Trump Decries Weaponized Probes against Political Figures: ‘Worse than Ballot Stuffing’

Former President Donald Trump is decrying the relentless investigations launched against him and his supporters, saying they are a form of political cheating worse than ballot stuffing.

Trump assailed the chronic investigations he has faced for seven years during his first rally of the 2024 campaign season in Waco, Texas on Saturday night, and then in a subsequent post on his Truth Social platform.

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REVIEW: New Book ‘Rise to Greatness’ Explores How a Kid from Queens Became One of History’s Most Influential Supreme Court Justices

Antonin Scalia was a budding textualist long before he transformed the Supreme Court, and the nation, with his unique legal approach, a new biography of his early life reveals.

In the 1950s, the future Supreme Court Justice spent his mornings on the New York subway, commuting with his rifle to Xavier High School, a hybrid Jesuit-run Catholic school and military academy in Manhattan. His teacher’s response one day to a student’s sarcastic comment about “Hamlet” became a moment Scalia would never forget — and would refer to for the rest of his life as the Shakespeare Principle: “Mistah, when you read Shakespeah, Shakespeah’s not on trial; you ah,” Father Thomas Matthews said.

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McConnell Released from Physical Therapy After Concussion, Broken Rib

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky left an inpatient rehab facility Saturday following physical therapy, CNN reported.

McConnell, the senate minority leader, was hospitalized Mar. 9 after he tripped and fell during an event at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., suffering a concussion and a fractured rib. He will work from home on the advice of medical professionals, according to CNN.

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Hawaii Governor Signs Bills Blocking Penalties for Abortion

Hawaii will not cooperate with other states’ civil or criminal investigations related to abortion under a new law signed by Gov. Josh Green.

Senate Bill 1, also known as Act 2, prohibits the issuance of a subpoena in connection with an out-of-state or interstate investigation related to abortion and bans any agency from providing information or spending time or resources to further such an investigation.

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Trump Has Double DeSantis’ Support: Poll

Former President Donald Trump leads Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the 2024 GOP primary by a massive two-digit margin, doubling the support of DeSantis’ share, according to a poll released Friday.

Trump tops a crowded field of Republican presidential contenders at 50% – a 26-percentage point lead over the Florida governor – according to a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll. In a head-to-head matchup between the two frontrunners, the former president still wins against DeSantis, but by a slimmer margin of 56% to 44%.

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New U.S. Border Data: 284 Suspected Terrorists Apprehended So Far in Fiscal 2023

Nearly 300 suspected terrorists have been apprehended attempting to enter the U.S. in the first few months of fiscal 2023 as 28 members of Congress formed a new caucus to address the crisis at the northern border, where record numbers of foreign nationals continue to illegally enter from Canada.

The Northern Border Security Caucus, formed by U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly, R-Pennsylvania, and Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, is expressing concerns about “the increased human and drug trafficking, along with the decrease in Border Patrol agents and lack of security, along the U.S.-Canada border.”

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Tennessee Legislature Moving Competing 18-Year-Old Firearm Carry Bills

A bill that would allow those 18 years old and older to concealed carry and obtain a permit in Tennessee now has different versions moving through the Senate and House.

House Bill 1005 lowers the age of permits to 18 and changes the term handgun to firearm in Tennessee code. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Chris Todd, R-Madison County, is aimed at matching a court agreement between the Firearms Policy Coalition and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti following FPC’s lawsuit against Tennessee’s current law, which restricts through between ages 18 and 21 from receiving permits.

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Commentary: The ATF Expansion of the Gun Registry Turns Law-Abiding Gun Owners into Felons

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has followed through on their plan to turn millions of lawful gun owners into felons in the name of “public safety” by reclassifying pistols with stabilizing braces as short-barreled rifles, effectively expanding the unconstitutional national gun registry.

Stabilizing braces are devices that can be attached to pistols to aid the user in balancing their arm. Originally created to help people with disabilities, the accessory is now more popular amongst mainstream shooters who use them to adapt pistols into guns that can be shot from the shoulder, which has been legal to do in the past. Now, there’s a big hoop to jump through if you don’t want to be hit with fines and/or jail time.

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Report: Miami Has Highest Taxpayer Burden of Florida’s Largest Cities

Miami has the highest taxpayer burden out of Florida’s four largest cities, according to an analysis from Truth in Accounting.

In its annual report that assesses the financial health of the 75 most populous U.S. cities, TIA found that two-thirds of them didn’t have enough money to pay their bills. Their combined debt totals $266.5 billion; combined pension debt totals $109.8 billion; and combined OPEB (other post-employment benefits) debt totals $168.7 billion.

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Pennsylvania Colleges Still Unaffordable Despite Tuition Freeze

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education said this week its tuition freeze has done little to stave off enrollment declines, even as the costs at other institutions around them all climb.

“We’re particularly expensive for students who we’re born to serve, low and middle income students,” said Chancellor Dan Greenstein. “You’re asking their families or their households to pay basically 45% of their disposable income to send one student to one of our universities for one year.”

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Wisconsin Congressman Bryan Steil Demands Answers on Manhattan DA Investigation into Trump

Representative Bryan Steil (R-WI-01) and his fellow co-chairs on three key House committees are not taking no for an answer from the intransigent Manhattan District Attorney investigating former President Donald Trump.
“The American people deserve to know the answers to the questions we asked,’ Steil, chairman of the House Committee on Administration, told The Wisconsin Daily Star. 

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Georgia’s Roads Are Increasingly Dangerous for Pedestrians and Motorists

Georgia’s highways are increasingly dangerous for motorists and pedestrians, anecdotal and limited empirical data reveals.

“There are several reasons why drivers have gone haywire since the start of COVID,” Carole Lieberman, a psychiatrist, told The Center Square via email. “When COVID and lockdowns began, there were fewer cars on the streets and highways, so drivers took advantage of this by speeding and making ‘whimsical’ impulsive maneuvers.

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AmericaPack and EZAZ Present Strategy to ‘Flip Arizona Solid Red’

AmericaPack and EZAZ, two of the main conservative grassroots organizations in Arizona, are pairing up to “flip Arizona solid red.” EZAZ’s Merissa Hamilton spoke to a large group of AmericaPack supporters Friday evening about the “Arizona Rescue Mission” the groups have crafted to get more voters voting Republican and running for office. State Rep. Alex Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) and State Rep. Joseph Chaplik (R-Scottsdale) provided updates on the Arizona Legislature, and a Phoenix Police Department (PPD) sergeant talked about the lack of patrol officers within the PPD.

Hamilton told the attendees about the new grassroots project, “[This is] so that we have the infrastructure built so that when the election cycle comes around next time, not only will this room be filled, but it will be filled with new faces with people that have not been as involved … and it will be because of us.”

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Virginia to Offer Firearm Safety Device Tax Credit Under New Law

Virginia will offer a tax credit for the purchase of a firearm safety device, including gun safes and lock boxes, under a bill signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin this week. 

Under the tax credit, which takes effect in July and applies to taxable years 2023 through 2027, Virginians who purchase a gun safe, lock box or other device that can be used to store a firearm can be eligible for a tax credit of up to $300. The credits will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis in an aggregate amount of $5 million per taxable year. 

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Minnesota Teacher Wants to ‘Secretly Inject’ Kids with Puberty Blockers

A Bemidji High School teacher fantasizes about secretly injecting children with puberty blockers, according to a Facebook post obtained by Alpha News.

“Me coming to the realization I will never fulfill my lifelong quest of moving to Tennessee to secretly inject 11 year olds with hormone blockers while I do an interpretive drag dance to my favorite Judy Blume novel,” said the post, published to the Facebook page of Gina Marie Bernard.

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Ohio GOP Chairman Triantafilou Endorses Legislation to Protect Ohio’s Constitution

Alex Triantafilou, the newly elected head of the Ohio Republican Party, endorsed legislation on Thursday that aims to alter the process of how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments.

There are currently two pieces of legislation that Republican lawmakers have introduced this session to protect the state Constitution from out-of-state special interest groups.

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North Dakota Legislature Passes Bill That Makes Teachers Use Students’ Biological Pronouns

The North Dakota House approved a bill on Wednesday that would require teachers to refer to students using pronouns that correspond with their biological sex.

In a 60-32 vote, the state house passed Senate Bill 2231, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Larry Luick and state Sen. Scott Meyer, which mandates that public school teachers must use a students’ biological sex pronouns unless parents give permission for them to do otherwise. The bill cleared the state senate in February and now heads to Republican North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum’s desk.

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Poll: 73 Percent of Taxpayers Say Government Doesn’t Use Their Taxes Wisely

Ahead of Tax Day on April 18, 73% of taxpayers said the government doesn’t use their taxes wisely, a new survey found. A separate report found that red states have the better taxpayer return on investment.

Wallethub’s “Taxpayer Survey” found that 28% of respondents said charities would better spend their money; 26% said local governments would best spend their money, followed by state government (22%), the federal government (16%) and religious groups (13%).

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Commentary: More Work to be Done on Emergency Powers as Pandemic Wanes

Most Americans are likely pleased that when they turn on their television, no longer are there talking heads and public health figures breathlessly discussing COVID-19 case counts and deaths. Broadly, the media as a whole is no longer incessantly reporting on the topic, and nationally, the federal public health emergency declared for the COVID-19 pandemic terminates on May 11. 

While the old signs of the pandemic have virtually vanished, Americans won’t forget what their governments did to them.

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