Fox News guest is yanked off air as she slurs her words after drinking champagne during military parade
A former intelligence official was quickly taken off air after she appeared to slur her words during a Fox News interview on Donald Trump 's military parade.
Rebekah Koffler, who previously worked as a Russian Doctrine and Strategy specialist in the US Defense Intelligence Agency, appeared as a guest during the network's marathon coverage of the event Saturday night.
She joined the show shortly after 9:30 p.m. ET, but her interview appeared to be cut short leading to some internet speculation that she was intoxicated. She posted earlier in the day that she was slipping on champagne to celebrate.
Fox hosts Lawrence Jones and Emily Compagno brought in Koffler after speaking with correspondent Lucas Tomlinson.
'I am so excited, Emily, and Lucas Tomlinson, everybody. Like, this is incredible. Finally the United States is, uh, is back,' Koffler said.
'I want really thank all of our Army, Navy, and Air Force officers who have been sacrificing their lives, literally. Their families have been contributing to the mission. Most of the time for the past quarter of a century because of the mismanagement of the, uh, the administrative state, they've been fighting these foreign wars.
'But with our new commander-in-chief, Donald J. Trump, they are prioritizing America first. And I wanna thank these officers for all of these sacrifices and all of the hardships that their families have endured.
'Lawrence Jones, you are doing– you're your [unintelligible], man! You guys and [unintelligible] Lucas! I wanna thank,' she said before getting cut off by Compagno.
Koffler told DailyMail.com the interview ended abruptly because of connection issues and producers told her they had lost the audio during the segment.
She posted earlier in the evening promoting her interview saying, 'Go Army! Join me at 8:00 PM New York City time on @FoxNews for the special coverage of #Army250 #ArmyBirthday #GoArmy #MilitaryParade with @EmilyCompagno @LawrenceBJones3.'
Koffler said her interview had been getting delayed since 7:45 p.m. and she unexpectedly had to do the hit remotely.
However, a Fox News source told DailyMail.com there was no connection issues during the segment.
Clips of the interview went viral, with many commenters pointing to a since-deleted tweet Koffler posted showing she had been drinking before the segment.
'Well @POTUS is apparently encroaching on my airtime! My hit is moved to 8:20 - 8:30 pm depending on how long #Trump takes,' she said. 'I'm honored. Refilling my #champagne glass while waiting for my hit!'
One person said, 'Sounds like she's been celebrating for 250 years. Who thought it would be OK to put her on tv?'
'That is hard to watch. You should put a sensitive warning on that video. It is the very definition of cringe,' said another.
Others defended Koffler, noting that she was born in Russia and English may not be her first language.
'That is how Rebecca speaks... English is not her first language,' one person said.
'She took a little too much in celebratory mood - who are we to judge her? Focus on the success of the Military Parade. American Pride on display,' said a second.
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The Independent
an hour ago
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an hour ago
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Donald Trump called the shootings 'terrible' after being briefed on the matter. 'Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America,' he said. The development came after state troopers equipped with rifles and full body armor went house to house searching yards, outbuildings and garages. The military-style convey traveled in armored vehicles with rooftop snipers, but as of 7pm, the fugitive was still at-large. Minnesota State Patrol, SWAT teams, and a US Marshals Fugitive Task Force arrived in a dozen or more vehicles including heavily armored trucks about 11am on Sunday. The convoy included officers from the Bloomington Bomb Squad, one of four specialist units on call across the state to detect and defuse explosives. Hundreds more police set up a command post in Green Isle, near Boelter and his wife Jenny's home, to coordinate the manhunt. The search area includes around 120 acres of fields and woodland belonging to Brian Liebhard, 65. He said he was having trouble sleeping and was on his porch alone at 2.30am when he heard gunshots - about eight hours before the police arrived. His nephew later told him he'd found a dark Buick abandoned in a secluded side road along with a cowboy hat. 'I heard two shots. I have no idea if it's related to this,' he previously told Liebhard said he went to church on Sunday morning and came back and found access to his property blocked by a police cordon. He gave officers permission to begin an extensive search of his land, which includes several abandoned, crumbling homes and barns. The area is waterlogged and difficult to traverse without sinking deep into the mud, Liebhard added. 'My daughter brought up where this guy lived and said "Dad he's only four miles from us,"' he said. 'I've never seen him myself. As far as I know they are still searching for him there.' As the afternoon wore on, locals gathered at the cordon to exchange theories and gossip about the manhunt. 'So the hat is just sat there on the side of the road?' said one. 'It's too convenient. It's obviously a decoy. You fellas can't see the wood for the trees.' Authorities have also questioned Boelter's wife, Jenny, who was stopped at a convenience store while driving a car with three other relatives inside near Onamia about 10am on Saturday. She was found with a weapon, ammunition, cash, and passports about 75 miles from where the shootings took place in northern Minneapolis eight hours earlier. More than a dozen officers swarmed Jenny's car during the traffic stop and they were at the scene for two to three hours. Jenny was detained for questioning after officers found the items inside the vehicle, but no one was arrested as she was released. Authorities have since said she and other family members were cooperative with the investigation. But it remains unclear whether Boelter's vehicle was stopped randomly or being tracked by police, as the FBI offers a $50,000 reward for any information leading to his capture. Police said on Sunday they have already received more than 400 tips, and have recovered evidence from his vehicle. 'We continue to conduct interviews on the investigative piece, not only to learn his whereabouts, but also to follow up on the case and gather the information as part of the prosecution related to him,' Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension at Minnesota's Department of Public Safety added. Police say Boelter the shot Hoffman and his wife Yvette at their home in Champlin at around 2am on Saturday, but they survived the attack with multiple wounds. Hortman and her husband Mark were then fatally shot at their home eight miles away in Brooklyn Park about 3am. Officers then encountered the gunman fleeing Hortman's home at 3.35am and exchanged gunfire with him, which is when they reportedly found the initial hit list. Chilling photos showed the suspect donning an unsettling costume mask covering his entire head. Yet officers somehow let the suspect slip through their fingers as he escaped the scene on foot. As authorities began their search for the suspect, Boelter's best friend and roommate David Carlson told local news outlet KARE11 he was an avid Trump supporter and voted for the Republican candidate. He also described the suspect as a Christian who opposed abortion. In fact, the suspect worked as a pastor and was seen in a newly unearthed video dancing in a church service in Africa. The clip, filmed in February 2023, showed him delivering a passionate testimony about how he met Jesus at the age of 17. 'I met the Lord when I was 17 years old and I gave my life to Jesus Christ,' he says in the clip. He went on to describe naming his five children - who he shares with Jenny - after Christian virtues, Grace, Faith, Hope, Joy, and David, in what he calls a testament to God's blessings on his life. The alleged assassin also has armed security experience in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and North America through the Praetorian Guard Security Services, his biography on the website detailed. 'He brings a great security aspect forged by both many on the ground experiences combined with training by both private security firms and by people in the US Military,' it read. 'Vance Boelter has focused all this experience to make sure Praetorian Guard Security Services covers the needs you have to keep your family and property safe.' Boelter had also lived a life of public service before Saturday's tragedies, and he even served on the Governor's Workforce Development Board, which works closely with Gov. Tim Walz to give advice on the state's workforce. He served on the board from June 2016 to June 2018 as a private sector representative and from December 2019 to January 2023 as a board member. He was appointed under Walz both times. Additionally, Boelter was the chief executive of Red Lion Group, which was based in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Red Lion Group has since deleted its website and LinkedIn pages, but Boelter's LinkedIn said he started at the company in December 2021. He announced two years ago that he was in the country with his company, working on 'private business projects'. Boelter also worked for Metro First Call, a funeral company in Minneapolis, in August 2023 to February 2025, where he took bodies from nursing homes to the business to be prepared for burial. He said in a video posted online that he worked with police and death investigators at crime scenes. Boelter updated his LinkedIn a month ago to say he had returned to the US and was looking for work in the food industry on the corporate side. He had previously worked at 7-Eleven and Greencore as a general manager, a system manager at Del Monte Foods, and an operational leader at Johnsonville Sausage, according to his LinkedIn. The social media page also shows his deep connections to politics, as he asked his followers to vote ahead of the 2020 election. The night before the deadly shots were fired, Boelter texted his roommates that he was 'going to be gone for a while'. Carlson, who shared a North Minneapolis home with Boelter, tearfully read aloud text messages from the accused assassin. 'David and Ron, I love you guys,' the eerie note began. 'I made some choices, and you guys don't know anything about this, but I'm going to be gone for a while.' He also said he 'may be dead shortly' and did not wish to involve Carlson or his other roommate Ron Ramsey. 'I don't know why he did what he did,' Carlson, his roommate, told KARE 11. 'It's just... it's not Vance... He had lots of friends, trust me, and I wish I could have been there to stop him.'
