Month: February 2024

Minnesota GOP Representative Calls for Investigation into ‘Cover-Up’ Allegations from Feeding Our Future Leader

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Lisa Demuth

Republicans are calling for an investigation into allegations that Gov. Tim Walz’s Department of Education “engaged in deceptive practices” in order to conceal records in a lawsuit related to the Feeding Our Future case.

Aimee Bock, the founder and executive director of the defunct nonprofit, claimed in a court filing last month that the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) “intentionally deleted and hid documents from discovery” when her organization sued MDE in November 2020.

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RFK Jr. Cites Competitive Polling in Arizona, High Favorability Ratings After Clip Surfaces Showing Him Dismiss Third Party Candidate

Tom Pappert
RFK JR

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited the country’s changing political dynamics after a 24-year-old video resurfaced by MSNBC in which the independent presidential candidate warned of the potential for the Green Party candidacy of Ralph Nader in 2000 to spoil the election for Democrats and former Vice President Al Gore.

According to Kennedy in the resurfaced interview from 2000, Nader’s “candidacy could draw enough votes in certain key states from Al Gore to give the entire election to George W. Bush.”

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Florida Abortion Activists Allegedly Caught Submitting Fraudulent Petition Signatures

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Keep Abortion Legal

Florida authorities have caught multiple individuals involved in petition fraud related to a radical effort to enshrine late-term abortion into Florida’s state constitution.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced this week that inspectors arrested a “paid petition circulator” and issued an arrest warrant for a second petition circulator after they submitted 133 invalid constitutional amendment petitions in numerous counties.

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Commentary: Special Counsel Hur Says Biden ‘Elderly Man with Poor Memory’

RealClearWire
Biden Meeting

The same week Joe Biden publicly confused two European leaders with their deceased predecessors and passed on the traditional softball Super Bowl Sunday interview, a new report from Special Counsel Robert Hur described the president as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

The confluence of events raised further questions about the mental acuity of the 81-year-old executive, doubts that Biden did little to dispel in a defiant session with the press at the White House Thursday evening. Biden took particular umbrage with what he described as “extraneous commentary” contained in the report.

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Group Plans to Sue If Georgia Governor Signs Bill to Expand Cash Bail

The Center Square

The ACLU of Georgia said it would sue the state if Gov. Brian Kemp signs into law a measure that expands the number of offenses for which suspects must “post bail or surety.”

State Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, introduced Senate Bill 63 in January 2023, but lawmakers did not advance the measure before last year’s session ended. However, both the state House and Senate signed off on the measure this year.

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Pennsylvania Democrat Warns of Losing Latino Voters to GOP

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Nicarol Soto

A Democrat in the battleground state of Pennsylvania voiced concerns over her party increasingly losing Latino voters to the GOP ahead of the November election, Politico reported Friday.

Democrat Nicarol Soto of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, who ran an unsuccessful city council campaign in 2023, told the outlet that she’s seen signs of the voting bloc moving toward the Republican Party within her own family. Soto, who immigrated to Pennsylvania from the Dominican Republic, believes the shift is largely due to the community’s views on the economy and abortion, according to Politico.

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The Pima Integrity Project and CONELRAD Group Expose ‘Malfeasance,’ ‘Maladministration’ and Possible RICO Violations in Pima County’s Recent Elections

Rachel Alexander

The CONELRAD Group, a team of mostly former intelligence and military officers located primarily in southern Arizona that exposed what it believes is malfeasance in Pinal County’s 2022 election, has teamed up with the Pima Integrity Project (PIP) to expose similar malfeasance in Pima County’s elections. Led by database expert Tim Laux, the group of election researchers in PIP said it believes it found doctored canvassing reports and large numbers of newly registered voters who voted before they were eligible, among other illegal activities.

Jack Dona of CONELRAD told The Arizona Sun Times the findings could rise to the level of criminal racketeering. Dona holds 43 intelligence and technical certifications and diplomas from civilian colleges, technical schools, and military academies and served in military intelligence, retiring as a master sergeant/first sergeant.

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China’s Real Estate Collapse Infecting Troubled American Sectors

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China Real Estate

The crumbling Chinese real estate sector is starting to put properties around the world on the market at deep discounts, threatening debt-laden American commercial developers and the U.S. banks holding the loans, according to Bloomberg.

In a bid to pay off massive debts, Chinese real estate developers are having to offload a huge number of properties onto the global market, depressing prices even further for a sector that already has had borrowing cost hikes, causing a loss of $1 trillion in office property values, according to Bloomberg. The drop in property values hits American commercial real estate particularly hard due to the huge amount of debt the sector holds and the dwindling U.S. demand, with banks that hold the debt also fearing they may lose out on their investment.

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Biden Defends His Mental Fitness After DOJ Report Calls Him ‘Elderly Man with Poor Memory’

The Center Square
Biden Speaking

A visibly upset President Joe Biden addressed the nation late Thursday to respond to news that the special counsel tasked with investigating his handling of classified documents had chosen not to charge him, but also detailed numerous examples of his memory loss.

The blockbuster special counsel report, while clearing Biden, sparked questions about Biden’s mental fitness when it called him an “elderly man with a poor memory.” Biden is 81 years old.

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Trump Cruises Toward Nomination as He Wins Nevada, Virgin Islands GOP Caucuses

Just the News
Trump Nevada

Former President Donald Trump cruised to an easy victory in the Nevada GOP Caucus on Thursday evening, claiming an overwhelming portion of the vote in a contest that included no major challengers.

The Associated Press called the contest shortly after polls closed, with Trump claiming 97.6% of the vote. Pastor Ryan Binkley also appeared on the ballot and claimed 2.4% support as of press time.

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Nashville Metro Councilman Jeff Eslick: Leftists are Using Public Comment Period to Advance Pro-Hamas Agenda During Meetings

Kaitlin Housler
Metro Council

Metro Nashville Council Member Jeff Eslick joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the latest developments and work from the Metro Nashville Council.

Eslick said the council’s meeting on Tuesday consisted of some good discussions on issues; however, it was dragged out by council members trying to convince other members on how to vote on certain ordinances as well as activists taking advantage of the public comment period to speak on the current situation in the Middle East.

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Tom Pappert Analyzes ‘Massive’ Smuggling Problem at Federal Correctional Institute in Memphis Where J6 Defendant Stewart Parks is Serving Eight-Month Term

Kaitlin Housler
FCI Memphis

Tom Pappert, lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, joined Wednesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the decades-long smuggling issue at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Memphis where January 6 defendant Stewart Parks self-reported on Tuesday to serve his eight-month prison sentence for being present at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

Parks was sentenced in November 2023 to three years imprisonment on misdemeanor trespassing, disorderly conduct, and theft charges by D.C. Circuit Court Judge Amit P. Mehta, who has presided over several trials related to the January 6 Capitol riots. Parks, however, is serving his sentence concurrently, reducing his term to eight months behind bars.

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Metro Councilman Jeff Eslick Says He Expects Nashville Mayor O’Connell’s Multimodal Plan to Be ‘Bus Intensive’

Kaitlin Housler
Jeff Eslick

Metro Nashville Council Member Jeff Eslick joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss what may be included in Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s anticipated multimodal transportation plan.

O’Connell, who was elected mayor in last year’s runoff election, vowed during his campaign to address Nashville’s “infrastructure and transit concerns” and is expected to release a multimodal plan in the near future.

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Rutherford County Property Assessor Hires Son of County GOP Chairman and a School Board Member for Newly Created Position After He Was Determined Unqualified for Original Position

Matthew Giffin

Rutherford County Property Assessor Rob Mitchell hired the son of the Rutherford County GOP chairman for a position he was unqualified for ahead of Mitchell’s bid for reelection in 2024.

Mitchell hired Michael Maxwell, son of Rutherford County GOP Chairman Austin Maxwell, in January 2024 despite not meeting the minimum requirements of the position he applied for, according to documents obtained by The Tennessee Star with an open records request.

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Judge Amit Mehta Rejects Peter Navarro’s Bid to Avoid Prison in J6 Case Just Days After Refusing Same Request by Unjustly Convicted Stewart Parks

Tom Pappert
Peter Navarro Sentencing

D.C. District Judge Amit P. Mehta on Thursday declined the request by former Trump administration adviser Peter Navarro to avoid prison while he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction that came as a result of his refusal to comply with a subpoena from the January 6 Committee in the U.S. House.

Mehta ruled on Thursday that Navarro’s claim his conviction could be reversed on appeal was insufficient to stay his sentence, according to Breitbart News, which reported the Obama-appointee also flatly rejected the legal underpinnings of Navarro’s case.

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Jill Biden to Visit Nashville Friday for ‘Political Event’ Reportedly Aimed at Securing Country Music Endorsements

Tom Pappert

First Lady Jill Biden will travel to Tennessee for a purported “political event” reportedly occurring at the home of country music star Brad Paisley.

According to press reports citing a White House media advisory, the First Lady is expected to land in Nashville on Friday afternoon for an unspecified “political event” that will take place in Franklin.

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Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti Joins Letter Warning the Biden Administration About Its Liquified Natural Gas Export Pause

Kaitlin Housler
DOE Biden

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined a 23-state coalition in sending a letter to President Joe Biden and United States Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm regarding the administration’s pause on the export of liquified natural gas (LNG) in the name of climate change.

Last month, the Biden administration announced a temporary pause on pending decisions on exports of LNG to “non-FTA countries until the Department of Energy can update the underlying analyses for authorizations.”

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California County Sued over Non-Citizen Voting Records as States Diverge on Letting Foreigners Vote

Just the News

A California county has been sued by an election integrity watchdog over not making non-citizen voting records available while states are divided on whether non-citizens should be permitted to vote in U.S. elections.

Some states are allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections while others are prohibiting it. Alameda County in California is being sued for not producing voter registration and voting records of non-citizens.

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Illegal Immigration ‘Surge’ Will Put ‘Downward Pressure’ on Wages for Years, CBO Says

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The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the ongoing surge in immigration, both legal and illegal, will put “downward pressure” on inflation-adjusted wages through 2034, according to a recently released report.

The downward effect on real wages will continue until 2027, at which point it will “partially reverse,” with immigration still expected to cause average real wages to be lower in 2034 than they otherwise would be, according to CBO. CBO did predict some positive impacts of immigration, as well, such as increased GDP growth and an expanded labor force.

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Mexico Dethrones China as America’s Main Source of Goods

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Car Plant in Mexico

Mexico supplied the United States with a higher volume of goods than China in 2023, according to annual data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) published on Wednesday.

The U.S. imported about $427.2 billion worth of goods from China, whereas imports from Mexico reached around $475.6 billion, according to the data. Trade tensions between the U.S. and China persist as America continues to impose sanctions and tariffs while the two countries engage in a race to develop artificial intelligence technology.

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Murfreesboro Settles ACLU Lawsuit over Drag Performances

Peter D'Abrosca

The City of Murfreesboro settled a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) over public drag performances, according to the legal nonprofit.

“American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Tennessee, Ballard Spahr, and Burr & Forman have settled a lawsuit filed against the City of Murfreesboro over its anti-LGBTQ+ ordinance and local policy denying all special event permit requests from the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP), founder and host of the annual BoroPride Festival,” according to a release from the ACLU.

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Arizona House Passes ‘Landmark’ Election Integrity Bill with Overwhelming Support to Create Signature Verification Standards, Promote Voter ID

Tom Pappert

The Arizona State House voted on Thursday overwhelmingly in favor of a “landmark” election integrity bill that would set the state’s official standards for signature verification and promote the use of voter ID in early voting, among other improvements to the state’s voting system.

Representative Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale), who sponsored the legislation, celebrated the passage of HB 2785 on Thursday in a press release that declared the law will bring “landmark election integrity reforms.”

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Virginia Bishops Urge Action Against Assisted Suicide Legislation as Bills Advance in General Assembly

Tom Pappert
Virginia Catholic Bishops

Two Virginia bishops issued a letter through the Virginia Catholic Conference on Monday urging Catholics to oppose legislation in the Virginia General Assembly that would legalize physician assisted suicide within the commonwealth. The legislation passed a second committee vote on Thursday.

Bishop Michael Burbridge of Arlington and Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond warned in their letter that bills “to legalize physician assisted suicide” are “moving rapidly” through the General Assembly. The bishops wrote, “We are alarmed and deeply saddened by this development. Human life is sacred and must never be abandoned or discarded.

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Georgia House Unanimously Passes Bill to Accelerate State Income Tax Cuts

Tom Pappert
Brian Kemp

The Georgia State House on Thursday voted unanimously to pass a bill that will accelerate the tax cuts previously passed by the Georgia General Assembly in 2022 alongside bills aimed at lowering property taxes and increasing child tax credits.

HB 1015 will reduce the Georgia state income tax rate to 5.39 percent, effective retroactively to January 1, amending previous legislation that established a flat income tax in Georgia that would be set at 5.49 percent in 2024. Active legislation mandates the income tax rate be decreased by 10 basis points annually until it reaches 4.99 percent, which could be achieved in 2028 if the bill becomes law.

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Feds Tease East Palestine Toxic Train Derailment Findings

The Center Square

The federal agency responsible for determining the cause of the 2023 Norfolk Southern toxic train derailment said they’ll hold investigatory hearings in June to complete their findings.

The National Safety Transportation Board announced Wednesday that it will hold back-to-back hearings on June 22-23 at the East Palestine High School in the Ohio-Pennsylvania border town where the derailment occurred just over a year ago.

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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost Spearheading Effort Urging Congress to Stabilize Funding for the Federal Crime Victims Fund

Kaitlin Housler
Dave Yost Congress

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost led a bipartisan coalition of 41 other state attorneys general in sending a letter to congressional leaders urging the authorization of bridge funding for the federal Crime Victims Fund, also known as the VOCA Fund.

Created by Congress in 1984, the VOCA Fund provides federal support to state and local programs that assist victims of crime.

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House Subcommittee Chairmen Pressure DC Mayor, Police to Preserve Aborted Baby Remains

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Roy Biggs

The chairmen of two House of Representatives subcommittees are calling on D.C. authorities to preserve the remains of “The Five” aborted baby bodies.

“Our subcommittees are conducting oversight of the District of Columbia’s and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) enforcement of federal law,” Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government Chairman Chip Roy and Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Chairman Andy Biggs say in the letter, addressed to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Metropolitan Police Department’s chief, Pamela Smith. Roy, a Republican, represents Texas. Biggs, also a Republican, represents Arizona.

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Supreme Court Justices Appear Skeptical of Removal of Trump from Colorado Ballot Under Insurrection Clause

Just the News
Trump Supreme Court

Supreme Court justices on Thursday appeared skeptical during oral arguments of Colorado plaintiffs’ assertions that former President Donald Trump should be kept off of the state’s ballot for president.

The justices focused on the consequences of allowing Colorado to remove former President Donald Trump during oral arguments on Thursday, pressing the Colorado plaintiffs’ attorney on the issues that could occur across the country. 

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CDC Overrules Mask Advisers and Its Own Research Finding ‘No Difference’ Between N95, Surgical

Just the News
Grocery Shopping Masks

Nearly a year ago, the respected research collaborative Cochrane drastically reinterpreted its own “systematic review” of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on masking in response to media pressure, deeming them “inconclusive” after the review team found that masks make “little to no difference” against COVID-19 or influenza.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is following Cochrane’s lead by publicly pressuring its advisers to revise their recommendations on masking in healthcare settings, which are based on its own systematic review that now undermines CDC preferences.

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U.S. Venture Capital Firms Invested Billions in Companies Linked to Chinese Military and Human Rights Abuses

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Chinese Military

Five American venture capital firms invested at least $3 billion in Chinese technology companies making products used in human rights abuses and aiding the Chinese military and government, according to an investigation from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

GGV Capital, GSR Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Walden International supplied funds to support the development of semiconductors that are being put to use by China’s military for research on equipment and weapons, according to the House Committee. The report follows findings by the Daily Caller News Foundation in October that several U.S. venture-capital firms were participating investors in CCP-backed start-up contests that supported China’s Thousand Talents plan, which aims to poach technology and researchers abroad.

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Commentary: There Is Something Rotten in the State of Tennessee

Admin

Staffers of former Governor Bill Haslam have sold their souls to BlackRock, a giant global corporation hell-bent on controlling every penny on earth and using their power to force us all to obey their woke ESG decrees. This is an outrage that must be addressed. 

As Attorney General Skrmetti’s lawsuit against BlackRock progresses, BlackRock is fighting back. But other than making cringy ads starring a man in a cowboy hat in an absurd attempt to convince the people of Tennessee to trust them, BlackRock is also playing the swamp game. 

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American Billionaires Bankrolled Activist Crusade Against Natural Gas Hubs Before Biden Signed Off on Approval Pause

Admin
Natural Gas Power Plant

American billionaires bankrolled an activist campaign targeting liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals that influenced the White House’s decision to pause new and pending approvals for the projects, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The philanthropic organizations of the Rockefeller family and Democratic megadonor Michael Bloomberg cumulatively provided millions of dollars to activists who pressured Biden administration officials to crack down on LNG export hubs over the past several years, according to the WSJ. The activists ultimately got their way on Jan. 26, when the White House announced that the administration would pause new project approvals as the Department of Energy (DOE) widens the scope of its reviews to include climate impacts of LNG export terminals alongside considerations like national security and economic benefits.

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Music Spotlight: Scotty Hasting

Bethany Bowman

I often encounter veterans while writing about country music. And while only a few veterans also become performing musicians, something about having served makes their music ring true, especially in the patriotic realm of country music.

Scotty Hasting is from the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati area. Although he was in several school choirs, being a musician was never a life goal. He joined the army in October 2010, and by April 2011, he was shot and was lucky to be alive.

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Biden Used Private Email and Fake Names for Official Business, Shared White House Comms with Family

Just the News

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.

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Tucker Carlson Releases Interview with Vladimir Putin

The Center Square
Tucker Carlson Vladimir Putin

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. 

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TN DAs General Conference Files Illegal Brief Supporting Shelby County DA Mulroy’s Effort to Free Convicted Murderer, AG Skrmetti Tells Court Brief Not Legal

Tom Pappert
Skrmetti Mulroy

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.

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Special Counsel Robert Hur Says Biden ‘Willfully’ Kept, Shared Classified Memos but Won’t Be Charged Because of His Poor Memory

Just the News
Biden Hur

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.

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Matthew Giffin: Jon Meacham and Liz Cheney Refused to Take Questions at Polarizing Vanderbilt Event That Claimed to Be About ‘Unity’

Kaitlin Housler
Liz Cheney

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.”

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