A Democratic state representative in Washington state is pushing legislation that aims to make homelessness a civil right, according to a report.

State Rep. Mia Gregerson is promoting a bill that would make homeless people a protected class and shield them from “discrimination based on housing status,” according to a draft of the bill obtained by “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. The obtained draft is dated Oct. 10, 2024.

“[M]any communities within Washington are enacting and enforcing laws that disproportionately impact homelessness or make living in public a crime,” the document reads. “These laws are potentially unconstitutional, make it harder for people to exit homelessness, do not solve the underlying problem of homelessness, and waste precious public funds.”

The bill comes in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson, according to the report, in which the nation’s high court held that the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment does not prevent a city from enforcing public-camping ordinances against the homeless.

SAN FRANCISCO RESIDENTS LOOK TOWARDS FUTURE AFTER FIRING DEM MAYOR IN EFFORT TO CLEAN UP HOMELESSNESS, DRUGS

Gregerson told Fox News Digital in a statement on Wednesday that the reported draft was a “starting point” based on legislation that failed to pass in 2019.

“To clarify, the language in the Jason Rantz article is not a bill but a starting point from earlier this year,” the lawmaker said in the statement. “What I will propose will be significantly different from the 2019 bill because we are working on a different set of issues. There has always been a plan to share this broadly including all of the cities. Drafts such as this one are a continuation of meaningful work we have done in the past.”

Under the drafted bill, the homeless would have “the right to survive in a nonobstructive manner” on public property when “that person has no reasonable alternative but to survive in public space and existing shelter facilities within the local government’s jurisdiction are inadequate in number or are functionally inaccessible.” (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images, File)

The drafted legislation reported on says it would grant the homeless “the right to survive in a nonobstructive manner” on public property, including plazas, courtyards, parking lots, sidewalks, public transportation facilities and services and room or areas within public buildings that are open to the public and during normal operating hours.

It further states the homeless would be allowed to live on public property when “that person has no reasonable alternative but to survive in public space and existing shelter facilities within the local government’s jurisdiction are inadequate in number or are functionally inaccessible.”

HOMELESS IN VERMONT CITY SEND CHILLING WARNING ABOUT WHAT HOUSING/DRUG CRISIS WILL DO TO CITY: ‘LIKE SAN FRAN’

Kevin Schilling, the mayor of Burien, a suburban city in Gregerson’s district, told “The Jason Rantz Show” that he was “disappointed” that the representative did not consult the City Council or city before drafting the legislation.

Democratic state Rep. Mia Gregerson, has represented Washington state’s 33rd District since 2013. (Washington State House Democrats)

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“My hope is the legislature this year works to offer support to cities by expanding substance use disorder programs, emergency shelter capacity, and law enforcement assistance so that each element of this issue can be tackled accordingly,” he said.

ATHENS, Ga. — “Angel mom” Jacqueline Medina, whose daughter Lizbeth Medina was allegedly murdered by a Mexican illegal immigrant in December 2023, on Wednesday joined a chorus of voices responding to the guilty verdict and sentencing for Laken Riley murderer Jose Ibarra, a chorus that included President-elect Donald Trump and his allies.

Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard found Ibarra, 26, guilty of 10 counts in connection with Riley’s Feb. 22 murder. Those charges included one count of malice murder, three counts of felony murder, one count of kidnapping, one count of aggravated assault with intent to rape, one count of aggravated battery, one count of hindering a 911 call, one count of tampering with evidence and one count of being a “peeping Tom.” 

Haggard sentenced Ibarra to life in prison without the possibility of parole after hearing victim impact statements from Riley’s friends and family on Wednesday afternoon.

“I am deeply moved to see that Laken Riley’s family has received some measure of justice,” Medina told Fox News Digital of the verdict in a statement. “While no verdict or sentencing can ever erase the pain of losing someone so young and full of promise, we hope this brings them a small sense of closure in their ongoing grief.”

LAKEN RILEY MURDER: JUDGE SENTENCES COLLEGE STUDENT KILLER AFTER FAMILY ADDRESSES ‘MONSTER’ IN COURT

Medina said Riley and her daughter “had so much in common – they both dreamed of becoming nurses, were vibrant and full of potential, and were both victims of senseless violence.”

“[T]hey both dreamed of becoming nurses, were vibrant and full of potential, and were both victims of senseless violence.”

— Jaqueline Medina

“Their stories remind us of the devastating consequences these acts of cruelty leave behind,” Medina said. “At the same time, I cannot help but reflect on our own fight for justice. Our case is being held behind closed chambers, and we are left in the dark about critical developments. Just yesterday, we learned about the motion for an insanity plea, which has now delayed the court process by an additional two months. Our trial, originally set for December 2, 2024 – nearly a year after Lizbeth’s murder – has been pushed back even further.”

TRUMP WIN MOVES SLAIN CHEERLEADER’S MOM TO TEARS AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT FACES MURDER TRIAL

Medina feels she has been left in the dark throughout the legal process, and the recent delay has compounded her family’s “frustration and heartbreak.”

Jacqueline Medina came home to find her daughter, Lizbeth Medina, dead in the bathtub of their home after she had not seen or heard from the 16-year-old that afternoon. (Instagram)

“Our families deserve transparency, and this case should receive the same priority and urgency as Laken Riley’s and Jocelyn Nungury’s grieving families[.] We all share the same pain and the same goal: to see justice served for our loved ones,” Medina said. “Just as Laken’s family has received a step toward closure, we too long for justice for Lizbeth. Through all of this, we are united in our sorrow, our resilience, and our support for one another as we navigate these difficult times together.”

LAKEN RILEY MURDER: FAMILY OF SLAIN UGA STUDENT SOBS IN COURT AS WITNESSES DESCRIBE CRIME SCENE EVIDENCE

Laken Riley (Laken Riley/Facebook)

Politicians also reacted to the verdict in statements to Fox News Digital on Wednesday. 

“I am happy with the verdict but it is really too little, too late,” Tom Homan, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under his administration, said in a statement. “The life of Laken was tragically taken by a monster that should never have been here. This is on Biden, Harris and Mayorkas.”

LAKEN RILEY’S ALLEGED KILLER JOSE IBARRA FLEW FROM ‘GROUND ZERO’ OF MIGRANT CRISIS TO GEORGIA

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital.

Jose Ibarra appears at his trial at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court on Nov. 19, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP/Pool)

Brandon Judd, a Border Patrol agent and president of the National Border Patrol Council, said he is “happy the family got closure, but closure will not bring Laken back.”

“Laken’s murder falls directly on the shoulders of President Biden. He put politics over the safety of U.S. citizens, and Laken paid for his lust for power with her life. While the verdict is welcome, Laken should be alive today,” Judd said.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED IN LAKEN RILEY MURDER ‘FAST-TRACKING’ TO LIFE IN PRISON: ATTORNEY

Phil Holloway, a Georgia-based criminal defense attorney and former assistant district attorney, said, “Laken Riley died at the hands of a monster.”

Jose Ibarra listens through an interpreter during his trial at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, Nov. 20, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP/Pool)

“Joe Biden and the open-borders industrial complex, including leftist sanctuary city policies, led her right into his hands. Her blood is on Joe Biden’s hands. He should have been impeached over this. It’s not too late for that either,” Holloway said. “This should send the message loud and clear to sanctuary cities around the nation that we will not sacrifice another Laken Riley at the [altar] of wokeism.”

“Laken’s murderer will never breathe free air again. He will die in a Georgia prison.”

— Phil Holloway

Holloway added that Ibarra was sentenced to the “absolute maximum possible prison term,” adding that the “evidence was overwhelming, and this conviction will not be overturned on appeal.”

In their victim impact statements read in the courtroom on Wednesday, Riley’s family remembered her as a loving young woman who was dedicated to her faith and her future career as a nurse.

“Your honor, on February 22nd of 2024, our family and friends were given a life sentence without a chance of parole. Jose Ibarra took no pity on my scared, panicked and struggling child,” Riley’s mother, Allyson Philips, said Wednesday. “There is no end to the pain, suffering and loss that we have experienced or will continue to endure on that horrific day. My precious daughter was attacked, beaten and shown no mercy. She fought for her life and dignity and to save herself from being brutally raped. This sick, twisted and evil coward showed no regard for Laken or human life.”

From left, Connolly Huth, roommate of Laken Riley, Lauren Phillips, sister of Laken Riley, and Sofia Magana, roommate of Laken Riley, react as Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard announces the verdict in the trial of Jose Ibarra at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, Nov. 20, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP/Pool)

Philips described her daughter as “smart, hardworking, kind, thoughtful, and most importantly, a child of God.” She “had a personal relationship with Jesus, and she loved being the hands and feet of his hands and feet in this world,” Philips said.

“She shared her love for our Lord with others through her mission trips, working with elderly at the nursing homes and through her nursing career,” Philips said. “Laken was an amazing friend, sister, niece, daughter and granddaughter. Anyone who knew her knew about her loving heart. Laken’s life was not the only life taken on that day that Jose Ibarra attacked her. The life of her family and friends was taken, too. None of us will ever be the same.”

Laken Riley (Laken Riley/Facebook)

In a gut-wrenching journal entry that Riley wrote in December 2023, according to her stepfather, John Philips, the 22-year-old wrote, “To my future husband, I want you to know that I’m thinking about you and working every day to become the best wife I can be … and focusing on God and what he defines as a faithful Christian wife, so that I can best embody those characteristics.”

Prosecutors said Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela, attacked and killed Riley, a 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student, while she was jogging along trails near Lake Herrick on the University of Georgia campus in Athens on the morning of Feb. 22.

LAKEN RILEY MURDER TRIAL: PROSECUTORS PLACE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT AT SCENE IN OPENING STATEMENTS

John Phillips, stepfather of Laken Riley, reacts as Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard announces the verdict in the trial of Jose Ibarra at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, Nov. 20, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP/Pool)

“On Feb. 22, Jose Ibarra put on a black hat, a hoodie-style jacket and some black kitchen-style disposable gloves, and he went hunting for females on the University of Georgia campus,” prosecutor Sheila Ross said in her opening statement on Nov. 15. Riley’s sister teared up upon hearing Ross’ first statements. 

LAKEN RILEY MURDER TRIAL: PROSECUTORS PLACE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT AT SCENE IN OPENING STATEMENTS

Ross said Ibarra saw Riley running along the frequented trials on UGA’s campus just after 9 a.m. on Feb. 22, attacked her, dragged her 64 feet into a wooded area and repeatedly beat her head with a rock, killing her.

“When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he bashed her head in with a rock repeatedly,” Ross said on Nov. 15.

Jose Ibarra listens through an interpreter during his trial at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, Nov. 20, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP/Pool)

Riley attempted to call 911 at 9:11 a.m., but the call was disconnected. Prosecutors also said Ibarra’s fingerprint was on the bottom of Riley’s phone, where one might end a phone call.

“It is no coincidence that his thumbprint is on her phone,” Ross said Wednesday.

WATCH: AUTHORITIES WAKE JOSE IBARRA DAY AFTER LAKEN RILEY’S MURDER:

Ibarra and his brothers, also in the United States illegally from Venezuela, lived in an apartment building less than a half mile from the on-campus park where Riley was running.

The defendants’ attorney, Dustin Kirby, argued in his opening statement that evidence would not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ibarra killed Riley. He said it would take “gymnastics” for the prosecution to argue Ibarra killed Riley with what he described as “circumstantial evidence.”

LAKEN RILEY MURDER: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT IN GEORGIA COLLEGE STUDENT SLAYING ASKS TO HIDE CERTAIN EVIDENCE

Allyson Phillips, left, mother of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student killed this year, reacts as John Phillips, stepfather of Laken Riley, comforts her during Jose Ibarra’s trial at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, Nov. 15, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP/Pool)

“If that happens and the presumption of innocence is respected, there should not be enough evidence to convince you beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Ibarra is guilty of the crimes charged,” Kirby said on Nov. 15.

A hat allegedly belonging to Jose Ibarra is presented as evidence during his trial at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, Nov. 19, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP/Pool)

The Athens-Clarke County court heard from 29 of the prosecution’s witnesses over three days, with Ross highlighting evidence ranging from Ibarra’s DNA on key pieces of evidence to security camera footage and cellphone data placing him at the location of the crime at the time Riley was killed.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED IN LAKEN RILEY MURDER ‘FAST-TRACKING’ TO LIFE IN PRISON: ATTORNEY

Prosecutor Sheila Ross speaks while holding an evidence bag during the trial of Jose Ibarra at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, Nov. 19, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP/Pool)

Witnesses testified that DNA matching Ibarra’s was found in Riley’s fingernails and on a jacket with Riley’s hair recovered from a dumpster near his apartment complex.

Ibarra’s defense attorneys argued that evidence against the Venezuelan national is circumstantial, and they have pointed fingers toward Jose’s brothers, Diego and Argenis Ibarra, who share similarities with Jose in their DNA makeup. Diego was also seen wearing the same black Adidas-style hat that prosecutors say Jose was wearing on Feb. 22 when police questioned Diego on Feb. 23. DNA matching Riley’s was found on that same hat.

Athens-Clarke County police officer Zachary Davis points out the jacket he collected from a dumpster in a photograph as he testifies during the trial of Jose Ibarra at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, Nov. 15, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP/Pool)

“The facts and the evidence in this case should leave you with some reasonable doubt,” Kaitlyn Beck said in her closing argument on Wednesday, adding later that “while the evidence in this case is voluminous, it is circumstantial.”

Much of the defense’s arguments suggested Diego may have had something to do with Riley’s murder. Beck said in her closing statement that “it’s more than possible that one brother’s DNA would get on another brother’s clothes.”

Watch: Laken Riley, Jose Ibarra seen on trail camera footage day of murder

“I agree with the state, but Laken Riley was physically fit. She was fast. She could have outrun [Jose]. But there’s another suspect in this case who was taller, who was more physically fit, who was wearing sneakers on the day of the murder. And that is Diego Ibarra,” Beck said.

Prosecutors, however, noted that security camera footage from a dining hall on UGA’s campus, where Diego worked, showed Diego arriving and leaving work on Feb. 22.

Argenis and Diego have been subpoenaed to testify as witnesses for the defense, but the court ultimately decided not to allow their testimony because they are currently involved in their own criminal cases. Jose’s defense attorney, John Donnelly, mentioned that Diego’s defense attorney advised that he should not testify during Jose’s trial while he is currently charged with green card fraud.

Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard listens during Jose Ibarra’s trial in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, Nov. 15, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP/Pool)

UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark previously described the murder as a “crime of opportunity” during a February press conference.

LAKEN RILEY MURDER EXPOSED GLARING SECURITY LAPSES ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES, NEED FOR EMERGENCY BLUE LIGHTS

Ibarra illegally crossed into the United States through El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 and was released into the U.S. via parole, ICE and DHS sources previously told Fox News.

His older brother, Diego Ibarra, who worked briefly in a UGA cafeteria before his arrest in February, is charged with green card fraud and had ties to a known Venezuelan gang in the U.S. called Tren de Aragua, according to federal court documents.

Laken Riley (Allyson Phillips/Facebook)

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ICE previously confirmed to Fox News Digital that Jose Ibarra had been arrested by the New York Police Department a year after he entered the U.S. in August 2023 and was “charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation.”

Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

If Congress won’t slash the spending that constitutes low-hanging fruit – subsidies for National Public Radio, for example, or mandatory reductions-in-force across the vast federal government – there is no point in attempting to warn voters about the national debt. If Congress and the president don’t care about small stuff when it comes to controlling the national debt, why should voters believe the debt is a problem that warrants entitlement reform? If you won’t lose five pounds, should anyone believe you are going to shed 100?

Young people worry about the impacts of climate change – a lot. Of course they do. How could they not, given media and elementary and secondary school curricula? Some research suggests 60% or more of high school students will tell surveyors that they view climate change as “an existential threat.” Given how much time and attention is spent on cataclysmic rhetoric about climate change, it is surprising the number isn’t 95%

How about the national debt? Five years ago, Brooking Institute scholar Stuart Butler worried that very few Millennials cared about the national debt despite the projection that the national debt “is rising rapidly and will be close to 150% of GDP by 2050,” and that the total “would easily surpass the previous record during World War II.” 

STOP THE INSANITY. OUR NATIONAL DEBT NOW TOPS $35 TRILLION…

Butler – respected across the political spectrum – noted a “lot of frustration among economists and policymakers about the seeming unwillingness of young Americans to appreciate the enormous threat posed by deficits and debt.”

“Prophesying fiscal disaster and urging action is a challenging line of work these days,” he concluded.

It’s not going to get easier because the electorate does not care about the national debt. Not even young voters care, even though they are going to get stuck with the tab as the last tranche of Boomers bolt the workforce for retirement or eternity.

Voters under the age of 30 favored Vice President Harris by a few points in this month’s election, but in crucial states like Michigan it was a statistical tie. The gender gap that played out in 2024 was also present among young voters. The issues that mattered were very different among the young voters choosing Harris over Trump, but neither camp was concerned with the national debt. 

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The national debt of the United States is approximately $36 trillion dollars. The Peter G. Peterson Foundation keeps a steady eye on the total debt and on the interest cost of that debt, which is presently almost $2 billion a day, an interest-only slice of the federal budget which is expected to double over the next decade.

All of the presidents and all of the members of the House and the Senate of the past 75 years are responsible for spending the $36 trillion which we have collectively borrowed. But neither President-elect Trump nor his successor or their successor will be able to do much about the debt, even as it eats into the future prosperity of every American. Because the electorate simply shrugs off these numbers.

Because voters do not care about the debt, the debt won’t be addressed in the first or second budgets of the second Trump term or the laws that pass pursuant to the reconciliation process those budgets unlock. The debt will in all likelihood grow to more than 40 trillion before the 2026 elections have changed Congress again. That’s because President-elect Trump and the Senate and House will agree to extend and revise (and hopefully make permanent) the Trump tax cuts from 2018 and the productivity jolt that certainty about tax rates brings will take some years to show up in total tax receipts.

Debt doomsayers are everywhere and everywhere ignored. Reporters in the New York Times warned this week that “[b]udget experts have warned that his plans could add as much as $15 trillion to the national debt while increasing inflation and slowing growth.” Hard to know on what such predictions are based given that we don’t have any idea what the first budget will look like much less the second. But this story was a flare to the rest of legacy media that the left has decided that annual federal budget deficits and the total national debt matter again after President Biden’s four-year spending spree. There will be more coverage of the debt because with the GOP in control, legacy media will want to blame Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill. But will all the hand-wringing ahead result in the national debt registering as an issue among voters?

Nah. Not a chance.

03 October 2024, USA, Washington: View of the White House. Photo: Valerie Plesch/dpa (Photo by Valerie Plesch/picture alliance via Getty Images)  (Valerie Plesch)

Inflation mattered in the election – a lot. So did the “wrong direction” number as super-majorities of Americans concluded Bidenomics was a disaster. Stagflation was the undoing of President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election and it was the undoing of Vice President Harris on November 5. Americans want the economy to boom, not contract or slink along. Trump’s tax cuts being made permanent could unleash productivity again.

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But don’t expect spending cuts that matter or new revenue streams from any source unless and until there are at least gestures made by the Congress about cutting the cost of the federal government. Don’t blame the public for its indifference to alarms over the debt when Congress is still pulsing grants through the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. If the Congress cannot be serious about obvious cuts of agencies and subsidies that ought never to have been begun, don’t expect it to bring an axe to entitlements or to trot out new tax proposals.

If the debt alarms you, figure out a way to express the risk it poses to future generations the way that climate alarmists have persuaded Millennials, Generation Z and Generation Aloha that the future is dark because the planet is going to cook. Young voters worry about getting jobs and buying first houses or about the climate and abortion rights. Don’t expect them, much less the beneficiaries of entitlements, to demand fiscal responsibility unless and until Congress at least makes a show of shaving off the obvious fat.

Hugh Hewitt is host of “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” heard weekday mornings 6am to 9am ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh wakes up America on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990.  Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcast, and this column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.

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A Jan. 6 rioter who breached the U.S. Capitol was convicted of trying to have law enforcement personnel, including the FBI agents and employees who were investigating him, murdered, the Justice Department said Wednesday. 

Edward Kelley, 35, of Maryville, Tennessee, who was convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers and other crimes during the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, was found guilty on Wednesday of conspiracy to murder employees of the United States, solicitation to commit a crime of violence, and influencing or retaliating against federal officials by threat.

The jury agreed on a verdict after an hour of deliberation following the three-day trial, WBIR-TV reported.

NIKKI HALEY PENS SUPPORTIVE OP-ED IN FAVOR OF TRUMP AHEAD OF ELECTION DAY: ‘EASY CALL’ 

Federal prosecutors at his trial in Knoxville, Tennessee, said Kelly developed a “kill list” of FBI agents and others who participated in the investigation into his conduct on Jan. 6 while awaiting trial for his involvement in the Capitol riot. 

He distributed the list, as well as videos containing images of FBI employees identified on the list, to a co-conspirator as part of his “mission,” authorities said.

SUPREME COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF JAN. 6 CAPITOL RIOT PARTICIPANT WHO CHALLENGED OBSTRUCTION CONVICTION

A scene from the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in 2021. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Kelley’s co-defendant Austin Carter, who pleaded guilty in November 2023 to conspiracy to kill FBI agents and is awaiting sentencing, testified that Kelly said he needed to “take out” the FBI. He said that he and Kelley planned attacks on the Knoxville FBI Field Office using car bombs and incendiary devices appended to drones. 

He also testified that the conspirators strategized about assassinating FBI employees in their homes and in public places such as movie theaters.

Edward Kelley inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.  (Justice Department)

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Recording introduced by prosecutors showed Kelley directing the plan, and giving instructions to “start it,” “attack,” and “take out their office” in the event of his arrest. He was also recorded stating: “Every hit has to hurt. Every hit has to hurt,” authorities said. 

Kelley is scheduled to be sentenced on May 7, 2025. He faces up to life in prison. 

A Texas anesthesiologist convicted of injecting heart-stopping poison into patients’ IV bags has been sentenced to 190 years in prison.

Raynaldo Riviera Ortiz, Jr., 60, once dubbed a “medical terrorist,” was found guilty on four counts of tampering with consumer products resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of tampering with a consumer product and five counts of intentional adulteration of a drug after an eight-day trial in April of last year.

Sentencing was handed down by Chief U.S. District Judge David Godbey, who ruled Ortiz’s actions equivalent to attempted murder and U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton seemingly agreed.

“This disgraced doctor acted no better than an armed assailant spraying bullets indiscriminately into a crowd. Dr. Ortiz tampered with random IV bags, apparently unconcerned with who he hurt. But he wielded an invisible weapon, a cocktail of heart-stopping drugs, concealed inside an IV bag designed to help patients heal,” said Simonton.

TEXAS DOCTOR FOUND GUILTY OF POISONING PATIENTS BY PUTTING DANGEROUS DRUGS IN IV BAGS

Simonton continued: “On at least nine separate occasions, he essentially attacked unconscious patients lying on an operating table, and even killed a colleague. I am so proud of our office’s work in bringing Dr. Ortiz to justice and bringing a measure of solace to his victims and their families.”

During the trial, doctors said they were confused when their patients’ blood pressures were suddenly spiking, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas. After reviewing medical records, one thing in common with each incident was that these emergencies took place after new IV bags had been hung.

Evidence presented in the trial showed that patients at Surgicare North Dallas suffered cardiac emergencies during routine medical procedures in 2022.  The evidence showed that it was not done by any particular doctor.  

TEXAS DOCTOR ACCUSED OF POISONING PATIENTS BEGS FOR BAIL, GIVES NEW DETAILS ABOUT DOG SHOOTING

Dr. Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz (left) was found guilty of contaminating IV bags, which caused the death of Dr. Melanie Kaspar (right). (Dallas Police Department/ Obituary)

After the unexplained emergencies, a fellow anesthesiologist treated herself for dehydration using one of the tainted bags and died that day. Her husband, Dr. John Kaspar, told the court the memory of seeing his wife’s “lifeless eyes” still haunts him and will never leave him. She was “my life” and “the strongest woman” he’d ever met, he said.

During the sentencing, families and patients spoke about the “life-altering” pain they had endured at the hands of Ortiz. A son of one victim said that because of what happened, his 10-year-old son did not trust doctors anymore because “a doctor tried to kill Pops.”

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Another victim said after the cardiac incident he woke up feeling “all chewed up” and has not been the same since.   

Ortiz waived his rights and was not present to hear the sentence or the statements from his victims.

President-elect Trump’s team is confident that Senate Republicans will approve his cabinet selection – despite some of the picks raising eyebrows from Republicans and Democrats alike.

A Trump transition official confirmed to Fox News that the president-elect is “confident that Senate Republicans will hold the line.”

“President Trump is confident that Senate Republicans will hold the line and respect the will of the American people by approving his cabinet nominees,” the official said.

The official said that Trump is “very happy” with the vice president-elect, saying that Vance is “laser focused on already getting the ball rolling on his highly-qualified nominees.”

TRUMP PICKING CABINET AT BREAKNECK SPEED COMPARED TO 2016

Trump’s nominees and administration picks during his second administration are being publicly announced at a much faster pace than during his first administration in 2016, which the transition team attributed to Trump’s commitment to putting “America first.”

“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail, and his Cabinet picks reflect his priority to put America First. President Trump will continue to appoint highly qualified men and women who have the talent, experience and necessary skill sets to Make America Great Again,” Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt previously told Fox News Digital when asked about Trump’s speedy rollout of Cabinet picks. 

WATCH:

Trump’s most contentious choice so far has been Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., for attorney general. The pick came as a surprise to many since the firebrand does not have any prior law enforcement experience and faces misconduct allegations.

Gaetz was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which subpoenaed him as recently as September for an ongoing investigation into alleged sexual misconduct with a minor. 

LOYALTY MATTERS: TRUMP PICKS ALLIES AND SUPPORTERS TO FILL OUT HIS ADMINISTRATION

Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and had told the panel he would “no longer voluntarily participate” in its probe. Gaetz resigned from Congress shortly after Trump made the announcement. 

Vice President-elect Vance and former Rep. Gaetz were seen leaving the Capitol building on Wednesday, Nov. 20. (Fox News)

On Wednesday, Vance and Gaetz were spotted leaving the Capitol.

A source familiar previously told Fox News Digital that Gaetz is “working the phones” to address concerns from GOP senators ahead of his confirmation hearings next year. He is also making the rounds with Vance on Capitol Hill to meet with senators directly. 

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“The meetings have been productive with AG nominee Gaetz listening to senators’ thoughts on the role of the DOJ and the confirmation process. Gaetz is looking forward to meeting with more senators throughout this process on the Hill,” a Trump transition official told Fox News Digital. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.