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Hegseth signs off on wounded US troops keeping bullets, shrapnel removed from their bodies after Maduro raid

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Hegseth signs off on wounded US troops keeping bullets, shrapnel removed from their bodies after Maduro raid

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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, revealed dramatic new details Wednesday about the covert Jan. 3 mission targeting Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, describing U.S. troops who continued fighting after being shot and later asking to keep the bullets and shrapnel pulled from their bodies.

In a new “Verdict with Ted Cruz” podcast episode, Cruz detailed a trip with fellow Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and War Secretary Pete Hegseth to a San Antonio hospital to visit three of the seven soldiers wounded during Operation Absolute Resolve.

Cruz said American troops were “vastly outnumbered,” describing Cuban military members, tasked with guarding Maduro, opening fire on U.S. soldiers.

“It is an incredible testament to the precision and effectiveness of our military that not a single soldier on the American side was killed,” Cruz said. “There was a very large number of Cuban forces defending Maduro who were killed in that firefight.”

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War Secretary Pete Hegseth; Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, visit Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. (Sen. John Cornyn via X)

The first soldier the politicians visited helped plan the “entire raid” and was leading one of the helicopters when he was shot in the leg, according to Cruz.

“Even in the midst of being shot in the leg, [he] continued,” Cruz said. “He did not step back from the fight, and he was critical, in terms of his location, protecting his fellow soldiers.”

During a discussion with the soldier, Cruz said Hegseth extended an offer for anything the soldier needed.

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“[The soldier] said, ‘Well, actually, there is something you could do,’ and Pete says ‘what?’” Cruz said. “[The soldier] says, ‘I’d really like the bullet,’ the bullet that went into his leg.”

INSIDE THE LIGHTNING US STRIKE THAT OVERWHELMED VENEZUELA’S DEFENSES AND SEIZED MADURO

Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, after landing at a Manhattan helipad en route to a federal courthouse Jan. 5, in New York City. (XNY/Star Max/GC Images via Getty Images)

Cruz explained the hospital’s medical director previously told the soldier the hospital could not hand it over to him without a waiver.

“Pete, to his credit, said, ‘The waiver is granted, you can have the bullet,’” Cruz said. “That soldier was beaming. He was thrilled to have the bullet.”

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The second soldier the group met with had also been shot and cut by a piece of shrapnel, causing a gash running the entire length of his arm.

“He had the exact same request,” Cruz said. “He said, ‘I’d really like the shrapnel.’ They had the piece of metal that had cut his arm open, and again, the hospital said, ‘We have it, but we’re not allowed to give it to him without the waiver.’”

Hegseth also signed off on the second soldier’s request, according to Cruz.

US RAID IN VENEZUELA SIGNALS DETERRENCE TO ADVERSARIES ON THREE FRONTS, EXPERTS SAY

Venezuelan citizens celebrate during a rally on the Colombia-Venezuela border after the confirmation of Nicolás Maduro’s capture Jan. 3 in Caracas. (Jair F. Coll/Getty Images)

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“Both of those, I assume that they’re going to frame it or otherwise keep it as just a memento to the injury, the Purple Heart that they earned fighting for their country, but also being a part of profoundly impacting history,” Cruz said.

While the names and ages of the wounded soldiers, who are now all in good condition, have not yet been publicly released, Cruz said the first soldier was a bit older than the other two, who he described as “young guys.”

“If you saw them walking down the street, you wouldn’t do a double take,” he said. “The first guy kind of looked a little like Captain America, [and] the other two looked like they were fit … but the skill that you know they have, the heroism you know they have — if you just saw them on the street, you wouldn’t immediately know that.

Cruz spoke out about the covert Venezuela mission on a recent episode of his podcast. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“With all three of the soldiers, I took an opportunity to tell them, ‘Look, you were part of history. You were part of history in a way, without exaggeration, that changed the entire Western hemisphere. What you did was profoundly important … and I took the chance on behalf of Texans and Americans just to say, ’Thank you. Thank you for your bravery.’”

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Cruz added the first soldier, who was shot in the leg, had some friendly banter with the Pentagon chief.

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“Hegseth asked him, ‘How are you feeling?’ And he said, ‘I’m ready to go again,’” Cruz said. “I said, ‘Great, can you do Saturday?’ And he said, ‘Well, can we hold off till Monday?’ So, that kind of gives you a sense of the spirit [the soldiers had].”

Cruz’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Man arrested on misdemeanor DUI charges outside Nancy Guthrie’s home after sobriety test

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Man arrested on misdemeanor DUI charges outside Nancy Guthrie’s home after sobriety test

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TUCSON, Ariz. — A 34-year-old man was arrested late Thursday night outside the Arizona home where Nancy Guthrie went missing earlier this month, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department told Fox News Digital.

Shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday, deputies arrested 34-year-old Antonio De Jesus Pena-Campos in front of Guthrie’s home on misdemeanor DUI charges, the department said. 

The arrest is not related to the Guthrie investigation, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department added.

Pima County sheriff’s deputies stopped a blue Chevrolet Equinox compact SUV near Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home late Thursday night. A man was later taken into custody after what appeared to be field sobriety testing. (Fox News)

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Footage shows Pima County sheriff’s deputies shining a flashlight into the driver’s side of what appeared to be a blue Chevrolet Equinox compact SUV parked near the home where Guthrie was last seen Feb. 1.

Moments later, deputies spoke with Pena-Campos near a white canopy tent set up along the roadside as a deputy shined a flashlight toward the man’s face.

In another sequence, Pena-Campos walks in a straight line in what appears to be part of a field sobriety test. In subsequent footage, he is placed in the back of a sheriff’s pickup truck.

The man was detained as investigators continue searching for Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, who was reported missing Feb. 1 after authorities said she was taken during a home invasion. Investigators have said her pacemaker last synced with her iPhone around 2:30 a.m. that morning.

Her family has since offered a $1 million reward for information leading to her safe return as authorities continue to pursue leads.

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NANCY GUTHRIE’S NEIGHBOR SAW SUSPICIOUS MAN WALKING NEARBY 2 WEEKS BEFORE SUSPECTED ABDUCTION

A deputy shines a flashlight toward a man’s face during what appears to be field sobriety testing outside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home late Thursday night. The man was later taken into custody. (Fox News)

The development comes after a Catalina Foothills resident’s street-facing Ring camera captured 12 vehicles passing by between midnight and 6 a.m. on Feb. 1, the morning Guthrie is believed to have been abducted.

Some of the activity occurred around the 2:30 a.m. mark, roughly when authorities said the 84-year-old’s pacemaker last synced with her iPhone.

A man walks in a straight line under the direction of deputies during what appears to be field sobriety testing outside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home late Thursday night. (Fox News)

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Homeowners Elias and Danielle Stratigouleas told Fox News Digital that police had not canvassed their neighborhood in the 25 days since Guthrie was allegedly taken from her bed in what authorities have described as a home invasion kidnapping.

The couple said they alerted both the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department to the footage. It was not immediately clear whether the video would prove useful to investigators or whether any of the vehicles had traveled on Guthrie’s street.

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Pima County sheriff’s deputies speak with a man near a white canopy tent set up along the roadside outside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home late Thursday night. (Fox News)

The Stratigouleas home sits on a back road that leads out of Guthrie’s neighborhood and avoids major intersections. The property is approximately 2½ miles — or about a seven-minute drive — from the crime scene, according to Google Maps.

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One of the videos was recorded at approximately 2:36 a.m., roughly eight minutes after Guthrie’s pacemaker last synced with her iPhone, based on the sheriff’s timeline.

Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and Olivia Palombo contributed to this report. 

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Trump introduces Cornyn, Paxton but stays mum on endorsement in heated GOP primary

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Trump introduces Cornyn, Paxton but stays mum on endorsement in heated GOP primary

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The Texas Senate primary for Republicans is a bloodbath, and President Donald Trump isn’t wading in.

Trump, who appeared in Corpus Christi, Texas, to tout his energy agenda Friday, had the opportunity to stake his claim in the contentious race and endorse a candidate. 

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is the longtime incumbent fending off seven challengers.

But the real race is between Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas.

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President Donald Trump stops to speak to the media as he departs from Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House Feb. 27, 2026, in Washington, D.C.  ( Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

All three were in attendance at Trump’s rally, reminiscent of the made-for-TV spectacles that dominated his successful 2024 election campaign. Yet Trump didn’t endorse any of them as Election Day in the primary fast approaches.

Trump acknowledged all three — he paired Cornyn and Paxton and mentioned Hunt later in his remarks. He noted that they were all engaged in an “interesting election.”

“They’re in a little race together,” Trump said of Cornyn and Paxton. “You know that, right? A little bit of a race. It’s going to be an interesting one, right? They’re both great people, too.”

HUNT FILES POLICE REPORT AGAINST CORNYN CAMPAIGN STAFFER OVER ALLEGED FAMILY ‘DOXXING’ INCIDENT

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and John Cornyn, R-Texas (Getty Images)

Cornyn is running for a fifth term in the Senate and fighting for his political life in a nasty primary election that Trump has time and again refused to weigh in on. He’s got the full weight of Senate Republican leadership behind him, too.

Paxton, who has faced headwinds with scandals over the years, has strongly aligned himself with the president and built a coalition of conservative backers in the House, including Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, who brought him to Trump’s State of the Union earlier this week.

And while the trio duke it out, money is being burned at a record pace. So far, a whopping $110 million has been spent on the Senate primaries, and $88 million of that has been dumped into the GOP contest, according to data from AdImpact.

CORNYN WARNS PAXTON WOULD BE ‘KISS OF DEATH’ FOR GOP AS BLOODY PRIMARY RACE RAMPS UP

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Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, walks up the House steps for a vote on the budget resolution in the U.S. Capitol April 10, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Given the crowded field, it’s likely the race will head to a runoff, which will turn into a brutal sprint until late May. Paxton believes he could come out on top with at least 50% of the vote come March 3, while Cornyn is eying the long game.

The coveted Trump endorsement could put either over the top in ruby red Texas. And he may be close to picking his favorite.

Ahead of the event, Trump was asked if he had decided who to endorse.

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“Pretty much,” he told reporters.

But when asked if he would say who, he said, “No.”

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Jasmine Crockett reveals Colbert hasn’t invited her on show since furor over Talarico interview

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Jasmine Crockett reveals Colbert hasn’t invited her on show since furor over Talarico interview

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Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, revealed Friday she’s still not been asked to appear on Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show,” days after the host claimed pressure from the Federal Communications Commission effectively censored an interview with her Senate primary political opponent, James Talarico.

Earlier this week, Colbert said CBS prevented the broadcast of Talarico’s appearance due to guidance from the FCC requiring shows to provide “equal time” to opposing candidates.

In response, the late-night host criticized the FCC and his own network. The Talarico interview was posted online, where it has garnered more than 8 million views on YouTube alone. The tumult and extra attention to the interview helped raise more than $2.5 million for Talarico’s campaign.

“No, I’ve not been invited on Colbert prior to his interview nor post his interview,” Crockett said on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” Friday.

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Rep. Jasmine Crockett speaks to members of the media following a House Oversight and Accountability Committee deposition in New Albany, Ohio, on Wednesday, Feb. 18. (Dustin Franz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Crockett explained that while she has appeared on Colbert’s show twice before, she has not been invited since she launched her candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

“The only information that I got was after this debacle took place, I did receive a phone call from the parent company,” Crockett said.

She said that CBS representatives told her they did not tell Colbert he couldn’t air the Talarico segment. Instead, they said that if he had Talarico on, he had to offer the same time to Crockett.

COLBERT FUMES AT CBS, SAYS IT BARRED HIM FROM INTERVIEWING TEXAS DEM AMID FCC CRACKDOWN

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Texas state Rep. James Talarico, left, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, both Democrats and U.S. Senate candidates, participate in a debate during the 2026 Texas AFL-CIO COPE Convention in Georgetown, Texas, on Jan. 24. (Bob Daemmrich/The Texas Tribune/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“They just said, if you air it, just make sure that you offer the representative equal time. Now, obviously, I wasn’t engaged in that conversation, so I cannot confirm the veracity of any statements,” she said. 

“But I can confirm that I had never been asked to go on as it relates to kind of talking about the Senate race,” Crockett added.

CBS released a statement denying it censored Colbert, insisting the show chose to share the interview on YouTube instead to avoid the equal-time requirement.

‘THE VIEW’ PANEL ERUPTS AS GUEST DEFENDS TRUMP AGAINST RACISM CLAIMS

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Texas state Rep. James Talarico appears with Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” in New York on Feb. 16. (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)

However, during Monday night’s broadcast, Colbert insisted he and his guest were being censored, telling his audience, “[Talarico] was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast.”

The media attention and Colbert’s multiple segments this week about the controversy provided a boon to Talarico’s campaign. On Tuesday, Colbert crumpled up the CBS statement denying it had forced the comedian not to air the interview and put it into a dog waste bag before throwing it away.

On Wednesday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr dismissed the controversy as a “hoax,” stating that Talarico “took advantage of all of your sort of prior conceptions to run the hoax, apparently for the purpose of raising money and getting clicks. And the news media played right into it.”

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A spokesperson for Colbert’s show didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

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