Author: Michael Patrick Leahy

Nashville Metro Council to Vote on Interim Successor to Former State Rep. Justin Jones

Michael Patrick Leahy

The Nashville and Davidson County Metro Council is scheduled to meet Monday evening for the purpose of voting on an interim successor to former State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville).

Jones was expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives on Thursday in a 72 to 25 vote for breaking numerous rules of the House one week earlier on Thursday, March 30, the day over a thousand protestors rioted at the State Capitol and attempted to enter the chamber of the House of Representatives by force.

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MNPS and Left-Wing New York-Based Group Politicize Nashville Shootings, Hold Separate Anti-Gun Rallies of High School Students on Monday at State Capitol and Local Schools

Michael Patrick Leahy

Metro Nashville Public Schools and March For Our Lives (MFOL), the anti-gun, New York City-based political action advocacy organization, are politicizing the March 27 Covenant Presbyterian School shootings by encouraging Nashville and Middle Tennessee high school students to participate in two separate anti-gun rallies on Monday.

As The Tennessee Star reported on March 27, three children and three adults were killed by 28-year-old former student Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as transgender, when she forced her way into the school.

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News Channel 5 Quietly Removes Unsubstantiated Claim by Phil Williams that Andy Ogles ‘Kept the Money’

Michael Patrick Leahy

News Channel 5 published an article at 1:23 pm on Wednesday written by long time investigative reporter Phil Williams which stated that Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) “kept the money” raised eight years ago in a GoFundMe campaign meant for a memorial garden in honor of his infant son Hugh Lincoln Ogles, who died in 2014. A total of $23,565 was raised.

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EXCLUSIVE: Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles Blasts Phil Williams for Personal Attacks Based on Death of Ogles’ Son

Michael Patrick Leahy

Late Wednesday Tennessee U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) blasted long time News Channel 5 reporter Phil Williams over claims Williams made about the death of Ogle’s son in 2014 in a story published earlier in the day by News Channel 5.

Hugh Lincoln Ogles, the son of future Congressman Ogles and his wife Monica Ogles, died on February 19, 2014, the day of his birth, and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Franklin, Tennessee.

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Tennessee Star Editorial: Lt. Governor McNally Must Resign from Leadership Now

Michael Patrick Leahy

It is painfully obvious to anyone who has watched the confused public responses of 79-year-old Tennessee Lt. Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) to the controversy surrounding his inexplicable social media postings that he has lost a step mentally.

McNally also faces health and physical challenges not unusual for a man of his age. In February he underwent a medical procedure to install a heart pacemaker.

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Saturday Night Live Skewers Tennessee Lt. Governor Randy McNally

Michael Patrick Leahy

Saturday Night Live skewered Lt. Governor Randy McNally (R- Oak Ridge) in a devastating skit that featured his bizarre social media posts  on Saturday’s broadcast.

“Sorry I’m late, I’ve spent all day printing out Mapquest directions,” the SNL actor portraying Lt. Gov. McNally says at the beginning the skit.

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GOP Congressman Andy Ogles (TN-5) Releases Statement: Undergraduate Degree from MTSU Was in Liberal Studies

Michael Patrick Leahy

Congressman Andy Ogles (R-TN-5) released a statement on Sunday that the undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree he was awarded from Middle Tennessee State University in 2007 was in the field of Liberal Studies, not International Relations as he had previously stated.

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Five Questions Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw Refuses to Answer About Vinyl Chloride Controlled Burn Decision at Ohio Train Derailment

Michael Patrick Leahy

Norfolk Southern Corp. CEO Alan Shaw failed to answer five key questions posed to him by The Star News Network on Monday about the February 6 controlled burn of vinyl chloride conducted at the East Palestine, Ohio site of his company’s February 3 trail derailment:

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EPA Administrator Michael Regan to Visit East Palestine, Ohio After Trip to Africa ‘Postponed’

Michael Patrick Leahy

EPA Administrator Michael Regan tweeted late Monday that he will visit East Palestine, Ohio on Tuesday. The news represents a change of plans for Regan, who was scheduled to leave on Saturday, February 18 for a seven day climate tour of Africa.

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Woke ESG Management Fund BlackRock Owns 6 Percent of Norfolk Southern, Whose Train Derailed in Ohio

Michael Patrick Leahy

Black Rock owns more than 6 percent of Norfolk Southern Railway, the huge railway company whose train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3, causing what many are describing as an ecological and health disaster for residents of Ohio and nearby Pennsylvania.

Fintel.io reports that as of February 16, 2023, Black Rock owns 6.8 percent of Norfolk Southern Railway.

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Memphis PD on Claims Tyre Nichols Was Targeted and Former Officers Charged with Murder Were Gang Members: ‘There Is No Evidence That Indicates That Either of These Claims Are True’

Michael Patrick Leahy

Memphis Police Department Public Information Officer Major Karen Rudolph told The Tennessee Star in an emailed statement on Tuesday, “There is no evidence that either of these claims are true,” in response to two questions posed to her by The Star.

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Five Memphis Police Officers Charged in Beating Death Belonged to 40-Member SCORPION Unit with History of Violence, Poor Training, and Lack of Supervision

Michael Patrick Leahy

The five former Memphis police officers who were charged last week with second degree murder in the beating death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols were part of a special, 40-member SCORPION (Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods) unit established in October 2021 by Memphis Police Department Chief Cerelyn Davis and Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, a Democrat.

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Legal Throwdown in Arizona: Democrat Attorney Marc Elias Says Kari Lake Must Prove Alleged Wrongdoing Altered Outcome of Election

Michael Patrick Leahy

Kari Lake scored a significant legal victory on Monday when Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled that two counts of her election contest against Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will go to trial this week. The two day trial is expected to begin on Wednesday, and the judge’s ruling is expected by January 2, 2023, one day before the scheduled January 3 inauguration of Governor-elect Hobbs.

But the standard required to secure the legal remedy she seeks in her lawsuit – either a declaration that she, and not Democrat nominee Katie Hobbs, is the victor in the November 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election or an order that Maricopa County must redo the gubernatorial election – remains high.

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Judge Rules Kari Lake Election Contest Will Go to Trial

Michael Patrick Leahy

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled late Monday that Kari Lake’s election contest lawsuit will go to trial on Wednesday.

The judge’s ruling came hours after attorneys for the defendants–Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors–and the plaintiff, GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, delivered oral arguments in court on both sides of the defendants’ motion to dismiss all ten counts set forward in Lake’s 70 page lawsuit.

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American Classical Education Announces Intent to Apply for Charter Schools in Five Tennessee Counties

Michael Patrick Leahy

American Classical Education (ACE) informed the Tennessee Department of Education and school boards of education in five counties – Rutherford, Montgomery, Madison, Maury, and Robertson – in separate letters last week it intends to apply for public school charters to operate classical schools in those five counties.

“We’ve filed our letters of intent with the school districts and the department,” Dolores Gresham, an ACE board member, former Tennessee State Senator, and former Senate Education Committee Chair, told The Tennessee Star.

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Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s Founding of Partisan PAC Raises Ethical and Legal Questions of Possible Misconduct 

Michael Patrick Leahy

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer is coming under increasing scrutiny after the botched election in Maricopa County, leading some to question his founding and operation of the Pro-Democracy Republicans PAC, whose stated mission is “to support pro-democracy Arizona Republicans” who reject “conspiracy theorists and demagoguery” from candidates who maintain the 2020 presidential election in Arizona was stolen. In the context of the 2022 election, this is an indication of Richer’s direct opposition to GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, GOP Secretary of State nominee Mark Finchem, several state legislators and candidates for Maricopa County Supervisor.

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United Way of West TN CEO’s Opposition to Charter School Appeal of Jackson-Madison County Denial Draws Criticism from Supporters

Michael Patrick Leahy

The CEO of United Way of West Tennessee’s public statement opposing American Classical Academy Madison’s appeal of the Jackson-Madison County Public School System’s denial of the school’s public charter has drawn heavy criticism from the school’s supporters.

“Matt Marshall, the president and CEO of United Way of West Tennessee, [spoke] in opposition to ACA during the public comment portion of the American Classical Academy Madison County Charter School Appeal Public Hearing on Thursday, September 15, 2022, in Jackson, Tenn.,” The Jackson Sun reported.

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Leftist Author Jon Meacham Named to Board of University of Tennessee’s Institute for American Civics

Michael Patrick Leahy

Author and former MSNBC contributor Jon Meacham was named to the Board of Fellows of the University of Tennessee’s newly established Institute for American Civics last week by University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd.

German-owned Politico reported that Meacham helped President Joe Biden “frame” his now infamously divisive “speech from hell” delivered in Philadelphia last week in which he attacked the 74 million Americans who voted for former President Donald Trump as a “threat to American democracy.”

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Stacey Abrams Sponsored Legislation Related to Her Private Business Interests

Michael Patrick Leahy

Public records indicate Georgia gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Abrams sponsored legislation when she was the Georgia House minority leader that was related to her private business interests. The legislation Abrams sponsored in 2015 – with four other Republicans – addressed taxes paid on debt that was not collected.

At the time the legislation was under consideration, Abrams was senior vice president at a company called NOWaccount, according to an archive of the company’s website.
 

Abrams had started NOWaccount in 2010 with two business partners. The company charged fees to small business for accepting the task of collecting the businesses outstanding receivables.

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Report: Stacey Abrams’ Business Received Special Treatment, Government Program Protected Private Investment

Michael Patrick Leahy

An investigation by the Government Accountability Institute (GAI), supported by documents retrieved by FOIA requests, has found that then Georgia House member Stacey Abrams received special treatment related to a government loan program that benefited her private investment in a company she helped start.

On October 7, 2021, the financial technology company Now Corp. (previously NOWaccount) co-founded by Stacey Abrams in 2010, secured $29 million in financing and an equity investment from Brigade Capital Management LP and Virgo Investment Group.

This was a significant milestone given the fact in 2013 NOWaccount had approximately $100,000 in annual revenue.

Less than two months after this announcement, on December 1, 2021, Abrams announced she would run for Georgia governor, setting up a possible rematch with Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp.

And in March 2022, Abrams filed a financial disclosure form which indicated her net worth was $3.17 million, a substantial increase from the net worth of $109,000 when she first ran for governor four years ago.

While most media reports attribute Abrams significant increases in net-worth to speeches and advances for book projects, her investment in Now Corp. has received little attention.  Abrams herself has previously claimed that she “walled myself off” from company operations. However, documents indicate she was an integral part of the plan to use the federal program to benefit NOW.

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The Real Story of How the Tennessee GOP Followed the Party’s Bylaws to Disqualify Three Candidates from the TN-5 Primary Ballot

Michael Patrick Leahy

Many national and local news outlets have reported inaccurately about the process by which the Tennessee Republican Party (TRP) disqualified three candidates from the August 4, 2022 GOP primary ballot in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District on April 19, 2022.

In the immediate aftermath of this decision made by the TRP in accordance with its bylaws and the laws of Tennessee, Robby Starbuck (legal name Robert Starbuck Newsom), one of the three disqualified candidates, delivered a series of press interviews and social media statements in which he made false claims about the integrity of the TRP’s process in handling his disqualification.

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SB 2616 Requires Tennessee Residency Prior to April 2019 for Candidates to Qualify for 2022 GOP Primary in TN-5

Michael Patrick Leahy

On Wednesday the sponsor of SB 2616 told The Tennessee Star if the bill becomes law, candidates for the August 2022 GOP primary in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District would qualify for the primary ballot only if they established Tennessee residency prior to April 7, 2019, three years before the April 7, 2022 filing deadline for this year’s primary.

The bill passed in the State and Local Government Committee of The Tennessee State Senate on Tuesday in a bipartisan 5-1 vote.

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Trump Blasts Pence’s Claims About January 6: Vice Presidency Not an ‘Automatic Conveyor Belt for Old Crow Mitch McConnell to Get Biden Elected President’

Michael Patrick Leahy

Former President Donald Trump released a blistering attack Friday afternoon on former Vice President Mike Pence’s claims earlier in the day about the January 6, 2021 Joint Session of Congress over which Pence presided at which Electoral College votes submitted by the states were counted.

In a speech before the Florida Chapter of the Federalist Society in Orlando on Friday, Pence asserted, “There are those in our party who believe that as the presiding officer over the joint session of Congress, I possessed unilateral authority to reject Electoral College votes. And I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to ‘overturn the election.’ President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election.” (emphasis added)

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