Audio Confirms Amarillo VA Knew Veteran Complained of Sex Between Staff Members in May 2023

Thomas E. Creek Dept of Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Audio recorded by retired U.S. Army Sergeant Donald Belzer, and provided to The Tennessee Star, confirmed through the White House VA Hotline that the Amarillo Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System was made aware of the complaint the veteran filed in 2022, when Belzer said he captured video depicting two VA staff members engaged in a sex act inside a clean supplies closet.

Belzer recorded the audio after The Star published the video, recorded by the veteran on August 17, 2022, as the veteran called the White House hotline to obtain copies of the complaints he filed with the Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center and the White House hotline in August 2022 and April 2023.

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Tennessee Law Enforcement, Judges Silent on Claim One-Third of Williamson County Criminal Cases Now ‘Due to Illegal Aliens’

Crime Scene

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, and four judges on Tennessee’s 21st Judicial District either did not respond, or did not confirm, to inquiries by The Tennessee Star seeking more information about the claim by Representative Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill) that one-third of criminal cases in Williamson County now involve an illegal immigrant.

The silence comes after Warner appeared on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday, telling the hosts, “I recently met with the Williamson County delegation, and judges from Williamson County, here in southern Middle Tennessee, and a judge last week told a group of about five of us… either build more jails, build more prisons, or remove the immigrants from this state.”

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Forthcoming Supreme Court Decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti Likely to ‘Drive a Lot of Change’ Inside Gender Clinics and Hospitals, Tennessee AG Says

Tennessee A.G. Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said he believes that if the U.S. Supreme Court rules to uphold Tennessee’s state that bans irreversible gender transitioning treatments for minors in the case United States v. Skrmetti, the demand for such treatments across the nation will also see a halt.

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Maricopa County Recorder Attempted to Have Conservative ASU Professor Fired over Social Media Posts, Lawsuit Claims

Aaron Ludwig

We the People AZ Alliance (WPAA), represented by Kari Lake’s former attorney Bryan Blehm, filed a lawsuit last week against outgoing Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer demanding records related to Richer allegedly attempting to get a conservative Arizona State University professor fired and disciplined by the State Bar of Arizona. WPAA requested an email between Richer and States United Democracy Center (SUDC), concerned that the far left activist group was aiding Richer in his attempt to get Aaron Ludwig fired.

The complaint asserted, “On July 31, 2022, Defendant Richer, acting as Maricopa County Recorder, sent an email to the Directors of ASU’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice seeking to have a faculty associate terminated from ASU for sharing a Tweet. … Defendant’s email also shows that the Recorder, in his capacity as Maricopa County Recorder, intended to seek sanctions against the faculty member through the State Bar of Arizona as the faculty member was also an attorney licensed to practice law in Arizona.” 

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California Judge Orders Guns Taken from Man Who Allegedly Planned Bombing with Wisconsin School Shooter Natalie Rupnow

Natalie Sam Rupnow

News emerged Wednesday that Alexander Paffendorf, of Carlsbad, California, was served with a restraining order under California’s red flags law on Tuesday after being questioned by the FBI after investigators learned he allegedly he communicated with Natalie Rupnow, the 15-year-old who police say killed one student and one teacher at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin before ending her life, to plan an attack on a government building.

According to CBS8, Paffendorf admitted to the FBI that he and Rupnow discussed plans to “arm himself with explosives and a gun” in order to “target a government building,” with the outlet reporting the restraining order granted by a California judge stated that federal agents were able to view the messages the southern California man allegedly exchanged with the killer.

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Tennessee Representative Says One-Third of Criminal Cases in Williamson County Now ‘Due to Illegal Aliens’

Illegal Immigrants

A Tennessee state lawmaker told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday that one-third of the criminal court cases in Williamson County are now related to illegal immigrants, claiming a county judge warned state lawmakers must consider increasing the number of jails and prisons due to an uptick in crime.

State Representative Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill) divulged the purported number of criminal cases related to illegal immigrants after he was asked about his legislation that would require law enforcement agencies to detain anyone found to be in the country illegally for the maximum amount of time legally allowed, and then transport the illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities for release if they are not retrieved for deportation by federal agencies.

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DOJ Finds Arizona Department of Child Safety Discriminated Against Parents and Caregivers with Disabilities

Sign Language

The Department of Justice (DOJ) found that the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) discriminated against parents and other caregivers with disabilities. DOJ officials accused DCS of violating Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Monday report found DCS “failed to communicate effectively with parents and children with hearing disabilities, including by not providing interpreters. DCS also failed to reasonably accommodate the needs of parents with disabilities by, for example, not providing information in a simplified form,” according to DOJ press release.

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Madison Police Refuse to Confirm Public Report 15-Year-Old Natalie Rupnow ‘Enrolled in Therapy’ Prior to Abundant Life Attack

The Madison Police Department (MPD) on Tuesday night declined to confirm to The Tennessee Star the public reporting that 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, who police say fatally shot a student and a teacher before ending her own life at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, was enrolled in therapy prior to the attack.

Following reporting by The Washington Post which revealed Rupnow was “enrolled in therapy” during her parents’ divorce, The Star asked MPD to confirm the mental health treatment. The Star also asked whether she was seeing a psychologist, if these therapy sessions resulted in a diagnosis of a mental health condition, and whether Rupnow was understood to be prescribed any medications for mental health conditions.

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Florida Obtains Additional Arrest Warrant for Second-Would-Be Trump Assassin

Ryan Routh

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Wednesday secured an arrest warrant for attempted felony murder against Ryan Routh, according to a press release.

Routh, who allegedly attempted to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump while he played golf at Mar-a-Lago, is accused of causing a traffic accident that “gravely injured a six-year-old girl” after fleeing Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course.

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Luigi Mangione Indicted on First-Degree Murder Charge in UnitedHealthcare Killing

Luigi Mangione

Luigi Mangione, the suspected shooter of the late UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was indicted by a grand jury in New York on Tuesday on one count of first-degree murder, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

The 26-year-old was arrested at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania on Dec. 9, following a major manhunt. He has been formally charged in Pennsylvania with one count of murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document, and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a firearm. 

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House GOP Accuses Liz Cheney of Tampering with J6 Witness, Ask FBI to Investigate Criminality

Liz Cheney

The House Administration Oversight Subcommittee and its chairman Barry Loudermilk on Tuesday released an interim report on the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, concluding the attack was preventable and also asking for an investigation into former Rep. Liz Cheney for criminally tampering with a witness during the Democrat-led congressional inquiry of the tragedy.

“Based on the evidence obtained by this Subcommittee, numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, the former Vice Chair of the January 6 Select Committee, and these violations should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the report released by the House Administration Oversight Subcommittee and its chairman Barry Loudermilk stated.

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Madison Police ‘Working to Authenticate’ Alleged Manifesto Left by 15-Year-Old Natalie Rupnow, but Urge Media Against Sharing

Shon Barnes

Madison Police Department (MPD) Chief Shon Barnes on Tuesday said his department is not yet able to authenticate the documents shared online by Reduxx founder Anna Slatz, who claims to have obtained the manifesto left by but nonetheless urged members of the media from disseminating the purported manifesto left by Natalie Rupnow, who police say killed two and injured seven in an attack on the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday.

“We know a document has been widely shared on social media. At this time, we cannot verify its authenticity,” said Barnes in a Tuesday press briefing.

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Police Must Confirm Existence of Manifesto Reportedly Left by Abundant Life Christian School Shooter, Reporter Tom Pappert Says

Tom Pappert and MPL

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, stressed the importance that the Madison Police Department (MPD) in Wisconsin confirms or denies the existence of a six-page manifesto reportedly written by the 15-year-old Abundant Life Christian School shooter that is being shared by online personalities.

On Monday, MPD identified the shooter who killed two and injured seven at the Abundant Life Christian School as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow.

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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Among 26 Governors Pledging Support for Trump Immigration Plans, Including Deportations

Illegal Immigrants

Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee was among the 26 governors who signed a letter confirming their support for the immigration proposals advanced by President-elect Donald Trump, including the mass deportation of illegal immigrants.

Lee confirmed his support in a post to the social media platform X, where he shared a joint letter issued by the Republican Governors Association (RGA), which Lee continues to lead through the end of this year.

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Amarillo VA Confirms Investigation of Alleged ‘Sexual Misconduct’ by Staff After Tennessee Star Publishes Video

Amarillo VA Health Care System

A spokesman for the Amarillo Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System confirmed to The Tennessee Star on Tuesday that it is now investigating following the publication by The Star of video that purportedly shows two staff members engaged in a sex act at the Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center in Amarillo, Texas on August 17, 2022.

Emily Bell, the Public Affairs Officer for the Amarillo VA, told The Star on Tuesday that the agency “has zero tolerance for sexual misconduct, and we take any allegation extremely seriously. We are investigating this matter thoroughly, and we will take any appropriate action at the conclusion of our investigation.”

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Trump Sues Pollster, Des Moines Register After Releasing Outlier Poll

Donald Trump

President-elect Donald Trump sued The Des Moines Register and its former pollster J. Ann Selzer on Monday for election interference, according to Fox News.

Selzer released a poll on November 1 showing Kamala Harris beating Trump in Iowa by 3 points. This poll was considered an outlier as another poll released the same day by Emerson showed Trump winning the state by 10 points.

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Minnesota Parents, Private Colleges Suing Walz over PSEO Law Appear in Federal Court

Becket Fund for Religious Liberty

A group of parents suing Gov. Tim Walz over a new law that would prohibit certain private colleges from participating in the Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program appeared in federal court last week.

Melinda and Mark Loe and Dawn Erickson are co-plaintiffs in the petition they filed last year against Walz and his Minnesota Department of Education commissioner, Willie Jett, which alleges that a new law the Democratic governor signed to prohibit colleges that have a statement of faith requirement for students from participating in PSEO programs is unconstitutional.

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Madison Police Identify Abundant Life Christian School Shooter as 15-Year-Old Girl Natalie Rupnow

Natalie Rupnow

The Madison Police Department (MPD) on Monday identified the shooter who killed two and injured seven at the Abundant Life Christian School as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, who was known by Samantha.

Police have said that Rupnow took her own life after committing the shooting, and on Monday night reported she was pronounced dead while being transported to the hospital.

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Maricopa County Supervisors Vote to Give Antifa and BLM Protesters Arrested for Violence $6 Million for Attempting to Prosecute Them

BLM Protest Phoenix

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (MCBOS) unanimously approved a $6 million payout on Wednesday to Antifa and BLM protesters who were arrested and prosecuted for violence after the death of George Floyd during a riot in downtown Phoenix in 2020. After ABC-15 ran a series of videos critical of how law enforcement handled the protesters, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) dropped the charges, prompting a lawsuit by the protesters against the county and the City of Phoenix. The chief prosecutor on the case, April Sponsel, was fired and suspended from the practice of law for two years. 

Retired FBI Special Agent James E. Egelston of Baseline Investigations prepared a 161-page report for Maricopa County in June 2023 regarding the actions of Sponsel and the Phoenix Police officers involved. He stated, “During the march, protesters walked in the streets, blocked traffic, knocked over and dragged construction barricades into traffic lanes, threw smoke bombs in the path of police, repeatedly ignored commands from the police, and resisted arrest. One of the protesters was armed with a loaded rifle and a loaded handgun. Another protester carried a brick in a backpack.”

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Videos Reveal Extent of Illegal Immigrants Surging Across the Border with Biden’s CBP One Mobile App to Help Them Cross

RAV correspondent Ben Bergquam

Journalist Ben Bergquam of Real America’s Voice (RAV) took a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border recently, where he documented the surge in illegal immigrants coming across the border into the U.S. using the Biden administration’s CBP One mobile app. The app assists them with crossing the border illegally, allowing them to make appointments so a bus will drive them across instead of sneaking across, and they can then choose where they want to fly to within the U.S. 

During an interview with War Room’s Steve Bannon, Bergquam summarized the process. “There’s this entire operation — I call it the illegal alien industrial complex — where you’ve got our politicians working with United Nations, and all these NGOs working directly with the cartels in some cases, and often cases, especially in places like this — cartel-controlled territories of Mexico — working directly with them on who to send where, when to send them. So CBP One is used as a distraction. You take Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection resources off the border to process these guys, so then they can traffic all these other guys that are riding on the beast that are coming through all these other parts of the border.”

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Public Charter School in Nashville Files Lawsuit Against Metro Schools for Rezoning Plan

Students

LEAD Public Schools filed a lawsuit against Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) on Monday, challenging a rezoning plan previously approved by the MNPS board concerning LEAD Cameron Middle School.

LEAD Cameron is a zone-enrolled public charter middle school operating south of Nashville in the Glencliff cluster. The middle school was founded in 2011 and serves grades 5-8.

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Report: 3 Dead, 7 Injured at Wisconsin Christian School Shooting

Abundant Life Christian School

A shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin reportedly led to the deaths of three people, with another five injured, according to a police press conference held at a nearby gas station by Madison Police Department (MPD) Chief Shon Barnes.

Barnes confirmed the latest information during his 12:15 p.m. press conference indicated there were five individuals killed at the Abundant Life Christian School, but law enforcement later clarified this was incorrect. They confirmed three died in the attack, including the shooter.

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Minnesota Attorney General Sues Glock over Criminals Illegally Modifying Guns

Keith Ellison

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Thursday that he’s suing Glock, Inc., an Austrian firearms manufacturer, for “knowingly manufacturing and selling handguns that can easily be converted into machine guns,” he said in a livestream press conference and subsequent press release.

Although Glock does not manufacture the aftermarket add-on devices called auto sears or “switches,” which can convert Glock handguns to fire automatically and are generally illegal to possess in the United States, the attorney general accused Glock of “refus[ing] to make design changes to discourage this conversion and promotes ‘fun’ of machine guns.”

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Biden Lifts Sentence for Former Ohio Dem Official Convicted of Taking Bribes, Corruption

Jimmy Dimora

President Joe Biden granted clemency Thursday to a former Ohio Democratic official who was convicted on charges related to taking bribes for nearly a decade.

Former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora took over $166,000 worth of bribes, which included “cash, home improvements, lavish meals at high-end restaurants, services from prostitutes, gambling trips to Las Vegas and Canada, and other items,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.

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More Details Emerging About the City of Tucson’s ‘Shocking’ Criminal Speeding Charges Against Conservative State Senator

State Sen Justine Wadsack

State Senator Justine Wadsack (R-Tucson) is suing the City of Tucson for charging her with criminal speeding months after she was pulled over by a police officer and not given a ticket. Wadsack and her attorney Brad Miller, who is the incoming Pinal County Attorney, spoke to radio host Garrett Lewis last week during an interview about some new developments in the situation. Lewis asked Miller and Wadsack a series of questions about the “mythical speeding ticket that never existed.” 

The City of Tucson has been unable to provide any proof that Wadsack was speeding, neither from a radar gun nor the officer’s pacing, Miller said. A city attorney admitted they had no evidence. Miller conducted an interview with the Tucson Police officer who pulled Wadsack over and discovered that the officers “don’t provide any type of printout or scientific way to show that the radar guns are, first of all, working, and second, they cannot provide those to any alleged defendants at all.” Additionally, officers do not include everything they do in their reports, “so he purposely kept out pieces of information.” 

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Request for Alleged Manifesto of Luigi Mangione Denied by Police amid Refusal to Release Bodycam Video, Arrest Inventory

Luigi Mangione

The City of Altoona, Pennsylvania on Friday denied the Right-to-Know request filed by The Pennsylvania Daily Star for copies of the documents found during the arrest of Luigi Mangione, who stands accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York.

Altoona denied the Right-to-Know request filed by The Daily Star on Monday, which specifically sought copies of any written documents found with Mangione at the time of his arrest, including his purported manifesto, as well as any documents, journals, or diaries, citing an exception to public information requests for ongoing investigations.

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Texas DA Seeks Death Penalty for Illegal Immigrants Charged with Capital Murder

Death Penalty Texas

Following through on a pledge she made months ago, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg on Friday announced her office was seeking the death penalty in the prosecution of two illegal foreign nationals from Venezuela now charged with the capital murder of a 12-year-old Houston girl.

On June 17, 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray’s body was found in a bayou under a bridge in north Houston. The cause of death was strangulation but her body was found bound, without clothing from the waist down. Forensic evidence was collected to ascertain if she was sexually assaulted. According to the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case, the perpetrators threw her body into the bayou to get rid of DNA evidence, The Center Square reported.

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Stripper Who Falsely Accused Duke Lacrosse Team of Vicious Gang Rape Finally Admits She Lied

Crystal Mangum

The stripper who falsely claimed that members of the Duke University men’s lacrosse team savagely raped her in 2006 finally admitted Thursday that she made up the allegations.

Crystal Mangum, the exotic dancer behind the allegations, admitted that she “testified falsely” that she was raped by David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann in a Thursday interview with an independent podcast called “Let’s Talk with Kat.” The Duke lacrosse rape hoax gripped the country as news outlets and prominent figures effectively treated the allegations as credible, with the three falsely accused men ultimately going to trial before being declared innocent by the state of North Carolina when the prosecution’s case against them fell apart.

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Biden Clemency Spree Began Secretly Last Month with Chinese Nationals in Espionage, Child Porn Cases

Xu Shanlin

Joe Biden’s clemency spree began secretly in late November when he commuted the prison sentences of three Chinese nationals convicted in espionage, child pornography, and fraud case just a few days before issuing a controversial pardon to his son Hunter. 

The commutations for Yanjun Xu, Ji Chaoqun, and Jin Shanlin were dated Nov. 22 but escaped much public notice until Thursday when the 46th president issued the largest single-day batch of pardons and commutations in modern American history — more than 1,500 in all that stirred controversy on social media and puzzlement inside Congress. 

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Exclusive: Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti Reflects on Oral Arguments in United States v. Skrmetti

Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sat down for an exclusive interview with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy on Friday to detail last week’s oral arguments in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case United States v. Skrmetti and how the nation is perceiving the case in the days after.

Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in United States v. Skrmetti, a case challenging Tennessee’s law that bans irreversible gender transitioning treatments for minors.

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Legal Expert Mark Pulliam: California Lawsuit Against Trans Doctor Has the Ability to ‘Collapse’ Entire Gender Transitioning Industry for Minors

Johanna Olson-Kennedy, MD

Mark Pulliam, a retired attorney and Misrule of Law blogger, said a lawsuit filed in California against a doctor who specializes in “youth gender medicine” for medical negligence has the ability to “collapse” the entire “enterprise” of gender transitioning treatments for minors.

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Biden’s Border Crisis: ICE Reports Record Number of Deportations as Non-Detention Docket Swells to 6.2 Million

Illegal Immigrant deportation flight

The greatest number of illegal foreign nationals on the docket for deportation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Non-Detention Docket (NDD) was reported under the Biden administration.

The greatest number was 6.2 million in fiscal 2023, followed by 4.7 million in fiscal 2022 and 3.6 million in fiscal 2021, according to an ICE 2023 annual report.

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Board Votes to Give Indicted Democratic Former Apache County, Arizona Attorney a $5,700 Monthly Pension

Apache County Attorney Michael Whiting

Arizona’s Public Safety Personnel Retirement System voted to give Democratic former Apache County Attorney Michael Whiting a $5,700 monthly pension last month. Whiting was removed from office after a grand jury indicted him on multiple public corruption charges, centered around the misuse of public funds. 

The grand jury also indicted Whiting’s wife Joyclynn, who served as the county school superintendent, and Daryl Greer, the county attorney’s lead investigator, last August. Four of his key employees, including his Chief Deputy Celeste Robertson, obtained restraining orders against Whiting. On September 30, Whiting agreed to an interim suspension of his law license. As a result of the suspension, Attorney General Kris Mayes took over control of the office on November 1. 

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House Panel Subpoenas Biden-Harris Official Accused of ‘Stonewalling’ Probe into Tim Walz’s China Ties

Tim Walz

The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official on Wednesday for allegedly failing to comply with an investigation into Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to a letter exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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Youngkin to Propose Statewide Ban on ‘Sanctuary Cities’ in Virginia

Virginia Gov Glenn Youngkin

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is expected to introduce a budget proposal on Thursday that would include a ban on “sanctuary cities,” and state funding for cities that do not comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Mayors of self-proclaimed “sanctuary cities” across the United States have already teased that they will not comply with the incoming Trump administration’s efforts to deport massive amounts of illegal immigrants.

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Tennessee State Rep. Gillespie Files Bills to Restrict Bail for Gun Crimes, Require Judges to Consider Juvenile Records

State Rep John Gillespie

Tennessee State Representative John Gillespie (R-Memphis) two bills this week that would tighten Tennessee’s bail laws, requiring judges to consider juvenile records and pretrial reports when considering whether a minor defendant is eligible for release, and changing the standards for bail to automatically preclude those accused of crimes involving firearms, serious injury, or death.

Gillespie filed HB 33 on Wednesday, would change Tennessee law to establish “a presumption that a defendant should not be released” from jail should the circumstances of their charges include, “the use or display of a firearm,” or if their alleged crimes “resulted in the serious bodily injury or death of the victim.”

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FBI Had Over a Dozen Confidential Informants at Capitol on Jan. 6, I.G. Report Confirms

January 06 2021

More than a dozen FBI informants entered restricted areas in and around the Capitol on Jan. 6 ,2021, according to a Department of Justice investigator general (IG) report published on Thursday.

The DOJ’s oversight report that examined the FBI’s intelligence collection efforts preceding January 6th found that the FBI had 26 informants in Washington, D.C., to report on “domestic terrorism subjects” to the Bureau.

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