Southwest
Oklahoma judge charged in drive-by shootings faces suspension for alleged corruption, courthouse sex
An Oklahoma judge previously indicted for drive-by shootings in two states faces removal for alleged preferential treatment toward a particular lawyer and sexual misadventures with staff in his courthouse.
Garfield County Associate District Judge Brian Lovell, 58, was indicted in Travis County, Texas, last September for allegedly shooting six parked cars at an intersection outside the locally-famous Austin Tex-Mex restaurant Juan in a Million, the Enid News & Eagle reported.
He allegedly fled the scene and then rammed a woman’s vehicle with his SUV twice, at one point nearly pushing her vehicle into oncoming vehicles, telling responding police that she “cut [him] off” in traffic.
In February 2023, Lovell allegedly fired several rounds into his brother-in-law’s Oklahoma home with the same .40-caliber Glock pistol, according to Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
The judge reported his gun stolen two days later but apparently had it in his possession. Bullets at the scene of the Texas shooting matched those found at Lovell’s brother’s home. He was indicted for this incident in May.
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Judge Brian Lovell, 58, is facing a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving for a case in Texas. In Oklahoma, he faces felonies for using a vehicle to facilitate the discharge of a firearm and discharging a firearm into a dwelling. (Travis County Sheriff’s Office)
Neither of those cases has been resolved. However, to avoid jeopardizing those investigations, a removal petition filed by the Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints on June 27 asserts that their intent to temporarily suspend Lovell had nothing to do with these “alleged criminal activities.”
Instead, the petition focuses on the judge’s alleged gross neglect of duty, corruption and misuse of his position.
Lovell allegedly “engage[d] in ex parte communications with attorneys appearing before him.” He spoke with them one-on-one about cases without other involved attorneys present.
The petition also accuses him of “making disparaging remarks about attorneys appearing before him, publicly evidencing a bias from a particular attorney and setting the amount of bond on criminal charges based on bias for the defendant’s attorney or the defendant.”
Lovell, who is married, also had sex with two different bailiffs, according to the petition. He allegedly exchanged “sexually graphic messages and images with court staff inside the courthouse during courthouse hours” and had “sexual intercourse with court staff inside the courthouse during courthouse hours.”
When Lovell was hired in 2011, he did not disclose his pre-existing sexual relationship with a female bailiff. They allegedly continued that relationship, “including liaisons at the Garfield County Courthouse during courthouse hours.”
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A petition to suspend Brian Lovell from the bench asserts that, rather than the criminal charges against him, his conduct in court “undermines public confidence in the judiciary.” (Garfield County Court)
They continued their relationship from February of that year until October, when the bailiff disclosed the relationship to another judge and resigned. In a vote, five district judges decided to keep Lovell on the bench.
Another female bailiff was hired that year, in 2023. Lovell and that bailiff allegedly engaged in sex acts, exchanged explicit texts and took intimate photos for each other in the courthouse multiple times.
Lovell claimed that his relationship with the second bailiff was nothing but “flirtatious texting,” according to the petition, but the bailiff told investigators that the two had been having sex.
The judge also gave preferential treatment to one attorney and his clients, the petition alleges, praising his decisions in court and reaching sweetheart deals in secret text messages.
In one instance, the judge allegedly described the attorney’s decision to not cross-examine a witness as “brilliant.” In another, he allegedly praised the attorney’s cross-examination as “very extensive.” On another occasion, he told the attorney their performance in court was “excellent.” However, no other adjectives were used to compliment other attorneys, according to court minutes reviewed by the body.
At one point, Lovell allegedly disparaged a client but granted him a favorable bond amount, explaining that it was because of who he had chosen to represent him in court.
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Brian Lovell allegedly had sex with two different bailiffs in the Garfield County Courthouse, pictured, during work hours. (Google Maps)
In another instance, Lovell allegedly granted a protective order to a third party business – a funeral home – represented by his favorite attorney without having the authority to do so.
When he became aware that the council was investigating his actions, Lovell allegedly “seal[ed] a court file with no justification” and “attempt[ed] to persuade an attorney to give false testimony to the Council on Judicial Complaints.”
“[Lovell] has demonstrated a lack of respect for the judicial office with which he is entrusted, and an ongoing pattern of misconduct and dishonesty,” the council wrote.
“The conduct further demonstrates [Lovell’s] lack of temperament to serve as a judge, undermining public confidence in the independence, integrity, impartiality and competence of the judiciary,” the petition continued.
Lovell has until July 8 to contest his interim suspension order, and a motions hearing on the removal effort is slated for July 30.
Stephen Jones, an attorney representing Lovell, told the Enid News & Eagle that his client had been “ambushed by the Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints.”
“Judge Lovell was never notified of and for which a response from him was never sought, even though he had a lawyer and was prepared to defend against the allegations, which we repeatedly sought notice of what they were, and repeatedly we were denied that notice,” Jones told the outlet.
Fox News Digital was unable to reach Lovell, the bailiffs mentioned in the petition or the attorney he is accused of giving preferential treatment to.
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Southwest
Savannah Guthrie spotted in NYC as search for missing mother enters sixth week with few answers
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TUCSON, Ariz. — “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie is back in New York City as the search for her missing mother enters its sixth week with little publicly known progress in her hometown of Tucson, Arizona.
Guthrie was photographed in public for the first time since her mother’s suspected abduction, alongside husband Mike Feldman and their young son in the Big Apple Sunday, days after an emotional reunion with her NBC colleagues and more than a month after her 84-year-old mother Nancy was last seen.
Nancy’s disappearance shocked the country — especially when the FBI released disturbing surveillance video of a masked man on her doorstep.
Savannah Guthrie spent weeks in Tucson with her siblings as the investigation played out — before she and her older sister, Annie, added bouquets of yellow flowers to a growing display at the foot of their mother’s driveway. She quietly flew home to New York last week.
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Savannah Guthrie is seen out in New York with her husband Michael Feldman as the “Today” show anchor makes her first public appearance more than five weeks after the suspected abduction of her mother, Nancy Guthrie. (ASPN / BACKGRID)
Sunday marked five weeks since the suspected kidnapping.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is leading the investigation, which is now being overseen by a task force consisting of local detectives and FBI agents.
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Savannah Guthrie visits the Today show at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
No suspects have been publicly identified.
A masked man who appeared on Nancy Guthrie’s Nest doorbell camera around the time authorities said she was taken is described as being of average height and build and carrying a black Ozark Trail backpack.
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Savannah Guthrie and her mother, Nancy Guthrie, are pictured Thursday, June 15, 2023. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
He appeared to be armed with a handgun as well. Law enforcement sources said he visited Nancy Guthrie’s home at least once in advance of her disappearance, wearing a similar disguise.
Other identifying details are scarce.
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The use of cadaver dogs is also on hold, according to authorities, who re-canvassed Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood as recently as last week.
When asked if that meant they believed she is still alive, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos declined to discuss evidence in the case.
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“Anything is possible,” he told Fox News Digital.
Authorities have said they won’t consider the case cold until they run out of viable leads to follow up on — and tens of thousands have come in so far.
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There’s a reward of more than $1.2 million in play for information that leads to Nancy’s recovery.
Savannah Guthrie has asked anyone with information to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI.
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Southwest
FBI subpoenas 2020 Arizona voting docs as federal push into election administration widens
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An Arizona state lawmaker revealed Monday that federal authorities subpoenaed him for records related to the 2020 election, marking the second publicly confirmed jurisdiction the Department of Justice is investigating over the matter.
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican, said in a social media post he received the subpoena for material related to the state Senate’s 2020 audit last week and complied with it.
“Late last week I received and complied with a federal grand jury subpoena for records relating to the Arizona State Senate’s 2020 audit of Maricopa County,” Petersen wrote. “The FBI has the records. Any other report is fake news.”
The request represents an expansion of a federal probe tied to 2020 after the DOJ initially targeted Fulton County, Georgia. The development also comes as President Donald Trump has grown increasingly outspoken about election security in the lead-up to the 2026 midterms, renewing his attention on disputes stemming from the last presidential race.
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An election worker removes a ballot from an envelope to count and inspect the pages inside the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
Petersen made the revelation after President Donald Trump shared a Just the News report about the subpoena on Truth Social, writing, “Great!!! FBI secretly seizes election records from Arizona’s largest county as voting probe expands.”
Multiple U.S. officials confirmed the election probe to Fox News, saying the DOJ is looking at a large tranche of Arizona data from 2020 and 2024.
President Donald Trump listens during an event about the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)
The White House directed Fox News Digital to the FBI on Monday when asked for comment. The FBI declined to comment.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, an elected Democrat, said the new investigation was based on claims that courts and state investigators have proven wrong.
“What the Trump administration appears to be pursuing now is not a legitimate law enforcement inquiry,” Mayes said in a statement. “It is the weaponization of federal law enforcement in service of crackpots and lies.”
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Attendees listen as Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) speaks at an “Only Citizens Vote” bus tour rally advocating passage of the SAVE Act at Upper Senate Park outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on Sept. 10, 2025. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
The subpoena comes as the president increasingly focuses on election security ahead of the 2026 midterms, telling Congress in a social media post on Sunday that he will not sign any legislation into law until it passes the SAVE America Act.
The bill’s primary purpose is to require voters nationwide to show physical identification to prove citizenship to vote in federal elections. The version of the bill Trump is pushing would also ban mail-in ballots except for the military and in other extenuating circumstances.
Maricopa, Arizona’s most populous county, was a hotbed for accusations of voter fraud in 2020. Fulton County, Georgia, faced similar accusations, with the DOJ launching a separate investigation into the 2020 election earlier this year.
Trump lost Arizona in 2020 by about 0.3 percentage points. The president refused to concede, and his legal team brought a series of lawsuits alleging vote-counting irregularities, but none were successful.
Fox News’ David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
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Southwest
Wisconsin man who fled Border Patrol checkpoint in stolen car killed after shootout in Texas, police say
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FIRST ON FOX: A Wisconsin man driving a stolen vehicle was killed Wednesday after he fled through a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint and led authorities on a vehicle chase and shootout in Texas.
The incident happened at around 10:30 a.m. at the Sierra Blanca checkpoint in the Big Bend Sector between El Paso and Van Horn, a remote area.
James Douglas McMillan, 33, of Greenfield, Wis., took off from the checkpoint after a Border Patrol drug K-9 alerted to the vehicle and agents directed McMillan to pull over for a secondary search, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
A migrant walks through the Rio Grande as he crosses the U.S.-Mexico border, March 13, 2024, in El Paso, Texas. On Wednesday, a man was shot and killed by authorities near El Paso after fleeing through a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint. (John Moore/Getty Images)
During the car chase, McMillan opened fire out of his vehicle window at DPS troopers and other authorities from several law enforcement agencies and civilian vehicles, DPS said.
“As law enforcement returned fire, DPS Troopers performed a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver and successfully stopped the suspect vehicle,” a DPS statement said.
McMillan barricaded himself in his vehicle and eventually pointed his weapon towards officers, prompting officers to open fire, authorities said.
He was shot and killed. No law enforcement officers or civilians were hurt.
Investigators determined McMillan was driving a vehicle reported stolen in Arizona. The shooting is being investigated by the Texas Rangers, with assistance from the FBI and USBP.
The shooting involved Border Patrol agents and DPS troopers. (Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images)
In January, a man suspected of smuggling illegal immigrants was shot by federal officers during a gunfire exchange in Arizona.
Patrick Gary Schlegel, 34, fled from authorities on foot and allegedly shot at a CBP helicopter and at agents, Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix Division, said at the time.
A U.S. Border Patrol officer watches a USBP helicopter. (Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images)
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Schlegal, a U.S. citizen from Arizona, underwent surgery and survived. No one else was harmed, authorities said.
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