Convicted criminal back behind bars just weeks after having sentence commuted by Biden
A convicted criminal whose prison sentence was commuted by former President Joe Biden is back behind bars.
Willie Frank Peterson, 52, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine in 2023, and was sentenced to six years and three months in jail. His sentence began on Sept. 13, 2023, according to court records obtained by Fox News Digital.
Per a Jan. 17 executive grant of clemency, Biden commuted Peterson’s sentence to 20 months, allowing him to leave custody shortly after.
But on Monday, Peterson was booked for multiple drug-related offensives in Dothan, Alabama. The Dothan Police Department charged Peterson with two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of marijuana.
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Peterson was also arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia and three firearms-related offenses, per police records.
In the final days of his presidency, Biden showed significant leniency with the number of criminals whose sentences he commuted. He boasted about completing the “largest single-day grant of clemency” on Dec. 12, when he commuted sentences for 1,500 people and pardoned 39 others.
SCOTUS RULES ON NEARLY $2B IN FROZEN USAID PAYMENTS
On Jan. 17, he commuted the sentences of nearly 2,500 inmates, primarily those convicted of non-violent drug offenses.
“Today’s clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, as well as outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes,” Biden said at the time.
“With this action, I have now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in U.S. history.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Dothan Police Department for more information.
Tim Walz mocks Tesla’s stock and gets destroyed by Elon Musk’s response
Tesla CEO Elon Musk clapped back at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after the former Democratic vice presidential candidate joked that he regularly checks Tesla stock, which was down 41.4% year-to-date as of March amid a string of vandalism against the billionaire’s company.
“On the iPhone, they’ve got that little stock app. I added Tesla to it to give me a little boost during the day,” Walz said, referencing Tesla’s stock slump as he held up his iPhone during a Wisconsin town hall titled, “The People vs Musk,” on Tuesday.
Walz, who called Musk an “un-elected, South African, nepo-baby” during the event, also encouraged Tesla owners to remove the logo on their car with “dental floss.”
Musk, however, turned the tables on the Democratic governor with a diss about his 2024 election loss.
ELON MUSK IN ‘SHOCK’ OVER DEM’S ALLEGED ‘HATRED AND VIOLENCE,’ LAMENTS ‘DERANGED’ ATTACKS ON TESLA PLANTS
“Sometimes when I need a little boost, I look at the @JDVance portrait in the White House and thank the Lord,” Musk wrote in response to Walz’s post on X.
The White House joined in on hitting back at Walz’s comment regarding the billionaire’s company.
TIM WALZ ADMITS TRUMP’S APPEAL IS MAKING PEOPLE FEEL LIKE THEY’RE ‘PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER’
“When we need a little boost during the day at the White House, we walk around the corner from our office and admire these beautiful portraits,” Trump’s Rapid Response team wrote in a social media post.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in response to a video of the town hall, called Walz a “small, petty, vindictive, evil bastard” that “represents today’s Democrats well.”
“Democrats are CHEERING for American companies to fail. Disgusting behavior,” the House Judiciary Committee wrote.
Walz’s comments come amid a series of vandalism against Tesla vehicles and facilities across the country, most recently in Las Vegas, where an FBI investigation was launched after several of the electric vehicles were set on fire.
The crime is under investigation by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said Tuesday that the attacks are “nothing short of domestic terrorism” and that the Department of Justice “has already charged several perpetrators.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to Walz for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Judge denies embattled agency’s restraining order request against DOGE
A federal judge ruled in favor of the Trump administration on Wednesday, after a government-funded nonprofit organization filed a lawsuit protecting itself from “ongoing destruction” from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The U.S. Institute for Peace (USIP) filed a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Tuesday, claiming that DOGE had committed “literal trespass and takeover by force…of the Institute’s headquarters building on Constitution Avenue.”
The organization also accused the anti-waste initiative of “ongoing destruction of the Institute’s physical and electronic property.”
“Defendants have been and are at this minute engaged in conduct that will cause the Institute irreparable harm that will prevent the Institute from performing any of its lawful functions and is likely to utterly destroy it,” the lawsuit stated.
WHITE HOUSE UNLEASHES ON ‘ROGUE BUREAUCRATS’ AFTER AGENCY HEAD REFUSES DOGE ENTRY TO HEADQUARTERS
In a decision on Wednesday, Judge Beryl Howell motioned to deny the USIP’s request for a TRO.
“I think there is confusion in the complaint that make me uncomfortable,” Howell said.
“I would say I am very offended by how DOGE has operated in the Institute in treating American citizens…. but that concern about how this has gone down is not one that can sway me in the consideration of factors for TRO, which is emergency relief, which is exceptional,” she continued.
Howell, who was appointed as a senior judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2024, also said she was “particularly concerned about plaintiffs’ likelihood of success.”
“Two of the most important tests, likely to succeed on the merits and likely to suffer irreparable harm, are just a stretch here,” Howell added.
THE UNELECTED POWER IS THE ROGUE BUREAUCRACY, STEPHEN MILLER SAYS
USIP, an independent institution funded by Congress, was established in 1984 under the Reagan administration. Its goal is to “[protect] U.S. interests by helping to prevent violent conflicts and broker peace deals abroad,” according to its website.
“Our work helps keep America safe, reducing the risk that the United States will be drawn into costly foreign wars that drive terrorism, criminal gangs and migration,” the agency’s website reads. “We help make America stronger by projecting U.S. influence and bolstering partner countries in regions destabilized by China and other U.S. adversaries.”
USIP had infamously not complied with President Donald Trump‘s February executive order to pull back the “scope of federal bureaucracy,” refusing to reduce its size to the statutory minimum listed in the order.
As such, the Trump administration fired 11 of its 14 board members last week, leaving only Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and National Defense University President Peter Garvin.
Howell’s decision came shortly after the White House told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration had gutted USIP of “rogue bureaucrats.”
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“Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a Tuesday statement. “The Trump administration will enforce the president’s executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people.”
Disgraced former congressman receives surprising campaign donation in new race
FIRST ON FOX: Former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner received surprising donations to his campaign for City Council of New York City from ex-wife Huma Abedin and her sister, Heba Abedin, despite his ex-wife saying in 2021 that Weiner’s sex scandals “almost killed her.”
Huma Abedin donated $175 to Weiner’s campaign March 13, and her sister, Heba Abedin, donated $150 Dec. 29, 2024, a Fox News Digital review of New York City campaign finance reports revealed.
Weiner launched his latest campaign for NYC City Council, a position he held from 1992 to 1998 before controversy derailed his political career, in December 2024. Weiner was elected to represent New York’s 9th Congressional District in 1998 and resigned in 2011 after he posted a photo of himself in his underwear on social media.
The incident was followed by years of sexual scandals, and Weiner was charged with transferring obscene material to a minor in May 2017 after sexting a 15-year-old girl. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
FORMER DEMOCRATIC REP. ANTHONY WEINER, CONVICTED OF ILLICIT CONTACT WITH MINOR, FILES TO RUN FOR NYC COUNCIL
Huma Abedin, the longtime Hillary Clinton aide, told CBS “Sunday Morning” in 2021 that anger over her husband’s sex scandals almost killed her.
ANTHONY WEINER SPOTTED DINING WITH ESTRANGED WIFE HUMA ABEDIN
“I can’t live in that space anymore. I tried that. It almost killed me,” Abedin told Norah O’Donnell.
Abedin said she filed for divorce on the same day Weiner pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison. The former couple, who co-parent their son, were spotted in 2023 attending the Inner Circle charity show at Ziegfeld Theater in Midtown Manhattan.
By July 2024, Abedin announced on social media she was engaged to Alex Soros, chairman of Open Society Foundations and son of billionaire megadonor George Soros. They are expected to get married this summer.
After resigning from Congress in 2011, Weiner continued sexting under the pseudonym “Carlos Danger.” The main recipient, Sydney Leathers, who was 22 at the time, claimed the former lawmaker referred to himself as “an argumentative, perpetually horny middle-aged man.”
Weiner attempted his first political comeback in 2013 with a mayoral run, but his reputation was damaged by new revelations of explicit photos Weiner had sent under the pseudonym. Weiner was caught in another sexting scandal in 2016, which led to his indictment. In one image Weiner sent, he was lying in bed with his young son.
More claims surfaced that year that Weiner had sexted a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina, and his laptop was seized. Investigators found emails relevant to Clinton’s classified documents scandal that dominated the 2016 election.
Weiner later checked himself into rehab for sex addiction. In 2017, his federal indictment ruined another bid for mayor. He was released in 2019 and was ordered to register as a sex offender.
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Abedin and Weiner did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by the deadline of this article.
Americans rate Trump’s job performance nearly two months into his second term
Nearly two months into his second term, President Donald Trump’s approval rating matches his all-time high.
Congressional Republicans also enjoy record ratings, while views of congressional Democrats tumble near an all-time low, according to the latest Fox News Poll.
FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT DOGE, EVEN AS THEY SEE NEED FOR CUTS
Half of voters, 49%, approve of the job Trump is doing as president, matching his high from April 2020. That’s also better than at the same point in his first term (43% approved in March 2017). He is at high marks among key groups, including women, Black voters and voters under age 30. (For reference, in January, a 52% majority of voters approved of the job Trump was doing handling the presidential transition.)
Nine in 10 Republicans approve of Trump, while the same number of Democrats disapprove. Six in 10 Independents disapprove of his job performance.
FOX NEWS POLL: TRUMP IS THE MOST POPULAR HE’S EVER BEEN
Overall, 51% disapprove of the job Trump is doing, including 45% who strongly disapprove.
Trump has issued more than 90 executive orders in his first 60 days in office and about 7 in 10 voters are concerned these actions may permanently alter the country’s system of checks and balances. That’s similar to how voters felt about former President Barack Obama’s use of executive actions in December 2014 (68% concerned).
Predictably, a decade ago, more Republicans were concerned, while now it’s Democrats — roughly 9 in 10, respectively. Independents feel about the same as they did 10 years ago (about three-quarters concerned).
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Congressional Republicans hit their highest approval rating ever this month, as 43% of voters approve and 55% disapprove. While that is upside down by 12 points, it still constitutes a significant improvement from the 36-point net negative rating in October 2023 and the 55-point low a decade ago.
News across the aisle isn’t as rosy. For Democrats in Congress, 66% disapprove of the job they are doing, with only 30% approving — nearly matching their record low of 29% approval in November 2013. The current 36-point deficit represents a marked decline from the 23-point difference in October 2023, the last time the question was asked (37% approve, 60% disapprove), and the high of +10 in April 2009 (50-40%).
The boost to the GOP approval is primarily attributable to more Republicans backing their party today (88%) than in October 2023 (54%). Again, the partisan contrast is striking, as only 49% of Democrats approve of their party’s lawmakers today vs. 74% in 2023.
“Democrats are united in their antipathy toward Trump, but they aren’t happy with their own party, either,” says Daron Shaw, a Republican who conducts the survey with Democrat Chris Anderson. “As Democratic elites argue over whether to be more confrontational or accommodating toward Trump, their voters are unhappy with what they see as an uneven, disjointed response.”
A few more things…
Vice President JD Vance’s job rating is in negative territory by 8 points: 45% approve, 53% disapprove. Among Republicans, his approval (85%) is slightly lower than Trump’s (92%) and Congressional Republicans’ (88%).
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By an 18-point margin, voters disapprove of the job Elon Musk is doing at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) (40% approve, 58% disapprove). Most Republicans (78%) approve, while nearly all Democrats disapprove (93%).
Secretary of State Marco Rubio breaks even with 47% both approving and disapproving. He is the only administration official who receives double-digit approval from Democrats (11%).
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Conducted March 14-17, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 994 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (123) and cellphones (648) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (223). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error associated with results among subgroup is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics of respondents are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis and voter file data.
Faith leaders across the US gather in Oval Office to pray over Trump
Faith leaders from across the country visited President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday, where they prayed with the commander-in-chief.
The White House posted an image of the leaders gathered in prayer around Trump as he sat at his desk.
William Wolfe, the executive director of the Center for Baptist Leadership, posted the same image.
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“It was a huge honor to represent @BaptistLeaders and meet @realDonaldTrump today along with other Christian leaders and pray for him in the Oval Office,” Wolfe wrote on X. “It’s been an incredible day—been keeping this under wraps until it happened, but can’t wait to share more!!”
Robert Jeffries, the pastor at the First Baptist Dallas church, also remarked on the visit.
“Honored to lead a prayer today for our great president @realDonaldTrump!” he wrote on X.
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WallBuilders founder David Barton, who was with the faith leaders, said it was “an honor” to pray for Trump.
In a video, Barton said Trump was supportive of faith-based programs and policies that are “reflective of family and faith and values.” WallBuilders aims to educate the public on how the Bible has played a pivotal role in the founding of the nation.
In February, Trump signed an executive order to establish the White House Faith Office as part of the Domestic Policy Council. The order states the new office will consult with faith leaders on various topics, including “defending religious liberty.”
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On Wednesday evening, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, will host the Catholics for Catholics Gala.
Speakers at that event will include retired U.S. Army Gen. Michael Flynn and veteran political consultant Roger Stone.
Retired NASCAR star Danica Patrick in hot pursuit of new sport
Danica Patrick reached great heights during her standout NASCAR and IndyCar career. Now, the retired driver is taking her talents to a new sport.
The 42-year-old recently revealed she started taking tennis lessons. Patrick suggested her pivot to the new sport centered around the potential long-term health benefits.
In 2018, Forbes cited a study from Denmark that determined that people who regularly play racket sports could extend their lives.
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“All racket sports — along with active sports like basketball and soccer — are believed to help increase lifespan, though tennis stands out among them all,” according to the study.
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Patrick posted a video discussing the possible benefits of racket sports.
“Hence the tennis lessons,” she captioned the post to her Instagram story.
In another recent social media post, Patrick revealed she developed an interest in golf about two years ago.
“I decided to actually learn how to play golf about 2 years ago. Of course it’s a little seasonal, mostly for heat in AZ but also work and skiing! I thought I finally had it figured out last fall. Then I forgot how to hit my driver to start the year off…. Until about 10 days ago. I remembered just as mysteriously as I forgot,” she captioned an Instagram post.
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Patrick is the most successful woman in auto racing history. She made history when she became the first female driver to win a pole in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR’s highest level. She retired in 2018.
Carrie Underwood brings Grand Ole Opry audience to tears with special tribute
Carrie Underwood moved the crowd at the 100th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry on Wednesday night.
Underwood took the stage at the event, titled Opry 100: A Live Celebration, to honor Randy Travis, who welcomed her to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry 17 years ago in 2008.
Underwood kicked off her tribute to Travis by sharing a story about her childhood. She said that her sister had a cassette tape of Travis’ and once she got her hands on it, she “never” gave it back to her.
Five years after that, Travis had a stroke that made him nearly unable to sing.
GRAND OLE OPRY 100TH ANNIVERSARY: CARRIE UNDERWOOD, BLAKE SHELTON, GWEN STEFANI, CARLY PEARCE SHINE ON CARPET
On Wednesday night, Underwood performed Travis’ “Three Wooden Crosses” and “Forever and Ever, Amen.”
At the end of “Forever and Ever, Amen,” Underwood walked over to Travis in the crowd and gave him the microphone to sing the closing, “Amen,” which moved the crowd to tears.
“Randy Travis everybody.”
“Randy Travis everybody,” Underwood said, before hugging the country music legend. The crowd immediately stood to their feet and gave Underwood and Travis a standing ovation.
Fans took to social media to weigh in on the moving performance.
“IM NOT CRYING YOU ARE,” one user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, while including a clip of Underwood and Travis’ moment.
“THREE WOODEN CROSSES. I was NOT ready,” another user wrote, adding crying emojis.
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A third added, “Wow . Tears everywhere as Randy Travis closes with Carrie Underwood.”
The Grand Ole Opry shared a post about Travis inducting Underwood into the family 17 years ago.
“We’ll never forget the moment Randy invited Carrie into the family,” the account wrote, including a photo from 2008.
Underwood rose to fame after winning “American Idol” in 2005. Her debut album, “Some Hearts,” was released that same year and included the hit “Before He Cheats.”
Country superstar Blake Shelton hosted the event, titled the “Opry 100: A Live Celebration,” on March 19, airing on NBC.
The official 100th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry is in November, and the country music house will be celebrating all year long.
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Underwood attended the country music ceremony in a lavish, one-shoulder black gown. The bottom of the dress was sheer and had a dramatic train.
The country music legend accessorized her look with a pair of statement earrings.
The country music ceremony also included performances by Jelly Roll, Reba McEntire, Post Malone, Trace Adkins, Lainey Wilson and Kelsea Ballerini.
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