spent the last several months bending Trump’s ear at every opportunity to jump into the race and back the longtime incumbent. “He’s positioned to win the runoff, and if the president endorses early, it saves everybody a lot of money, and a lot of, you know, just 10 weeks of another spirited campaign on our side that keeps us from spending time focusing on the Democrats,” Thune said. Thune spoke
Watch shipping through the Strait of Hormuz grind to a halt amid Iran conflict
Few places on the planet matter more to the global economy than the Strait of Hormuz. Just about 21 miles wide at its narrowest, the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman is a global energy choke point. The waterway carries roughly 20 million barrels a day and about one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas, making it a top-value target when conflict in the region erupts. That’s why the latest disruption, triggered by U.S.-Israeli strikes over the weekend and retaliatory Iranian drone and missile attacks across the region, is forcing shippers to rethink whether it’s safe to transit the key waterway. NEW SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW FIRES & WIDESPREAD DAMAGE ACROSS IRAN AFTER US-ISRAELI STRIKES “You’ve essentially had the Strait of Hormuz grind down to a halt,” explained Matt Smith, an analyst at Kpler, a data and analytics firm. He said the slowdown isn’t necessarily because Iran has formally closed the waterway, though Tehran has threatened to, but because shippers are weighing the risk of missile or drone strikes in the narrow corridor. GAS PRICES COULD JUMP AS MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS THREATEN GLOBAL OIL SUPPLY The result, Smith said, is a growing bottleneck of crude and refined products. And if the disruption stretches from days into weeks, Smith warned, the fallout could intensify quickly. “If this drags on for weeks, the ramifications are huge,” he said, pointing to early ripple effects already emerging in global energy markets. Those concerns are already changing behavior in the shipping industry. Maersk, widely regarded as a bellwether for global ocean freight, said it will suspend all vessel crossings through the Strait of Hormuz until further notice and warned service to Arabian Gulf ports could be delayed. Insurers are also retreating. Major maritime insurers, including Gard, Skuld, NorthStandard, the London P&I Club and the American Club, said they will cancel war-risk coverage starting this week. Under the changes, war-risk coverage would be excluded in Iranian waters and across the Gulf and nearby waters, the notices said. With ships sidelined and insurance tightening, the strain is now showing up on the production side. The disruptions are also hitting production on the ground. Qatar on Monday halted liquefied natural gas (LNG) production after Iran struck two of its gas facilities. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, suspended operations at its largest oil refinery after an Iranian drone attack sparked a fire. Smith said the knock-on effects are spreading quickly: Iraq is starting to curb output, some Asian refineries are cutting runs, and Qatar has declared force majeure, a formal notification to buyers that it may not be able to deliver exports as promised because of the conflict. “This is only going to escalate if this continues for weeks rather than days,” Smith said, warning oil prices could surge into “levels we’ve never seen before” if the disruption drags on.
Obama endorses Virginia redistricting constitutional amendment that could help Dems gain 4 seats
Former President Barack Obama on Thursday endorsed Democrats’ redistricting effort in Virginia that could grant the party four additional seats in the House of Representatives. Virginia is one of several states engaged in a nationwide redistricting battle ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. So far, Obama has thrown his weight behind Democratic initiatives in both California and now Virginia. “Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. But right now, they’re under attack,” Obama wrote on X Thursday. “Several Republican-controlled states have redrawn their congressional maps to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterm elections. Now Virginia has a chance to help level the playing field. If you live in the Commonwealth, early voting begins March 6, and Election Day is on April 21. Vote YES,” he added. MARYLAND HOUSE APPROVES NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP AS SENATE LEADERS WARN OF RISKS Obama urged Californians to back Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s redistricting effort late last year, arguing it was a “responsible” tactic in response to GOP redistricting efforts in Texas. His newfound support for redrawing congressional maps comes six years after he and former Attorney General Eric Holder launched All On The Line, a “a grassroots movement to fight gerrymandering and advocate for a fair redistricting process.” Obama also blasted gerrymandering during his final State of the Union address, during which he said the nation must “end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters, and not the other way around.” VIRGINIA REPUBLICANS CHARGE ‘POWER GRAB’ AS DEMOCRAT WHO BACKED REDISTRICTING RUNS FOR CONGRESS The battle over congressional districts has spilled out across the country, with President Donald Trump and top Democrats urging allied state legislatures to take action. The Supreme Court weighed in on the issue earlier this week, ruling in favor of a Republican representative from New York challenging a Democratic redistricting effort. Over the dissent of the court’s three liberal justices, the conservative majority halted a state court ruling that had ordered New York’s redistricting commission to redraw the district held by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., which covers Staten Island and a small piece of Brooklyn. A judge had ruled that the district was drawn in a way that dilutes the power of its Black and Hispanic voters and had instructed the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission to complete a new map. “Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to keep New York’s 11th Congressional District intact helps restore the public’s confidence in our judicial system and proves the challenge to our district lines was always meritless,” Malliotakis said in a statement on Tuesday. “The plaintiffs in this case attempted to manipulate our state’s courts to use race as a weapon to rig our elections,” she added. “That was wrong and, as demonstrated by today’s ruling, clearly unconstitutional.”
Tom Emmer calls for Tim Walz, Keith Ellison to ‘serve jail time’ if fraud coverup allegations are true
EXCLUSIVE: The highest-ranking Minnesotan in Congress is calling for a deeper investigation into allegations that leaders in his state government knowingly ignored evidence of welfare fraud, and he called for those leaders to even face incarceration if proven true. “People are sick and tired of elected officials having a double standard, being treated differently than they are. They’re held accountable for things that they should be held accountable for, when their elected officials are not,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital. “If these two guys are dirty, they should be held accountable, and they should serve jail time.” He was referring to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison, two of several witnesses at a high-profile hearing on fraud conducted by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. GREGG JARRETT: IF WALZ IS CHARGED IN MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL, HIS BEST DEFENSE IS INCOMPETENCE Both Walz and Ellison insisted that they were serious about prosecuting fraud in the state’s social programs and that they took action to stop it once it was brought to their attention. But Emmer cited a report by the House Oversight Committee that accused them both of knowing about the fraud earlier than previously thought and delaying public accountability for fear of political retribution from progressives in the state — particularly the Somali community in Minneapolis, who Republicans have accused of taking advantage of the state’s welfare system. “They might have been able to qualify it enough that it wasn’t black and white, but if they lied to the committee this morning about knowing about the fraud and when they knew about the fraud and the FBI investigation, that is a criminal act of its own,” Emmer told Fox News Digital. SCATHING AUDIT REVEALS MORE FRAUD CONCERNS INSIDE TOP MINNESOTA AGENCY WITH FABRICATED DOCUMENTS, ‘MISCONDUCT’ “So I do believe, depending on this report and what else the majority staff is doing, they very well may want to call them back in and depose them under oath.” He added at another point, “You have maybe 80 to 100,000 Somalis in Minnesota. Tim Walz won with 52%. They made a difference. Keith Ellison won by less than 1%. I think it was 20,000 votes. Makes a difference. So if those are connected, yeah, I mean, this is campaign fraud.” “I’ve taken accountability for this. I’m not going to run again. I need to spend the time fixing this,” Walz said during the hearing. “This does undermine trust in government. Do I wish there were things that could have happened earlier? Yes. But in this job, ‘wish’ didn’t do it. I’m looking into where I see it.” CONVICTED MINNESOTA FRAUDSTER ALLEGES WALZ, ELLISON WERE AWARE OF WIDESPREAD FRAUD At another point, Walz attributed the rise in fraud statistics to an increase in prosecutions, telling Republicans, “When you catch people and prosecute them, it shows up as a fraud increase.” He also dismissed accusations that he kept whistle-blowers quiet over fear of being seen as Islamophobic, “I can’t speak to it because it’s not anything I would say.” Ellison, meanwhile, said he was happy to work across bipartisan lines to prosecute fraud. “I am here to work to improve this system, and there are improvements that can be made,” he said. “If we can get out of fixing the blame and get to fixing the problem, that would be an enormous thing for me.” But Emmer, who maintained that further investigation was needed, suggested he doubted their intentions. “It’s power. They want power. In order for them to get power, they need to be elected. In order for them to get elected, they have to cheat in different ways. And that is exactly what they did,” Emmer said. “If the Somali community is being used by these public officials to get themselves into office…it sure does look suspect, it needs to be investigated.”
Republican Rep Burgess Owens to retire from Congress when term ends
Rep. Burgess Owens, a former NFL player turned GOP U.S. congressman from Utah, has announced that he will not seek re-election in 2026, opting to step away from elected office after completing his current term. Owens, 74, said in a statement Wednesday that he would finish the remainder of his term “fully committed” before leaving Congress, a decision that aims to preserve the GOP’s narrow House majority. “After prayer, reflection, and many long conversations, I have decided that I will not seek reelection in 2026. I will complete this term fully committed to my work in Washington, D.C., and then step away from elected office,” Owens said. REPUBLICAN SEN CYNTHIA LUMMIS WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION IN 2026, CITING THE ‘ENERGY REQUIRED’ His decision comes as a court-ordered redistricting shakeup leaves Utah’s four Republican House members competing for three seats in the next election cycle. A state judge adopted a new congressional map last year, reshaping district boundaries. Owens and other Republican officials sued to block it, but state and federal judges rejected their bids, ruling it was too late to alter the lines ahead of 2026. Owens first won his Salt Lake County–based district in 2020, narrowly defeating former Rep. Ben McAdams, and secured re-election in 2022. Long considered the most competitive House seat in the state, the district will now be open in 2026 under the newly drawn boundaries, setting up a closely watched race. First elected in 2020 after flipping the district red, Owens entered Congress after a professional football career that included time with the New York Jets and a Super Bowl victory with the Raiders in 1980. Now in his third term in Congress, he is a strong supporter of President Donald Trump and has called the Republican president “an advocate for Black Americans.” Owens said he initially ran for office to advocate for at-risk children and education reform. “I began this political journey over six years ago with a simple question: Can I do more to advocate for our at-risk children?” Owens wrote. FLORIDA GOP REP VERN BUCHANAN TO RETIRE, ADDING TO WAVE OF HOUSE EXITS During his time in Congress, Owens championed school choice legislation, saying he introduced and sponsored “landmark school choice legislation,” with core provisions later enacted through the Working Families Tax Cut Act reconciliation package. He also highlighted his work combating child trafficking, noting he is “presently shepherding bipartisan, bicameral legislation through the House — the Preventing Child Trafficking Act,” which he said would improve interagency coordination. Owens framed his tenure as aligned with Trump’s agenda. “I came to Congress with a simple ask from my constituents: to represent Utah’s nation-leading culture of faith, family, the free market, and education,” Owens wrote. “I have been proud to fight alongside President Donald J. Trump, whose leadership exposed the insidious spread of Marxism in our country and who has demonstrated that only a proud, focused, and unapologetic America can defeat it,” he said. “His commitment to working families and his willingness to confront corruption head-on reaffirm that courage still matters in public life.” “After careful reflection, I have concluded that to continue this work, the next chapter… would be best pursued outside elected office,” Owens wrote. Owens said he will spend the remainder of his term working to expand the Republican majority. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Man accused of plotting Trump assassination claims Iran forced him to
A Pakistani businessman accused of trying to hire hit men to kill political targets, including President Donald Trump, insisted that Iran forced his actions as he testified to jurors in New York on Wednesday. Asif Merchant, 47, said Trump wasn’t the only potential target of the 2024 assassination scheme, telling jurors the list included then-President Joe Biden and former presidential candidate and ex-U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. He claimed that he only took part in the plot because Iran’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened his family. “My family was under threat, and I had to do this,” Merchant testified through an Urdu interpreter. “I was not wanting to do this so willingly.” Merchant said he had anticipated getting arrested before anyone was killed, intended to cooperate with the U.S. government and had hoped that would help him get a green card. FBI REMAINS ON HIGH ALERT, DHS MEMO WARNS OF LONE WOLF ATTACKS AMID WAR WITH IRAN Merchant was indicted in July 2024 after he was recorded on camera outlining a plot on a napkin to kill an unnamed politician with a person who turned out to be an informant. Merchant allegedly also tried to hire two hit men and pay them $5,000, but the men were FBI agents posing as assassins. Merchant was arrested as he was attempting to leave the country, before he could take any concrete steps to carry out a murder plan. Authorities, at the time, said he appeared to be acting at the behest of Iran. The Iranian government has denied plotting to kill Trump or other U.S. officials. Merchant said his handler initially directed him to recruit U.S. residents willing to work for Iran — then escalated the assignment to finding a criminal to organize protests, commit theft, launder money and “maybe have somebody murdered.” “He did not tell me exactly who it is, but he told me — he named three people: Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Nikki Haley,” he said. Prosecutors argued that even after U.S. immigration agents stopped him at Houston’s airport in April 2024, searched his belongings and questioned him about trips to Iran, Merchant continued with the alleged plot. He researched Trump rally locations, drafted plans for a shooting at a political event, lined up supposed hit men and scraped together $5,000 from a cousin as a “token of appreciation.” FEDS SAY PAKISTANI NATIONAL BACKED BY IRAN PLOTTED TO ASSASSINATE TRUMP, OTHERS IN MURDER-FOR-HIRE SCHEME Merchant said he reported back to his Revolutionary Guard contact, sending what he now claims were fabricated updates hidden inside a book shipped to Iran through intermediaries. He testified that he felt he had “no other option” but to cooperate because the handler indicated he knew where Merchant’s relatives in Iran lived. Prosecutors, however, noted in a court filing this week that Merchant never contacted law enforcement before his arrest and failed during FBI interviews to mention details supporting a claim that he acted under duress. If convicted, Merchant faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. Merchant’s trial comes against the backdrop of Trump launching a major combat operation in coordination with Israel against Iran, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a strike. Fox News Digital’s Ashley Oliver and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
WATCH: Navy SEAL-turned-senator tackles ‘unhinged’ protester during chaotic hearing
Chaos erupted during a Senate hearing Wednesday when Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., jumped in to help Capitol Police remove a protester — an encounter that may have left the man injured. Video of the incident showed Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, stepping in as officers struggled to remove Brian McGinnis, a Marine Corps veteran running as a Green Party candidate for Senate in North Carolina. Sheehy said in a statement that “Capitol Police were attempting to remove an unhinged protester from the Armed Services hearing.” SENS SANDERS AND MULLIN CLASH IN HEATED SENATE HEARING EXCHANGE: ‘YOU’RE PART OF THE PROBLEM’ “He was fighting back. I decided to help out and deescalate the situation,” he said. “This gentleman came to the Capitol looking for a confrontation, and he got one. I hope he gets the help he needs without causing further violence.” Before the scuffle, McGinnis stood up during a Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on the Current Readiness of the Joint Force hearing and shouted, “America does not want to send its sons and daughters to war for Israel.” Police immediately moved to remove him from the hearing room, with two officers attempting to corral McGinnis. After a struggle, they got him to the exit. That’s where Sheehy stepped in. TOP TRUMP ALLY STEVE DAINES EXITS MONTANA SENATE RACE, PLANS TO RETIRE McGinnis grabbed the door and held on, wedging his arm between the door and its frame. As officers and Sheehy pushed to get him to let go, a loud cracking sound could be heard in the video. It was not immediately clear whether his arm was broken during the struggle. Capitol Police said in a statement that “an unruly man who started to illegally protest during a hearing put everyone in a dangerous position by violently resisting and fighting our officers’ attempts to remove him from the room.” TRUMP CABINET ALUM RYAN ZINKE JOINS MASS EXODUS OF LAWMAKERS LEAVING CONGRESS Police said three officers were treated for injuries after working to remove McGinnis. They added that he “got his own arm stuck in a door to resist our officers and force his way back into the hearing room” and was also treated. McGinnis faces three counts of assault on a police officer, three counts of resisting arrest, and a charge of crowding, obstructing and incommoding related to the unlawful demonstration. “Protests are not allowed inside the congressional buildings,” Capitol Police said. “There are plenty of other spots on Capitol Grounds, outside, where demonstrations are allowed.”
‘Outsider’ TV veteran jumps into swing state House race aiming to flip longtime red seat back to GOP
FIRST ON FOX: Longtime West Michigan meteorologist Terri DeBoer is launching a run for Congress as a Republican, hoping to represent the state’s 3rd Congressional District in a campaign centered on border security, economic issues and what she called restoring “fiscal sanity” in Washington. “I’m an outsider,” DeBoer told Fox News Digital in her first interview since becoming a Republican candidate for Congress running to unseat Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., who has held the seat since 2023. “I am a West Michigan resident, and as an outsider, I believe that West Michigan is not blue, West Michigan is not red. West Michigan is all about solving the problems that we face, no matter who has those ideas, no matter what side of the aisle they happen to sit on.” DeBoer has spent more than 30 years on West Michigan television, working at stations including WWMT-TV, WOOD-TV and most recently FOX-17 (WXMI-TV), where she returned in 2024 after a brief break. NEWSOM PREDICTS TRUMP IS ‘TOAST,’ WILL DRAG GOP INTO MIDTERM WIPEOUT She began her career in broadcast journalism as a news reporter before transitioning to meteorology in the early 1990s. Known to many viewers as “everyone’s mom,” DeBoer has been a steady on-air presence during major weather events, including the 1998 derecho and the 2022 Christmas blizzard. DeBoer says she sees similarities between her previous position, where she was affectionately referred to by many as “everyone’s mom,” and helping people navigate and prepare for tough weather ahead. DEMOCRATS NAME CANDIDATES TO ‘RED TO BLUE’ INITIATIVE, AIMING TO FLIP GOP MAJORITY DURING MIDTERMS “I am asking the people of Michigan’s 3rd District to send me to Capitol Hill so that I can make a difference helping prepare people for the storms that we’re facing and help steer us away from the impact of those storms,” DeBoer said. DeBoer, a wife, mother and grandmother, says her interest in politics was inspired by hearing former President Ronald Reagan speak in person during her senior year of high school. She said she thought to herself that if she ever had the opportunity to “serve my country,” she would “step forward and do it.” DeBoer is the first major Republican candidate to enter the race in a district the Cook Political Report ranks as “Solid D,” in a state that President Donald Trump carried in 2024 and that is known for narrow margins of victory. Additionally, when Scholten won her election, she became the first Democrat to win that seat since the 1970s. National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Zach Bannon called Scholten a “rubber stamp” for the “radical far left” in a statement to Fox News Digital and said Republicans are “on the offense.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Other priorities from DeBoer, according to a press release and her newly launched campaign website, include pushing back against the “political elite” and “open-border policies” and advocating for affordability. “For me, I am someone who is willing to listen to all great ideas, because I know that the problems that we have to solve, we are going to face, are going to need to be tackled by everyone, and so we need to come together and the best way to come together is to send an outsider to Washington,” DeBoer said. “I have loyalty to West Michigan. I don’t have loyalty to a party.” Republicans currently control the House by a 218-214 majority, with two right-tilting districts and one left-leaning seat vacant. Democrats need a net gain of three seats in the midterms to win back the majority for the first time in four years.