A senior Hezbollah commander said the terrorist organization does not want an expanded war with Israel Tuesday, the same day that it launched a drone attack against an Israeli army base.

Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group, claimed the Tuesday attack was in retribution for an Israeli strike that killed Wissam al-Tawil, who commanded Hezbollah’s Radwan forces.

Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem released a televised speech stating that his group does not seek an all-out war with Israel, ‘but if Israel expands it, the response is inevitable to the maximum extent required to deter Israel.’

President Biden’s administration has sought to prevent Israel’s war against Hamas from boiling over into a regional conflict. Nevertheless, Iran’s proxy terrorist groups have carried out more than 100 attacks on U.S. and Israeli targets since October.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Monday that his government would do ‘anything’ to bring back security for Israel.

‘Hezbollah made a serious mistake about us in 2006, and is doing so again now. It thinks that we are weak as a spiderweb, and now sees what kind of spider we are,’ Netanyahu said while visiting soldiers at the northern border. ‘It sees here enormous power, national unity, and determination to do whatever is necessary to bring security back to the north, and I tell you that this is my policy.’

‘We naturally prefer that there be no large scale conflict, but that will not stop us,’ he added. ‘We have given Hezbollah an example of what happened to its friends in the south, and that is what will happen here in the north. We will do anything to bring back security.’

When top Hamas commander Saleh al-Arouri was killed in Beirut, Lebanon, last week, Hezbollah’s chief claimed the organization was ready for war. Netanyahu adviser Ambassador Mark Regev told MSNBC that ‘Israel has not taken responsibility for this attack,’ but noted the ‘surgical’ nature of the strike.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addressed Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, saying the Jewish state ‘will not succeed in achieving the war’s goals.’

‘Whoever thinks of war with us, in one word, he will regret it,’ Nasrallah said.

Rep. Greg Pence, R-Ind., brother of former Vice President Mike Pence, announced he is not running for re-election to the House of Representatives this year.

‘In 2017, I ran for Congress because I was Ready to Serve Again. As a former Marine Officer, I approached the job with purpose. After three terms, I’ve made the decision to not file for re-election,’ Greg Pence said on Tuesday morning.

‘For the remainder of my term this year, our team will continue to focus on delivering outstanding constituent services. To the voters in Indiana’s 6th District – it is a privilege and honor to represent you in our Nation’s capital.’

Greg Pence is the latest lawmaker to announce he is leaving Congress, joining more than a dozen House Republicans who have said they are not seeking another term at the end of 2024. 

It comes against the backdrop of a tumultuous 118th Congress, which saw several historic firsts, including the House toppling its own speaker for the first time. With just a razor-thin majority, the House GOP Conference has been fraught with division over both social and fiscal issues.

The 2024 election cycle is expected to see many of those same tensions flare up, particularly with former President Trump expected to win the GOP presidential nomination.

Greg Pence represents Indiana’s 6th Congressional District, which was held by his brother, the former vice president, for roughly a decade until 2013.

The former vice president’s relationship with Trump ruptured in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump criticized Mike Pence for not rejecting the 2020 electoral college results, prompting the former president’s supporters to turn on him. Rioters who broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6 were heard calling for Mike Pence to be hanged. 

Mike Pence, who challenged Trump for the 2024 nomination but dropped out in late October, has maintained that he did the right thing in certifying the election results and accused the former president of endangering his family.

Former President Trump’s attorney argued before a federal appeals court Tuesday that the former commander-in-chief and 2024 frontrunner has presidential immunity from charges stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, while warning that President Biden is ‘prosecuting his number one political opponent and his greatest electoral threat.’ 

Both Trump and Smith attended the hearing before the federal D.C. Appeals Court on Tuesday.

The panel of three judges, two of whom were appointed by President Biden, heard arguments from Trump attorneys and Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team.

Trump attorney D. John Sauer argued that the president has ‘absolute immunity,’ even after leaving office — an argument that the judges appeared to be skeptical of.

Judge Karen Henderson, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, fired back, saying: ‘I think it’s paradoxical to say that his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed allows him to violate criminal law.’ 

But Sauer argued that Biden, ‘the current incumbent of the presidency is prosecuting his number one political opponent and his greatest electoral threat.’

Meanwhile, Smith’s team argues that presidents are not entitled to absolute immunity and that Trump’s alleged actions fall outside a president’s official job duties.

‘The president has a unique constitutional role but he is not above the law. Separation of powers principles, constitutional text, history, precedent and immunity doctrines all point to the conclusion that a former president enjoys no immunity from prosecution,’ prosecutor James Pearce said, adding that a case in which a former president is alleged to have sought to overturn an election ‘is not the place to recognize some novel form of immunity.’

Henderson pressed Pearce on how the court could come to its decision in a way that would not open the ‘floodgates’ of investigations against ex-presidents.

Pearce said he did not feel there would be ‘a sea change of vindictive tit-for-tat prosecutions in the future,’ and said the allegations against Trump are unprecedented.

‘Never before has there been allegations that a sitting president has, with private individuals and using the levers of power, sought to fundamentally subvert the democratic republic and the electoral system,’ Pearce said. ‘And frankly, if that kind of fact pattern arises again, I think it would be awfully scary if there weren’t some sort of mechanism by which to reach that criminally.’

Pearce said the country would be in for a ‘frightening future’ if Trump is not prosecuted for alleged crimes.

But Sauer pushed back and said that the ‘floodgates will be opened.’

‘We are in a situation where we have prosecution of the chief political opponent who is winning in every poll in the national election upcoming next year and is being prosecuted by the administration he’s seeking to replace,’ Sauer said. ‘That is the frightening future that is tailor-made to launch cycles, recrimination that will shake our republic for the future.’

It is unclear when the court will make its decision.

Trump spoke outside the courtroom shortly after the hearing concluded. 

‘I think it is very unfair when a political opponent is prosecuted by Biden’s DOJ,’ Trump said. ‘They are losing in every poll, they are losing in almost every demographic.’ 

Trump added: ‘I think they feel this is the way they are going to try and win. It is a very bad precedent.’ 

Trump said his prosecution would be ‘the opening of a Pandora’s box, and it is a very sad thing that’s happening with this whole situation.’ 

‘They talk about a threat to democracy–that’s the real threat to democracy,’ Trump said. 

Trump stressed that as president, ‘you have to have immunity,’ and maintained he did ‘absolutely nothing wrong.’ 

The 2024 GOP frontrunner said he believes that ‘by normal standards, if it weren’t me, it would be the end of this case.’ 

‘But sometimes they look at me differently than they look at others. Its very bad for our country,’ he said. 

Trump added: ‘You can’t have a president without immunity… A president has to have immunity.’ 

Trump again said he did ‘nothing wrong’ and said 2020 was ‘a rigged election.’ 

‘And everybody knows it,’ Trump said. 

Smith’s case against Trump is on pause as Trump’s attorneys appeal the case and argue that presidential immunity protects him from being prosecuted. The trial had been set to begin on March 4.

In August, Trump pleaded not guilty in federal court to all four federal charges stemming from Smith’s investigation into 2020 election interference and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

Smith filed an argument to dispute Trump’s claim of presidential immunity in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected Smith’s appeal to expedite their assessment of the immunity claim before it went fully through a federal appeals court. Trump’s legal team asked the court to deny Smith’s request.

Fox News’ William Mears and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Embattled Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey gave an impassioned response on the Senate floor Tuesday pushing back against the latest superseding indictment that alleges he was involved with federal bribes in exchange for various gifts and cash to benefit Qatar. 

‘Sensationalized allegations are now creating a rising call for my resignation, despite my innocence and before a single piece of evidence has even been introduced in a court of law,’ Menendez said on the Senate floor Tuesday. 

Menendez repeatedly asserted his innocence and claimed ‘there is no evidence’ of the gifts and payments he allegedly received as a suspected foreign agent. 

‘In fact, there will be at trial, a full explanation of what is the truth about those issues, a truth that proves I am entirely innocent of the charges,’ he said. 

Menendez accused federal prosecutors of exaggerating the allegations to tarnish his image in the media and prejudice potential jurors and said it would have a ‘chilling effect’ on foreign engagement involvement among other members of Congress.

‘I understand how the government’s accusations may be in the most sensational and purposely damning way possible,’ Menendez continued. ‘It’s misuse of the grand jury system to bring superseding indictments, even though it had all the information they allege from the beginning, can be a source of concern and content by some of my colleagues, the political establishment, and most importantly, the people of New Jersey… I am suffering greatly as a result of what they have done after 50 years of public service – this is not how I wanted to celebrate my golden jubilee.’

According to the latest superseding indictment unsealed last week, Menendez is now accused of accepting bribes and gifts in exchange for helping to benefit Qatar as part of a corruption scheme from 2021 through 2023, one year longer than originally thought, the Justice Department said. 

Menendez is already facing federal charges for allegedly acting as a foreign agent and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes to benefit the Egyptian government through his power and influence as a senator.

Menendez, along with his wife Nadine and three other New Jersey businessmen – Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes – were first charged in the federal bribery scheme on Sept. 23. All have pleaded not guilty. 

The Democrat senator allegedly made several public statements supporting the Qatari government and then provided them to Daibes so he could share them with the Qatari investor and a Qatari government official. The investor negotiated a million-dollar investment real estate project with Daibes.  

Among the new allegations is that Menendez and hs wife enriched themselves with cash, gold bars and a luxury car. The couple received the gifts in exchange for Menendez using his influence to induce the Qatari Investment Co. to invest with Daibes, prosecutors say.

FBI and IRS criminal investigators allege that Menendez and his wife accepted several gold bars and other gifts from Daibes, a New Jersey developer and former bank chairman accused of banking crimes. Menendez allegedly worked to help appoint a prosecutor who would be sympathetic to Daibes, according to the indictment.

Fox News’  Louis Casiano and David Spunt contributed to this report. 

Some voters in recent elections have complained about being forced to choose between ‘the lesser of two evils.’ In the 2024 election it appears we are heading for a worse choice — the evil of two lessers.

Former President Donald Trump continues demeaning and defaming anyone who disagrees with him. He repeats unproven claims that the 2020 election was ‘stolen.’ A myriad of other inaccurate statements has apparently had a negative influence on President Biden who has joined him in the mud pit. Recall it was Biden who promised to ‘bring us together’ — always an impossibility given the conflicting ideologies of Republicans and Democrats.

In his speech last week near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Biden invoked George Washington as an example of a selfless man who refused to be crowned a king, resigned his commission as an Army general following the Revolutionary War, and limited himself to two terms as president.

An aside — Washington engaged in an insurrection according to the definition of that word: ‘ an act or instance of rising in revolt, rebellion, or resistance against civil authority or an established government.’ Wasn’t the British government ‘established’ over the colonies, however tyrannical it was? Some insurrections turn out better than others. The insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 – whether one believes it fits the definition or not — was still a rebellion against a legitimately established government with the express purpose of changing the election results. But I digress.

Biden’s Valley Forge speech shows voters that 2024 is shaping up as a contest between two lightweights pretending to be heavyweights. If Trump is elected, Biden said, America will become like Germany in the ’30s. The very future of democracy is at stake, he claimed. This is how Democrats think. Only when they win elections is the country safe.

This isn’t Biden’s first trip into the mud. During the 2012 presidential campaign, Vice President Biden told a Black audience that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney ‘would put you all back in chains.’

Biden apparently thinks his posturing as a pugilist, rather than a pragmatist, will allow him to out-punch Trump. That isn’t likely to happen as Biden has been viewed as a nice guy. No one calls Trump nice.

Where is this corrosive language getting us? Why can’t we have a true debate over the best ways to fix our problems? Claiming your opponent would rule like a Nazi, or that the other is a crook, solves nothing.

When polls show Biden and his policies are increasingly unpopular the president has two choices. One is to change course, which he is unlikely to do because that would mean acknowledging he has been wrong. When was the last time you heard a politician admit error? 

The other avenue is to ignore his failed policies — from the open border, to the national debt, crime, and foreign policy — and claim if he loses to Trump, it will be Armageddon time for the country. That strategy is not working, so far.

Polls also show most Democrats and Republicans prefer neither candidate. If Trump’s upcoming criminal trials result in convictions, that might diminish his appeal except to the Kool-Aid drinkers. Perhaps Biden’s potential impeachment, if the evidence of financial wrongdoing by his family can be proven, might have the same effect on some of the president’s supporters, but this late in the game it seems unlikely.

One scenario that could assuage voter angst: Could the rules be changed at both conventions this summer so that if Trump and Biden win enough of their primaries to claim the nomination of their respective parties, the delegates could vote to replace them? 

One might wish leaders of both parties could get together and offer a deal that promises ‘we’ll not nominate our guy if you agree not to nominate your guy.’ That might sound appealing to some, but it also seems equally unlikely. 

Too bad for America.

Hunter Biden’s art dealer told lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Tuesday that he has never discussed the paintings with the White House, Fox News Digital has learned.

A source familiar with Georges Bergès’ transcribed interview before the House Oversight Committee said Bergès told lawmakers he’s had no communication with the White House, including about Hunter Biden’s paintings.

Bergès stated that he never told Hunter Biden who any of the buyers were, the source said. 

The gallerist is speaking to the Oversight Committee behind closed doors as part of House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into President Biden. GOP lawmakers have accused Biden of using his status and name to enrich himself and his family.

Republican investigators have suggested they are suspicious over whether Hunter Biden’s art career, which began in recent years, has led to any conflicts of interest between wealthy buyers and the White House.

A second source familiar with the interview confirmed to Fox News Digital that Bergès said he did not discuss Hunter Biden’s paintings or anything else with the White House, but said it proved that a widely reported ‘ethics agreement’ between Biden officials and Bergès’ gallery to prevent wrongdoing was a lie.

‘The White House’s ‘ethics’ agreement regarding Hunter Biden’s art was a sham. The White House never facilitated any agreement, despite saying the opposite to the public,’ the second source said.

‘George Bergès stated he never had any communication with the White House about an agreement about Hunter Biden’s art and admitted Hunter Biden knew the identities of the individuals who purchased roughly 70% of the value of his art, including Democrat donors Kevin Morris and Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali.’

A large share of that 70% is entertainment lawyer Kevin Morris, the first source said, who loaned Hunter Biden $4.9 million between 2020 and 2022.

The White House has openly referenced that agreement in the past, but details have been vague. 

Former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki lauded it in July 2021 for ‘a level of protection and transparency’ but when asked about ethical concerns the following month, said, ‘we have spoken extensively to the arrangements, which are not White House arrangements; they’re arrangements between Hunter Biden’s representatives and ones that we, certainly, were made aware of.’

The second source provided additional details on the hefty sums that Bergès said Hunter Biden’s art fetched from prominent Democratic donors.

That includes $875,000 in art purchased by Morris.

Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, who the president appointed to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad in 2022, bought Hunter Biden’s art for $42,000 in 2021 and for $52,000 at the end of 2022.

EXCLUSIVE: House Republican hardliners who criticized ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s government funding compromise with President Biden are now concerned that Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will usher in ‘more of the same’ leadership despite promising a fresh start.

‘I think this contributes to the fiscal harm to our country and is consistent with what has happened for the past year,’ House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, R-Va., told Fox News Digital of Johnson’s recent government funding deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Good, one of eight House Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy in early October last year, pointed out that he opposed every spending compromise brought under both GOP speakers so far.

‘None of these bills or spending initiatives are making any significant policy changes to reverse the harm being done by the Pelosi-Schumer-Biden policies that are in place. So this is more of the same,’ he said.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., another of the eight, agreed it appeared the House GOP was on a similar path.

‘We just have to decide who we are as a party. I would hope at some point we would resume our role as fiscal conservatives,’ he said.

The showdown over policy attachments to Congress’ coming spending bills is going to be a flashpoint in any government shutdown standoffs going on this month, with the first funding deadline coming on Jan. 19. 

Schumer suggested he would not entertain any conservative policy riders in the final deal, while Johnson touted the deal as the pathway to scoring those wins.

But the Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital on Monday said getting those policies attached would be a critical test of Johnson’s mettle as a conservative leader.

‘Well, it looks pretty similar. I mean, they’re talking about it in similar ways,’ Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, said of the deal. ‘We’ve gone through a lot as Republicans, in our very narrow majority this year, but we didn’t go through this to get rolled. And so the numbers aren’t great. So the policies have to be there.’

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, was pessimistic about seeing any policy riders that would offset what he saw as capitulation by House Republicans. He went further, arguing the Johnson-Schumer deal put the GOP in a worse position than McCarthy did.

‘It’s just a continuation of the same problems that we were frustrated with last year. But I mean, I’ve got to be honest. In many ways, it’s worse,’ Roy said.

He targeted Johnson for keeping in a $69 billion side agreement between McCarthy and Biden which would raise the agreed-upon spending topline to about $1.65 trillion. Johnson negotiated $16 billion in extra cuts this year to offset some of that.

The statutory topline previously set by McCarthy and Biden during negotiations on raising the debt limit, $1.59 trillion, would stay in place.

‘I think Speaker McCarthy was trying to…figure out how we could land the plane. Side deals were cut, which should not have been cut, and we told him that, and we were working on trying to constrain that spending. Unfortunately, Mike just basically cut a deal that continued all of his quote, ‘side deals,’’ Roy said.

He accused Johnson of having ‘capitulated to the uniparty,’ adding, ‘We are now going to be left holding the bag.’

‘And I’m going to be told and sold that we’re gonna get all these great…policy changes,’ Roy said. ‘I will amend my sentence if we end up getting some massive policy wins attached to the spending, but I do not believe that we can possibly get enough policy wins on the riders to offset the damage of spending that much more money.’

Johnson is not afforded much wiggle room in his situation, presiding over a slim House GOP majority and negotiating with Democrats in both the Senate and White House. It will be a tough environment to get the kind of policies passed that the right flank of his conference would consider a win.

But even his allies among the right flank, like Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., are criticizing the deal and demanding significant policy overhauls – specifically on the border.

‘This proposal is [dead on arrival]- it’s a ‘teardrop in the ocean’ of what we should be considering for overall spending,’ Norman said. 

‘Regarding Speaker Johnson, I feel we are in much better shape because of one key factor TRUST,’ he told Fox News Digital in a text. ‘He will tell us what’s going on ‘behind closed doors’ HOWEVER Mike has to stand strong even if it means a shutdown of government!!’

Fox News Digital has reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent a prostatectomy late last month, Fox News has learned.

Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Dec. 22, 2023, and underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure called a prostatectomy to treat and cure prostate cancer. 

Austin was then admitted to Walter Reed on Jan. 1, 2024, due to a urinary tract infection after the procedure, including nausea with severe abdominal, hip and leg pain. He was reportedly hospitalized for days without notifying the White House, leading to many questions and prompting the White House to begin a review of Cabinet protocols for delegating authority.

Per Walter Reed, Austin recovered uneventfully from his surgery and he was returned the following morning. His prostate cancer was detected early and the prognosis is ‘excellent,’ the hospital said.

The scandal triggered the White House to do a Cabinet-wide review of protocols for delegating authority in the administration.

Additionally, Fox News’ Chad Pergram reported that Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks remained unaware of the medical procedure until as recently as today.

House majority whip Tom Emmer told Fox News Digital that our ‘foreign adversaries are empowered now more than ever thanks to the Biden administration’s weak-kneed leadership.’

‘We cannot afford any lapse in communication between the president and the secretary of defense,’ Emmer said. ‘The stakes are too high, and accountability must be served.’

Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder held a press conference on Tuesday about Austin’s unannounced hospital visit.

Ryder said that ‘nothing is more important to the secretary of defense and the Department of Defense than the trust and confidence of the American people and the public,’ and he was asked why Austin was reluctant to announce his medical condition.

The DOD spokesperson said the department ‘staff has been in contact with the secretary’ and that ‘he’s in regular communication with his chief of staff.’

‘As for his travel schedule, of course, I don’t have anything to announce,’ Ryder said. ‘I can tell you that he is actively engaged in his duties, as I highlighted, and fully engaged.’

Ryder was pressed on Austin’s reluctance to announce his condition. The general said he didn’t have anything from Austin about his reluctance but said ‘prostate cancer and the associated procedures are obviously deeply personal.’

The general was also asked why Austin’s personal security team did not make a call to raise awareness of the situation, which the press secretary called a ‘fair question.’

‘For the sake of not doing the review here from the podium, as I highlighted, the director of administration and management has been directed to lead a thorough review to look at exactly those kinds of questions, the relevant facts and circumstances during the period in question to evaluate the processes and procedures by which the deputy secretary of defense was notified and the associated timeline.’

‘So, again, we’ll commit to being as transparent as we can in terms of the results of that review,’ Ryder added.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.