INTERNACIONAL
Texas AG Ken Paxton announces run for US Senate
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle Tuesday night that he will run for the U.S. Senate.
The announcement comes as Paxton no longer faces the cloud of a federal corruption investigation that loomed over him as he rose up the ranks in the Republican Party.
The announcement by Paxton, a close ally of President Donald Trump and a MAGA firebrand, comes two weeks after Republican Sen. John Cornyn officially launched his re-election campaign as he bids for a fifth six-year term serving Texas in the Senate.
«It’s time for a change in Texas,» Paxton told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, before acknowledging Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas’ other Republican senator. «It’s time that we have another great senator that will actually stand up and fight for Republican values, fight for the values of the people of Texas and also support Donald Trump in the areas that he’s focused on in a very significant way.»
EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR DETAILS SURFACE IN HISTORIC IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a news conference in Dallas, June 22, 2017. On Tuesday, Paxton announced that he will run for the U.S. Senate. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
On Sunday, Cornyn said he was looking forward to «the competition» amid rumors of Paxton’s candidacy.
«Ken Paxton is a fraud,» Cornyn’s campaign charged in a social media post after Paxton’s announcement. «He talks tough on crime and then lets crooked progressive Lina Hidalgo off the hook. He says his impeachment trial was a sham but he didn’t contest the facts in legal filings which will cost the state millions.»
TEXAS AG PAXTON ACQUITTED ON ALL IMPEACHMENT CHARGES: ‘THE TRUTH PREVAILED’
«He says he’s anti-woke but he funnels millions of taxpayer dollars to lawyers who celebrate DEI,» the post continued. «And Ken claims to be a man of faith but uses fake Uber accounts to meet his girlfriend and deceive his family.»
Cornyn’s campaign noted that the incumbent senator has voted with Trump more than 95% of current senators. Trump and Texas need a «battle-tested conservative» who knows how to protect his agenda in the Senate and won’t be outsmarted by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, the campaign said.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. (Fox News Digital)
The announcement from Paxton puts the gears in motion for what may be an extremely expensive and bruising GOP primary battle, pitting the remaining establishment and business factions of the Republican Party versus the ascendant MAGA wing.
«It sets the table for the most expensive primary in Texas. It will be a brutal battle,» veteran Republican strategist Dave Carney told Fox News. Carney, the longtime top political adviser to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, noted that the announcement by Paxton also «opens up the attorney general’s race. There will probably be a very competitive primary for that and we’re going to have a lot of musical chairs down ballot.»
Matt Mackowiak, a veteran Republican strategist and communications consultant based in Texas and Washington, D.C., said «this is going to be the most expensive, nastiest, most aggressive, most personal U.S. Senate primary in Texas history.»
«You have two candidates who are going to raise significant funds, who are in significant positions, who do not like each and have not liked each other, whose teams do not like each other and the stakes could not be higher,» he emphasized.
WILL DEMOCRATS ONCE AGAIN CHASE THE ‘GHOST OF A BLUE TEXAS’ IN NEXT YEAR’S SENATE RACE?
Paxton’s announcement was not a huge surprise, as he has long claimed Cornyn does not represent the conservative values of Texans and has accused the senator of not being an ally of Trump.
He has also regularly labeled Cornyn a «RINO,» a «Republican in name only» and an insult MAGA and «America First» Republicans have regularly used to criticize more mainstream or establishment members of the GOP.
Paxton, who has been Texas’ top prosecutor since 2015, has regularly criticized his GOP rival, pointing to Cornyn’s position on a border wall and opposing Trump during the 2016 election.
Cornyn also previously came under criticism from conservatives after he helped push a bipartisan gun control bill after the 2022 mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas elementary school that killed 19 students and two teachers.
Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton at his primary night celebration, on March 1, 2022, in McKinney, Texas. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Paxton, for a couple of years, had flirted with a primary challenge against the 73-year-old Cornyn, a former state senator, former Texas Supreme Court justice, and former state attorney general, who first won election to the U.S. Senate in 2002.
FACING POSSIBLE PRIMARY CHALLNGE FROM A TRUMP ALLY, LONGTIME TEXAS SENATOR ANNOUNCES RE-ELECTION
«I can’t think of a single thing he’s accomplished for our state or even for the country,» Paxton said in a September 2023 interview on the Fox News Channel. «Somebody needs to step up and run against this guy,» adding, «everything’s on the table for me.»
Fast-forward to earlier this year, and Paxton, at a county GOP meeting in Texas, told supporters that one of the things «we need to do, and I might play a role in this, is replace John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate.»
And in a Fox News Digital interview in January, Paxton acknowledged that he was «looking potentially at the U.S. Senate.»
Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at an event outside the Texas Statehouse, on Feb. 28, 2022 in Austin. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Cornyn, during the early stages of the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race, had said he would prefer that the GOP take a new direction, which angered Trump. But the senator endorsed Trump in late January of last year, after the then-former president won both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, the first two contests in the Republican presidential nomination calendar.
Since Trump returned to the White House three months ago, Cornyn has been supportive of the president’s Cabinet nominees and agenda.
ONLY ON FOX NEWS: SENATE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS HOW MANY SEATS HE’S AIMING FOR IN 2026
And in the senator’s campaign launch video last month, the announcer highlighted that during Trump’s first term in office, «Texas Sen. John Cornyn had his back.»
As he gears up for what will most certainly be his roughest re-election of his decades-long career, Cornyn has the backing of the top Republican in the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
And Republican sources confirm to Fox News that Thune, as well as National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Sen. Tim Scott, have personally asked Trump to back Cornyn.
Sen. John Cornyn speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing, on Capitol Hill, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
The president’s grip on the GOP is stronger than ever and any endorsement Trump may make in the emerging Republican Senate primary in Texas would be extremely influential.
Making Cornyn’s path to renomination even more difficult is a possible Senate bid by Rep. Wesley Hunt, who represents a Houston area district.
The third-term 43-year-old Texas Republican and rising MAGA star has made his case to the president’s political team, sources confirm to Fox News. Hunt’s argument is that he’s the only person who can win both a GOP primary and a general election, a source familiar with the discussions confirmed to Fox News.
An outside group supportive of Hunt is currently spending seven figures to run ads across the Lone Star State to increase the lawmaker’s name ID.
CORNYN’S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN SPARKS QUESTIONS ON BOTH PARTY FLANKS AS DEMS CHASE ‘THE GHOST OF A BLUE TEXAS’
GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas headlines the opening of the first Trump campaign office in Pennsylvania, on June 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Some Republican operatives and strategists worry that a primary battle in Texas could cost up to $100 million, potentially diverting much-needed resources from other races.
While Paxton is very popular with the conservative base of the party, it’s not clear at this point what Trump will do regarding the race. And political strategists note that toppling Cornyn in a GOP primary will likely be a very expensive proposition, and it’s not clear if Paxton can raise the money needed for victory.
«This says two things. One, Paxton sees an opportunity. And two, him getting in this early shows he needs the maximum time possible to try to raise money,» Mackowiak said. He added that Paxton «has received some negative feedback on fundraising.»
Paxton grabbed national attention in 2020 for filing the unsuccessful Texas vs. Pennsylvania case in the Supreme Court that tried to overturn former President Joe Biden’s razor-thin win over Trump in the Keystone State, and for speaking at the Trump rally near the White House that immediately preceded the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing extremists aiming to disrupt congressional certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory.
During Biden’s four years in the White House, Paxton took the administration to court numerous times.
While Paxton, who’s in his third four-year term as Texas attorney general, has long been a legal warrior in the MAGA movement, he also has plenty of personal political baggage.
Paxton was indicted on securities fraud charges soon after taking office in 2015, and more recently came under investigation by the FBI over bribery and corruption allegations from former top staffers. And in 2022, he survived a bruising primary amid his many legal difficulties.
In 2023, Paxton was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives, but he was later acquitted of all charges by the state Senate.
The charges in the long-running federal corruption probe were dropped during the final weeks of the Biden administration.
The attorney general also faced an investigation by the Texas State Bar for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
While Paxton for years has denied any wrongdoing and has survived his legal fights, he would likely continue to face tough optics and plenty of incoming fire over his past predicaments during a Senate showdown.
Colin Allred, last year’s Democratic Senate nominee in Texas, speaks at a campaign rally in Houston on Oct. 25. (Reuters/Marco Bello)
The eventual winner of next year’s GOP primary will be considered the favorite in the general election against whomever the Democrats nominate.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Former Rep. Colin Allred has said he’ll decide by this summer if he’ll mount a 2026 Senate campaign.
Allred, a former Baylor University football player and NFL linebacker who later represented Texas’ 32nd Congressional District (which includes parts of Dallas and surrounding suburbs), was last year’s Democratic challenger in the race against Cruz.
Texas,Senate,US,Congress,Donald Trump,Elections,Politics
INTERNACIONAL
Uno de los argentinos que estuvo preso en Venezuela y fue liberado contó el calvario que vivió: «Tenía miedo a la locura, no a morir»
El argentino Gustavo Rivara, liberado el 2 de febrero tras pasar más de un año bajo arresto en Caracas, aseguró que los detenidos ya llegan torturados a El Helicoide y dijo que pensó que moriría en el mayor centro de detención de Venezuela.
“La parte de Investigación está separada de El Helicoide. La parte de Investigación es en realidad donde hacen las torturas. Al tener tanta fama de ser un sitio de torturas, se cuidan de no torturar (…). La gente ya llega torturada al Helicoide”, afirmó.
Además, afirmó que creyó que no saldría de ahí. “No creí que iba a salir. Estaba seguro de que me iban a trasladar. No me veía salir” dijo en diálogo con Nelson Castro en Radio Rivadavia.
Leé también: Tensión en Francia: un activista de ultraderecha murió en una protesta y reavivó los cruces políticos
Consultado sobre si pensó que moriría en prisión, afirmó: “Sí. Les decía a los compañeros que no me veía salir” de ahí.
Rivara es uno de los dos argentinos liberados en las ultimas semanas en Venezuela. El otro es Roberto Baldo, residente en Caracas. Aun permanecen detenidos el gendarme Nahuel Gallo y el abogado Germán Giuliani.
Qué dijo Gustavo Rivara sobre su arresto en Venezuela
En una extensa entrevista, Rivara contó que nunca supo la razón por la que fue detenido. Su arresto se produjo el 1 de enero de 2025.
“No se necesitan razones para meterte preso en Venezuela. Me agarraron en una estación de autobuses. A todos los extranjeros que agarraba la policía llamaban al (servicio de inteligencia) Sebin. Eran detenidos y luego son utilizados como moneda de cambio, a modo de chantaje con países. Utilizan a los extranjeros para eso, para mover sus chantajes”, afirmó.
Gustavo Rivara habló desde Colombia (Foto: captura)
Además, aseguró: “Me detuvieron solo por ser argentino. Estaba regresando para Colombia. Había ingresado hacía 18 días al país. Tenía poco más de dos semanas y me dirigía a Colombia y fui interceptado en una estación de autobuses”.
Leé también: El Vaticano abrirá al público la terraza de la basílica de San Pedro para celebrar su 400° aniversario
Sobre los motivos de su viaje, dijo: “Yo quería apoyar a la democracia. Quería ver la situación política. Estábamos en vísperas de la entrega de poder supuestamente a María Corina Machado y Edmundo González Urrutia. Pero no lo permitieron. Yo quería presentarme y apoyar a la oposición en lo que pueda”.
Cómo fueron sus días en El Helicoide
Rivara contó que “la vida en el Helicoide es triste para todos”.
“Ves mujeres detenidas con hijos, separadas de su familia, gente inocente, sin proceso judicial. ves chicos de 27 años que no hicieron absolutamente nada, que están presos porque el régimen te desaparece solo porque tienes dinero y pretende solo chantajearte. Si no le das una suma de dinero vas preso. Es una banda”, afirmó.
Según afirmó, El Helicoide “es un búnker. Uno se encuentra con luz artificial, está sucio. Tengo problemas en mis ojos por la suciedad. No se permite dormir correctamente porque pasan listas, te despiertan muy temprano, estamos todo el tiempo alertas. No te dejan dormir. Estamos siendo filmados todo el tiempo. Tenemos cámaras en los baños”, comentó.
Además, afirmó: “Estuve incomunicado, en un cuarto pequeño, los últimos 4 meses. Nomás me dedicada a leer y escribir. No tenía ningún derecho. Me decían que haga de cuenta que estaba (en la base naval de Estados Unidos) en Guantánamo”.
“Ni ellos sabían por qué estaba ahí”, indicó.
Leé también: Un fuerte temporal que golpeó al sur de Italia provocó el colapso del “Arco de los enamorados”
Después de 10 meses de arresto, tuvo su primera presentación ante un juez. “Fue algo de cinco minutos, algo ridículo. Me acusaban de traición a la Patria. Yo no sé que Patria. O sea, como si hubiera jurado lealtad a Venezuela”, señaló.
“Uno piensa en la locura. Tiene miedo a la locura, no a morir. Miedo a ser olvidado y quedar muchos años ahí”, agregó.
Rivara contó que recién el 18 de enero le comunicaron que lo iban a liberar, pero no lo creyó.
“Vino al director a mi celda por la noche y me preguntó por mis cosas. Que me iba a ir al día siguiente. No le creí. Yo estaba esperando un traslado. Me portaba mal. Tenía bronca. Yo les decía: ´fusilame. No tengo derecha a nada. Fusilame´“, sostuvo.
Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro
INTERNACIONAL
Trump slams Maryland governor, launches federal effort to protect Potomac after historic sewage spill
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
President Donald Trump ordered an all-of-government effort to protect the District of Columbia’s water supply and slammed Maryland Gov. Wes Moore as a sewage pipe interceptor rupture in Cabin John has released an estimated 240 million gallons into the Potomac River.
The break was first noticed on security cameras off the Clara Barton Parkway just north of the District line Jan. 19, and within several days, crews from DC Water were able to segregate much of the spill into the paralleling Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, according to local reports.
The pipe takes wastewater from several towns in the John F. Dulles International Airport area all the way to Washington, where it is processed farther downstream at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Anacostia, D.C.
«There is a massive ecological disaster unfolding in the Potomac River as a result of the gross mismanagement of local Democrat leaders, particularly, Governor Wes Moore, of Maryland,» Trump said in a Truth Social post late Monday.
TRUMP SAYS HE COULD SEND THE NATIONAL GUARD TO MARYLAND TO ADDRESS CRIME
Sewage clings to flotsam in the Potomac near Glen Echo, Maryland. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
«This is the same Governor who cannot rebuild a bridge. It is clear local authorities cannot adequately handle this calamity,» Trump said, referring to the newly elongated timeline and reported projected multi-billion-dollar cost-projection overruns for the rebuilding of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge on the Baltimore Beltway.
The catastrophe affects the region’s other Francis Scott Key Bridge in Georgetown, D.C., as Trump alluded to the explosion in e.Coli counts downriver from the spill.
«I am directing Federal Authorities to immediately provide all necessary Management, Direction, and Coordination to protect the Potomac, the Water Supply in the Capital Region, and our treasured National Resources in our Nation’s Capital City,» Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social. «While State and Local Authorities have failed to request needed Emergency Help, I cannot allow incompetent Local ‘Leadership’ to turn the River in the Heart of Washington into a Disaster Zone.»
Moore spokesperson Ammar Moussa blasted Trump in response, saying he has his «facts wrong — again.»
«Since the last century, the federal government has been responsible for the Potomac Interceptor, which is the origin of the sewage leak. For the last four weeks, the Trump Administration has failed to act, shirking its responsibility and putting people’s health at risk,» Moussa said. «Notably, the president’s own EPA explicitly refused to participate in the major legislative hearing about the cleanup last Friday.»
«Apparently the Trump administration hadn’t gotten the memo that they’re actually supposed to be in charge here,» Moussa said.
Trump also cited the Palisades fire in California, saying that Democratic officials have a «war on merit» with «real consequences.»
He also noted that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is currently subject to a partial government shutdown affecting Department Homeland Security.
«FEMA, which is currently being defunded by the Democrats, will play a key role in coordinating the response,» he said, as many of those workers may go unpaid.
BRIDGE COLLAPSE AID BECOMES ECONOMIC WEAPON IN ESCALATING TRUMP-MOORE FEUD
Sewage in the Potmac, left; Workers try to fix a pipe in Cabin John, Md., right. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Maryland state Del. Linda Foley, D-Potomac, whose district is just upstream from the spill, said at an Annapolis hearing that it has been characterized to her as «one of the worst ecological disasters in the eastern part of the United States.»
Moussa said that Maryland, by contrast, has taken action — pointing to the shellfish fishery closure downstream to the Nice Bridge — and told Fox News Digital that Annapolis sent personnel «within hours» to help coordinate the response and protect drinking water in Montgomery County.
«The Potomac isn’t a talking point, and the people of the region deserve serious leadership that meets the moment.»
Moore’s Department of the Environment did issue an emergency closure for shellfish harvesting downstream of the spill, as ecological effects are being felt all the way at the Harry Nice Bridge where U.S. 301 crosses between Bel Alton, Maryland, and Dahlgren, Virginia, nearly 60 miles south of Washington.
Rather than most cases where a state line runs down the center of a waterway, Maryland controls nearly all of the Potomac — save for the part where the District of Columbia briefly covers the Old Line State’s historical boundaries.
MARYLAND BRIDGE REBUILD COSTS SOAR TO $5.2B, MORE THAN DOUBLE ORIGINAL ESTIMATE OFFICIALS PROVIDED
The unique boundary is also why eccentricities like Lady Bird Johnson Island, on the «Virginia side» of the Potomac near the Pentagon are actually in the District of Columbia.
David Gadis, CEO of DC Water, wrote in an open letter that the Potomac River is a «shared treasure» and that «any event that threatens its health understandably causes concern, frustration, and a sense of loss.»
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
«Our immediate priorities have been containment, environmental monitoring, and stabilization – working closely with federal, state, and local partners to assess water quality, ecological impacts, and necessary remediation,» he wrote.
donald trump,aftermath,environmental,maryland,democrats elections
INTERNACIONAL
Tourist arrested after destroying multiple check-in kiosks in Hong Kong airport rampage
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A shocking scene unfolded inside Hong Kong International Airport’s Terminal 1 on Monday when a man was seen pushing over check-in kiosks and trying to smash them with a metal pole.
Footage of the incident went viral and showed the man dressed in a black jumper, blue jeans, and wearing a cross-body bag striding toward a row of automated check-in kiosks in the departure area.
Without hesitation, he began forcefully pushing the machines over one by one.
INDIAN NATIONAL ALLEGEDLY STABBED 2 TEENS WITH FORK ON FLIGHT
The 35-year-old man was allegedly trying to buy a plane ticket before the violent episode at Hong Kong International Airport.
The kiosks toppled to the ground in quick succession, crashing loudly onto the terminal floor.
Not satisfied with knocking them down, the man then grabbed a nearby metal stanchion — one of the poles used to guide passengers in queue lines — and used it to smash the machines repeatedly.
Stunned travelers and airport staff were seen watching with no one intervening.
The rampage reportedly resulted in damage to around 10 kiosks, as well as metal barriers, nearby counters and even a glass panel.
CHAOTIC VIDEO SHOWS PASSENGERS TRADING BLOWS MIDAIR AS PLANE FORCED TO DIVERT: REPORTS
Viral footage shows the man using a metal stanchion to smash fallen check-in machines as travelers watched. (ViralPress)
The South China Morning Post reported that the man was later identified as a 35-year-old British tourist who had been trying to buy a plane ticket before the violent episode began.
The exact trigger for his outburst was unclear.
Airport authority personnel and airport security responded by rushing to the scene and warning him to stop further vandalism.
Officers then arrested the traveler and launched an investigation into his airport meltdown, according to Viral Press.
CHAOTIC VIDEO SHOWS PASSENGERS TRADING BLOWS MIDAIR AS PLANE FORCED TO DIVERT: REPORTS
Inbound passengers walk through the arrivals hall at Hong Kong International Airport. (Li Zhihua/China News Service via Getty Images)
When the man was detained, officers reportedly found that he was carrying four Viagra pills without a prescription.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
«Airport Authority personnel and airport security immediately arrived at the scene, warned the man to stop further vandalism, and called the police. Officers then arrested him and are continuing their investigation,» an Airport Authority spokesperson said, according to the Telegraph.
hong kong,airports,travel,vandalism
Uno de los argentinos que estuvo preso en Venezuela y fue liberado contó el calvario que vivió: «Tenía miedo a la locura, no a morir»
De proyecto de poder a fuerza marginal: la peor pesadilla del kirchnerismo se volvió real
Reforma laboral: tras 3 paros generales a Milei con bajo acatamiento, la CGT juega su última carta
Huracán vs. Sarmiento: formaciones, hora y dónde ver por tv
Sabrina Rojas junto a sus hijos en medio de la internación de Luciano Castro: “Son mi lugar”
Javier Milei afrontará su cuarto paro general de la CGT desde que asumió: cuál es el récord en democracia que registra
El Gobierno busca aprobar la reforma laboral y el Régimen Penal Juvenil antes del 1 de marzo
Avistaron una ballena azul en Chubut por primera vez en la historia
Chaotic video shows passengers trading midair blows; plane forced to divert: reports
Uno de los jefes de la CGT adelantó que convocarán a un paro general por la reforma laboral: “Trabajaremos para que sea una gran huelga”
INTERNACIONAL3 días agoChaotic video shows passengers trading midair blows; plane forced to divert: reports
- POLITICA1 día ago
Uno de los jefes de la CGT adelantó que convocarán a un paro general por la reforma laboral: “Trabajaremos para que sea una gran huelga”
- POLITICA2 días ago
Reforma laboral: Milei quiere aprobarla sin cambios en Diputados, pero la oposición busca corregirla
