Tag: Jonathan Skrmetti

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

Kaitlin Housler
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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AG Jonathan Skrmetti ‘Absolutely Confident’ in How Tennessee Defended Law Banning ‘Gender Transition’ Puberty Blockers for Minors Before Supreme Court

Kaitlin Housler
Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said he believes that Tennessee Solicitor General Matt Rice strongly defended Senate Bill 1 (SB1) in front of the Supreme Court. SB1 is Tennessee’s state law that bans irreversible gender transition-inducing puberty blockers and hormones for minors.

Governor Bill Lee signed SB1 into law last year, which forbids healthcare providers from performing or administering to underage children “gender-affirming” medical procedures or treatments – including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and sex-change surgeries – for the purpose of enabling the child to identify with the opposite gender.

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Medical Professionals Organize Rally to Support Tennessee as SCOTUS Considers Law Blocking Kids from Transgender Surgery

Tom Pappert
Supreme Court

A nonprofit run by medical professionals who oppose transgender treatments and surgeries for minors is holding a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on December 4 to support Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti as he argues in favor of legislation that blocks such treatments in the Volunteer State.

Activist Chloe Cole, who previously identified as transgender before detransitioning to her biological female gender, confirmed the nonprofit Do No Harm will hold its rally on the steps of the Supreme Court in a post to the social media post X.

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Tennessee Senator Sends Letter to FEMA Director Demanding Accountability for Political Discrimination After Hurricane Helene

Kaitlin Housler
Deanne Criswell

Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) sent a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell on Monday demanding accountability within the federal agency after it was reported that FEMA workers were advised to discriminate against Trump supporters who needed assistance after Hurricane Helene.

Earlier this month, The Daily Wire reported that a FEMA supervisor ordered workers to bypass the homes of Donald Trump’s supporters as they surveyed the damage caused by Hurricane Milton in Florida.

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Tennessee Governor Asks Attorney General to Investigate FEMA for Political Discrimination After Hurricane Helene

Tom Pappert
Skrmetti FEMA

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Sunday revealed he is working with Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti to investigate whether the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) discriminated against Tennesseans affected by Hurricane Helene based on their political views.

Lee made the announcement after a FEMA official directed relief workers to avoid homes advertising support for President-elect Donald Trump after Hurricane Milton in Florida, specifically through guidance that told workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump” and “practice de-escalation and preventative measures” as best practices when providing relief.

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Kroger to Pay $42.9 Million Settlement to Tennessee for Role in Opioid Crisis

Kaitlin Housler
Kroger Store

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced Monday that the state will receive approximately $42.9 million from a settlement with Kroger over the grocery chain’s opioid-related misconduct.

The Volunteer State’s settlement with Kroger is part of a combined $1.37 billion settlement agreement between the grocery chain and a bipartisan coalition of 30 state attorneys general.

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Skrmetti: Federal Government’s Responsibility to Enforce Immigration Laws

The Center Square
Jonathan Skrmetti

The Tennessee General Assembly has been “unequivocally clear ” that illegal immigration is a high priority for them, but there’s only so much a state can do, the state’s attorney general said.

Jonathan Skrmetti told The Center Square in a telephone interview when he goes out and talks to people across Tennessee, he can’t think of a time when he hasn’t gotten questions about the subject.

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ICE Released Nearly 500 Illegal Immigrants from China Before Lawsuit over Chinese National with ‘Rare, Aggressive,’ Tuberculosis

Tom Pappert
Chinese People

Documents published by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti on Wednesday reveal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released almost 500 illegal immigrants from China, in just its New Orleans Area of Responsibility, between November 2022 and February 2023.

The documents were published on the same day Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, a Republican, filed an “emergency lawsuit” against top immigration officials in the Biden-Harris administration, seeking to prevent additional releases from Louisiana ICE facilities after the federal agency allegedly transported an illegal immigrant from China who is suffering a “rare, aggressive, and drug resistant form of tuberculosis which carries high mortality rates,” through its facilities in the state.

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Biden-Harris Admin Colluded with Nonprofits to Send Thousands of Illegal Immigrants to Tennessee Before Lawsuit by A.G. Skrmetti Lawsuit Halted Process

Tom Pappert
Illegal Immigrants

The Biden-Harris administration worked with former Nashville Mayor John Cooper and non-profit organizations to move thousands of illegal immigrants from federal facilities in Louisiana to Nashville, according to internal emails and documents published Wednesday by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, whose office successfully sued to stop the practice.

A press release from the attorney general’s office reveals that the plan was enacted by officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with cooperation from Cooper’s office. However, Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN), as well as Governor Bill Lee, opposed it.

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Tennessee AG Skrmetti Will Not Pursue Charges Against Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk

Kaitlin Housler
Skrmetti and Funk

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sent a letter to Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk on Wednesday announcing that he would not pursue charges against the 20th Judicial District Attorney General’s Office following a 19-month investigation into wiretapping concerns.

On February 10, 2023, Skrmetti launched a criminal probe into Funk’s office after revelations of listening devices being installed around the district attorney’s offices in downtown Nashville, as previously reported by The Tennessee Star.

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Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti Provides Update on Litigation Led by His Office

Kaitlin Housler
MPL and Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti provided an update on prominent lawsuits his office has filed under his leadership and discussed his goals for the remainder of his eight-year term during an exclusive sit-down interview this week on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.

Skrmetti, who began serving as attorney general in 2022 after being appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court, said, “I’ve been blessed with a great team and there is a lot of work for us to do.”

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Commentary: The Government Is Making Housing Shortage Worse

Admin
Home Buyer

Nearly every city across the country is experiencing some of the highest home prices and rents in decades. And in Tennessee, a recent statewide listening tour by the Beacon Center confirmed that housing remains the top concern among voters. So it’s no surprise that politicians on the left and right—from Vice President Kamala Harris to Tennessee’s attorney general—are talking quite a bit about housing prices.

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Tennessee AG Applauds Texas U.S. District Judge’s Ruling to Halt DHS’ ‘Parole in Place’ Program

Kaitlin Housler
TN AG Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti celebrated U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker’s ruling on Monday to halt the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) new program allowing hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens who are the spouse or stepchild of a U.S. citizen to “parole in place” from taking effect.

Barker’s ruling comes just three days after 16 state attorneys general and America First Legal filed a 56-page complaint challenging DHS’ “Keeping Families Together” program, which began accepting applications last week.

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Tennessee A.G. Jonathan Skrmetti Joins Federal Antitrust Lawsuit Alleging Algorithmic Fixing of Rental Prices

Tom Pappert
House for Rent

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti on Friday joined seven other states and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in an antitrust lawsuit accusing the property management software company RealPage of using its service to algorithmically fix rental prices across the United States, allowing them to form a monopoly that allows rental owners to collaboratively set prices in a bid to avoid market pressures to lower rent.

The DOJ confirmed the legal action on Friday, alleging RealPage is engaged in an “unlawful scheme to decrease competition among landlords in apartment pricing and to monopolize the market for commercial revenue management software that landlords use to price apartments.”

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Tennessee AG Joins Lawsuit Against DHS Program to Grant ‘Parole in Place’ to Illegal Aliens

Kaitlin Housler

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti was one of the state attorneys general who joined a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) new program process to allow hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens who are the spouse or stepchild of a U.S. citizen to “parole in place.”

The 56-page complaint, filed in the Eastern District of Texas U.S. District Court on Friday, challenges DHS’ “Keeping Families Together” program, which began accepting applications on Monday.

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Tennessee AG Joins Coalition Seeking Answers About Online Retailer Temu’s Business Practices, Connections to the Chinese Communist Party

Kaitlin Housler
A.G. Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti was one of 21 state attorneys general who sent a letter to the online retailer Temu and the CEO of its parent company, PPD Holdings Inc., seeking information regarding the company’s alleged ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), data collection and sharing practices, and possible violations of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).

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Tennessee AG Skrmetti Applauds U.S. Supreme Court’s Ruling to Block the Education Department’s Title IX Rule from Taking Effect

Kaitlin Housler
Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling on Friday to block the U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) Title IX rule from taking effect.

The DOE’s final rule, blocked from being implemented by the nation’s highest court, would have rewritten Title IX to encompass gender identity and sexual orientation.

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Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti Joins Lawsuit Challenging the Biden Administration’s Plan to Extend Full Health Care Benefits to Illegal Immigrants

Kaitlin Housler

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined a federal lawsuit on Thursday challenging the Biden administration’s plan of extending Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, benefits to more than 200,000 illegal immigrants.

The lawsuit, led by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota Western Division.

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Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti Leads Push Against Federal Housing Finance Agency Pilot Program

Kaitlin Housler
Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led a coalition of 13 other state attorneys general in pushing back against a new pilot program launched by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) that would remove title insurance requirements from certain loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In March, the FHFA launched the pilot program, which “waives the requirement for lender’s title insurance or a legal opinion on certain low-risk refinance transactions where there is confidence that the property is free and clear of any prior lien or encumbrance.”

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Federal Court Upholds Tennessee Policy Preventing Transgender Individuals from Changing Sex on Birth Certificate

Kaitlin Housler

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled 2-1 to uphold a decades-long Tennessee policy that prohibits changes to a person’s sex on their birth certificate to reflect their gender identity instead of their biological sex at birth.

The policy treats the sex listed on a birth certificate as a historical fact unchangeable by an individual’s transition to a different gender identity.

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U.S. District Court Hands Down Victory in Tennessee-Led Case Challenging HHS Rule on Gender Identity Under the Affordable Care Act

Kaitlin Housler

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi has halted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from implementing its final rule which redefines the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition against discrimination based on “sex” to include “gender identity” at the request of Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti.

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Tennessee AG Sends Letter to Major Credit Card Companies Warning of Legal Action Upon Noncompliance with New State Law

Kaitlin Housler
AG Skrmetti Credit Cards

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sent a letter to the CEOs of American Express, Visa, and Mastercard inquiring about the companies’ plans to comply with a state law set to take effect in the Volunteer State on Monday, July 1 concerning financial transaction data associated with firearm and ammunition purchases.

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Exclusive: Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti Says SCOTUS Decision to Take Up Case Challenging State Law Banning Transgender Treatment for Minors Will Be a ‘Major Step Toward Clarity’

Kaitlin Housler
Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined Tuesday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show for an exclusive interview where he discussed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments and rule on whether Tennessee’s law that bans “gender-affirming care” on minors violates the Constitution.

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Michael Patrick Leahy on SCOTUS Decision to Take Up Case Challenging Tennessee Law Banning Transgender Surgery for Minors: ‘Transgender Youth is a Creation of the Left’

Kaitlin Housler
Michael Patrick Leahy

Michael Patrick Leahy, Editor-in-Chief and CEO of The Tennessee Star, reacted to Monday’s announcement by the U.S. Supreme Court that it would hear arguments and rule on whether a Tennessee law that bans “gender-affirming care” on minors violates the Constitution.

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Vanderbilt University Medical Center Doctor Called Transgender Surgery ‘Big Money’ Year Before Covenant Killer Audrey Hale was Referred for Commitment

Tom Pappert
Shayne Sebold Taylor

Born a biological female, Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale began identifying as a transgender man and using the name Aiden prior to her devastating attack which claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adults on March 27, 2023.

Police documents published by The Tennessee Star determined Hale was a 22-year mental health patient of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), the home of a controversial transgender program that is reportedly considered “big money” for the hospital.

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Tennessee AG Skrmetti Leads Coalition in Demanding the American Bar Association Stop Requiring Law Schools to Engage in Illegal Racial Discrimination

Kaitlin Housler
Tennessee A.G. Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led a coalition of 20 other state attorneys general in sending a letter to the Council of the American Bar Association (ABA) on Monday demanding that it make changes to its accreditation process to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative in the case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.

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Tennessee Attorney General Leads Lawsuit Challenging HHS Final Rule on Gender Identity Under the Affordable Care Act

Kaitlin Housler

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch led a coalition of 13 other states in filing a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) final rule, which redefines the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition against discrimination based on “sex” to include “gender identity.”

As of May 6, HHS’ final rule requires medical providers to perform surgeries and administer hormone drugs to both children and adults for the purpose of gender transition, without regard for a doctor’s medical judgment as to whether that treatment was appropriate.

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Scammers Who Attempted to Foreclose on Elvis Presley’s Iconic Graceland Home Admit to Failure: Report

Kaitlin Housler
Grace Land

An individual allegedly involved in a scheme to acquire Elvis Presley’s iconic Graceland home in Memphis reportedly reached out to CNN via email claiming responsibility for the scam, the outlet reported this week.

Graceland became the target of Nausanny Investments and Private Lending, LLC after the company claimed that the singer’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, who died in 2023, didn’t repay a loan using the home as collateral.

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Tennessee AG Skrmetti Launches Probe into Attempted Foreclosure of Elvis Presley’s Iconic Graceland Home

Kaitlin Housler
Jonathan Skrmetti Graceland

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced Thursday that his office is “looking into” a private investment company’s attempt to foreclose on Elvis Presley’s iconic Graceland home in Memphis.

Graceland became the target of Nausanny Investments and Private Lending, LLC after the company claimed that the singer’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, who died in 2023, didn’t repay a loan that used the home as collateral.

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