Evening Wire: Hayden Panettierre’s Boyfriend Under Scrutiny & New York Times Forced To Pay MILLIONS | 8.21.26

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**Georgia Howe** (1:02)
The FBI disrupts an ISIS inspired attack on the New York Statehouse. The New York Times is forced to pay a college athlete millions and Hayden Panettierre's boyfriend comes under even more scrutiny. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley. It's Friday, August 21st, and this is Evening Wire.

**John Bickley** (1:21)
A 35-year-old woman from Albany, New York is in federal custody for allegedly planting a bomb at the state capitol building while lawmakers were inside. Reporter Drew Berkmeyer has the details.

**Drew Berkmeyer** (1:33)
Federal prosecutors revealed Thursday that Jessica Bowie, 35, had pledged allegiance to ISIS and was, hoping to strike while state senators were meeting. She's been charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
The complaint says Bowie converted to Islam roughly five years ago.
Between May and July, accounts linked to her posted messages expressing support for terrorism. She then began communicating with an FBI confidential source in July about her plans. Bowie allegedly told the source she wanted to attack the New York state capitol because she wanted to quote, harm the enemies of God. She allegedly conducted surveillance of the capitol and purchased materials to construct an explosive device. Undercover sources provided Bowie with an inert explosive device and a non-functional handgun, after which she was arrested.

**Georgia Howe** (2:21)
Elon Musk is expected to spend up to $200 million to boost the GOP in the midterms. The tech tycoon plans to relaunch America PAC, the same political group that spent hundreds of millions helping elect President Trump in 2024 with a heavy focus on battleground states. The revived operation will prioritize door knocking, digital advertising and direct mail to energize conservative voters who typically skip midterms. The former Doge chief who quit Washington after falling out with the White House is expected to spend between $100 and $200 million with a major focus on Texas, where one prediction market currently favors Democrat James Tallarico to upset Republican Ken Paxton in the make or break US Senate race.

**John Bickley** (3:02)
The New York Times was ordered to pay millions to a college athlete in a big defamation judgment. Reporter Breka Stoll has more.

**Breka Stoll** (3:09)
A federal jury on Thursday ordered the paper to pay a former University of Alabama men's basketball player $9.25 million in damages for falsely reporting that he was at the scene of a murder in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Times falsely claimed in March 2023 that Kai Spears was in former Alabama basketball star Brandon Miller's vehicle at the scene of a January 2023 shooting that killed 23-year-old Jamea Harris. Spears was not in the vehicle.
A Times spokesman said, We're disappointed the jury found the Times liable for an honest mistake and that the paper is reviewing our legal options. Spears sued the Times in 2023 accusing the newspaper of liable and light invasion of privacy. He argued that the article caused him emotional distress and has permanently linked his name to the murder.

**Georgia Howe** (3:54)
Nathan Coughness, the academic who publicly raised plagiarism allegations against late Cambridge professor Jason Arday, has been suspended by Belgium's Ghent University while the school investigates him for alleged discrimination. Coughness said on X that the university suspended him and he expects to be fired. Ghent confirmed the suspension as part of its investigation, but declined to provide further details. Arday, before his passing, had denied the plagiarism allegations but acknowledged making mistakes. More evidence then surfaced showing extensive plagiarism. Coughness said that a source at Cambridge contacted him about the accusations and that he later published them. The allegations generated significant media attention and prompted scrutiny of other claims Arday had made about his life and career. His family has since accused critics of spreading misinformation and harassing him. Others say the real blame for all of the public scrutiny falls on Cambridge for hiring a man who clearly was not qualified for the job and dismissing evidence of plagiarism.