FBI forces out former acting director and two other officials in latest agency shake-up
The FBI on Thursday is ousting at least three officials, including the former acting director and an officer involved in the January 6 investigations, Fox News has learned.
Former FBI acting director, Brian Driscoll, is among those being forced out of the bureau, sources familiar with the matter told Fox News, along with Walter Giardina, a special agent at the bureau who played a role in the investigation of Trump trade advisor, Peter Navarro, and Steven Jensen, the acting director in charge of the Washington Field Office.
Driscoll, for his part, served as acting director of the FBI prior to the confirmation of FBI Director Kash Patel, and Jensen played a key role in the January 6 investigations.
Senior FBI officials told the agents in question that they needed to leave by Friday, with no specific reason given to them individually.
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One individual with knowledge of the removals described it as “retribution.”
Individuals familiar with the matter told Fox News that more ousters are expected at the bureau by the end of the week, though the exact number of personnel included, or their roles at the bureau, are unclear.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro refused to answer several questions from Fox News about the FBI ousters during a press conference Thursday morning.
Still, news of their removals comes months after thousands of FBI personnel in February were forced to fill out a sprawling questionnaire asking employees detailed questions about any role that may have played in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots — ranging from whether they testified in any criminal trials to when they last participated in investigation-related activity.
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The questionnaire, first reported by Fox News Digital, sparked urgent fears about politicization within the bureau, and concern that it could be used to retaliate against agents involved in the January 6 investigations.
Those concerns reached a fever pitch later that month, after then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered the bureau to compile a list of all current and former personnel who worked on investigations related to January 6, 2021 riots case.
That information included details on “thousands” of employees, including their unique identifying numbers, their current title, and their role and title at the time of the investigation.
A group of nine current FBI agents and employees in U.S. District Court later filed a lawsuit over the list, citing fears that it could threaten their careers and risks disrupting the bureau’s essential work.
Former Justice Department officials have cited concerns that the probe or any retaliatory measures carried out as a result could have a chilling effect on the work of the FBI, including its more than 52 separate field offices.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association (FBIAA), a voluntary professional association that represents more than 14,000 active and retired FBI special agents, told Fox News in a statement on Thursday that they are “deeply concerned” about the reported oustings, and said they are “actively reviewing all legal options” to defend FBI agents that were summarily fired from the bureau without cause or process.
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The FBIAA is “deeply concerned by reports that FBI Special Agents—case agents and senior leaders alike—are going to be summarily fired without due process for doing their jobs investigating potential federal crimes,” the group said in a statement.
“Agents are not given the option to pick and choose their cases, and these agents carried out their assignments with professionalism and integrity. Most importantly, they followed the law,” the FBIAA said.
Former FBI and Justice Department officials previously warned in interviews with Fox News Digital that such firings, while within Trump’s authority, could have a chilling effect on the rest of the bureau should the administration move to get rid of the personnel involved in the Jan. 6 investigations.
The Trump administration has not yet said if it will move to take action against the individuals involved.
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President Donald Trump in February declined to answer questions over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is “corrupt” and that then-FBI director nominee, Kash Patel, would “straighten it out.”
The FBI did not respond to Fox News’s request for comment.
Trump gives Putin ultimatum as Russian drones breach NATO territory with explosives
Days ahead of the U.S. preparing harsh new sanctions tied to the war in Ukraine, Russian Vladimir Putin, whether intentionally or just carelessly, has tested the political will of NATO’s collective defense guarantee, Article 5.
In recent days, drones launched from the Russian-aligned state of Belarus have pierced Lithuanian airspace, drawing alarms from the region’s political and military leaders. One drone traversed approximately 100 kilometers, loitered ominously over Vilnius carrying two kilograms of explosives and ultimately crashed inside a military training zone. Earlier in July, another drone forced the evacuation of high-level officials when it crashed near the Šumskas border crossing.
Simultaneously, Russian forces struck a Ukrainian gas depot located mere yards from Romania’s border half a mile away, a strike that triggered warnings and prompted Romanian F‑16s to patrol the vicinity.
Though these seem like isolated incidents, observers point to a troubling pattern. Russian drones have drifted — or perhaps even been directed — into NATO airspace before, and NATO’s response has been muted.
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Andrew D’Anieri, associate director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, told Fox News Digital that while it isn’t crystal clear whether Putin is openly testing Article 5, his apparent lack of caution about these actions is telling.
“The kind of alarming thing is, we haven’t seen any real response from NATO to any of these,” D’Anieri said.
Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė, while stressing that there is no evidence suggesting the latest drone breached intentionally, said “this is an unprecedented and alarming incident,” especially given that the drone flew just one kilometer from the president’s residence.
Describing the behavior as “reckless drone incursions,” she warned they amount to “a direct test of NATO’s resolve.” In response, Lithuania has pledged to review its defensive protocols and urged NATO to bolster its air defenses as a clear message that the alliance stands ready to safeguard every inch of its territory.
Romania, having endured repeated drone spillovers, passed a law this May empowering its forces to intercept or destroy unauthorized drones. As a result, no incursion occurred in connection with the latest strike near its border.
Bruno Kahl, head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, has been sounding the alarm for months. In November 2024, Kahl cautioned that Russia’s growing employment of hybrid tactics — ranging from sabotage and cyberattacks to disinformation — raises the likelihood that NATO may ultimately feel compelled to invoke Article 5.
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More recently, his warnings intensified. In June 2025, he told the media that Moscow appears intent on putting NATO’s unity and collective defense to the test. Kahl revealed that Russian officials seem to doubt whether the alliance would uphold Article 5 and might instead deploy covert measures — “little green men” or hybrid provocations — to probe NATO’s response, rather than launching overt invasions.
This perspective was echoed by former Lithuanian Ambassador Eitvydas Bajarūnas, who told Fox News Digital that even if the drone events weren’t intentional, their psychological force is real.
“This will be the future of war in Eastern Europe,” he said. “We might not expect an immediate Russian attack, we might have Russia testing how institutions react, how the public reacts, even. Russia might use these even accidental drone incursions into Baltic airspace, to shore up public anxiety.”
Bajarunas too called for a whole of NATO response. “These are incursions into NATO territory. That’s why we should not think of it only as a national response, but also allies, the response of the whole of NATO.”
Putin’s hybrid probes, from drone flights to border strikes, may well mark the new battleground in Eastern Europe, where the test is not one of tanks or missiles, but of unity, readiness and political will.
President Donald Trump gave Putin until Friday for a breakthrough in peace negotiations, after which he has promised to enact steep sanctions.
Trump suggested this week he would target Putin’s oil-backed war coffers. “Putin will stop killing people if you get energy down another $10 a barrel. He’s going to have no choice because his economy stinks,” the president told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
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Still, the president remained optimistic about negotiations after his envoy, Steve Witkoff, traveled to Russia to meet with Putin. “Great progress was made!” Trump promised. “Everyone agrees this war must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come.”
The Kremlin has claimed Trump and Putin will soon meet face-to-face for negotiations for the first time in this administration.
Trump names replacement for Fed seat, still looking for permanent appointee
President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he has selected Stephen Miran to join the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the panel tasked with helping guide the nation’s monetary policy.
Trump said in a Truth Social post that Miran will serve in the role until Jan. 31 of next year.
“In the meantime, we will continue to search for a permanent replacement,” Trump wrote, adding that Miran has a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard.
The Federal Reserve Board of Governors, commonly known as the Fed Board, is composed of seven members, or governors, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
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Last week, Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler announced she would resign from her post, which Trump called “a pleasant surprise” as the early exit gives him the opportunity to install a new candidate more aligned with his economic agenda.
Trump’s new Fed governor is anticipated to eventually succeed Powell next May, a move that comes amid escalating tensions between Trump and Powell in recent months.
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Trump, who appointed Powell to the role in 2017, has repeatedly called for the Fed to lower the federal funds target rate, which he says could save the nation “hundreds of billions of dollars.”
Powell has kept the central bank’s key borrowing rate target within a range of 4.25% to 4.5%, adopting a cautious approach as the Fed continues to weigh the economic impact of Trump’s tariffs.
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Following last month’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Chair Jerome Powell announced that interest rates would leave the rate unchanged, marking the fifth time this year the Fed has held them steady.
FOX News host Greg Gutfeld joining NBC’s ‘Tonight Show’ with Jimmy Fallon
Fox News Channel host Greg Gutfeld will appear on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Thursday.
The “Gutfeld!” namesake will join Fallon from the iconic Studio 6B in Rockefeller Center, a stone’s throw from FOX News Media’s New York City headquarters in midtown Manhattan.
“It’s the biggest crossover since the Harlem Globetrotters visited ‘The Golden Girls,’” Gutfeld joked when informing Fox News viewers last week.
“It looks like I’ll be on with the Jonas Brothers, which is great, I haven’t seen them in a while. A lot of people don’t know this, but I was one of the original members until they booted me out for being too hot,” Gutfeld added. “But it should be fun. Fallon seems like a great, genuine guy who wants to make people laugh instead of putting them to bed angrier than ‘The View’ at a salad bar.”
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Gutfeld said that “unlike the other guys” Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, the NBC late-night host doesn’t reside in a liberal echo chamber.
“Sitting with me proves he’s not afraid of upsetting his peers or afraid of my mesmerizing charm,” Gutfeld said.
“Remember, he was destroyed for humanizing [President] Trump by messing up his hair. The angry mob wanted a brutal take-down, but Jimmy did something different. He had fun, which is criminal to the liberal hive,” he continued.
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Indeed, Trump agreed and let Fallon reach out and ruffle his iconic hair in 2016 — a jester that irked many on the left.
“If he wants to run his fingers through my hair, I will not complain. After all, the last time he did that, the guy became president,” Gutfeld said.
Fox News Channel’s “Gutfeld!” is the most-watched late-night program on television and regularly outdraws late-night offerings on NBC, CBS and ABC. Gutfeld is also co-host of “The Five,” alongside Dana Perino, Jesse Watters, Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr., which finished July as the most-watched news program in America.
The Jonas Brothers and Good Charlotte are also scheduled to be guests on Thursday’s edition of “The Tonight Show,” which airs on NBC at 11:35 p.m. ET.
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Helicopter crashes into barge after collision with power line along busy river
Two people are dead after a helicopter crashed into a power line on Thursday and plummeted into a barge on the Mississippi River.
The St. Charles County Police Department in Missouri confirmed to Fox News Digital the aircraft crashed into a barge on the river and caught fire along the Illinois and Missouri border near Alton, Illinois.
Two people are confirmed dead, according to CCPD spokesperson Cpl. Barry Bales.
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The identities of the victims have not yet been released.
The helicopter was owned by a company that services power lines, though the company involved has not yet been confirmed, according to Bales.
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The work involved the installation, replacement and maintenance of the large orange marker balls that are placed on power lines to alert aircraft to their presence, he said.
No other injuries or fatalities were immediately confirmed.
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Netanyahu signals shift as Israel plans for full control of Gaza amid stalled talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed his plans for Israel to take full control of the Gaza Strip, marking a major shift in policy nearly two decades after Israel withdrew from the region.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Bill Hemmer, Netanyahu said the move is aimed at eliminating Hamas and eventually transferring governance to Arab authorities.
“We want to liberate ourselves and liberate the people of Gaza from the awful terror of Hamas,” said Netanyahu.
“In order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza and to pass it to civilian governance.”
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While Netanyahu insisted Israel is not planning to occupy Gaza for the long term, he emphasized the need for a lasting security presence and the dismantling of Hamas.
“The only way that you’re [going to] have a different future is to get rid of this neo-Nazi army. The Hamas are monsters,” he said.
Nearly two years after the October 7th terror attacks, about 50 hostages, both dead and alive, remain trapped in Gaza.
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Netanyahu’s plans come as ceasefire negotiations with Hamas have stalled in recent weeks. U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff has previously expressed optimism about talks, but progress has since stalled.
Israel’s security cabinet is set to meet Thursday to discuss the future of the war and the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. The United Nations and other international groups have warned of famine and deteriorating access to necessary supplies in the region.
Earlier this week, Hemmer visited a food distribution center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S. and Israeli-backed aid organization. Despite clear logistical issues, Hemmer reported that thousands of people received food at the site.
“What you saw today was controlled. Certainly, these are desperate people who are fighting for food, fighting for their lives, and are living in a war zone,” said Chapin Fay, a spokesperson for the GHF.
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“This is the most complex humanitarian crisis of our lifetime, and we have to stop pretending that there’s only one way to deliver aid to the people in Gaza.”
The United Nations Human Rights Council has called for the GHF’s “immediate dismantling,” as some human rights groups have accused the organization of firing on civilians and committing war crimes.
The GHF denied the allegations.
Netanyahu defended the aid distribution system in Gaza, arguing that the humanitarian crisis stems from Hamas’ control and its looting of much of the provided aid.
“They want people to be civilian casualties. They want a starvation policy that they themselves are trying to put into being,” he said. “And we’re doing everything to reverse that.”
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Court orders Trump administration to stop building at Florida migrant center
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to halt construction at the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention facility in Florida, Fox News has learned.
The judge said for now that the facility can continue to hold migrant detainees, but cannot add any new infrastructure capacity.
Caitlin Clark hits at Sophie Cunningham’s, Lexie Hull’s viral bikini TikTok
Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull spent the day relaxing by the pool before a game, and Caitlin Clark may or may not have been pretty upset by it.
The blonde-haired Indiana Fever stars posted a TikTok of themselves in bikinis before their game in Los Angeles against the Sparks in a call to get swimsuit brands to endorse them.
“We are off to our game tonight. Convince us there’s a swimsuit brand that wants to partner with two Indiana Fever mermaids,” Cunningham wrote in the video.
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The top comment on the video was from Clark.
“Swimsuit brands plz comment ‘focus on basketball,’” she wrote.
In a since-deleted reply, Cunningham fired back.
“maybe a brand will make a full body wet suit for your pale a– too… We all win!” Cunningham said, according to multiple outlets.
The TikTok post has over 1.5 million views.
It’s all just fun and games – after all, Cunningham is the one who came to Clark’s defense earlier this season, which prompted quite the ruckus on the court and multiple ejections. The three players have also clearly grown very close on and off the court.
Cunningham also called Clark the face of the WNBA and ripped those who think otherwise.
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“It literally p—es me off when people are like, ‘She’s not the face of the league,'” Cunningham said of her Indiana teammate during the first episode of the “Show Me Something” podcast. “We have a lot of bada–es in our league, and, hell yeah, I’m all for that, but when people try to argue that she’s not the face of our league or that our league would be where we’re at without her, you’re dumb as s—. You’re literally dumb as f—.”
Cunningham recalled her 2024 season with the Phoenix Mercury in her argument that Clark’s star power led to harsher on-court treatment from competitors during her rookie season.
“I know the talks Phoenix had in their locker room of, like, ‘We’re going to show her what the W really is,'” Cunningham said. “I get it to a certain extent. Every rookie coming into the league, that’s how you’re going to treat them. But there’s just more for her. It’s her second year. Now being on her team and seeing it, I’m like, ‘What are people doing?’ It’s just too much.”
The guard is in her seventh WNBA season, but she’s hit the big time ever since she started a ruckus in defense of Clark.
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Jacy Sheldon poked Clark in the eye and was also pushed to the floor by Marina Mabrey. Cunningham wrapped up Sheldon under the basket on a hard foul in the fourth quarter, and the two were ejected.
In 25 games this year, Cunningham is putting up 8.0 points per contest and shooting 41.9% from three-point range.
Video captures car slamming into parked Amazon delivery truck with employee still inside
Doorbell camera footage captured the jarring moment an Amazon delivery truck was struck head-on by another car in North Texas while the employee was sitting inside the vehicle.
Police said Tuesday’s crash in Mineral Wells, Texas, was caused by Micah Meeks. Authorities said he fell asleep at the wheel while returning home from work.
Meeks was also driving without a valid license and received a citation at the scene, Mineral Wells Police told Fox News Digital.
“Officers on scene were told the at-fault driver had been at work that morning and was taking the car to drop it off with someone else,” police said. “A co-worker was following him when the accident occurred.”
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In the doorbell camera footage that captured the incident, Amazon employee Dashon Holloman can be seen limping away from the vehicle. Neighbors and bystanders were seen rushing to help both drivers.
Homeowner Kristy Miller, whose doorbell camera recorded the crash, told Fox 4 News that when she went to check on the drivers, the Amazon driver asked her, “Did you get your package?”
A Fort Worth husband and father of two, Holloman had only recently started working at Amazon and said the company was supportive following the incident, according to Fox 4. He reportedly made sure every package was delivered before heading to the hospital for a minor knee injury.
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Resident Stormy Lovern told Fox 4 that he heard a loud noise and screaming shortly after Holloman completed a delivery.
“He had just made a delivery to my neighbor’s house, and so I had just seen him get back in his car and drive off,” Lovern said. “Then not even two minutes later I hear a huge boom outside and hear him screaming out there.”
Both Holloman and Meeks were treated on scene by EMS and released with minor injuries. Police said there was no indication that alcohol or excessive speed played a role in the crash.
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“We’re thankful both drivers are safe and appreciate the customer’s concern and immediate assistance after this incident,” an Amazon spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement on Thursday.