As early as 2010, Joe Biden routinely used a private email account with a fake name to conduct official government business as vice president, and at times copied his sons and brother on exchanges that included some of the highest ranking officials inside the White House, according to documents released under a historic lawsuit against the National Archives.
Read the full story
According to the appendices listing the documents recovered in the Justice Department investigation into Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents, the president retained talking points and a telephone call transcript with the Ukrainian prime minister from a key period in Hunter Biden’s Burisma Holdings employment.
Read the full story
Former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson on Thursday released his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which he addressed his rationale behind the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and his view of diplomacy with the west.
Carlson attracted considerable scrutiny from western media for conducting the interview, which he defended as a part of his duty as a journalism.
Read the full story
The Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference (TNDAGC) filed an amicus brief last week, which was labeled illegal in a Tuesday response by the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, supporting the efforts of Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy to free a death row inmate who was convicted of two murders over 40 years ago.
The conference filed the amicus brief in a lawsuit brought by death row inmate Larry McKay against Tennessee over a law passed by the General Assembly in 2023, which expands the number of capital cases that the state’s attorney general must directly oversee.
Read the full story
Special counsel Robert Hur concluded in a stinging report released Thursday that President Joe Biden willfully kept classified documents from his time as vice president, shared them with an author and knew he had them as far back as 2017, but he recommended against prosecution.
Hur said that part of the reason he declined to prosecute the president’s age and poor memory would create reasonable doubt for jurors.
Read the full story
Though the special counsel investigating Joe Biden’s possession of classified documents ultimately did not recommend charges after finding he “willfully” kept and shared some of the memos, the prosecutor gave a scathing assessment of the President’s mental acuity months before the presidential election.
Read the full story
Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined Alabama U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) in delivering remarks outside of the Supreme Court on Thursday as the court heard oral arguments on whether former President Donald Trump should be removed from Colorado’s primary ballot under the 14th Amendment.
Read the full story
Matthew Giffin, reporter at The Tennessee Star and student at Middle Tennessee State University, joined Wednesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss former Wyoming U.S. Representative Liz Cheney’s appearance at an event at Vanderbilt University this week.
On Tuesday, Cheney joined Jon Meacham, former MSNBC contributor and current co-chair of the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy, for an event titled “Defending Our Democracy” where the pair discussed Cheney’s work on the January 6th Committee and the “health of democracy and the presidency.”
Read the full story
Special counsel Robert Hur has recommended that no charges be brought in relation to his probe of President Joe Biden’s handling of classified materials.
Read the full story
Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) introduced a bill on Tuesday that would make all illegal aliens who have entered the U.S. since January 20, 2021 eligible for expedited removal from the country.
Ogles’ bill is titled the Sending Evading Non-Documented Threats Home Especially Migrants Biden Accepted Carelessly and Knowingly (SEND THEM BACK) Act.
Read the full story
Democrat State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) intends to file for reelection to the Tennessee House of Representatives despite being five months into her longshot U.S. Senate bid to unseat incumbent Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), according to a report by Knox News.
Johnson is one of the “Tennessee Three” lawmakers who commandeered the House floor to demand gun control in the wake of the Covenant School last year.
Read the full story
The Hill The Supreme Court on Thursday appeared reluctant to take the extraordinary step of disqualifying former President Trump from appearing on the ballot during a historic oral argument in which the justices grilled lawyers about whether states have the authority to ban a candidate from running for office. The justices spent almost no time debating whether Trump engaged in insurrection through his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, which various lawsuits contend requires Trump’s disqualification under the 14th Amendment. Instead, the court during the two-hour argument largely delved into various threshold matters that would doom the various challenges without requiring the justices to reach that politically fraught question. DEVELOPING…
Read the full story
Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) reintroduced the NCAA Accountability Act on Tuesday which would “establish due process protections for student-athletes, coaches, and universities that are under investigation by the NCAA for rule violations.”
Read the full story
A Tennessee congressman blasted the Biden administration after it was revealed last week that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) knew that nearly 600 illegal aliens planned to travel to Middle Tennessee after they were released from detainment.
“Joe Biden’s efforts to transport illegal aliens into Franklin, Davidson County, and Mt. Juliet are reprehensible,” said Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) on X. “Middle Tennessee deserves answers. That’s why I’ve sent a letter to [DHS Secretary] Mayorkas demanding responses to all my questions regarding this troubling incursion into our community.”
Read the full story
Washington state is considering a set of legislative proposals to provide adult dancers with compensation protections and mandatory security, the Associated Press reported.
The set of proposals, dubbed the “strippers’ bill of rights,” is the product of years of advocacy from Strippers Are Workers (SAW), an organization operating in Washington state, according to the AP. The group “fights to empower the dancers of Washington state so that they can strip safely, positively and lucratively” in order to “keep stripping low barrier entry and accessible to a marginalized and stigmatized group of people who seek upward mobility,” according to its website.
Read the full story
U.S. companies are conducting full-scale audits and shifting “focus” after multiple reports revealed child immigrants were working in increasingly dangerous conditions, according to The New York Times.
In 2023, the Department of Labor opened an investigation into companies like Lucky Charms and Cheetos after reports of immigrant children working in dangerous conditions while thousands of children have crossed over into the U.S. in the last several years. Many other companies, including McDonald’s, Whole Foods, Costco and more, have announced that they are conducting full audits to prevent migrant children from working in dangerous conditions, according to the NYT.
Read the full story
The Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Nobody Trashes Tennessee project is working with local Girl Scouts to give them patches for helping with the cause.
“Girl Scout Troops are highly committed to community service projects and environmental education, and we are thrilled to have participation from all three councils representing the entire state of Tennessee participating in our Nobody Trashes Tennessee patch program,” said Brittany Morris, TDOT’s transportation program supervisor in a release. “Within the first two months of launching the program in Middle Tennessee, we had approximately 1,000 Girl Scouts earn a Nobody Trashes Tennessee patch. We are excited to have even more participation from Girl Scouts this year and have numerous ways for them to get involved.”
Read the full story
America First Legal (AFL) on Wednesday announced a new “landmark lawsuit” in Arizona against Maricopa County, its board of supervisors, and Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer alleging the county has violated various state election laws since 2020.
AFL’s James Rogers said in a statement that “Maricopa County’s errors, lapses, and mistakes in administering elections have seriously eroded” the “trust that elections are free and fair,” which he noted underpins the “legitimacy of our government.”
Read the full story
The Georgia State Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that will strike the need for the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission (PAQC) to have its rules reviewed and approved by the Georgia Supreme Court, which would allow it to immediately begin investigating prosecutors, including embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Introduced by Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) in early January, SB 332 would amend the 2022 law establishing the PAQC to strike the requirement for the commission to have its standards and rules reviewed and adopted by the Georgia Supreme Court. It now goes to the Georgia House, and if passed, would become law as soon as it is signed by Governor Brian Kemp.
Read the full story
Mitch McConnell has to be finished as the caucus leader for the Republicans in the Senate. Now. He has to resign, and if he won’t, then that caucus needs to get together and force him out.
Now. Not next week, not next month, not after this election cycle. Now.
Read the full story
Democrats in the Virginia State Senate have beaten the attempt by Governor Glenn Youngkin and Virginia Republicans to cut the commonwealth’s income tax rates and reform Virginia’s sales tax until at least 2025.
SB 632, filed by State Senator Richard Stuart (R-Montross), was continued into 2025 on Tuesday in an overwhelming vote by the Senate Subcommittee on Finance and Appropriations, led by State Senator L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth).
Read the full story
U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) said today that his fellow Republicans “have to” defeat the “Ukraine-first” border package being “shoved down” their throats.
“There’s an Ukraine first package being shoved down the throat of the US Senate,” Vance posted on X. “It doesn’t secure our border, gives away all leverage to achieve real border security, and no one has had time to read through the details. Let’s defeat this package. We have to.”
Read the full story
Former President Donald Trump is expected to support North Carolina GOP Chairman Michael Whatley for RNC chairman if and when Ronna McDaniel resigns from the post, according to multiple reports.
McDaniel reportedly plans to step down from her position after the South Carolina primary on Feb. 24.
Read the full story
Ford lost billions of dollars on its electric vehicle (EV) product lines last year, according to corporate documents.
The company lost $4.7 billion on EVs in 2023, a greater loss than the $4.5 billion the company expected it would lose in 2023 at mid-year, according to a summary of the company’s annual earnings. The company pointed to “an extremely competitive pricing environment” as a key reason for the losses.
Read the full story
The Democratic Party has hemorrhaged black and Hispanic support over the course of President Joe Biden’s tenure, according to Gallup polling data published on Wednesday.
The substantial advantage that the Democratic Party previously held over Republicans in terms of black Americans in general and Hispanic Americans aged 18 to 29 has diminished by almost 20% in the last three years, according to Gallup. The Democratic Party now has a significantly smaller lead over the Republican Party with these demographics.
Read the full story
We’ve paid much attention to President Biden’s flagging job approval here, in part because it tends to be a strong predictor of how an election will turn out. Biden is marching into this election season as likely the least popular president to face the voters since Herbert Hoover. While he may yet be saved by the fact that he is facing off against Donald Trump, who brings his own baggage to the table, it’s an ominous indicator.
At the same time, the economy is running hot. Growth is over 3%, unemployment is under 4%, and inflation has fallen from its peak. So why the seeming paradox of an unpopular president in a time of strong economic growth, especially when the strength of the economy is itself a traditional predictor of presidential job approval?
Read the full story