Tyler O’Neil Details How Far-Left Dark Money Groups Infiltrated the Federal Government in His New Book ‘The Woketopus’

Tyler O'Neil

Tyler O’Neil, managing editor of The Daily Signal, previewed his new book titled, “The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government” on Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, explaining how his latest publication explores how dark money groups “infiltrated and brainwashed the federal government” under the Biden administration.

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Reporter Tom Pappert: Law Enforcement Agencies Silent on Franklin Gun Store Attempted Robbery by Illegal Immigrants

Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, says the law enforcement agencies involved in the January 20 arrest of five teenagers who attempted a break-in at the Arms and Ammo store in Franklin have provided a “stunning lack of information” on the case after The Star learned from a source that the teeangers are reportedly Honduran nationals who were in the U.S. illegally at the time of their arrest.

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Tennessee Had 5th Highest Opioid-Related Death Rate Among All 50 U.S. States in 2023, New Data Finds

Tennessee’s opioid-related death rate was ranked the fifth highest among all 50 U.S. states in 2023, a new study conducted by the law firm group White Law PLLC shows.

The study shows that a total of 79,355 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2023 – a 12 percent increase from 2022 and the highest recorded rate in history, averaging 217 deaths per day.

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Mark Green Introduces Bill to Help Address the Nation’s Cyber Workforce Shortage

Mark Green

U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07), who chairs the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, reintroduced a bill on Wednesday to address the nation’s cybersecurity workforce shortage.

Green’s bill, the Cyber PIVOTT Act, seeks to establish educational and training partnerships between government institutions and community colleges, technical schools, and other higher education institutions that offer two-year programs in the cybersecurity field.

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Immigration Expert Todd Bensman: Trump Tariff Threat ‘Highly Effective,’ ‘Should Have Been Done for Years’

Todd Bensman, Michael Patrick Leahy

Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, said President Donald Trump’s 25 percent tariff threat on Mexican imports was a “highly effective” strategy that should have been implemented by prior administrations “for years” as a way to push Mexico to cooperate with border security efforts.

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Steve Cortes: President Trump Played the ‘Strong Hand’ with Tariffs, Now Mexico Is ‘Crying Uncle’

Mexican troops

Steve Cortes, former senior spokesman and strategist for the 2016 and 2020 Trump campaigns and current head of the League of American Workers, said President Donald Trump’s 25 percent tariff threat on Mexican imports shows that the president “knows how to wield the power of the United States” as a negotiator.

On Monday, Trump announced that he and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum participated in a “very friendly conversation” in which the pair negotiated a deal which will see Mexico supply 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to “stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal migrants” into the U.S. in exchange for Trump pausing the anticipated 25 percent tariffs on Mexican imports for a one month period.

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State Senator Brent Taylor Details General Assembly’s Plans to Address Chaos in Memphis-Shelby County Schools

Memphis-Shelby County Schools

Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) detailed how the Tennessee General Assembly plans to address the dysfunction within the Memphis-Shelby County School Board this legislative session during an exclusive interview last week on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.

Last month, the Memphis school board voted 6-3 to fire superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins, who had been in the role for less than 10 months.

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Tennessee Filmmaker Robby Starbuck’s Documentary ‘The War on Children’ Unbanned from Amazon Streaming Service

the war on children

Robby Starbuck, Tennessee political commentator and documentary filmmaker, announced Monday that Amazon’s streaming service, Prime Video, unbanned his 2024 documentary “The War On Children” nearly six months after the film was removed from the platform due to “offensive content.”

Starbuck’s documentary features conversations with the likes of “whistleblowers, leftists caught on camera, survivors of child mutilation, trafficking victims, corporate executives exposing the plan to sexualize children” and others surrounding different issues facing children in today’s world, including human trafficking and gender mutilation.

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Tom Zawistowski: Vivek Ramaswamy Likely to be Favorite Gubernatorial Candidate Among Ohioans

Tom Zawistowski, president of the Ohio-based We the People Convention, said businessman and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is likely to be the favorite Republican candidate among Ohioans in the 2026 gubernatorial race.

While Ramaswamy has not officially launched a bid for Ohio governor, reports have recently confirmed that the businessman and former presidential candidate has hired Vice President JD Vance’s top political advisers to head his expected campaign.

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‘Great Day for Tennessee’: Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson Celebrates Passage of Education Freedom Act

Jack Johnson

Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) said the passage of the Education Freedom Act of 2025 sends a message that the Volunteer State believes in “parents making choices that are right for their kids.”

On Thursday, the Education Freedom Act (SB6001/HB 6004) passed the Tennessee House by a 54-44 vote and the Tennessee Senate by a 20-13 vote.

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Legal Expert Phill Kline: Trump’s Work to Address the ‘Unaccountable Government’ Will Be Hard for the Left to Stop Through the Courts

Donald Trump

Phill Kline, former Kansas Attorney General and current law professor at Liberty University School of Law, said he believes President Donald Trump’s work to address the “unaccountable government” through the temporary pause of federal financial assistance programs to review such funding is likely to be “backed up” by the courts as the Left attempts to derail the president’s actions through litigation.

Kline said Trump’s use of the presidential impoundment power to potentially save federal funds by pausing federal financial assistance programs pending further review is “clearly” appropriate.

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Reporter Tom Pappert: If Tennessee Parents Had a Choice, They ‘Probably Wouldn’t’ Be Sending Their Kids to Failing Institutions Like Antioch High School, Shelby County Schools

Michael Patrick Leahy, Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said if Tennessee parents had the financial freedom in deciding where to send their children to school, they “probably wouldn’t” be enrolling their children in dysfunctional school districts like Shelby County Schools or failing institutions like Antioch High School in Nashville.

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Todd Bensman: Colombia’s Immediate Caving to Accepting Deportation Flights Sets the Tone for Other Countries’ Compliance with Accepting Back Migrants

Todd Bensman

Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, said Colombia’s compliance to accept U.S. deportation flights returning Colombian nationals back to the South American country when faced with tariffs and sanctions sets the tone for other countries when it comes to accepting future deportation flights.

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EJ Haust: Proposal Allowing Trump a Third Term Shuts Down Seriousness Surrounding Biden’s 28th Amendment Claim

Donald Trump

EJ Haust, a digital marketing expert and official guest host of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, said Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles’ (R-TN-05) proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution allowing President Donald Trump to serve a third term shuts down the conversations about former President Joe Biden’s claim that a 28th Amendment to the Constitution has been ratified.

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