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Earle-Sears comes out swinging in heated debate as Spanberger dodges Jay Jones questions
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NORFOLK, Va. – Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears came out swinging against what she called former Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s dodges on calls for fellow Democrat Jay Jones to drop out of the attorney general contest after texts envisioning the murder of a Republican leader came to light.
Throughout the debate, Spanberger mostly declined to make eye contact with Earle-Sears and ignored her when she was interrupted.
Earle-Sears repeatedly addressed Spanberger directly during both women’s answers but did not receive any direct responses in return.
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Early on, Earle-Sears interrupted Spanberger, asking her to give a direct answer. The Democrat told the moderators she was «aware of these messages» and that they were «absolutely abhorrent.»
«I denounced them when I learned of them and I will denounce them every chance I get,» Spanberger said, as Earle-Sears interjected once more to attempt to press for a straight answer.
«I didn’t hear an answer on [the Jones] question,» co-moderator Deanna Albrittin told Spanberger.
Since Earle-Sears had already called for Jones to drop out, the moderators asked her instead about President Donald Trump’s stated «hate» for political opponents after the murder of Charlie Kirk.
Earle-Sears later turned to Spanberger and admonished her for refusing to give a yes-or-no answer on Jones, asking whether it would take Jones «pulling the trigger» to actually condemn what he had said about then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah.
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The Republican was later asked whether she needs Trump’s endorsement, as he has explicitly endorsed lieutenant governor candidate John Reid but offered more muted comments for Earle-Sears during the span of the race.
Earle-Sears also criticized Spanberger for purportedly waiting several days before condemning a left-wing protester’s racist sign at an Arlington anti-transgender-sports demonstration headlined by the Republican candidate.
The sign said that Earle-Sears should not be able to share water fountains (as a Black woman) if transgender students cannot share bathrooms.
In the latter regard, moderator Tom Schaad asked Spanberger whether transgender girls born male should be able to use female bathrooms and be on co-ed sports teams.
«Nothing is more important to me than their safety and their experience in schools,» Spanberger said, before offering a lengthier answer that also cited her experience as a former federal agent investigating crimes against children.
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«That work, in part, has earned me the endorsement of the Police Benevolent Association,» she said.
Schaad reiterated the question, saying there had been no direct answer, and later attempted to ask whether Spanberger would rescind an executive order by Gov. Glenn Youngkin laying out a bathroom policy along biological lines.
«My opponent will not answer the question because she voted for men nude in girls’ locker rooms,» Earle-Sears later said.
Later, both candidates were asked whether they would continue or undo any specific policies from Youngkin – whom the moderators reported enjoys high approval ratings as he closes out his last three months of his term.
Earle-Sears said she would not disclose private conversations with Youngkin but that she would not undo their progress.
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Spanberger said she would continue Youngkin’s efforts to grow advanced nuclear power in the commonwealth.
After the event, Virginia House Speaker Don Scott, Jr., D-Portsmouth, spoke to reporters as a surrogate for Spanberger.
Scott said there is a «double standard» in pressuring Spanberger to call for Jones to drop out, claiming Earle-Sears has not denounced violent rhetoric from Trump.
The speaker, who represents the area just south of the debate site, claimed Earle-Sears did not as vociferously condemn Trump for a remark he made in 2024 when discussing neoconservatism, and former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney’s aisle-crossing endorsement of Kamala Harris.
«Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. OK? Let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face,» Trump said as a rebuttal to people in the political establishment who are war «hawks» or support proverbial forever-wars.
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The Trump campaign noted at the time that the president did not call for Cheney to be executed and that the press covered the remark «disgracefully,» while fact-checker PolitiFact deemed the comment illustrative of a «combat zone» situation rather than a call for murder.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Earle-Sears campaign for comment on the debate, including the way the candidates comported themselves on stage.
«If you’re wondering who’s capable of leading Virginia, this was the debate to watch,» Earle-Sears spokesperson Peyton Vogel told Fox News Digital.
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«Abigail Spanberger couldn’t even look Lt. Gov. Earle-Sears in the eye and confirmed she will not stand up to Jay Jones’ threat-laced, murderous rhetoric.»
«If she can’t lead her own ticket, she can’t lead the Commonwealth,» Vogel said.
virginia governor race,elections,virginia,elections state and local,winsome sears,abigail spanberger
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More Democrat reps involved in ‘refuse illegal orders’ video report receiving inquiry from US attorney
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Three more Democratic lawmakers who participated in a video message encouraging service members to «refuse illegal orders» said they are being investigated by federal prosecutors.
Reps. Jason Crow, of Colorado, Chrissy Houlahan, of Pennsylvania, and Maggie Goodlander, of New Hampshire, all indicated Wednesday that they received inquiries from U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro asking for an interview with them or their attorneys, according to The New York Times.
«Trump’s political cronies at the Justice Department are trying to threaten and intimidate us,» Crow said in a post on X. «Well, he’s picked a fight with the wrong people. I will always uphold my oath to the Constitution.»
«We are not going to back away,» he added in a video message. «Our job, our duty is to make sure that the law is followed. We will not be threatened, we will not be intimidated, and we will not be silenced. I am more emboldened than ever to make sure that I am upholding my duty and I will not back down.»
DEM SENATOR SAYS SHE’S UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION OVER ‘UNLAWFUL ORDERS’ VIDEO
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice on Dec. 4, 2025. (Daniel Heuer/AFP via Getty Images)
The controversial video, which was posted in November, featured Crow, Houlahan, Goodlander, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa.
All the Democrats who participated in the video, which was slammed as a call to defy President Donald Trump and his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, had military and intelligence backgrounds.
The video was released amid a nationwide debate about Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to various cities across the country.
Trump criticized the video and said in multiple Truth Social posts that the lawmakers who participated in it had engaged in «seditious behavior.»
«It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand — We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET,» the president wrote on Nov. 20.
The same day, Trump wrote in a separate Truth Social post, «SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!»
DEMOCRATIC SENATOR ‘NOT AWARE’ IF TRUMP GAVE ANY ILLEGAL MILITARY ORDERS AMID VIDEO CONTROVERSY
Six Democratic lawmakers, Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly, and Repa. Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, Chrissy Houlahan and Jason Crow, released a video directed at service members and intelligence officers. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images; Mark Kelly; Elissa Slotkin; Congress)
The Times reported earlier this week that Pirro’s office sent an email to the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms requesting an interview with Slotkin or her private counsel.
«Facts matter little, but the threat matters quite a bit,» Slotkin told the Times. «The threat of legal action; the threat to your family; the threat to your staff; the threat to you.»
Pirro’s office would not confirm or deny the existence of the probe.
«No matter the threats, I’m not backing down,» Goodlander said in a video posted to X on Wednesday. «It is sad, telling and downright dangerous that simply stating a bedrock principle of American law caused the President, our Commander in Chief, to threaten violence against me and to weaponize the Department of Justice against me.»
President Donald Trump, alongside Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, holds a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Dec. 2, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
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«Like my colleagues, I was contacted by federal prosecutors who are investigating me for making a video reminding servicemembers not to follow illegal orders,» Houlahan said in another X post. «The six of us are being targeted not because we said something untrue, but because we said something President Trump and Secretary Hegseth didn’t want anyone to hear.»
Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
democratic party,defense,military,donald trump,justice department,politics
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Iran appeared to reopen its airspace on Thursday after a sudden overnight closure disrupted flights across the region, even as airlines largely continued to avoid the country amid heightened security warnings and ongoing regional tensions.
The overnight closure lasted around five hours after a Notice to Air Missions, or NOTAM, was issued, according to the aviation risk-monitoring site Safe Airspace.
Safe Airspace warns that the main danger for civil aircraft in Iranian airspace is misidentification by air defense systems during heightened tensions, rating the overall risk level currently as «One — Do Not Fly.»
TRUMP SAYS THE U.S. WILL TAKE ‘VERY STRONG ACTION’ AGAINST IRAN IF THE REGIME STARTS HANGING PROTESTERS
Empty airspace over Iran is seen in this screengrab from FlightRadar24 on Jan. 15, 2026, amid heightened tensions and concerns about potential military action between the United States and Iran. (FlightRadar24.com/Handout via REUTERS)
President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that he was informed the killing of protesters in Iran was «stopping.»
«We have been notified and really strongly, but we’ll find out what that all means. But, we’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping,» he said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., disagreed with Trump, writing on X that every indication he’s seen shows that the Iranian regime’s killing of anti-government protesters is «still very much in full swing.»
«The death toll is mounting by the hour. Hoping that help is on the way,» he wrote.
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Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which tracks human rights violations in Iran, said on Wednesday that nationwide protests continued into the 18th day as authorities maintained a near-total internet shutdown.
The group’s aggregated figures showed 617 protest gatherings in 187 cities across the country, the arrest of at least 18,470 people and the confirmed deaths of 2,615 individuals.
HRANA said 2,435 of those killed were protesters, including 13 children under the age of 18.
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Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency’s value in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 8, 2026. (Stringer/West Asia News Agency via REUTERS)
Trump has threatened action against the regime, warning Tehran in multiple Truth Social posts to stop killing its people.
«We are locked and loaded and ready to go,» he wrote on New Year’s Day.
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The president said on Tuesday that he had canceled all meetings with Iranian officials and called on protesters to «TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!»
«Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price,» Trump wrote, adding, «HELP IS ON ITS WAY.»
iran,world protests,middle east,donald trump
INTERNACIONAL
Cuba cerró 2025 con casi 1.200 presos políticos: el informe que desnuda una represión que no se detiene
Cuba terminó el año 2025 con un saldo alarmante en materia de derechos humanos: 1.197 presos políticos y de conciencia, una cifra que no solo refleja la persistencia de la represión estatal, sino también su profundización.
Así lo revela el informe de cierre anual elaborado por la organización internacional Prisoners Defenders, que documenta 134 nuevas detenciones políticas solo durante 2025, en un contexto marcado por la falta absoluta de garantías judiciales y el uso sistemático del castigo físico y psicológico como herramienta de control social.
“Nuestra lista contiene personas sometidas a sentencias o disposiciones fiscales de privación de libertad sin supervisión judicial, sin debido proceso y sin defensa efectiva”, afirmó Javier Larrondo, presidente de Prisoners Defenders, durante la presentación del informe fechado el 15 de enero de 2026.
No se trata, aclara, de casos aislados ni de excesos individuales, sino de un sistema de persecución estructural que atraviesa todo el aparato estatal cubano.
Según el relevamiento, a lo largo de los doce meses de 2025 pasaron por las cárceles cubanas 1.290 prisioneros políticos, todos ellos sometidos a algún tipo de tortura, tal como la organización ya había demostrado en estudios previos. Solo en diciembre, diez nuevas personas fueron encarceladas —siete hombres y tres mujeres—, la mayoría en el oriente de la isla, acusadas en gran parte por el delito de “propaganda contra el orden constitucional”, una figura penal vaga y recurrente utilizada para criminalizar la disidencia.
El impacto humano de estas cifras es devastador.
Entre los casi 1.200 presos políticos identificados hay 128 mujeres y 32 personas que fueron detenidas siendo menores de edad: 29 varones y tres mujeres. A esto se suma un dato particularmente grave: 464 presos políticos presentan patologías médicas severas y 42 padecen trastornos graves de salud mental, sin recibir atención médica ni psiquiátrica adecuada. “Son dolencias causadas o agravadas deliberadamente por la mala alimentación, los maltratos y la falta de atención médica”, denunció Larrondo.
Uno de los ejes centrales del informe es la condena a 219 manifestantes acusados de “sedición”, con penas que promedian los diez años de cárcel. Entre ellos, 16 fueron detenidos cuando aún eran menores, lo que vuelve a poner en evidencia el incumplimiento sistemático de los compromisos internacionales asumidos por el Estado cubano en materia de protección de la infancia.
Pero el informe no se limita a describir la situación dentro de la isla.
Prisoners Defenders advierte que el modelo represivo cubano se está exportando, particularmente a Venezuela. La organización documentó la muerte de más de 64 militares cubanos integrados al anillo de seguridad del presidente Nicolás Maduro, lo que confirma, según sus investigaciones, la presencia masiva de fuerzas represivas cubanas en territorio venezolano, pese a las reiteradas negaciones oficiales.
“Estamos sumando testimonios sobre torturas diseñadas y ejecutadas por agentes cubanos en Venezuela”, sostuvo Larrondo, quien explicó que los relatos coinciden exactamente con los 15 patrones de tortura ya identificados en cárceles cubanas: agresiones físicas, privación del sueño, posturas forzadas, tortura sexual y amenazas constantes. La metodología, señala el informe, es la misma.
Otro punto clave es lo que Larrondo denomina el “fraude del lenguaje”. Tanto en Cuba como en Venezuela, los gobiernos anuncian “liberaciones” que en realidad son excarcelaciones condicionadas, bajo amenazas y control policial permanente. “No son liberaciones, porque las personas siguen teniendo causas abiertas y condenas vigentes”, remarcó. En Cuba, recuerda el informe, en enero de 2025 el gobierno anunció la liberación de 553 presos, pero solo 219 presos políticos fueron efectivamente excarcelados, sin que ello implicara el fin de la persecución.
El cierre del informe es una interpelación directa a la comunidad internacional. “Basta de normalizar lo inaceptable”, reclamó Larrondo, y exigió a la Unión Europea, a los gobiernos democráticos y a los organismos internacionales medidas concretas, verificables y urgentes. “Las víctimas necesitan protección, visibilidad y justicia”, subrayó, citando incluso la Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos, que reconoce el derecho a la rebelión frente a la tiranía y la opresión.
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