Northeast
Former Trump ambassador eyes Senate return, potentially setting up key swing state campaign rematch
RYE, N.H. – EXCLUSIVE – Scott Brown is on the move.
The former senator from neighboring Massachusetts and 2014 Republican Senate nominee in New Hampshire, who later served four years as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand in President-elect Trump’s first administration, is seriously considering a 2026 run to return to Congress.
If Brown moves ahead and launches a campaign in the months ahead, it would potentially set up a high-profile rematch with Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, in what would likely be a competitive and expensive Senate clash in a key swing state.
The 65-year-old Brown, who competed in nine triathlons this year and who on average performs around 40–50 gigs a year as lead singer and guitarist with the rock band Scott Brown and the Diplomats, is doing more than just thinking about running to return to the Senate.
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Former senator and former ambassador Scott Brown, who’s considering a 2026 run for the Senate in New Hampshire, competed in 9 triathlons in 2024. (Scott Brown)
He’s been meeting in recent weeks with various Republican and conservative groups in New Hampshire.
Brown, in a national exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, said he’s doing his “due diligence, meeting with anybody and everybody. So you’ll be seeing me a lot around, whether it’s parades, triathlons, my rock band, meeting and getting out and really learning.”
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And Brown is taking aim at New Hampshire’s all-Democrat congressional delegation.
“The thing that really ticks me off is how they’ve basically covered up for [President] Joe Biden for the last four years, what they’ve done or not done on the border, what they’ve done and not done in inflation, and they’re just completely out of touch with what we want here in New Hampshire. And the more I think about it, I think we can do better,” Brown argued.
Brown made headlines in 2010 as the then-state senator in blue-state Massachusetts won a special U.S. Senate election to serve the remainder of the term of the late longtime Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Former ambassador and former Sen. Scott Brown speaks with Fox News Digital, at one of his ‘Backyard BBQ’ political events, in August 2023 in Rye, New Hampshire (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
After losing re-election in 2012 to now-Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Brown eventually moved to New Hampshire, the state where he had spent the first years of his childhood and where his family had roots dating back to the colonial era. He launched a Senate campaign months later and narrowly lost to Shaheen in the 2014 election.
After hosting nearly all the Republican presidential candidates in the 2016 cycle at speaking events he termed “No BS backyard BBQs,” Brown eventually endorsed Trump in the weeks ahead of New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary. After Trump was elected president, he nominated Brown as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand, where the former senator served for four years.
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Returning to New Hampshire at the end of the first Trump administration, Brown supported his wife Gail, a former television news reporter and anchor, as she ran for Congress in 2022.
And the Browns also stayed politically active in other ways, once again hosting many of the Republican presidential candidates, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at their “Backyard BBQs” during the 2024 presidential cycle.
Former ambassador and former Sen. Scott Brown (left), is joined by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, as DeSantis ran for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, in Rye, New Hampshire on July 30, 2023 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Asked in May 2023 if he’d consider another Senate run, Brown told Fox News Digital “of course.”
Now, as Brown considers another Senate run, time isn’t working against him.
Brown jumped in late in the 2014 campaign, just seven months before Election Day.
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This time around, he emphasized, “I have a long runway. I didn’t have that obviously the first time, and I’m going to do what I have been doing for almost a decade now, going around, meeting with people participating in the process.”
During his first Senate run, which came months after he changed his residency to New Hampshire, he repeatedly faced carpetbagger accusations.
Last week, a progressive group in New Hampshire took aim at Brown.
Amplify NH claimed in a release that “the gentleman from Massachusetts is clawing for another chance at power, framing himself once again as a Senate candidate for New Hampshire.”
Brown says he’s not concerned.
“We’ve had a house here for over three decades, and we’ve been fully engaged full-time here for over a decade. So now I think that’s old news.”
And he argued that New Hampshire’s congressional delegation “votes 100% with Massachusetts.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., speaks before President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, at NHTI Concord Community College, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Concord, N.H. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (AP)
While Shaheen cruised to re-election in 2020, winning by roughly 16 points, and Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan won re-election in 2022 by nearly nine points, Senate Republicans are eyeing New Hampshire in 2026 as they aim to expand their incoming 53-47 majority in the chamber. New Hampshire, along with Georgia and Michigan, will likely be heavily targeted by Senate Republicans.
Trump lost New Hampshire last month, but he cut his deficit to just three points in his face-off with Vice President Kamala Harris, down from a seven-point loss to President Biden in the Granite State in 2020.
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And the GOP kept an open gubernatorial seat in party hands – former Sen. Kelly Ayotte succeeded longtime Gov. Chris Sununu – while expanding their majorities in the New Hampshire state House and Senate.
Asked if he’d like Trump to join him on the Granite State campaign trail if he decides to run, Brown said “if he’s got the time, of course.”
And pointing to Trump, Brown said “not only did he help obviously, nationally, he helped here in New Hampshire.”
Former ambassador and former Sen. Scott Brown performs with his rock band Scott Brown and the Diplomats (Scott Brown and the Diplomats)
Shaheen has yet to announce if she’ll seek another term in the Senate. That decision will likely come early in the new year.
But Shaheen, in a fundraising email to supporters on Friday, didn’t sound like she was getting ready to retire.
“Democrats need to be ready to fight back” against the incoming Trump administration, she wrote. The senator added that last month’s election setbacks for Democrats highlight that “early preparation has never been more important.”
And Shaheen, a former three-term New Hampshire governor, is taking over next month as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the first woman to hold one of the top two positions on the powerful panel.
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Shaheen also turns 78 next month.
Asked if age would be a factor in a potential Shaheen-Brown rematch, Brown said he likes Shaheen and really appreciated her support during his confirmation as ambassador to New Zealand, but added that “that’s certainly up to her.”
“I’m 65. I can’t believe it. I feel like I’m 40. My wife says I act like I’m like 12, he added.
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Northeast
Venezuelan leader Maduro, wife arrive at Brooklyn detention facility after capture by US forces
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Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, Saturday evening after being captured by U.S. forces at their South American compound earlier in the day.
Maduro is charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the U.S.
The indictment also lists his wife and son as defendants.
A DOJ plane containing captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife lands at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, N.Y., Saturday. (WNYW)
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President Donald Trump shared a photo of Maduro after his capture aboard the USS Iwo Jima, though he and his wife were not clearly seen when they landed aboard at Department of Justice plane at Stewart Air National Guard Base in upstate New York late Saturday afternoon.
Operation Absolute Resolve follows a series of U.S. military strikes on suspected drug vessels allegedly linked to the Venezuelan regime in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific.
The Venezuelan government said in a statement the attack was carried out to seize the country’s oil and minerals and was an “attempt to impose a colonial war to destroy the republican form of government and force a ‘regime change,’ in alliance with the fascist oligarchy.”
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro is led by officials while in custody from a DOJ airplane Saturday in upstate New York. (ABC Affiliate WABC via Reuters)
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Trump warned the U.S. is prepared to stage a “second and much larger attack,” confirming U.S. forces remain in position.
“We’re there now, and we’re going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place,” Trump said.
Police patrol the West Side Heliport in New York City Saturday ahead of the expected arrival of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro and his wife arrived in the U.S. after his capture by U.S. forces in Caracas. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
The operation comes nearly 40 years after the U.S. military last removed a leader in Latin America.
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Panama dictator Manuel Noriega was successfully ousted in 1989, though it brought with it long-term challenges in stabilizing governance.
While Venezuelan celebrations began in other countries, Fox News reported those inside the country were stockpiling food amid fears of instability.
Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
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New York
Read the Indictment Against Nicolás Maduro
intentionally and knowingly combined, conspired, confederated, and agreed together and with each other to violate Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c).
35. It was a part and an object of the conspiracy that NICOLÁS MADURO MOROS, DIOSDADO CABELLO RONDÓN, RAMÓN RODRÍGUEZ CHACÍN, CILIA ADELA FLORES DE MADURO, NICOLÁS ERNESTO MADURO GUERRA, a/k/a “Nicolasito,” a/k/a “The Prince,” and HECTOR RUSTHENFORD GUERRERO FLORES, a/k/a “Niño Guerrero,” the defendants, and others known and unknown, during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime for which they may be prosecuted in a court of the United States, to wit, for MADURO MOROS, CABELLO RONDÓN, and RODRÍGUEZ CHACÍN, the controlled substance offenses charged in Counts One and Two of this Superseding Indictment, and for FLORES DE MADURO, MADURO GUERRA, and GUERRERO FLORES, the controlled substance offense charged in Count Two of this Superseding Indictment, knowingly used and carried firearms, and, in furtherance of such crimes, knowingly possessed firearms, and aided and abetted the use, carrying, and possession of firearms, to wit, machineguns that were capable of automatically shooting more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger, as well as destructive devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 924(c)(1)(A) and 924(c)(1)(B)(ii). (Title 18, United States Code, Sections 924(o) and 3238.)
36.
FORFEITURE ALLEGATIONS
As a result of committing the controlled substance offense charged in Count One of this Superseding Indictment, NICOLÁS MADURO MOROS, DIOSDADO CABELLO RONDÓN, RAMÓN RODRÍGUEZ CHACÍN, the defendants, shall forfeit to the United States, pursuant to Title 21, United States Code, Sections 853 and 970, any and all property constituting, or derived from, any proceeds the defendants obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of the offenses, and any and all property used, or intended to be used, in any manner or part, to commit,
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Boston, MA
Kirouac’s dunk sparks Georgia Tech to victory over Boston College
Jackets shook off a sluggish start to dispose of Boston College, 65-53.
Georgia Tech guard Chas Kelley III finishes a layup past Boston College’s Marko Radunovic on Saturday, Jan. 3 at McCamish Pavilion. (Danny Karnik/Georgia Tech Athletics)
Trailing late in the second half Saturday at McCamish Pavilion, Georgia Tech needed a spark. Cole Kirouac delivered.
The 7-foot freshman found himself unguarded inside the arc on the left side of the court. Without hesitation he bolted toward the rim, took flight and slammed home the ball with two hands to tie the score at 46 with seven minutes left on the clock.
Kirouac’s dunk brought many of the 5,978 to their feet and changed the energy in the building while the Yellow Jackets threatened to lose to the worst team in the ACC. Instead, Tech took the lead shortly after Kirouac’s play and never trailed again in a 65-53 victory.
“Originally, it was just supposed to be a handoff. I saw my man sagging off. I just took one dribble, went up and dunked it,” Kirouac said. “I feel like I was pretty tired in that moment. I feel like that energized me a lot. I think we had energy as a team, but I feel like it probably boosted it a little bit.”
Said Tech coach Damon Stoudamire: “That was a heck of a dunk he had. That ignited us, ignited the crowd. Proud of him and happy for him.”
Saturday’s victory was the 10th of the season for Tech — all 10 have come at home and all 10 have come against opponents which reside in Quadrant 4 of the NCAA’s NET rankings. Per that metric, Boston College was the ACC’s lowest-ranked team at No. 179 going into Saturday.
But the Jackets (10-5, 1-1 ACC), the ACC’s second-worst team in the NET, found themselves in a dogfight for much of the afternoon despite leading by 10 late in the first half. The Eagles (7-7, 0-1 ACC) had momentum on their side and led by four with 9:14 to play before wilting at the end.
Tech guard Lamar Washington flirted with a triple-double by finishing with 17 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Kowacie Reeves scored 16 and Baye Ndongo had 10 points and eight boards.
Twenty of Tech’s 65 points came from the free-throw line. The Jackets also had 23 fast break points — Boston College had none.
“We’re a good team,” Washington said. “When we play together and we play with confidence and we play how we’re supposed to play, we can — I feel like we can beat anybody in the nation.”
Tech was sluggish and sloppy at the outset, suffering through a field goal drought of 6:04 while missing nine of its first 10 shots. But a Ndongo layup followed by a Kam Craft 3 from the right corner tied the game at 11-all a little less than eight minutes into the fight.
The Jackets began to get a feel for things offensively from there and took their first lead on a Jaeden Mustaf layup at 13-12. Akai Fleming’s powerful finish from the right block 3 1/2 minutes later put the home team ahead 19-15.
Tech had six assists on its first seven made shots at that point.
Fleming’s score began an 10-2 Tech run that also included a Fleming dunk and two Fleming free throws that upped the lead to 27-17.
But the Jackets wouldn’t score the rest of the half and had to settle for a 27-24 lead at the break. The Eagles, despite shooting 9 of 34 from the floor, ended the period on a 7-0 run to close the gap.
“I was actually disappointed the last three minutes of the first half because BC, they’ve played a lot of games where they just rock you to sleep,” Stoudamire said. “You’ll feel like you’re in control of the game and then all of a sudden you lose a rhythm offensively, and then they start scoring some buckets and they hit a bank-shot 3 and you just have all kind of things start happening, and that’s when the game turned. The momentum of the game, it shifted. And we couldn’t find it back offensively.”
A back-and-forth first eight minutes of the second half saw Boston College finally tie the game at 36 before Tech squeaked ahead by four thanks to two Washington free throws and a Reeves layup.
The Eagles responded with a 7-0 run and took the lead on a Donald Hand Jr. 3, and then went up 43-40 on Chase Forte’s layup at the 10:33 mark. Boden Kapke’s putback after a missed free throw gave BC a 46-42 edge 64 seconds later.
That was the last little glimmer of hope the visitors had.
“We couldn’t have won games like this last year,” Stoudamire said. “The way I look at everything that’s happening, I think sometimes people get bent out of shape when you play teams and you don’t beat ‘em by how many points they want you to win by or different things of that nature. We went to Duke and we lost by six. We come back (Saturday) and it was kind of a grimy game.
“But we’ve been playing close games, so we’re seasoned in these games. Doesn’t matter who you play, you’re seasoned in ‘em, and I think that what you’ve seen. You didn’t see no panic with our guys coming down the stretch.”
Hand and Kapke both scored 13 for BC, which shot 18 of 66 from the field and 4 of 29 from long range.
Tech returns to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Syracuse (9-5, 0-1) at McCamish Pavilion.
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