Day: April 21, 2025

Tennessee AG Skrmetti Applauds District Court Ruling Finding Google Illegally Monopolized Digital Advertising Markets

Kaitlin Housler
AG Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti applauded a federal court’s recent ruling in a federal antitrust case against Google, which found that the tech company violated the law by maintaining illegal monopolies in the digital advertising technology industry.

On April 17, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by unlawfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power in the open-web display publisher ad server market and the open-web display ad exchange market.

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Biden’s DHS Reportedly Declined to ‘Respond to the Scene’ of 2022 Kilmar Abrego Garcia Traffic Stop in Tennessee

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), then led by former Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas under the Biden administration, reportedly declined to “respond to the scene” in late 2022, when law enforcement stopped a vehicle driven by Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran national deported last month by the Trump administration.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) told The Tennessee Star on Thursday that officers with the agency detained Abrego Garcia for nearly two hours, during which time he presented an expired, Maryland driver’s license that permits illegal immigrants to drive within the state, and was discovered to be transporting eight passengers. 

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2022 TN Traffic Stop of Kilmar Abrego Garcia Was Day Three of Trip That Originated in Houston, Took Detour to St. Louis, Crossed Trafficking Hubs and Areas with MS-13

Tom Pappert
Garcia traffic stop

The Department of Homeland Security said on Saturday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran national deported last month under the Trump administration, told the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) that he was traveling from Houston, Texas to Temple Hills, Maryland, with a stop in St. Louis, Missouri during a late 2022 traffic stop in the Volunteer State.

Claiming he was transporting eight passengers for construction work, and operating a vehicle registered to his boss, DHS on Saturday revealed Abrego Garcia told THP that he began driving “three days” prior to the stretch of I-40 in Putnam County, Tennessee, where DHS reported THP stopped the vehicle for speeding and failing to maintain a lane.

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Service Members May Lose Jobs After Religious Exemptions for Flu Vax Denied, Fought COVID Mandate

Just the News
Military vaccine

Two service members have been denied religious exemptions to the flu vaccine and are at risk of being forced out of the military after they previously fought the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

A service member in the Marine Corps and another in the Air Force are facing separation from their respective military branches after submitting Religious Accommodation Requests (RARs) for the flu shot. Both men objected to the COVID vaccine mandate under the Biden administration and ultimately kept their jobs, but they may lose them under President Trump despite the routine approval of religious exemptions for vaccines before COVID.

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Trump White House Stands by Hegseth as Reports of Another Signal Leak Emerge

Daily Caller News Foundation
Pete Hegseth

The White House stood by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Monday after The New York Times reported he shared Houthi rebel attack plans in a second Signal group chat with family members.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox & Friends Monday morning that Hegseth has done a “phenomenal job” leading the Pentagon amid The New York Times report. The new accusations follow the first Signal scandal in which Hegseth shared a timeline of attacks on the Houthi rebels after National Security Advisor Mike Waltz accidentally added Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffery Goldberg to the chat.

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‘Follow These Steps’: Andy McCarthy Explains How Pam Bondi Could Justify Wrongly Deporting Alleged MS-13 Member

Daily Caller News Foundation
Andy McCarthy

Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy on Monday explained how Attorney General Pam Bondi could legally legitimize the deportation of alleged MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego García.

Despite an immigration judge ordering Abrego García deported in 2019, a second judge later issued a withholding of removal order, which barred his deportation to El Salvador and enabled him to work in the U.S. McCarthy, on “America’s Newsroom,” said Bondi has legal options to revisit that order and potentially reverse it by finding that it is now unwarranted due to circumstances changing in El Salvador.

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Trump Inauguration Fundraising Haul Broke Records, FEC Filing Shows

Daily Caller News Foundation
Donald Trump

President Donald Trump raised over $239 million for his 2025 presidential inauguration, smashing previous inaugural fundraising records.

The record-breaking total, disclosed by Trump’s presidential inaugural committee in a filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Sunday, surpassed the record sum of nearly $107 million Trump raised for his 2017 inauguration. The massive amount raised by Trump’s presidential inaugural committee is more than double the amount former President Joe Biden raised when he raked in nearly $62 million for his inauguration in 2021, which was scaled back due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Don Bacon Becomes Frst GOP Lawmaker to Call for Hegseth Replacement

Admin

Washington Examiner   Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) became the first sitting GOP member to suggest President Donald Trump fire Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth following a second round of allegations regarding mishandling sensitive information. Hegseth reportedly shared sensitive information about military operations in Yemen in a private chat on the Signal app with his wife, brother, and personal lawyer, according to the New York Times. The report marked the second time Hegseth participated in group chats containing sensitive information on an unclassified messaging platform. During an interview on Monday with Politico, Bacon said the group chats containing information about the missions against the Houthis were “totally unacceptable.” READ THE FULL STORY               

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Thousands of Fired Federal Probationary Workers Have Complaints Rejected

Admin

Axios   As many as 2,000 fired federal probationary workers who filed complaints with the Office of Special Counsel have had their cases dismissed as lacking merit, a source familiar with the dismissals tells Axios. Why it matters: These workers are among the tens of thousands caught in limbo after being fired — followed by a series of court rulings reinstating them, and then staying those reinstatements. Catch up quick: Thousands of fired probationary workers filed complaints about their termination with the OSC, a federal office whose role includes investigating “prohibited personnel practices” in the federal workforce. READ THE FULL STORY                 

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s Bag, Including $3,000 in Cash, Is Stolen from D.C. Restaurant

Admin

CNN    Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem fell victim to a thief while eating dinner at a downtown Washington, DC, restaurant Sunday night, the secretary confirmed Monday. Noem, who was asked about the theft at the White House Easter Egg Roll, acknowledged the incident and said the matter has not been resolved. The Secret Service, which provides security for Noem, reviewed security camera footage at the Capital Burger restaurant and saw an unknown white male wearing a medical mask steal her bag and leave the restaurant, a law enforcement source said. READ THE FULL STORY                 

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Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson Recaps ‘Very Productive Session’ of Tennessee General Assembly

Kaitlin Housler
Jack Johnson

Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) described this legislative session of the Tennessee General Assembly as “very productive” in terms of legislation passed by lawmakers on key statewide topics, including immigration and education.

On January 27, the General Assembly convened for a special session called by Governor Bill Lee to pass the Education Freedom Act, a disaster relief package, and other measures related to immigration.

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Walgreens to Pay Up to $300 Million for Illegal Opioid Prescriptions and False Claims

Zachery Schmidt

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $300 million settlement with Walgreens over its role in filling invalid opioid prescriptions and making false claims to the federal government.

The government’s complaint against Walgreens alleged that between August 2012 and March 1, 2023, the pharmaceutical company filed millions of illegal opioid prescriptions.

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Commentary: Beware of Power-Seeking Opportunists Promoting Divisive Conspiracy Theories and Exploiting Anti-Government Paranoia

Star News Contributor
Oklahoma City Bombing

I recently watched Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror, the Netflix documentary about the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 innocents (including 19 helpless children in a day care center). The cowardly terrorist attack by Timothy McVeigh and his accomplices was timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the conflagration in Waco, which some anti-government extremists regarded as an act of war against innocent civilians. Detonating a crude but effective truck bomb made out of agricultural fertilizer and diesel fuel—similar to the one depicted in the far-right tract The Turner Diaries–was McVeigh’s idea of “retribution.” McVeigh, who was executed in 2001, never expressed remorse for his actions.

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia Told Police He Visited Top Human Trafficking Hub Prior to 2022 Traffic Stop

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Houston

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) have confirmed that Kilmar Abrego Garcia told officers he was transporting eight passengers from Houston, Texas, to Temple Hills, Maryland, with an apparent stop in St. Louis, Missouri, after he was stopped in 2022 for speeding and failing to maintain a lane while driving in Tennessee. 

Often called a “Maryland man,” Abrego Garcia is the citizen of El Salvador who was deported to his home country last month by the Trump administration, and his attorneys argue the deportation should be reversed due to a 2019 “withholding of removal” order, signed by an immigration judge, which prevented his removal to El Salvador, but not a third country. Two judges have determined Abrego Garcia is likely to be a member of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), though he has denied this claim.

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MS-13 Member Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Kidnapping, Torturing Tennessee Witness Who Testified Against Gang in 2023

Tom Pappert
Matthew Galeotti

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday announced that a member of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) was sentenced to more than a decade in prison after he pleaded guilty to kidnapping, torturing, and repeatedly assaulting a witness who testified against his fellow gang members in a 2023 trial.

Bayron Wuifredo Santos-Recarte, a 27-year-old citizen of Honduras, who immigrated to the United States illegally, was sentenced in the Middle District of Tennessee on Friday to 147 months in a federal prison after he admitted to kidnapping and assaulting a federal witness, as well as to illegally possessing a firearm.

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Reporter Tom Pappert Calls on Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security to Fulfill Open Records Request of 2022 Traffic Stop of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Kaitlin Housler
Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, called on the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security to fulfill The Star’s Open Records Request of materials documenting the 2022 traffic stop in Putnam County of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the alleged MS-13 gang member and citizen of El Salvador who was deported last month under President Donald Trump, by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) officers.

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