Embattled Shelby County Democrat Sues to Challenge Primary Loss amid Ouster Effort

Wanda Halbert

Embattled Shelby Criminal County Clerk Wanda Halbert last week filed a lawsuit against the Shelby County Election Commission over her narrow primary election loss to State Representative Joe Towns (D-Memphis), with just 126 votes deciding the election. 

In her lawsuit, Halbert claims that about 1,700 absentee ballots cast during the May 5 election are “unprocessed, unresolved, uncounted, or otherwise not reflected in the certified election totals.”

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The Atlantic Defendants in Kash Patel’s Defamation Lawsuit Granted Two Additional Months to Submit Response

Kash Patel

The publisher of The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick were granted until July 27 to respond to the lawsuit filed by FBI Director Kash Patel, after a filing revealed that the defendants’ lawyers had reached an agreement with Patel and his attorneys to accept service of the lawsuit on their clients’ behalf.

By the new July deadline, The Atlantic and Fitzpatrick will have had more than three months to respond to the defamation lawsuit, which was filed on April 20, shortly after the outlet published an article claiming Patel has a serious drinking problem that impacts his job performance and leaves him unavailable to staff for extended periods of time.

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Federal Panel Hearing Lawsuits over Tennessee Redistricting Includes Two Trump-Appointed Judges, One Nominated by Obama

The panel of federal judges who will decide the fate of four lawsuits filed to prevent Tennessee’s new Congressional map from taking effect before the midterm elections was announced last Wednesday. Two of the judges are appointees of President Donald Trump, while the third was nominated by former President Barack Obama.

According to the order released last Wednesday by the Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has assigned assigned Circuit Judge John Nalbandian of the Sixth Circuit, who was appointed to the circuit court by Trump in 2018, and Chief District Judge Greg Stivers of the Western District of Kentucky, who was nominated to the bench by Obama in 2014.

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U.S. Attorney Denies Investigating Trump Accuser amid Reports Primary Target Is Nonprofit Founded by Democrat Donor Reid Hoffman

Andrew Boutros

A statement issued Thursday by the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros of the Northern District of Illinois denied the earlier reporting, originally broken as an exclusive by CNN, claiming that the office had opened an investigation to former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who sued President Donald Trump over sexual abuse claims from the 1990s.

Boutros issued the statement, breaking from typical U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) policy against commenting on the existence or status of investigations, citing “wide-spread reporting and intense media and public interest,” in a post to social media.

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Nashville Mayor Funds Pro-Illegal Alien Nonprofit TIRRC with $735,000 in City Budget After ‘Years’ of ‘Successful Collaboration’

Mayor Freddie O'Connell

Metro Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell included more than $700,000 in his annual budget for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), a nonprofit supporting illegal aliens living in Tennessee.

TIRRC partnered with the city last year to provide relief for those impacted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was asked by the Biden administration to support the release of aliens into Tennessee’s interior, and whose affiliated political action committee endorsed O’Connell during his successful 2023 race for mayor.

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DOJ Reportedly Investigates Trump Accuser E. Jean Carroll over Initial Denial that Reid Hoffman Funded Lawsuit

E. Jean Carroll / CNN

The U.S. Department of Justice has reportedly opened an investigation into E. Jean Carroll, who sued President Donald Trump over her claim he sexually abused her in a department store dressing room sometime during the 1990s, over possible perjury committed during a deposition in 2022, when Carroll claimed she received no outside compensation for her litigation.

First revealed by CNN as an exclusive on Wednesday night, Reuters corroborated the reporting on Thursday, and additionally unearthed that the investigation is being conducted in the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros in the Northern District of Illinois, who was appointed in April 2025.

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Abrego Garcia Asks Obama-Appointed Judge to Declare Costa Rica Only Legal Destination for Deportation amid Appeal

Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The immigration attorneys representing Kilmar Abrego Garica on Wednesday asked U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, to issue a ruling declaring that Costa Rica is the only legal destination for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deport their client, citing his decision to designate the nation his preferred destination after it made diplomatic assurances to the State Department during failed negotiations for a plea deal last year. 

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys submitted the request in response to Xinis instructing the plaintiffs to update the court following the decision by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to appeal her order blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining Abrego Garcia. 

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Tennessee Real Estate Listing Service Announces National Expansion Using Chicago-Area Model at Center of Zillow Antitrust Lawsuit

Real Estate agent

Realtracs, Tennessee’s largest Multiple Listing Service for real estate, revealed plans to expand nationally by partnering with the real estate giant Compass, using a model the company developed in the Chicago area. The program allows homes to be listed as “private exclusives,” first made available to a network of Compass-affiliated real estate agents before hitting the open market.

Proponents say the partnership between Compass and the largest MLS in Chicago, Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED), gives sellers more control over the process, offers them more privacy, and can result in better sale prices, but critics include the real estate and rental listing platform, Zillow, who on May 12 filed a federal antitrust lawsuit, claiming MRED threatened to cut off its access to home listings in response to concerns about the private listings.

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Shelby County DA Alleges White House Pressured Tennessee Lawmakers over ‘Political Differences’ in Lawsuit Challenging Accountability Bills

Steve Mulroy

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy on Tuesday filed a lawsuit seeking to block new accountability laws, passed this year by the Tennessee General Assembly and recently signed by Governor Bill Lee, arguing his office is being unfairly targeted.

The lawsuit lays partial blame on top members of the Trump administration, who it claims instructed state lawmakers to “deal with” Mulroy.

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Federal Lawsuit Claims Tennessee’s New PBM Law of Violates U.S. Constitution, State Lawmakers ‘Will Be Personally Enriched’

Pharmacy

A federal lawsuit claims Tennessee’s new law prohibiting vertical integration between pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) violates the dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, federal law governing employer-sponsored health plans, rules specific to Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D plans, and the Constitution’s Takings Clause, which prohibits private property from being taken for public use without compensation.

The lawsuit was filed by CVS and affiliated PBM and insurance companies in the U.S. Court for the Middle District of Tennessee last Thursday, shortly after Governor Bill Lee signed Senate Bill (SB) 2040, the Freedom, Access, and Integrity in Registered Pharmacy (FAIR Rx) Act, beginning the countdown for vertically integrated companies to divest by January 1, 2027, ahead of a complete prohibition that will start in January 2028.

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Tennessee U.S. Attorney ‘Evaluating Appeal’ After Obama-Appointed Judge Drops Human Smuggling Case Against Abrego Garcia

US Atty Braden Boucek

U.S. Attorney Braden Boucek on Monday told The Tennessee Star that prosecutors in the Middle District of Tennessee are evaluating plans to appeal the Friday ruling by Obama-appointed District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw, who dropped the federal human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, determining the Department of Justice (DOJ) “failed to rebut the presumption of vindictiveness.”

“The undisputed evidence shows that the decision to charge Abrego was made by a career prosecutor based solely on the facts and the substantial evidence that a serious crime had been committed and deserved prosecution,” said Boucek.

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Obama-Appointed Judge’s Dismissal of Human Smuggling Case Against Kilmar Abrego Garcia Ignored Evidence Biden-Era FBI Quashed Investigation into 2022 Traffic Stop

Judge Wavery Crenshaw and Kilmar Abrego Garcia courtroom sketch

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw omitted key evidence from his Friday ruling dismissing the federal human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, including reporting by The Tennessee Star that was seemingly referenced during testimony, revealing the “Biden-era FBI” directed Tennessee authorities to release Abrego Garcia during a 2022 traffic stop despite suspecting human trafficking. Instead, the Obama-appointed judge sided with the foreign national, ruling the Trump administration failed to overcome a presumption of vindictive prosecution.

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Gov. Bill Lee Signs PBM Bill Backed by Tennessee’s Pharmacist Lawmakers amid ‘Pending’ Legal Challenge from CVS

Bill Lee

Governor Bill Lee on Friday signed Senate Bill (SB) 2040, the Freedom, Access, and Integrity in Registered Pharmacy (FAIR Rx) Act into law. Once fully active in January 2028, it will prohibit vertical integration between pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and pharmacies in Tennessee. It will force divestment from any already vertically integrated companies by January 1, 2027.

The legislation was passed with the support of the Tennessee Pharmacists Association (TPA), and chief executive officer Dr. Anthony Pudlo recently commended the pharmacists elected to the General Assembly for successfully pushing the legislation through.

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DOJ Promises Appeal After Obama-Appointed Judge Tosses Abrego Garcia Case Despite Insufficient Evidence of Vindictive Prosecution

Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The federal human smuggling indictment against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the citizen of El Salvador accused of participating in a human smuggling ring for years, was dismissed for vindictive prosecution on Friday by U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice told The Tennessee Star on Friday that the federal government intends to appeal Crenshaw’s decision. 

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Litigants in State Court for Tennessee Redistricting Lawsuit Told to Expect Quick Decision from Three-Judge Panel

Judge James Gass, Chancellor Ann Davis, and Chancellor Tony Childress

The litigants in the lawsuit seeking to block the newly-approved congressional districts, arguing the General Assembly exceeded the mandate authorized by Governor Bill Lee in their special legislative session, were reportedly told to expect a quick decision on Wednesday by a panel of three Tennessee state judges appointed to oversee the case. 

Arguments were made on Wednesday before the three-judge panel (pictured above, left-to-right), which reportedly consists of Judge James Gass of Sevierville, Chancellor Anne Martin of Nashville, and Chancellor Tony Childress of Dyersburg.

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Federal Judge Authorizes U.S. Marshals to Serve Lawsuit Against Mitch Snow in Candace Owens Defamation Case

Mitch Snow, Candace Owens

A federal magistrate judge in Tennessee on Wednesday granted the request by Brian Harpole, the former head of security to Charlie Kirk, for the U.S. Marshals Service to serve Mitch Snow with the defamation lawsuit targeting him and Candace Owens over his claim that Harpole, Erika Kirk, and members of the military attended a secret meeting in Arizona one day before Charlie Kirk was assassinated.

In his three-page order, U.S. Magistrate Judge Luke Evans offered two reasons justifying the intervention of the Marshals, beginning with the alleged failure by process servers to reach Snow despite multiple attempts.

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Metro Nashville Council Urges NES for ‘Moratorium’ on New Tree Trimming, Cite Canopy Concerns

The Metro Nashville Council on Tuesday passed a resolution urging the Nashville Electric Service (NES) to place a “moratorium” on its new tree trimming strategy, citing a series of concerns about cutting the city’s “tree canopy,” just months after Winter Storm Fern caused the largest outage in the history of the publicly owned utility, with about half of its 470,000 customers without power during the peak.

After the storm, NES CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin said the utility was “planning on moving forward with a more aggressive tree trimming approach,” and in the interim version of the third-party report recently commissioned by NES, analysts noted the company engaged in extensive tree trimming immediately after the storm.

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Purported Manifesto Left by San Diego Mosque Shooters Names Antioch High School Killer Among Inspirations

Islamic Center San Diego

The Tennessee Star on Wednesday obtained a copy of the manifesto purportedly written by one of the teens who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego, killing three before taking their own lives shortly after, revealing the Antioch High School killer was listed among the author’s inspirations to commit violence.

Law enforcement has identified the attackers in San Diego as Caleb Vazquez, 18, and Cain Lee Clark, 17. The FBI has additionally confirmed that law enforcement recovered a manifesto and extremist writings connected to the suspects, and multiple news outlets have claimed to receive a copy of the manifesto from law enforcement sources that matches the document obtained by The Star.

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UTC Requires Students Seeking Bachelor’s Degrees to Complete Diversity, Inclusion Curriculum Despite Federal DEI Crackdown

UTC students

More than one year after President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders aimed at ending all federal funding for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), including in academia, the University of Tennessee – Chattanooga (UTC) continues to require students seeking a bachelor’s degree to complete a curriculum that appears to be influenced by the controversial ideology.

The university’s website explains that, since 2023, the UTC general education program has included four desired outcomes for students. In its third desired outcome, the university says its students should be educated to, “Cultivate inclusion by recognizing, examining, and reflecting on the diversity of cultural and individual experiences.”

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All Three Federal Lawsuits Attempting to Block Tennessee Redistricting Now Consolidated Under Trump-Appointed Judge

TN Lawsuit

Three federal lawsuits filed to stop Tennessee’s successful mid-term redistricting, which saw the state’s final Democratic congressional district reshaped to be friendly to Republican candidates for the first time in more than 50 years, have now been consolidated under a case assigned to a U.S. District Court judge appointed by President Donald Trump. 

U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), and the Tennessee Democratic Party filed the first lawsuit challenging the redistricting process on May 7.

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ACLU Files Federal Lawsuit Against Memphis Safe Task Force over Tennessee Law Requiring Retreat from Law Enforcement When Ordered

TN National Guard

In a Monday notice to the court, the four Memphis residents represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who are suing over claims they faced retaliation from the Memphis Safe Task Force (MSTF) due to Tennessee’s law making it a crime to stand within 25 feet of police after being ordered to move,  confirmed their litigation will directly challenge the constitutionality of the law. 

The lawsuit filed on Wednesday accuses the MSTF of maintaining an unconstitutional policy, pattern, and practice of retaliation against individuals in the city who observe, gather information, and record the task force’s operations in public, alleging that law enforcement has engaged in harassment, surveillance, intimidation, unreasonable stops, and abuses of Tennessee’s Halo Law, which made it a Class B misdemeanor to intentionally approach or remain within 25 feet of a law enforcement officer after being ordered to move. 

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Candace Owens Retains Nashville ‘Super Lawyer’ Whose Focus Includes ‘Crisis-Driven Litigation,’ Clients ‘Facing Reputational Risk’

Rob Peal

Federal court documents released on Monday reveal that Candace Owens has retained Robert A. Peal, recognized as a “Super Lawyer” from the Nashville firm Sims Funk, to represent her in the defamation lawsuit by Brian Harpole, the former head of security for Charlie Kirk.

Peal announced his appearance on behalf of Owens in a notice to the court last week, confirming he will represent Owens personally, as well as the associated limited liability company (LLC) and the incorporated entity named as defendants in Harpole’s lawsuit.

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‘People First’ Security Division of Block by Block Founded Two Months Ago Starts Patrolling Downtown Nashville

Civicity patrol

Civicity, a new security company founded in March by the Kentucky-based Block by Block, reportedly joined law enforcement patrolling downtown Nashville over the weekend, amid the suspension of the city’s last private security partner over allegations its security guards posed as uniformed police, whose five-year contract just expired. 

Originally reported in April to be the new choice of the Central Business Improvement District (CBID), which collects a portion of revenue from downtown businesses and directs them to the nonprofit District Management Corporation (DMC), which in turn is operated by the Nashville Downtown Partnership (NDP), Civicity has reportedly already been contracted to provide services for the remainder of the year.

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Ex-Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Absent on List of Candidates Who Submitted Signatures to Run in Redrawn Districts

Megan Barry

Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry was not included on the Tennessee Secretary of State’s list of candidates who submitted signatures to qualify for the ballot in one of Tennessee’s congressional districts, following the successful redrawing by Governor Bill Lee and the General Assembly.

Barry was included on the state agency’s Tuesday list of candidates, and the Secretary of State confirmed she had obtained a petition to begin gathering the 25 valid signatures required to obtain ballot access in the newly redrawn districts.

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London Lamar Submits Signatures to Qualify for Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District in Blow to Justin Pearson as Steve Cohen Leaves Race

London Lamar

The Tennessee Secretary of State published a final list of candidates who had returned petition signatures to qualify for the ballot under the newly passed congressional map, revealing State Senator London Lamar (D-Memphis) submitted the necessary paperwork to compete with State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) for the Democratic nomination to represent the newly redrawn 9th Congressional District.

News first emerged earlier this week that Lamar had pulled a petition, and in its Friday update, the Tennessee state agency confirmed that Lamar had returned the necessary signatures to qualify.

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Filing in Federal Court Claims Co-Defendant in Candace Owens Defamation Case ‘Actively Avoiding Service,’ Requests U.S. Marshals Intervention

Candace Owens

Attorneys for Brian Harpole, the former head of security for Charlie Kirk, who is now suing Candace Owens and her former podcast guest Mitch Snow over their statements about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, on Thursday claimed that Snow is “actively avoiding service” from process servers, and asked a federal magistrate judge to authorize the U.S. Marshals Service to intervene.

Filed as a request for miscellaneous relief, Harpole’s attorneys claim that Snow refused to accept service on multiple occasions, including an incident when the process server allegedly encountered “a hostile environment” at his home.

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Federal Lawsuits Attempting to Stop Tennessee Redistricting Consolidated Under Judge Who Refused to Block New Map

NAACP

Both federal lawsuits challenging Tennessee’s newly redrawn congressional map have now been assigned to U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell, who on Thursday denied the request by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to grant a temporary restraining order.

The decision was announced in a Thursday order by U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, who ruled that the claims in the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) were too similar to the first federal lawsuit filed over the new map, submitted by NAACP attorneys, to justify assignment to a separate judge.

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Tennessee A.G. Jonathan Skrmetti Announces ‘Final Victory’ in Lawsuit Challenging Biden-Era Title IX Rules

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti on Thursday announced that the special interest groups challenging his successful litigation to block Biden-era changes to Title IX agreed to drop their appeal, sealing a “final victory” in the legal challenge launched in early 2024. 

Skrmetti and the legal coalition behind the lawsuit, which includes the attorneys general of Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, and Virginia, originally received a favorable ruling in January 2025, blocking the Biden administration’s attempt to rewrite Title IX to include gender identity and sexual orientation. 

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Congressman Andy Ogles Introduces ASSIMILATION Act to Dramatically Cut Immigration, Mandate E-Verify, Strangle H-1B Program

Rep Andy Ogles

U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) and Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) on Thursday introduced the American System for Sustainable Immigration and Mass Immigration Limitations Achieved Through Imposing Oversight Nationally (ASSIMILATION) Act, an 82-page bill that would result in a comprehensive revision of the process for legal immigration to the United States. 

Announcing his legislation in a post to social media, Ogles said he and Tuberville aimed to gut the Hart-Cellar Act of 1965, which critics say incentivized immigration from non-European countries, as well as various provisions of the Immigration Act that became law during the 1990s. 

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State Rep. Justin Jones, Robert Reich Share Misinformation About Tennessee Redistricting Process

Justin Jones and Robert Reich

State Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville) on Tuesday was interviewed by Robert Reich, the political analyst and former U.S. Secretary of Labor during the Clinton administration, when both appeared to suggest the lack of political questions on the federal census means Tennessee lawmakers drew their new congressional map based entirely on race.

In an interview conducted after Tennessee state lawmakers and Governor Bill Lee approved a new congressional map in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision reining in districts drawn based on their racial composition, Reich asked Jones how Republicans in the General Assembly were able to craft districts based on partisan leanings.

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Congressman Andy Ogles Says Biden DOJ Tried to ‘Willfully Violate the Constitution’ When FBI Seized Phone, Emails

Andy Ogles

Leading the “Weaponized and Wiretrapped” press conference featuring congressional Republicans, U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) on Wednesday recounted how he was targeted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) under former President Joe Biden, which he said caused the FBI to serve a search warrant at his residence to seize his cell phone following his 2024 primary election victory. 

“I’d been outspent four to five to one, [and] we’d won overwhelmingly, so it was a day with my family that should have really been a celebration and and relief. My son, our little one, goes outside, takes the dog out, and across the street – we live out in the country on top of a hill on a farm – so these cars were out of place, and he comes in and says, ‘Dad, there’s some cars across the street,’ said Ogles.

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Brent Taylor Announces 30 Endorsements in First Week of Campaign for Tennessee’s Redrawn 9th Congressional District

Brent Taylor

State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) on Wednesday revealed his campaign to represent Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District has received 30 endorsements since he announced his candidacy last Thursday. Endorsements collected by Taylor include multiple members of Tennessee’s congressional delegation, leaders and legislators in the General Assembly, and prosecutors and sheriffs throughout the newly-redrawn district. 

Taylor’s list includes U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN), who both endorsed his campaign at launch, but also highlights endorsements from U.S. Representatives Di

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Disgraced Ex-Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, Tennessee State Sen. London Lamar Among Democrats Pulling Petitions for New Congressional Districts

Barry and Lamar

The Tennessee Secretary of State (TSOS) on Tuesday released a new list of candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, revealing more than a dozen new candidates have pulled petitions to begin gathering signatures ahead of potential congressional campaigns.

Prominent Democrats now collecting signatures include former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, who has pulled a petition to seek the Democratic Party’s nomination to represent Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District. Barry, who resigned in 2018 after pleading guilty to felony theft of public funds used to facilitate an extramarital affair with her bodyguard, last ran for Congress in the 7th Congressional District in 2024. Her record was expunged in 2021.

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FBI, TDOS Confirm Investigations After Police Receive over 10 Alleged Swatting Calls for Nashville Area High Schools

person on phone

State and federal investigations have been confirmed after at least nine schools in Metro Nashville and the surrounding area were reportedly targeted with alleged swatting attempts, resulting in lockdowns or lockouts as local police verified there were no threats. 

Threats were called in on Monday to at least nine schools in Nashville, Jackson, Franklin, Smyrna, La Vergne, Murfreesboro, and Clarksville, according to WSMV 4, while WKRN reported that the same school targeted in La Vergne was swatted a second time on Tuesday.

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State Rep. Justin Pearson Accused of ‘Evil Race-Baiting’ After Confirming Intention to Run in Tennessee’s Redrawn 9th Congressional District

Justin Pearson

Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) was accused of using “race baiting” in his campaign advertisement announcing the relaunch of his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the 9th Congressional District, where first launched his campaign to unseat U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) before the Governor Bill Lee signed the newly redrawn districts into law.

As part of the redistricting legislation, candidates must refile, or file notice they no longer intend to run, by Friday. With his video, Pearson confirmed he intends to run in the same district, despite most analysts saying the district now leans overwhelmingly Republican.  

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Tennessee AG Skrmetti Says Redistricting Lawsuit Must Be Heard by Three-Judge Panel, Eliminating Chance for Quick Injunction

Skrmetti NAACP

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti moved to halt progress in the lawsuit by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to block Tennessee’s new congressional map from taking effect, arguing the litigation cannot move forward until the Tennessee Supreme Court decides whether to appoint a three-judge panel to oversee the case.

Citing 2021 legislation requiring any civil litigation challenging the constitutionality of a state statute to be assigned to such a panel, as well as newly passed legislation imposing the same requirement for challenges to redistricting, Skrmetti’s Friday filing will automatically halt progress on the lawsuit until the state Supreme Court makes its decision.

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Nashville Mayor Dismisses Property Tax Hikes as ‘Cost of Doing Business’ in City with Rising Property Values

Mayor Freddie O'Connell

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell on Thursday described the triple digit percentage property tax increases experienced by business owners as “a cost of doing business” associated with the rise in the value of properties in the city.

With popular businesses hit with tax hikes as high as 356 percent, and some already announcing closures, O’Connell on Thursday cited the recent increases to Nashville property prices, and suggested most Nashvillians would trade the higher taxes for higher property values.

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Tennessee Democrat Calling for ‘Secession’ in Memphis Previously Questioned Whether Assassination Attempt on Trump Was ‘Staged Act’

Antonio Parkinson

The Democratic state lawmaker calling for Memphis to secede from the State of Tennessee over the new congressional districts signed into law by Governor Bill Lee previously drew controversy in 2024, when he questioned whether the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump was “staged.”

The call by State Representative Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis) for the city to secede was first highlighted by a reporter for The Tennessean, and the Democrat later wrote in a post to X, “SECESSION NOW! Enough is enough!”

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NAACP Sues Tennessee over New Congressional Maps over Legality of Mid-Decade Redistricting

NAACP Protest

On behalf of a litigant from Memphis, the Tennessee State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on Thursday sued Tennessee over its new congressional maps, which have been signed by Governor Bill Lee, and will likely see U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), Tennessee’s last Democratic representative in the U.S. House, lose his seat to a Republican.

In a press release announcing the lawsuit, NAACP attorney Kristen Clarke accused the Tennessee General Assembly and Lee of passing “a direct attack” aimed at dismantling “majority-black districts.” Clarke stated, “democracy without black representation is not a democracy.”

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Candace Owens Says Influencers Warned Her Against Airing Interview at Center of Defamation Lawsuit

Candace Owens

Candace Owens on Wednesday revealed that she was warned against interviewing Mitchell Snow, whose made claims on her podcast are now the focus of a defamation lawsuit launched by the former head of security for Charlie Kirk, by social media influencers who operate military-themed YouTube channels.

Owens revealed she received the warnings in response to the latest communications she received from attorneys representing Brian Harpole, who is suing Owens and Snow over claims they conspired to spread a false narrative that lead the public to believe Harpole, Erika Kirk, and a sitting congressman attended a meeting at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, to plan the assassination of Charlie Kirk, one day before he was killed.

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Fresh off Campaign Launch, Brent Taylor Self-Funds $1 Million in Race for Tennessee’s New 9th Congressional District

Brent Taylor

State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) on Thursday provided The Tennessee Star with confirmation he ordered a $1 million transfer of his personal wealth to his newly launched campaign for Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, which will be redrawn after the Tennessee General Assembly passed redistricting legislation.

Taylor’s cash injection comes within hours of the launch of his congressional campaign, which began moments after the State Senate passed legislation to make the 9th Congressional District winnable for a Republican candidate for the first time in more than 50 years. Taylor was immediately endorsed by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN), who said he will be a conservative fighter for Memphis and a close ally of President Donald Trump if elected. 

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Brent Taylor Announces Candidacy for Tennessee’s New 9th Congressional District, Endorsements from Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty

State Sen Brent Taylor

State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) on Thursday officially submitted paperwork for his candidacy to represent Tennessee’s newly redrawn 9th Congressional District with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), challenging U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) for a seat Democrats have held for over 50 years. 

In a campaign announcement posted to social media, Taylor revealed immediate endorsements from U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN).

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Elon Musk’s Boring Company Announces First Residential Stop for Music City Loop

Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s Boring Company on Tuesday announced the first residential stops for the Music City Loop, the tunneling company’s point-to-point transportation system under construction in Nashville, with three towers in downtown Nashville granted exclusive access.

The company announced the agreement in a post to Musk’s social media platform X, revealing residents of the Prime, Alcove, and Paramount towers will be able to use an exclusive elevator in order to access the novel transportation network.

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Tennessee Democrat Steve Cohen Calls New Congressional Map ‘Racially Based Gerrymandering,’ Compares New District to His Political ‘Funeral’

Steve Cohen

U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) on Wednesday issued his response to the new congressional map proposed by Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly, calling the proposed maps a threat to the “black community’s voice.” Cohen has represented the 9th Congressional District, which is mostly compromised of Memphis, since 2007. 

First responding to the proposed districts in a post to the social media platform X, Cohen expressed incredulity at the deci

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Candace Owens Signals Intent to Depose Erika Kirk, Subpoena Charlie Kirk Assassination Video in Response to Defamation Lawsuit

Candace Owens

Influencer Candace Owens has suggested she could depose Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk and unearth new footage of her husband’s assassination in response to the defamation lawsuit filed by Brian Harpole, whose company provided security services to Charlie Kirk.

Owens spent most of the Thursday episode of her eponymous podcast responding to Harpole’s lawsuit, denying its assertion that she falsely presented as factual the claims made by her podcast guest and co-defendant, Mitchell Snow, who said he saw three people attending a meeting at a military installation in Arizona on the day before Charlie Kirk was assassinated. Snow told Owens he was very confident these individuals were Harpole, Erika Kirk, and U.S. Representative Mark Amodei (R-NV-02).

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Gov. Bill Lee Reportedly Plans to Sign PBM Bill amid Support from Pharmacists Association

Governor Bill Lee plans to sign the Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) bill passed by the Tennessee General Assembly, according to State Affairs, which reported on Tuesday the governor confirmed his intentions during a visit to Humphreys County. 

The governor’s reported comments follow the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 2040 by the Tennessee General Assembly on April 20. Once signed into law, the legislation will prohibit the vertical integration of pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the third-party companies that negotiate drug prices and benefits between insurance companies and pharmacies.

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Candace Owens Sued for Defamation in Tennessee Federal Court by Owner of Private Security Firm Used by Charlie Kirk

Candace Owens

A federal lawsuit was filed last Thursday against controversial influencer Candace Owens, as well as her podcast guest Mitchell Snow, alleging in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee that both conspired to spread a fabricated story claiming Charlie Kirk was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy that involved the owner of the security company hired to protect him.

Brian Harpole, who owns the private security firm Integrity Security Solutions, specifically alleges in his lawsuit that Owens, her companies, Candace Owens LLC and GeorgeTom, Inc., and Snow, coordinated to repeatedly publish false statements about Kirk’s assassination, even after receiving flight information that purportedly proves Harpole could not have participated in the conspiratorial meeting described by Snow.

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Man Once Ruled Incompetent for Trial Pleads Guilty to Second Degree Murder in Death of Belmont University Student Jillian Ludwig

Shaquille Taylor

Shaquille Taylor pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the death of Jillian Ludwig, the 18-year-old Belmont University student who was fatally struck by a stray bullet fired by Taylor while jogging near the university campus in November 2023.

Amid reports Taylor pleaded guilty on Monday, Davidson County Criminal Court records show he pleaded to the lesser charge, with the offense downgraded from felony murder. The records additionally show the evidence tampering charge appears to have been dropped as part of the plea agreement.

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Federal Prosecutor in Nashville Urges Tennessee Supreme Court to End American Bar Association ‘Monopoly’ over Law School Accreditation

Business Lawyers meeting

Braden Boucek, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, on Friday joined other Department of Justice (DOJ) officials in response to the Tennessee Supreme Court request for public comment regarding the role of the American Bar Association (ABA) plays in offering accreditation for law schools in Tennessee. 

“The ABA behaves like a cartel,” wrote Boucek in a Friday post to social media. He added, “instead of insisting on excellence, the ABA insists on conformity with narrow political ideologies,” which often overlap with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

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Nashville Mayor Confirms No Property Tax Relief After Unveiling ‘Legacy Business Program’ Offering Grants to Some City Businesses

Freddie O'Connell

Metro Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell reportedly confirmed there is no property tax relief included in his budget, which will instead include a “Legacy Business program” that will offer grants to some Nashville businesses.

O’Connell reportedly confirmed his stance on Friday to Fox 17, who reported the mayor, “is not proposing property tax cuts in his budget proposal because it would not line up with the property assessment timeline.”

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