Complaint Filed Against Senator Kyrsten Sinema over Campaign Spending

A group known as the Change for Arizona 2024 PAC (CFAPAC) filed a complaint to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I) Thursday, alleging that she had misused her campaign funds.

“Specifically, Complainant alleges that Senator Sinema, through her Committees, illegally diverted funds that were donated to her for campaigning for federal office by making expenditures for her personal use and benefit,” according to the complaint.

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City of Columbus Sues Ohio over Gun Control Legislation

The City of Columbus filed a lawsuit against Ohio, claiming that the state has exceeded its power by passing legislation making it difficult for municipalities to establish specific gun control measures.

The lawsuit, filed in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, follows an Ohio judge ruling which denied the city of Columbus’ request to allow them to enforce their new gun control laws, while the lawsuit filed by The Buckeye Institute to protect the rights of Ohioans to keep and bear arms is being heard.

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Border Authorities Encountered More than 200K Migrants at Southern Border in April: CBP

Border authorities encountered 211,401 migrants at the United States’ southern border with Mexico during the month of April, the latest report from U.S. Customs and Border Protection indicated.

That figure marked a 10% surge from the March total of 191,956. Total encounters at ports of entry specifically increased by 12% from March. CBP indicated that an increase from March to April is “typical” and noted that the figures marked an 11% drop from the previous April.

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Alarm Grows over Whistleblower Claims That FBI Scooped Up Americans’ Bank Records Without Subpoena

Legal experts are criticizing the FBI for allegedly obtaining the financial records of U.S. customers with Bank of America “without any legal process” following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

They spoke Thursday hours after several FBI whistleblowers made the allegations in testimony before the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.

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Expert Testifies During Second Day of Kari Lake’s Election Contest That 3-Second Signature Verification Was Impossible

The second of three days scheduled for Kari Lake’s second election contest trial, which focused only on signature verification problems, wrapped up on Thursday, with Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson declining to grant the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict. Witness testimony focused on the speed that signature reviewers went over voters’ signatures on mail-in ballots, with many reviewers taking less than two seconds to compare signatures to see if they matched.

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Christian Leader Calls for Immediate Release of Covenant School Shooter’s Manifesto Following Durham Report: ‘FBI Has Been Compromised’

The director of the Christian Defense Coalition told The Star News Network in an interview Friday it is crucial that the FBI release The Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale’s manifesto to the public, especially in the wake of the “scathing report” by Special Counsel John Durham that has led to a firestorm over the federal law enforcement agency’s integrity and analysis.

“There have been many stories that the local Nashville Police Department is turning much of the manifesto in detail writings of Audrey Hale over to the FBI, for analysis, to try to get a sense of a profile, any issues that might help ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again,” Rev. Patrick Mahoney said.

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Nearly a Third of Patients on ‘Gender Affirming’ Hormones Stop Taking Them, Military Study Finds

Transgender youth

Republican-led legislatures and governors seeking to put the brakes on puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical removal of healthy breasts and genitals for gender-confused minors have a new weapon from the U.S. military.

Nearly a third of “transgender and gender-diverse” patients who received so-called gender-affirming hormones had stopped taking them within four years, according to a study of children and spouses of soldiers who received treatment through the U.S. Military Healthcare System.

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Migrant Child Dies in Federal Custody, Marking Third Such Death in Two Months

A migrant child died in federal custody, marking the third such death in roughly two months, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

An eight-year-old girl died in Border Patrol custody in Harlingen, Texas, after experiencing a medical emergency, CBP said in a statement late Wednesday. This is the third migrant child to die in the past two months, after a migrant child died in federal custody days before, and another died in mid-March.

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Montana Becomes the First State to Completely Ban TikTok

Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill Wednesday that bans TikTok from the state, becoming the first one to completely outlaw the social media app.

The Montana Legislature introduced Senate Bill 419 in late February to respond to the increasing national concerns over TikTok’s ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the fear the app could be used to steal sensitive information, according to the measure. SB419, sponsored by Montana Republican state Sen. Shelley Vance, passed the Legislature in April.

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Revealed: Far-Left Agitators Plan to Be Arrested at August Protests at Amazon, Lee Company, Metro Council

After obtaining a secret audio recording from a far-left Saturday activist planning session in Nashville, The Tennessee Star can reveal locations wherein left-wing agitators plan to wreak havoc during August’s special session of the Tennessee General Assembly.

Those locations include Amazon’s Nashville office, the Lee Company, owned by Gov. Bill Lee (R), and the Metro Council. 

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Michigan’s Unemployment Rate Drops Below Four Percent

Michigan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by three-tenths of a percentage point to 3.8% during April, according to data from the Department of Technology, Management, and Budget.

Employment in the state rose by 30,000, while unemployment decreased by 14,000. Michigan’s labor force rose by 18,000 over the month, with some sectors rebounding from COVID’s job losses. 

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U.S Senator JD Vance Co-Sponsors Bipartisan House Legislation to Keep AM Radio Available in New Vehicles

U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) has joined legislation that aims to prevent the end of AM radios in new vehicles.

The Bipartisan and Bicameral AM for Every Vehicle Act sponsored in the Senate by U.S Senators Edward Markey (D-MA) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), along with U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and Vance would order the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue a rule requiring automakers to keep AM broadcast radio in their automobiles without a separate or extra payment, tax, or penalty.

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Bill Proposed to Require Pennsylvania Legislators to Submit Reimbursement Receipts

Two Republican Pennsylvania state senators this week proposed requiring lawmakers to submit receipts before collecting per diems. 

If a legislator incurs food or lodging costs when traveling more than 50 miles from his or her residence to perform official duties, he or she can claim per-diem payments of as much as $202 per day. Unlike in the private sector, that lawmaker need not show receipts. He or she must only turn in a voucher with the date, the legislative activity being performed, the location of that activity and an affirmation that the official paid an overnight lodging expense. 

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Another U.S. Citizen Caught Smuggling Migrants Gets Sentenced to Prison

Tucson resident Michael Lopez-Loreto, 22, has been sentenced by the U.S. District Court for conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants for profit and placing the life of a person in jeopardy.

According to a Tuesday release from the Arizona District of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lopez-Loreto is going to jail for two-and-a-half years following an incident in January 2023. After receiving a call from a property owner reporting an unidentified car parked on their land, Border Patrol agents witnessed people running through the desert into Lopez-Loreto’s car. However, the group ran into agents blocking the road before he could make it far.

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Commentary: Segregation Is Coming to a Medical School near You

The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine in April published an article openly championing segregation as a way for medical students to learn more effectively. Unsurprisingly, the article is steeped in incredible amounts of racism.

Seven academics from the University of California at Berkeley and UC San Francisco begin with the premise that traditional medical education is “systemically racist.” They propose to split up medical students into what they call “racial affinity group caucuses,” where would-be doctors can discuss what they have been learning in their antiracism classes with other people who share their skin color. The euphemism may be “racial affinity group caucusing,” but the authors, in fact, are really advocating segregation. 

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American Greatness Poll: Trump Leads DeSantis by 21 Percent in New Hampshire

Among likely GOP primary voters in New Hampshire, former President Donald Trump holds a 21-point lead over Governor Ron DeSantis, 39%-18%. New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu is virtually tied with DeSantis for second place, garnering 17% of the vote.

Although Sununu is competing with DeSantis for the “not Trump” vote, among those who describe themselves as “very likely” voters, DeSantis leads Sununu by 6 percent, 19%-13%. Trump leads both men among these voters with 45%.

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Music Spotlight: Spencer Crandall

I remember the first time hearing Spencer Crandall’s song “Made.”

The lyrics Cause soulmates aren’t found they’re made/ Yeah, we choose each other every day/ Even when we bend, we know we won’t break/ We just bounce back better ’cause/ Soulmates aren’t found/ they’re forged in the same fire/ Work at it even when we get tired/ Making ups out of downs/ doing all that it takes/ ‘Cause soulmates aren’t found/ they’re made stopped me in my tracks.

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Supreme Court Shields Tech Companies from Liability for Terrorist Content

The Supreme Court unanimously sided with tech companies Thursday in two cases that charged them with “aiding and abetting” terrorism, declining to address a heated question on the extent of immunity granted to social media platforms for content hosted on their website.

Justice Clarence Thomas authored the majority opinion in Twitter v. Taamneh, a lawsuit brought by the family of a Jordanian citizen, Nawras Alassaf, who was killed in the January 2017 ISIS attack at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey. Thomas wrote that “plaintiffs’ allegations are insufficient to establish that these defendants aided and abetted ISIS in carrying out the relevant attack.”

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South Carolina House Passes Six-Week Abortion Ban

The South Carolina House of Representatives has passed a bill to restrict abortion after approximately six weeks of pregnancy, per a vote held in the House late on Wednesday.

The House passed Senate Bill 474, known as the “Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act,” with amendments, by a vote of 82 to 32, with all Republicans and two Democrats voting in favor. The bill would prohibit abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually after six weeks of pregnancy.

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Whistleblower: FBI Manipulated January 6 Cases to Make Domestic Terrorism Appear Widespread

A former FBI agent testified before Congress Thursday saying that the FBI manipulated data to make domestic terrorism linked to Jan. 6 seem like a nationwide phenomenon instead of an isolated incident.

The revelation came as part of a hearing held by the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government where  FBI whistleblowers testified before lawmakers about abuse and politicization of the FBI. They also testified about backlash they received, even losing their jobs as retaliation for refusing to toe the narrative established by FBI leadership.

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Day One of Kari Lake’s Second Election Trial Features Testimony That Voters’ Signatures Were Approved Too Fast to be Verified

After being ordered by the Arizona Supreme Court to reconsider the issue of signature verification in Kari Lake’s election contest, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson decided after a hearing that he would allow a full trial. He declined to allow reconsideration of the faulty ballot-on-demand printer configurations, however, which resulted in mostly Republicans having problems casting ballots on Election Day. The trial began on Wednesday, with Lake’s attorneys emphasizing how the signature verification of voters’ signatures on mail-in ballot envelopes was conducted so quickly it was impossible to adequately verify them.

Lake’s attorney Kurt Olsen accused the county of falsely verifying signatures. “Maricopa’s log file data shows that 11 of these signature verification workers approved 170,000 signatures at a rate of between 0 and 2.99 seconds with a 99.97 percent approval rating,” he said. “That’s not signature review, your Honor.” Olsen said due to this, at least 334,000 mail-in ballots were not verified.

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Former Tennessee State Sen. Dolores Gresham: Story Claiming American Classical Education Charter Schools’ ‘Core Knowledge’ Program Has ‘Links’ to Common Core Is False

American Classical Education (ACE) board member Dolores Gresham, a former Tennessee state senator, said Tuesday the story at Tennessee Lookout that claimed Hillsdale College’s affiliated ACE charter schools are teaching a curriculum with links to the Common Core Standards, is “false.”

“The Core Knowledge Foundation program is not the same thing as Common Core,” Gresham said in a statement. “It is decades older than Common Core and is already in use by many schools in Tennessee – including all three of Nashville’s top-performing charter schools.”

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Los Angeles Dodgers Pull Invitation to ‘Anti-Catholic Hate Group’ for Pride Event After Catholic Uproar

The Los Angeles Dodgers pulled their invitation Wednesday to an “extremist anti-Catholic hate group” known as the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence from a pride month event scheduled for June 16. The Dodgers announced the removal of the “sisters” as honorees in a press statement. “In the spirit of unity, the Los Angeles Dodgers are proud to host our 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night on June 16th,” the announcement read. “This event has become a meaningful tradition, highlighting not only the diversity and resilience within our fanbase, but also the impactful work of extraordinary community groups.” “We are now aware that our inclusion of one group in particular – The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence – in this year’s pride night has been the source of some controversy,” the Dodgers continued, adding: Given the strong feelings of people who have been offended by the sisters’ inclusion in our evening, and in an effort not to distract from the great benefits that we have seen over the years of Pride Night, we are deciding to remove them from this year’s group of honorees. The Dodgers’ decision to remove the group from its list of honorees comes after Catholic leaders expressed outrage to the…

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Metro Nashville Police Claim ‘Active’ Investigation into Covenant School Massacre is Ongoing, Could Take a Year to Complete

Metropolitan Nashville Police Department Assistant Chief Mike Hagar claims there is an “active” investigation into the Covenant Presbyterian School shootings and that releasing the Covenant killer’s manifesto and related writings would be harmful. A lieutenant with the police department says it could take up to a year to complete said invetigation. 

In a sworn declaration, Hagar said he is not opposed to the release of a redacted version of the documents.

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Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles Sends Letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Expressing Opposition to its Nonbank Registry

Tennessee U.S. Congressman Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) led a group of House Financial Services Committee Republicans in sending a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra expressing opposition to a proposal from the bureau to establish a nonbank registry.

It was announced last December that the CFPB proposed a rule to identify repeat financial law violators by creating a database of enforcement actions against certain nonbank-covered entities. According to the proposed rule, certain nonbank entities must register with the bureau and provide regular updates on their covered orders.

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North Carolina Lawmakers Override Governor’s Veto of 12-Week Abortion Ban

North Carolina lawmakers on Tuesday overrode the veto of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to enshrine into law a ban on most abortions in the state after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Both chambers of the legislature have Republican supermajorities, though the governor had hoped at least one Republican lawmaker would vote to uphold his veto and traveled the state last week to convince a lawmaker to take that stance, the Associated Press reported.

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24 Republican Governors Commit to Help Texas Defend Its Border

Twenty-four Republican governors have responded to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s call for help to secure its border with Mexico.

“The federal government’s response handling the expiration of Title 42 has represented a complete failure of the Biden Administration,” the governors said in a joint statement, referring to the end of the public health authority, Title 42, which expired at midnight on May 11.

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Universities Seek Ways to Skirt the Supreme Court’s Likely Ban on Race-Based Admissions

Universities are searching for ways to maintain racial quotas ahead of a likely Supreme Court decision blocking affirmative action.

With the Supreme Court soon to issue a ruling in a pair of cases questioning the constitutionality of affirmative action, which multiple justices appeared ready to rule against during oral arguments, universities are developing plans to maintain the current racial composition of their student bodies without explicitly using racial preferences in the admissions process. Schools have floated ideas such as making testing optional, giving greater weight to students’ socio-economic backgrounds and recruiting based on geographic area.

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