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The millions of pages from the Epstein files released on Friday include a salacious accusation against billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates.

An email released by the DOJ includes claims that Gates begged Epstein to provide him with antibiotics to secretly dose his wife to conceal STDs he had contracted from “Russian girls.”

‘From helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls, to facilictating his illicit trysts, with married women.’

“During the past few weeks I have been caught up in a severe marital dispute between Melinda and Bill,” reads the email in Epstein’s account from July 2013.

It appears to be sent from and to Epstein’s own account as a way of documenting the claims and is reportedly written on behalf of Boris Nikolic, a science adviser to Gates.

“In my role as his right hand I had been asked on mulitple occasion[s] and in hindsight, wrongly acquiesced into participating in things that have ranged from the morally inappropriate,” the email continues, “to the ethically unsound and had been repeatedly asked to do other things that get near and potentially over the line into the illegal. … From helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls, to facilictating his illicit trysts, with married women, to being asked to provide Adderall [for] bridge [tournaments].”

In another draft email, Epstein writes as Nikolic accusing Gates of coordinating a “cover up [sic] so that you can maintain the reputation that you have worked so hard to achieve.”

The email went on to say, “[You] implore me to please delete the emails regarding your std [sic], your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda, and the description of your penis.”

The Gates Foundation denied the accusations in an email statement to Blaze News.

“These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein’s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame,” said a spokesperson for Bill Gates.

Melinda Gates later divorced Bill Gates and admitted in 2022 that his relationship with Epstein was one of the reasons for the split.

“He was abhorrent, evil personified,” she said of Epstein after meeting him once. “I had nightmares about it afterwards. That’s why my heart breaks for these young women. That’s how I felt, and I am an older woman. He was awful.”

RELATED: Bill Gates gets nervous when reporter confronts him about relationship with Jeffrey Epstein: ‘For the over 100th time’

Gates has previously said that his friendship with Epstein was a “huge mistake.”

Melinda Gates went on to suggest that her billionaire ex-husband cheated on her numerous times during their 27-year marriage.

Blaze News reached out to Nikolic for comment.

The Justice Dept. released more than 3.5 million pages from the Epstein files Friday, including 180,000 images and 2,000 videos.

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The U.S. African Development Foundation, a foreign aid agency that poured millions of taxpayer dollars into African initiatives over the past four decades, desperately fought the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency and audit its finances.

It’s now painfully obvious why there was so much resistance to transparency at the U.S. Agency for International Development-adjacent outfit.

Months after government watchdog Judicial Watch sued the USADF for records regarding its expenditures and in the wake of allegations that agency officials were abusing their positions and misusing funds, the USADF’s director of financial management, Mathieu Zahui, is now admitting wrongdoing.

‘The USADF Director of Financial Management’s fraudulent acts betrayed the trust of the American people.’

Zahui, an official who denied DOGE access to the agency’s financial records last year, has agreed to plead guilty to taking secret payments and lying to federal law enforcement officers about those payments.

“Mathieu Zahui is charged with accepting payments from a government contractor and then abusing his position by directing USADF funds to that contractor for little-to-no work,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement on Friday. “Corruption by senior officials representing the United States cheats American taxpayers and rigs the system against honest work.”

RELATED: ‘STOP THE SCAMS!’ Trump announces new office in DOJ dedicated to investigating fraud

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The Justice Department indicated in court documents obtained by Rikki Ratliff-Fellman, chief content officer for Glenn Beck, and shared with Blaze News that Zahui, 59, arranged for the USADF to pay vendors and contractors through a Kenya-based company owned by a government contractor Zahui has known since 1999.

“Zahui arranged for ADF to pay certain vendors and contractors through Company-1 rather than pay them directly,” the DOJ noted in the filing. “Zahui then approved invoices for Company-1 and CC-1 that included mark-ups ranging from 17% to 66% on these pass-through invoices, even when Company-1 did no work justifying the mark-up.”

The company belonging to Zahui’s associate submitted over 20 pass-through invoices for the African Development Foundation for which Zahui had USADF shell out at least $617,625.49. His associate’s company allegedly kept $134,886.34 of that sum as a mark-up for “logistical support.”

Between 2019 and 2022, Zahui personally and directly received $12,000 in cash payments, the DOJ alleged.

Zahui and his associate’s company unsurprisingly failed to disclose the details of their little arrangement to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which oversaw and authorized USADF’s payment to external parties.

Adding insult to injury, Zahui told federal agents when interviewed in 2024 that he had never received any kickback from his friend’s company.

The USADF financial director has, however, since agreed to plead guilty to one count of accepting gratuities from his associate’s company and one count of making a false statement to a federal law enforcement officer. He faces a maximum of two years in prison for the first charge and five years in prison for the second.

Peter Marocco, former director of the Office of Foreign Assistance and USAID deputy administrator, wrote in response to the agreement, “USADF is garbage. A culture of defiant fraud, waste and abuse that must come to an end. This is only scratching the surface. Abolish it!”

“The USADF Director of Financial Management’s fraudulent acts betrayed the trust of the American people,” said Sean Bottary, the acting assistant inspector general at the USAID’s Office of Inspector General.

The USADF was one of the agencies President Donald Trump ordered the elimination of “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law” in February 2025.

Blaze News has reached out to USADF for comment.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify how Blaze News obtained the documents.

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The elderly man who was caught on video screaming, “Shoot me!” after falsely confessing to shooting Charlie Kirk has pleaded no contest to a third-degree charge of obstruction of justice.

71-year-old George Zinn added to the chaos on Sept. 10 when Kirk was killed at Utah Valley University by claiming to have been the shooter. He was dragged away while his pants slipped to his ankles.

‘I want to put the past behind me and move forward.’

After Zinn was questioned by police, they said they discovered child sex abuse material on his cell phone, which led to more charges.

On Thursday he also pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, but denied in a statement to the court that he was a threat to children.

Utah Fourth District Court Judge Thomas Low sentenced Zinn to up to 15 years for all of the charges. A parole board will ultimately decide how much time he spends in prison.

Zinn helped incite conspiracy theories about the shooting, but he was known for being a nuisance at high-profile political and cultural events in Utah. He had more than two dozen previous arrests, the most serious one involving an alleged bomb threat made to the Salt Lake City Marathon by email.

Police said that he admitted to trying to divert “the attention of multiple law enforcement officers from their efforts to secure the scene and find the actual shooter.”

22-year-old Tyler James Robinson was charged for the murder of Kirk based on a trove of evidence that included a confession note and extensive physical evidence.

RELATED: Panel explodes into chaos after leftist influencer defends mocking Charlie Kirk’s widow

Zinn did not mention Charlie Kirk in his statement to the court asking for mercy.

“I want to put the past behind me and move forward,” he said as he became emotional.

Zinn’s defense attorney, Carly Madsen, told the court that he never fit in and didn’t get the help he needed.

“Never really got the love or attention he deserved,” she added. “And never got the help he needed, resources that would that helped him years ago.”

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Something shocking just happened between Hawaii — a state that already has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation — and the Supreme Court, and Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck is sounding the alarm.

In defense of a sweeping gun restriction, Hawaii argued that Americans’ rights only exist if someone else gives permission, citing “Black Codes” written to disarm freed slaves as “historical tradition.”

This means that gun owners can’t carry on private property, unless the owner explicitly allows it.

“That means your constitutional right only exists if somebody else says yes. And the judges are like, ‘I’m sorry, how are you doing the math on this one?’ And Hawaii steps up to the microphone and says, ‘Yeah, your honor, don’t worry, history supports us on this,’” Glenn says.

The initial Black Code law that Hawaii’s new law is modeled after was written after the Civil War, and it was meant to disarm newly freed slaves so they were unable to defend themselves from mobs, the clan, or corrupt authorities.

“People who normally recoil from Black Codes, you know, like garlic with a vampire, suddenly embrace them because it helps restrict guns,” Glenn explains.

“But the case isn’t really about guns,” he says. “And that’s what I think everybody who is analyzing this case is missing. It is not about guns. It’s about whether your rights exist before government or only after permission is granted.”

“Hawaii says your right exists if someone else allows it. The Constitution says no, no, your rights exist because you exist and you’re free. And the court’s being asked to answer the question, do we define American liberty by its highest principles? Or by its darkest moments?” he continues.

“And once you use poisoned history to limit rights, rights stop being rights,” he adds.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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Santa Clara County Sheriff Bob Jonsen bizarrely pledged not to work with federal agents while claiming such non-cooperation would result in increased safety for residents.

Ahead of Super Bowl LX at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California, the local sheriff said he is refusing to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

‘We will not be working or supporting ICE immigration enforcement.’

The Trump administration has warned illegal aliens that there would still be enforcement around the Super Bowl, which takes place on February 8, but Sheriff Jonsen told residents he will not assist the Department of Homeland Security or its agents.

“We are gonna be here for you, side by side,” Jonsen said about his own officers. “So as you’re getting off those trains, … high probability you’re going to see somebody in uniform. But if they’re not masked, if they’re wearing tan and green or blue or black, trust me, they are there for your protection.”

Jonsen told reporters on Thursday that if residents or visitors see masked law enforcement who are “trying to hide their identity,” that means “somebody hasn’t communicated” with his department.

“We’ve made it very clear to our officers — our workforce is to be open, transparent, and engaged with this community for the next few weeks,” the sheriff added.

At that point, Jonsen made it clear to his constituents that his department would not be working alongside the immigration enforcement officers.

RELATED: Former Vikings player says ‘demonic’ Minnesota Democrats are upset ICE is ‘deporting their voters’

“I urge our federal partners — if there is something that you’re planning to do in our community, please be transparent and reach out to your local officials so we can work as best we can,” Jonsen announced to federal authorities.

“As mentioned, we are not going to be changing our policies or protocols. We will not be working or supporting ICE immigration enforcement,” he added.

In October, special adviser to Homeland Security Corey Lewandowski warned illegal aliens that if they went to the Super Bowl, there would be “repercussions to that.”

He added, “Just as there are if you are in any other neighborhood in this great country.”

DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin told TMZ this week that her department is still “committed to working with” local partners to ensure safety around the Super Bowl.

“Our mission remains unchanged,” McLaughlin noted.

RELATED: Wife of Super Bowl champion launches GOP campaign for Democrat-controlled NJ congressional seat

Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

The Santa Clara sheriff positioned his department as wanting to protect the level of trust it has built with its community over “decades” and expressed that he wants federal authorities to communicate their plans to him so he can relay it to his city.

Jonsen urged his constituents to contact “somebody wearing a uniform” if they see ICE operations unfolding.

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Bureaucracy is where accountability gets diluted and common sense is quietly asked to wait outside for safety reasons.

You can usually spot it by the signs. Laminated, taped, stacked one on top of another, each announcing a rule that probably once made sense

Arrows point in conflicting directions. Doors are locked “temporarily,” which often means indefinitely. A desk sits between you and the thing you actually need, staffed by someone whose job is to make sure you don’t get there the wrong way.

We may not be able to change systems or bureaucrats, but we can change how they hook us into drama.

Hospitals are particularly good at this.

Clipboards multiply. Protocols overlap. Nobody is quite in charge, but everyone is certain about what you’re not allowed to do. Hospitals tend to amplify a familiar human impulse: gathering in herds, exchanging judgment for the illusion of safety.

Caregivers encounter this constantly. Not because we seek it out, but because care requires proximity to systems that prize procedure over discernment. By the time we reach the desk, our tension is already high and our patience nearly gone.

I found myself at a large teaching hospital with my wife, Gracie, as she prepared for a nine-hour surgery. We were staying with friends nearby. She had already been admitted, and the surgeon was clear about where I needed to enter so I could be with her in pre-op before they took her to surgery.

By now, most surgeons recognize that I’m not new to this. Forty years of caregiving tends to cure naïveté. I can follow the jargon, ask informed questions, and handle graphic medical realities without flinching. That familiarity earns a certain trust once you reach pre-op, recovery units, or the ICU.

The problem is getting there.

Between the parking lot and the patient lies a layered world of desks, checkpoints, screens, and policies, staffed by people who don’t know your history and aren’t allowed to consider it.

Which is how I found myself there with Gracie during her surgery, in the middle of COVID, a season I’ve come to think of as the high holy days of bureaucracy.

It was bitterly cold that morning in Denver. Montana cold I can handle. Denver cold is another matter. I had already made the long walk from the parking area to the emergency room and was not eager to be sent back outside to circle the hospital again in the frigid early morning.

At the ER security desk, I gave my wife’s name and said, “I’m here for her operation.”

The guard checked the screen and said, “You have to use the front entrance.”

“It’s closed,” I replied. “The surgeon directed me here.”

“You have to use the front entrance.”

I tried again, slower.

Same result.

So I asked, politely, “Ma’am, where did I lose you?”

She repeated herself.

Years ago, this is where I would have argued. Quoted instructions. Asked for a supervisor. Escalated things just enough to feel righteous while accomplishing nothing and raising my blood pressure.

Decades of caregiving taught me that nothing useful is changed that way.

So instead of arguing, I chose a different response. I met immovable force with irreverent restraint.

Since I have a full head of white hair, and with great hair comes great responsibility, I adopted my best Leslie Nielsen deadpan and said calmly, “Ma’am, I’m board-certified in cranial proctology. They’re waiting for me in pre-op.”

She blinked.

Her eyes widened.

She waved me through.

RELATED: The reform every society needs: Stop mistaking shock for success

Cienples / Getty Images

It later occurred to me that my last name may have served as the exclamation mark on the credentials I had just fabricated. Even nonsense, it seems, benefits from proper punctuation.

I arrived in pre-op on time, smiling to myself.

For the record, cranial proctology is not a recognized medical specialty, except perhaps in Washington, D.C., where demand appears chronic and widespread across multiple government buildings. My services, though sorely needed, remain unofficial.

Caregivers live with enough real emergencies. We don’t need to manufacture new ones by turning every bureaucratic impasse into a confrontation. We may not be able to change systems or bureaucrats, but we can change how they hook us into drama.

Not every obstacle deserves a skirmish. Some require restraint, a straight face, and conserving energy for what actually matters.

A little humor, a lot of deadpan, and the ability to avoid getting pulled into someone else’s craziness go a long way toward living a calmer life as a caregiver.

Maybe I’ll give it a try at the post office next.

Or, God help us all, the TSA.

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A far-left sheriff in Michigan has walked back some of her comments regarding federal immigration arrests in her jurisdiction.

On Wednesday, Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia Dyer took to her Facebook page — which the Detroit News described as her “personal” page, though the account name is Sheriff Alyshia M. Dyer and shares the address, phone number, and website for the sheriff’s office — to claim that four people had been arrested near school bus stops in Ypsilanti earlier this week just as schools were let out for the day.

‘ICE does NOT target schools for enforcement actions or bus stop locations.’

“On Tuesday (1/27/26), we received multiple reports from community members that ICE detained a mother in front of her child in the Ypsilanti area, along with other residents,” Dyer wrote. She also attached a parent letter from Ypsilanti Public Schools Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross, claiming that “several parents in our community were taken into custody while off school grounds.”

Dyer added that “parents connected to local schools” may have been “targeted at a bus stop in Ypsilanti during student drop-off times.” She noted that the arrests “did not occur on any school grounds.”

Dyer then blamed Immigration and Customs Enforcement because she could not “confirm details” about those reports: “Unfortunately, it is often difficult to confirm details, as ICE frequently provides no advance notice, does not contact Metro Dispatch, and leaves families, schools, and communities to process the impact on their own in the aftermath.”

RELATED: Woke ‘pansexual’ sheriff in Michigan excited to implement far-left agenda

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By Thursday, ICE had slammed Dyer’s allegations as “lies.” “ICE does NOT target schools for enforcement actions or bus stop locations. To be clear, NO children were present during these arrests,” the agency said in a statement to the Detroit News.

“Lies like these are just another reason why our officers are grappling with a 1,300% increase in assaults, a 3,200% increase in vehicle attacks and a staggering 8,000% uptick in death threats,” the statement added.

Dyer updated her claims on Thursday to note that she had spoken with “immigration enforcement leadership,” who reassured her that they had not and will not “do any enforcement on school grounds, or school bus stops.” She then passively blamed the officials for some kind of miscommunication.

“They have agreed to better communicate in the future when they leave Washtenaw County,” she wrote.

In the statement, ICE clarified that agents “were conducting targeted operations seeking to apprehend illegal aliens with final orders of removal from the United States.”

The agents tailed two vehicles leaving a targeted residence and then arrested four individuals during at traffic stop: Delmy Yamileth Molina Vasquez, Gissel Alejandra Pavon Nunes, and Elder Alberto Veliz-Mencia of Honduras and Carolina Hernandez-Aviles of Mexico.

ICE database records confirmed that, as of Friday morning, the three women are detained in an ICE facility in Michigan, but Blaze News could not find any record for Veliz-Mencia. Whether any of the four individuals have criminal records unrelated to immigration is unclear.

Dyer’s office and Zachery-Ross’ office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

Dyer, who identifies as “pansexual,” was elected in 2024 on a radical agenda. According to her campaign website, she pledged to prevent the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office from “collaborating with ICE” and to provide the “undocumented” with driver’s license documentation.

The same month Dyer was sworn into office, the Ypsilanti City Council voted to discontinue saying the Pledge of Allegiance before meetings.

H/T: David Bondy

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The Department of Justice announced the release of millions of new pages from the Jeffrey Epstein files on Friday.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the 3 million files were released on a website available to the public and included 180,000 images and 2,000 videos.

‘We did not protect President Trump. We didn’t protect or not protect anybody.’

“Today’s release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people,” Blanche said at a media briefing.

Blanche, who previously worked as a personal attorney to President Donald Trump, denied claims that the administration had protected the president.

“We did not protect President Trump. We didn’t protect or not protect anybody,” he said.

He said the DOJ review of the Epstein files was complete. More than 125,000 pages of the investigation had already been released before Friday.

He also said that the White House had no involvement in the review of the latest documents.

“They had no oversight over this review,” he added. “They did not tell this department how to do our review, what to look for, what to redact, what to not redact.”

RELATED: Bill and Hillary Clinton refuse to testify in Epstein probe — Republicans threaten contempt of Congress

Republicans have threatened to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress after they refused a subpoena asking for documents related to the Epstein investigation.

“We are confident that any reasonable person in or out of Congress will see, based on everything we release, that what you are doing is trying to punish those who you see as your enemies and to protect those you think are your friends,” the Clintons said in a letter to Congress.

This is a developing story.

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Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Friday morning the arrests of several radicals who allegedly stormed Cities Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on Jan. 18.

One of Don Lemon’s fellow arrestees, Jamael Lydell Lundy, is a newly announced Democratic candidate for the Minnesota Senate who previously worked for Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum and now serves as the right-hand man for Mary Moriarty, Hennepin County’s Soros-backed prosecutor.

Moments prior to the church invasion, Lundy told Lemon on camera, “I’m here to support our community activists,” reported the New York Post.

‘They are troublemakers who should be thrown in jail, or thrown out of the Country.’

“I’m currently a candidate for Minnesota state Senate District 65,” Lundy told the former CNN talking head. “I feel like it’s important if you’re going to be representing people in office, that you’re out here with the people as well.”

“We all we got,” continued Lundy. “I’m actually married to an elected official; I work closely with elected officials, but direct action from the community, certainly within the lines of the law, is so important to show that we have one voice.”

In footage of the subsequent church invasion, Lundy appears fully engaged in the mob’s disruption of the Christian service and the parishioners’ worship, pumping his fist in the air and shouting near the altar.

RELATED: Don Lemon ARRESTED over apparent involvement in church invasion; Jim Acosta whines

Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

According to Lundy’s campaign website, he is married to St. Paul City Councilwoman Anika Bowie, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s former political director.

In his role as Moriarty’s intergovernmental relations manager, Lundy — who supported the “bananas with rice” Somali accused this week of spitting on federal agents — is responsible for interfacing with the federal government, reported the Daily Wire.

Lundy’s radicalism is in keeping with that practiced by his anti-ICE boss, who launched a project with Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and other woke prosecutors on Wednesday aimed at “collaborating to ensure federal officials are held accountable when they exceed their lawful authority.”

The non-straight prosecutor has been one of the more unhinged critics of federal agents’ enforcement of federal immigration law in Minneapolis, claiming earlier this month, for instance, “If you do not have white skin, you are in danger of being approached by ICE.”

President Donald Trump suggested those who stormed the church were “agitators and insurrectionists.”

“These people are professionals! No person acts the way they act,” continued Trump. “They are highly trained to scream, rant, and rave, like lunatics, in a certain manner, just like they are doing. They are troublemakers who should be thrown in jail, or thrown out of the Country.”

Blaze News has reached out to Moriarty’s office for comment.

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If you’ve been anywhere near social media lately, you have probably heard of the latest oddly named lifestyle: looksmaxxing.

It’s laughed at, pathologized, and treated as a digital disease. It is filed under narcissism, extremism, or maladaptation — anything that avoids taking it seriously.

What really offends critics isn’t the vanity but the accountability. Looksmaxxing puts the burden back on the individual in a culture addicted to external blame.

But what is it?

Checklist for Chads

At its most basic, looksmaxxing refers to a loose online movement encouraging men to improve their physical appearance through deliberate, practical self-improvement rather than passive acceptance. In practice, this usually means mundane, unglamorous changes: losing excess weight, lifting weights consistently, grooming properly, dressing with intention, fixing posture, and presenting oneself as a capable human being. It is not a philosophy so much as a checklist.

There are, inevitably, outliers — internet backwaters where bone-breaking routines are discussed without irony, extreme facial surgeries are contemplated, and pseudoscientific measurements of skull angles are treated as destiny.

These exist, and they’re easy to mock. But they don’t represent the broader phenomenon. They emerge at the margins, where men believe, rightly or wrongly, that they have exhausted ordinary options. The typical looksmaxxing example is far less exotic. A sedentary man quits junk food, joins a gym, gets a proper haircut, replaces stained hoodies with fitted clothes, and steps out of his mom’s basement.

Scarcity mindset

Looksmaxxing is a response to scarcity: romantic scarcity, social scarcity, economic scarcity. Young men are told relentlessly that confidence matters, that personality wins, that being “yourself” is enough.

Then reality arrives, usually with a swift kick to the nether regions. Faces, frames, height, grooming, fitness, posture — these things open doors long before a sentence is spoken. They decide who gets seen, who gets listened to, who gets to move on to the next round. The lie isn’t that personality matters, but that it matters first.

Critics default to dismissal because it requires no engagement. It costs nothing to tell a struggling man that he should simply “be kind” or “work on his inner self.” It costs nothing to shame him for caring about how he looks, while a culture sells beauty as destiny and desire as status.

The same people who insist looks don’t matter meticulously curate their appearance through filters, lighting, angles, brands, and cosmetic interventions. They publicly reject the rules while privately enforcing them. Everyone else pays for the pretense, most notably the average American man.

And the term average couldn’t be more apt. Overweight. Sedentary. Winded by a flight of stairs, pausing halfway like he’s summiting Everest. He is the product of abundance without discipline, comfort without consequence, a culture of convenience, couches, and calories. And he is told, endlessly, that his problems are emotional rather than physical.

Law of attraction

Looksmaxxing begins where denial ends. It says the body matters; the face matters; presentation matters. It refuses to treat biology as a slur. It doesn’t ask permission to acknowledge that attraction is selective, visual, and often cruel.

In a dating environment dominated by apps, where most singles are judged in a fraction of a second, this isn’t ideology but reality. That honesty unsettles people who have built careers telling men soothing stories about how the world ought to work rather than how it does.

As noted above, looksmaxxing can become obsessive. That pattern is familiar in any movement shaped by exclusion. But remove the extremes, and what remains is entirely reasonable. Lift weights. Lose the gut. Fix posture. Groom properly. Dress like you respect yourself. Sleep. Eat like an adult. Stop looking like you lost a bet with your mirror. None of this is radical. None of it is hateful. It is common sense.

Man up

What really offends critics isn’t the vanity but the accountability. Looksmaxxing puts the burden back on the individual in a culture addicted to external blame. It tells men that improvement is possible, but optional excuses are not. That message is intolerable to systems that profit from passivity. It is far easier to medicalize male dissatisfaction than to admit that a doughy, slumped, self-neglecting body will be judged accordingly.

There is also a class element no one wants to touch. Good looks are increasingly a luxury good: time to train; money for decent food; knowledge of grooming, style, and fitness. These are not evenly distributed. Telling men that looks don’t matter is a convenient way to ignore how much effort the winners quietly invest. Looksmaxxing is, in part, a grassroots attempt to close that gap — crude at times, desperate at others. But earnest.

There is also an undeniable element of misandry at play. When women improve their appearance, it is framed as empowerment, self-care, or self-expression. When men do the same — deliberately, analytically, and without apology — it is framed as an illness requiring immediate intervention. Looksmaxxing, a movement dominated by men, is treated as evidence of a psychological defect. The behavior is identical; the judgment is not. The double standard is structural.

RELATED: You can’t be 50 in Hollywood

Alexandre Guerra/Getty Images

What about both?

And most straight women, if they are honest, aren’t confused about what they find attractive. Who doesn’t want a good-looking man? Who doesn’t respond positively to a strong frame, a defined jawline, a body that signals health and self-command?

This doesn’t negate the need for depth. No one wants a handsome face paired with the emotional range of a vacuum cleaner. But the inverse is no more appealing. Emotional intelligence struggles to shine when it is housed in a body that signals neglect. The idea that a man must choose between substance and appearance is false. It is entirely possible — indeed reasonable — to demand both.

Looksmaxxing doesn’t promise eternal happiness, but it does promise leverage — a chance to be seen before being dismissed. A chance to compete rather than be invisible. For the overweight man incapable of doing a single pull-up, it offers something rare: a clear target and a measurable path.

Looksmaxxing exists because the social contract broke first. When institutions stopped offering stable work, when dating turned into a market, when community receded and screens advanced, men adapted.

Mock looksmaxxing if you want. Call it vain. Call it sad. But don’t call it irrational. It isn’t the sickness but the symptom. And until we are willing to tell the truth about attraction, status, and the price of neglect, young men will keep gravitating toward the only strategy that abandons pretense.

​Looksmaxxing, Clavicular, Men, Dating, Marriage, Plastic surgery, Memes, Lifestyle 

In a major shock to the football world, eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

While the Hall of Famers were being voted on earlier this month, Belichick fell short of the 40 out of 50 votes needed in order to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility.

“There’s two, like, first-ballot Hall of Fame guys,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says on “Fearless,” referencing Larry Fitzgerald and Drew Brees.

“If I were them, I would consider, like, ‘No, I’m good. Put me in with Bill next year,’ because going in this year, everything is going to be about, ‘Y’all left Bill out,’” he continues.

“The actual players, Drew Brees, Larry, they’re going to be overshadowed and would be better served going in with Bill Belichick next year,” he adds.

And Whitlock believes this is a deeper issue.

“The whole process has been headed this direction for years. The writers have egos. … It’s way too manipulated,” Whitlock says, pointing out that voters include women like Lisa Salters, who “doesn’t watch football.”

“She stands on the sidelines after games and says, ‘Hey, in the third quarter you threw for 300 yards, and in the fourth quarter you only threw for 150. What changed?’” he explains.

“It’s just a quota box at this point. Do you fit a quota,” he adds.

“The National Football League, the people that write about the National Football League, the people that coach in the National Football League, the front office folks, it’s not for everyone,” BlazeTV contributor Matt McChesney chimes in.

“The NFL is a very specific niche … and to assume that everybody belongs is not the right way to do this. So, I just don’t understand how they can put themselves in this position,” he adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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A nurse in Florida who allegedly said he would refuse to administer anesthesia to conservative patients is no longer registered in the state.

Erik Martindale appeared to post on his Facebook account, “I will not perform anesthesia for any surgeries or procedures for MAGA. It is my right, it is my ethical oath, and I stand behind my education. I own all of my businesses and I can refuse anyone!”

‘Healthcare is not contingent on political beliefs, and we have zero tolerance for partisans who put politics above their ethical duty.’

Libs of TikTok shared a screenshot of the comments in a post on X, calling for him to be immediately fired and stripped of his license.

After facing backlash online, Martindale claimed that his Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram accounts had been “hacked.” Libs of TikTok disputed his claim, sharing another screenshot of a post Martindale apparently made on his Threads account.

“I will not perform anesthesia on any surgeries for registered Republicans,” the Threads post read.

“Erik is now claiming his FB and IG were hacked. There’s a slight problem. It was on threads too. Was your threads also hacked Erik?? Lmao,” Libs of TikTok wrote. “Nobody is buying this Erik. We have all the receipts!”

RELATED: Florida nurse wishes Karoline Leavitt agonizing, life-altering birth injury — red state delivers swift takedown

Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

As of Friday morning, all of Martindale’s social media accounts appeared to be deactivated.

On Thursday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced, “Effective today, Erik Martindale is no longer a registered nurse in Florida.”

“Healthcare is not contingent on political beliefs, and we have zero tolerance for partisans who put politics above their ethical duty to treat patients with the respect and dignity they deserve,” Uthmeier added.

RELATED: ‘Make their lives f**king miserable’: Deranged leftist nurse apparently urges poisoning and drugging ICE agents

James Uthmeier. Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

The Florida Department of Health website shows that Martindale’s license was voluntarily relinquished. The department notes that such action “does not constitute discipline.”

The Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment regarding whether Martindale’s license was surrendered or revoked. Blaze News was unable to contact Martindale for a statement.

Last week, Uthmeier announced that Florida had revoked Lexie Lawler’s ability to practice nursing in the state after she posted a video on social media wishing a life-altering birth injury on White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

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Republican lawmakers are pushing new legislation on Capitol Hill aimed at reining in members of Congress who take advantage of campaign finances for personal gain.

Wisconsin Republican Reps. Tom Tiffany and Tony Wied introduced the Oversight for Members And Relatives Act on Friday, known as the OMAR Act, which would prevent candidates’ campaign funds from benefiting their spouses. The legislation would also mandate the disclosure of campaign-related payments made to their immediate family members, according to the bill text obtained exclusively by Blaze News.

‘The American people are sick of it.’

“Public office should never be used to pad a family’s bank account,” Tiffany told Blaze News. “For years, members of both parties have blurred ethical lines by paying their spouses with campaign funds and labeling it ‘campaign work.'”

“The OMAR Act ends this practice and restores integrity to a system that’s been abused for far too long.”

RELATED: Exclusive: SAVE Act hangs in the balance as Republican Study Committee pushes for Senate passage

Exclusive: GOP lawmaker Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

A prime example of these “blurred ethical lines” is none other than Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who reportedly paid nearly $2.8 million to her husband’s political consulting firm during the 2019-2020 election cycle.

According to Fox News, these payments accounted for nearly 70% of her disbursements during her third quarter, exceeding the total amount all congressional candidates combined paid their immediate relatives during the 2012 election cycle.

“Members of Congress are sent to Washington to represent the interests of their constituents — not to line their spouses’ pockets with campaign funds,” Wied told Blaze News.

RELATED: Biden DOJ’s probe into Ilhan Omar’s finances dropped same year her net worth surged

Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images

“We’ve seen far too many egregious examples of politicians exploiting loopholes for personal gain, and the American people are sick of it,” Wied added. “I’m proud to stand with Rep. Tiffany to introduce the OMAR Act and put a stop to these shady practices once and for all.”

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​House republicans, Capitol hill, Congress, House democrats, Ilhan omar, Minnesota, Minnesota fraud, Somali fraud, Tom tiffany, Tony wied, Omar act, Campaign finance, Politics 

“People are talking. People want sovereignty. They want what the U.S. has got.”

That was U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s description of growing independence sentiment in Alberta — comments that have energized the province’s long-running sovereignty movement.

‘When Scott Bessent says — even somewhat tongue-in-cheek — that he’s heard rumors of an independence vote, that signals awareness at the highest levels.’

As Albertans continue lining up to sign petitions calling for a provincial referendum on separation later this year, separatist advocates say the Trump administration has shown a notable openness to discussing Alberta’s future.

Members of the Alberta Prosperity Project say they have met on several occasions with individuals connected to President Donald Trump’s inner circle and governing team.

Czar power

Bessent’s remarks came while he was criticizing Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s appearance at last week’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. At the event, Carney suggested that the United States under Trump had become an international bully, destabilizing global trade norms and alliances.

Bessent rejected that characterization and instead focused on Carney’s political background.

“Well, I think Prime Minister Carney tried to put on a mask for a bit, and he’s really a globalist,” Bessent said. “He was governor of the Bank of Canada, then governor of the Bank of England, then he was the U.N. climate czar, and he tried to disappear that credential, seem like he was more reasonable — and when he said he wants to make Canada an energy powerhouse,” Bessent said, “Canada has great natural resources, but I don’t think he wants to bring them out.”

Chinese checkers

He further criticized Carney’s recent engagement with Beijing.

“He was just in China, and President Trump said Canada should trade with China,” Bessent said. “But when he came out and said China shares Canadian values — really?”

Turning to Alberta, Bessent highlighted the province’s resource wealth and frustrations over stalled infrastructure projects.

“Alberta is a wealth of natural resources, but they won’t let them build a pipeline to the Pacific,” he said. “I think we should let them come down into the U.S., and Alberta is a natural partner for the U.S. They have great resources.”

Bessent also noted Alberta’s distinct political culture, describing Albertans as “very independent people,” and said he had heard rumors of a possible referendum on whether the province should remain in Canada.

RELATED: Carney puts America last at Davos; Trump hits back

Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images

Going it alone?

Jeffrey Rath, legal counsel for the Alberta Prosperity Project, said Bessent’s remarks reflect conversations Alberta sovereignty advocates have been having privately with U.S. officials for months.

“That comes directly out of the meetings we’ve been holding in Washington, D.C.,” Rath told Align.

“We’ve raised the issue with them, and the Americans are very open to having a pipeline come down from Washington through Montana and Idaho … to the West Coast to service Korea, Japan.”

Rath said such infrastructure would strengthen U.S.-led trade alliances in the Pacific and reduce dependence on China.

He contrasted that approach with Carney’s recent visit to Beijing.

“That very alliance that Carney completely ignored when he skipped over all of them and went directly to communist China to declare, you know, Canada’s alliance and allegiance to communist China,” Rath said.

No accident

Rath also emphasized the influence of the U.S. treasury secretary within the American political system, speaking from his own perspective.

“Scott Bessent is literally the second-most powerful man in the world,” Rath said. “All it takes is one or two changes to U.S. Treasury policy towards Canadian debt, towards Canadian imports, towards Canadian investments and the taxation of Canadian businesses and assets in the United States, etc., and Canada would be bankrupt in three days.”

According to Rath, Bessent’s reference to a possible Alberta referendum was not accidental.

“When Scott Bessent is saying — tongue-in-cheek — ‘I’ve heard a rumor that there might be an independence referendum in Alberta this year,’ you know, what Scott Bessent is tipping his hand to is that … they are aware of what’s going on in Alberta at the highest levels,” Rath said.

Rath pointed to visible public support for the independence petition drive.

“They are aware of people lined up for miles into cold January nights to sign the Alberta Declaration of Independence to get Alberta out of Canada,” he said. “They’re aware of what a great partner Alberta will be to the United States of America because we’re philosophically aligned.”

​Donald trump, Canada, Alberta independence, Calgary, Oil, Pipeline, Scott bessent, Mark carney, Jeffrey rath, Alberta prosperity project, China, Lifestyle, Letter from canada 

The Senate failed Thursday to advance a government funding package that includes the Department of Homeland Security, significantly increasing the likelihood of a partial federal government shutdown as Democrats push for limits on immigration enforcement practices.

In a procedural vote required to move the six-bill appropriations package forward, the measure fell 45-55, well short of the 60 votes needed to clear the hurdle. Multiple Republicans joined Democrats in opposition, though most GOP opposition stemmed from procedural calculations.

‘Because no agreement has been reached, the failed Senate vote could allow funding for DHS and other agencies to expire at midnight Friday’

Democrats withheld support for the package while demanding changes to DHS policy, especially reforms tied to how Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol operate. Party leaders say they will not back the funding bill without significant adjustments or separating the DHS from other appropriations, a stance that directly stalled the vote.

The Senate was expected to vote again Thursday night but postponed the vote until Friday morning.

RELATED: All you need to know about shutdown day

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and other Democrats outlined proposed reforms this week — including restrictions on agent conduct, enhanced accountability measures, and limits on mask use by federal agents — tied to heightened scrutiny after recent shootings by immigration agents.

“Let me be clear: Until ICE is properly reined in and overhauled, the DHS funding bill won’t have the votes to pass the Senate,” Schumer said.

Because no agreement has been reached, the failed Senate vote could allow funding for DHS and other agencies to expire at midnight Friday, bringing the government closer to a partial shutdown.

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While the Trump administration has been making every effort to resume control over Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations following a couple of fatal shootings earlier this month, leftists have continued to press their foot on the proverbial accelerator in their race to chaos.

On Thursday afternoon, a clip of self-described “comedian” Kathy Griffin urging her followers to follow in the footsteps of violent agitators in Minnesota went viral.

‘Sorry, but we have to know who’s on our team, and start to plan.’

Addressing those in her audience who are “awake,” Kathy Griffin refers to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom provoked law enforcement in the minutes leading up to their death, as “murders.” She uses these examples as well as the immigration detention centers, which she calls “concentration camps,” as proof that it is time to take action.

RELATED: ‘Organized obstruction’: Leaked alleged Signal chats show anti-ICE radicals tracking ICE agents, chasing vehicles

Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Out.com

“So take that in, and I know you don’t want to participate in something radical. I don’t either. I wish I could just go on the road and do my funny stories about celebrities or making fun of politicians, but not even have to acknowledge this. But it is happening all around you.”

She goes on to talk about ICE enforcement in her hometown of Los Angeles, suggesting that the resistance model in Minnesota is something to follow:

And I think it’s time to talk to your neighbors, find out if they’re MAGA or not. Sorry, but we have to know who’s on our team, and start to plan. Is there a way we can do something as a community? When I hear from my followers in Minnesota, they describe a very sophisticated channel of a system of things that they do to help one another. And they use encrypted apps, and like I said, everyone has whistles and honks their horn. But they organize in small groups. And they’ve told me that they learned this from the George Floyd incident.

Griffin was apparently referring to the leaked alleged Signal chats in Minneapolis that independent journalist Cam Higby exposed within the last week.

“Live your life, but be conscious of this. And if you’re silent, you’re complicit,” Griffin says near the end of the clip.

The clip posted by Libs of TikTok garnered nearly 600,000 views by Friday morning.

Kathy Griffin has 1.7 million followers on X and 864,000 followers on Instagram.

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​Politics, Kathy griffin, Trump, Trump administration, Los angeles, Minnesota, Minneapolis, Ice, Anti-ice, Anti-ice protests, Signal groups, Cam higby 

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon put Don Lemon “on notice” after he allegedly joined other radicals in participating in a so-called “ICE Out Action” by storming Cities Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on Jan. 18.

It appeared, however, that the former CNN talking head might avoid consequence for his alleged involvement in the church invasion when, earlier this month, an activist judge refused to issue a warrant for his arrest.

Evidently, that was a surmountable obstacle.

‘A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest!’

Federal agents arrested Lemon on Thursday night. Sources told CBS News that agents from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations were reportedly involved in the arrest, which apparently came hours after a grand jury was impaneled.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday morning that Lemon was arrested at her direction along with three others involved in the church invasion, namely Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy.

A source told the Washington Examiner’s Christian Datoc that Lemon has been charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrances Act.

Lemon’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, stated that the arrest took place in Los Angeles, where the radical was supposedly covering this weekend’s Grammy Awards.

“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lowell said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work.”

RELATED: ‘This is First Amendment activity’: Democrats give church-storming mobs their stamp of approval

Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Lemon — who suggested in October that “black people, brown people” should take up arms against ICE — appeared to join other radicals in disrupting a service at Cities Church, video showed. The church was targeted because of a pastor’s reported role at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The leftist interlopers not only screamed and chanted but castigated the pastor and pressed parishioners individually to answer whether they support ICE.

Lemon, who lost his CNN gig amid accusations of sexist comments, seemingly slipped in and out of character as a journalist during the mob action, stating, “There’s nothing in the Constitution that tells you what time you can protest. You can protest at any time. That’s the whole point of it — is to disrupt, is to make uncomfortable. And that’s what they’re doing, and that’s what I believe when I say everyone has to be willing to sacrifice something. You have to make people uncomfortable in these times.”

The former CNN host also lectured lead Pastor Jonathan Parnell after Parnell said the mob action was “unacceptable” and that it was “shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship.”

“There’s a Constitution and the First Amendment to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest,” Lemon told Parnell, excusing the mob’s interference and intimidation tactics.

Dhillon later responded to Lemon’s defense of the mob action, noting, “A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service. You are on notice!”

Lemon is reportedly scheduled to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Friday morning.

Liberals who were silent when Blaze News reporter Steve Baker was arrested for covering the Jan. 6 riot are apoplectic over the arrest.

Jemele Hill, a writer for the Atlantic, called the radical’s arrest “horrifying,” adding that “this absolutely cannot stand.”

Jim Acosta, also formerly of CNN, adhered to a similar script, writing, “This is outrageous and cannot stand. The First Amendment is under attack in America!”

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President Donald Trump has officially selected Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s successor.

Trump nominated Kevin Warsh for the role, noting the financier’s extensive experience, including his former role as a governor on the board of the Federal Reserve. At the time of Warsh’s appointment to the board in 2006, he was 35, the youngest appointee to serve, Trump claimed.

This announcement comes after a longtime feud between ‘numbskull’ Powell and the president.

Warsh is set to replace Powell in May after Powell’s term officially ends.

“I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best,” Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday. “On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down.”

RELATED: Fed Chairman Jerome Powell fears criminal indictment as Trump-Fed confrontation intensifies

Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images

This announcement comes after a longtime feud between “numbskull” Powell and the president, with Trump often criticizing Powell’s refusal to cut interest rates.

This conflict came to a fever pitch when Trump’s Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into Powell over his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee in June 2025, when he discussed the ballooning cost of renovation to the Fed headquarters.

In a statement following the subpoena, Powell claimed the investigation was actually a political response to “whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions — nor whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”

RELATED: ‘My new Fed Chairman’: Trump hints at major changes coming to Federal Reserve amid great economic report

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump was originally considering National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett for the role, but later suggested he would pick someone else because he wanted to keep Hassett in his position.

“[There] was great speculation that highly respected Kevin Hassett was going to be named Chairman of the Fed, and a great Chairman he would have been but, quite honestly, he is doing such an outstanding job working with me and my team at the White House, that I just didn’t want to let him go,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

“Kevin is indescribably good so, as the expression goes, ‘if you can’t do better, don’t try to fix it!’ Thank you Kevin for doing such a great job!”

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​Donald trump, Federal reserve, Fed chair, Jerome powell, Kevin hassett, Interest rates, Doj, Kevin warsh, Politics 

BlazeTV host and journalist Sara Gonzales’ recent reporting on widespread abuse and potential fraud in the H-1B visa program in Texas has already been hugely impactful.

In direct response to her investigative videos, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) ordered all state agencies and public universities to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions and applications until May 2027. In addition, he ordered reviews of existing H-1B programs and usage in those taxpayer-funded entities to fight fraud, combat misuse of the federal program, and ensure priority for American/Texas workers in those jobs.

Now Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is joining the fight. On Wednesday, Paxton announced a sweeping investigation into the program. He also issued Civil Investigative Demands to three North Texas businesses suspected of fraudulent activity, requiring them to provide employee details, proof of operations, and other documents to verify legitimacy.

If these CIDs reveal fraud in the H-1B companies Sara investigated, says Paxton, the scammers behind it “potentially could lose their ability to operate in Texas and have to pay a lot of money back to the state of Texas.”

“I have to tell you: From our digging that we’ve done, you’re going to need a lot of manpower on this,” says Sara.

“I keep giving the analogy — it’s like an onion. … Every layer back that we pull, it just doesn’t make any sense. You’re going to get a redirect to addresses that don’t actually exist or remote working locations where there is nobody there.”

But Paxton is confident in his team. “The good thing is we have a lot of practice doing things just like this. We’ve gone after a lot of companies that are defrauding our consumers, so we’ve had experience doing this, so it’s not our first rodeo,” he says. “We will definitely find out what’s going on.”

If Paxton’s office finds fraud in H-1B businesses, Sara wants to know what happens next.

“We don’t actually revoke [their business licenses], but, you know, a judge would if we were successful,” says Paxton. “And also deceptive trade practice. If we could show that they have deceived consumers and show what the damages are, we get treble damages.”

“I’m told that a lot of Indian scammers or Chinese scammers or whoever the scammers are — that they’re watching what I’m doing. They’re very scared. They’re sending WhatsApp messages. … And so I would imagine that … there’s a high likelihood that they may be watching this right now,” says Sara, “and I’d like to know if you have any message for any of these scammers.”

Paxton pulls no punches. “Stop … because we’re going to find out what the truth is.”

“If there are other companies doing this, which I would guess there are, if they are violating our laws or deceiving consumers, we’re going to find out.”

To hear more of the conversation, watch the full interview above.

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To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Sara gonzales, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Hb1 fraud, Blazetv, Blaze media, Blaze, Ken paxton, Fraud, Hbi visa, Texas 

Last week marked one year since President Trump returned to the White House with a mandate to reshape America’s future after four long years of the Biden administration’s failures.

Overnight, illegal crossings at the southern border were brought to a halt. DEI initiatives that picked winners and losers based on group identity were eliminated from the federal government. Lethality returned as the rightful marker of success in our nation’s military.

Despite holding a majority, Republicans in Congress have produced a historically low volume of legislation, leaving much of the Trump agenda uncodified and the deep state intact.

Under President Trump, Americans finally have leaders willing to put them first. But despite a record number of executive orders and a landmark reconciliation package that delivered the largest tax cut in American history, $140 billion for border security, and the elimination of the $200 tax stamp on National Firearms Act items, the job isn’t done yet.

Obamacare’s broken framework continues to get more expensive each year — both for taxpayers and enrollees. Young Americans remain priced out of the American dream, unable to afford a home. And despite holding a majority, Republicans in Congress have produced a historically low volume of legislation, leaving much of the Trump agenda uncodified and the deep state intact.

These challenges are precisely why Republicans were elected: to fix the mess Washington created. We cannot coast into November on “tax cuts,” nor can we pretend that the nation’s most urgent challenges will be solved through uncodified executive orders or rogue discharge petitions.

We need decisive action to address the crises facing the nation. We need to make the American dream affordable again. Congress needs the structure, discipline, and publicity of a new reconciliation bill that forces lawmakers to prioritize results and deliver tangible outcomes for the American people.

It’s time to go big or go home. Despite prediction markets giving Republicans a 76% chance of losing the majority in the House, many lawmakers don’t seem to care. Just last week, 81 Republicans joined Democrats to fund the National Endowment for Democracy — a rogue CIA cutout that fuels global censorship and domestic propaganda. Many of those same Republicans had praised the Department of Government Efficiency just months prior for freezing the NED’s funding.

Likewise, 46 Republicans joined Democrats to vote against defunding the office of federal district court judge James Boasberg, who repeatedly uses nationwide injunctions to override duly executed federal law and substitute his own radical policy preferences for those of the president.

A few short years ago, Democrats attempted to lock Trump in prison and throw away the keys.

Republicans, by contrast, can hardly muster the courage to dispense with a rogue judge.

Meanwhile, much of the work of the American people remains to be done. While the House has passed Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy’s Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act twice, the Senate refuses to put it up for a vote on the floor.

On health care, members of the House Freedom Caucus have offered Americans an alternative to Obamacare’s failing architecture with market-based solutions that lower costs. Yet House moderates in our ranks, by contrast, have doubled down on stupid, joining Democrats to pass an extension of Biden’s $448 billion temporary COVID subsidies, which thankfully stalled in the Senate.

RELATED: This is what happens when a state elects a ‘moderate’ Democrat

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Despite a good-faith effort from the administration on home ownership, Americans need more than solutions that subsidize demand. High interest rates, illegal immigration, and absurd capital gains taxes are crushing the market.

If Republicans don’t act now, we may not get the opportunity again. Democrats are on record clearly stating their intention to derail the administration with subpoenas and impeachments should they assume the majority in the House. We are a nation nearly $39 trillion in debt. Americans are sick of rhetoric and half measures.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act was passed in July 2025. If, 12 months later, we can only offer the American people last year’s accomplishments, do we expect them to believe we are legislating on their behalf?

The Republican Study Committee recently released a strong blueprint for a new reconciliation bill. The legislation would put more homes on the market by eliminating capital gains taxes on sales to first-time buyers. It includes health care reforms that empower Americans to direct their health care dollars toward insurance plans that best meet their individual needs, rather than those of their employers. The proposal also cuts over $1.6 trillion in government spending, returning a semblance of fiscal responsibility to Congress.

Republicans were elected to enact Trump’s America First agenda, not to manage decline and finance the status quo. If members of Congress fail to seize this moment, they will have no one to blame but themselves when voters decide it’s time to send them home.

​House republicans, Gop, Domocrats, One big beautiful bill, Dhs, Ice, National debt, Democrats, Reconciliation bill, Opinion & analysis