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A federal court sided with advocacy groups, including the League of United Latin American Citizens, challenging the redistricted map of Texas and ordered that the old map be used for the 2026 election.

The three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas found that challengers to the law would likely be able to prove that it was racially gerrymandered. Two judges ruled in favor, while one dissented.

‘Democrats claiming that redistricting is racist are lying. 4 of the 5 districts the Texas Legislature is drawing will be Hispanic districts.’

“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics,” wrote U.S. Judge Jeffrey Brown in the ruling. “To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.”

Brown was appointed to the court by President Donald Trump in 2019.

Democrats cheered the decision.

“A federal court just stopped one of the most brazen attempts to steal our democracy that Texas has ever seen,” said Texas state Rep. Gene Wu (D).

LULAC accused the Texas legislature of acting illegally in a previous statement about the case.

“Rather than remedying constitutional flaws in its previous map, lawmakers adopted a new plan that reduces opportunities for voters of color to have an equal voice,” the group said. “The map was pushed through in a rushed, opaque process that shut out meaningful public input and ignored widespread testimony about the harm it would cause.”

The case could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court; however, candidates must file for their campaigns by a Dec. 9 deadline.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott previously denied the accusation that the redistricting was discriminatory.

“Democrats claiming that redistricting is racist are lying. 4 of the 5 districts the Texas Legislature is drawing will be Hispanic districts,” read a statement from his office on social media.

RELATED: CA Republicans sue to stop Newsom’s redistricting scheme — he responds: ‘Good luck, losers’

The other judge who agreed with Brown was appointed by former President Barack Obama, while the dissenting judge was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan.

Redistricting in Texas has been used by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to justify redistricting in California in order to counteract the seats that may be gained by Republicans in Congress. The Department of Justice has joined a lawsuit against California on the basis that its gerrymandering scheme is also racially discriminatory against non-Hispanics.

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​Texas redistricting, Court vs redistricting, 2026 midterm election, Texas republicans, Politics 

Two members of LeBron James’ inner circle are being investigated as part of the NBA’s ongoing inquiries into gambling and insider tipoffs.

It’s been nearly a month since the FBI released the shocking indictments of an NBA coach and player, along with a former NBA player.

‘That player was not named in the team’s injury report at the time. James did not play in that game.’

Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, current Miami Heat player Terry Rozier, and former NBA player Damon Jones were indicted. Rozier was accused of sharing insider information to gamblers, while Billups was allegedly involved in illegal poker games hosted by Italian mob families; Jones was reportedly involved in both.

Now as the NBA continues its investigation, disaster could be around the corner for the league as Los Angeles Lakers personnel and those in close contact with James have reportedly surrendered their cell phones to an inquiring law firm hired by the NBA.

According to the Athletic, firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz has been contacting NBA teams to ask for cell phones, phone records, and other items. The firm has reportedly sought information from 10 Lakers employees, including assistant trainer Mike Mancias and executive administrator Randy Mims. Both have very close ties to James and reportedly gave up their cell phones voluntarily.

RELATED: NBA coach, former player arrested in Mafia-tied nationwide gambling bust

Randy Mims (L) and LeBron James attend a quarterfinal game of the 2018 NBA Summer League between the Lakers and the Detroit Pistons at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 15, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Mancias, 48, has reportedly been training James for around 20 years, while 50-year-old Mims has been associated with James since he was in high school in Akron, Ohio. James was drafted out of high school at 18 years old in 2003. Mims was described as James’ uncle in a 2003 Sports Illustrated article.

The player connection

The following information reported by the Athletic is circumstantial in nature, and it is important to note that neither James, Mancias, nor Mims have been charged with any crimes.

As part of his alleged betting scheme, former player Jones is accused by law enforcement of selling information about the injuries of two Lakers players to bettors on at least two occasions. In his indictment, Jones is labeled as a coach or teammate of a “prominent NBA player,” described as “Player 3,” whose relationship he abused to sell information to professional gamblers.

According to prosecutors, Jones found out on February 9, 2023, that “Player 3” would not play in a game between the Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks and told someone to place a “big bet” on the Bucks based on Player 3’s absence. That player was not named in the team’s injury report at the time. James did not play in that game.

Furthermore, on January 15, 2024, Jones allegedly sold his knowledge on a “Player 4,” who was allegedly injured. Jones was accused of passing on knowledge that Player 4’s performance would be impacted by the injury in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Federal authorities reportedly said that Jones “claimed to have learned from the trainer for ‘Player 3’ and ‘Player 4’ that ‘Player 4’ was hurt.”

RELATED: Former NBA star Paul Pierce tells men to CHEAT on their girlfriends

The Miami Heat’s LeBron James gets stretched by trainer Mike Mancias during practice for Game 3 of the NBA Finals at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, Saturday, June 16, 2012. David Santiago/El Nuevo Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

More connections, more charges

James’ business manager and known business partner Maverick Carter reportedly told federal agents in 2021 that he bet on NBA games with an illegal bookmaker. In November 2021, Carter told federal agents he “could not remember placing any bets on the Lakers” and also denied placing bets for others, ESPN reported.

Carter revealed he put down about 20 bets on football and basketball games over the span of one year, ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. The bookie Carter used, Wayne Nix, pleaded guilty to participating in a large, offshore betting ring.

Carter was named in the aforementioned 2003 Sports Illustrated piece as one of those “closest to James on a daily basis,” along with Mims. At the time, he was described as a former high school teammate who was three years older than James and employed by Nike to “take care of their $90 million man.”

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​Lebron james, Gambling, Nba, Basketball, Betting, Corruption, Fearless, Sports 

The Democratic Party, whose unfavorability rating is 58% according to the RealClearPolitics poll average, appears to be consumed by internal squabbles. In the latest, one Democrat’s campaign to shame a colleague has prompted retaliation from other radicals on her side of the aisle.

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) introduced a House resolution on Monday to formally rebuke one of her Democratic colleagues, Illinois Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, for allegedly “undermining the process of a free and fair election.”

Garcia filed to run for re-election on Oct. 27. Days later — after the deadline for candidates to file to run for Illinois’ 4th congressional district had passed — Garcia announced his retirement and indicated that he would be withdrawing his nominating petitions.

‘Some people need to learn how to stay in their lane.’

What appears to have really rankled Perez and other Democrats was that while Garcia failed to provide anybody else with a heads-up about his real intentions, he apparently tipped off his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, who managed to file to run in the district at the last minute, ensuring herself an opposition-free Democratic primary. Rep. Garcia subsequently endorsed his chief of staff.

Perez’s resolution, which was also supported by Democratic Maine Rep. Jared Golden, claimed that Garcia’s “actions are beneath the dignity of his office and incompatible with the spirit of the United States Constitution.”

Garcia’s office stated, “He followed every rule and every filing requirement laid out by the State of Illinois.”

“It’s not fun to call out a member of your own party,” Perez told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday. “But I think it’s important that we’re consistent.”

“Election subversion is always wrong. That’s not how we run things in this country, and that’s not the party that I want to be a part of,” added Perez.

RELATED: Socialism ‘will f**k you’: Bill Maher warns Democrats the radical left is leading party to ruin

US Rep. Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia (D-Ill.). Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

Perez attempted last week to have Garcia punished for his underhanded succession play, prompting scorn from Garcia’s Progressive Caucus ally Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), who said of the Washington congresswoman, “Some people need to learn how to stay in their lane.”

Unswayed by the criticism of her peers, Perez made the case for his reprimand on Monday, stating on the House floor, “No one has the right to subvert the right of the people to choose their elected representatives.”

The House advanced Perez’s resolution as the motion to table it failed in a 211-206 vote.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) defended Garcia on Monday, telling reporters, “I do not support this so-called resolution of disapproval, and I strongly support Congressman Chuy Garcia. He has been a progressive champion in disenfranchised communities for decades.”

Congressional Progressive Caucus members, all of whom reportedly stood up on Monday to condemn Perez, are reportedly now working to punish the Washington Democrat for championing transparency and choice in Democratic politics.

A lawmaker and a senior aide familiar with the matter told Axios that Progressive Caucus members are considering a resolution that would accuse Perez of lying about not taking corporate PAC donations.

Last year, End Citizens United, a group that endorsed and backed Perez’s congressional campaign, claimed that while then-Republican congressional candidate Joe Kent had supposedly taken money from corporate PACs, “Perez has continued to abide by her pledge to reject corporate PAC contributions.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee noted, however, that the Perez campaign had received numerous corporate PAC donations.

Sources told Axios that the resolution targeting Perez would reference reporting that her campaign and PAC accepted donations from various corporate sources, including the American Petroleum Institute PAC and American Forest and Paper Association PAC.

A spokesman for Perez did not respond to Axios’ request for comment.

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​U.s. rep. jesus "chuy" garcia, Jesus garcia, Chuy, Democrat, Infighting, Illinois, Chicago, Leftism, Leftist, Marie gluesenkamp perez, House, Congress, Politics 

Bill Maher criticized those behind the Democratic Socialist movement, stating that the Democratic Party must move to the center if it wants to win elections.

During a Friday episode of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Maher described how Democrats have become divided, with some pushing socialist ideals and others advocating for a more centrist position. He compared the comments of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a self-described Democratic Socialist, to those of Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger (D), who stated that the party should never “use the words ‘socialist’ or ‘socialism’ ever again.”

‘Because socialism, to put it simply, just doesn’t work and has never worked.’

Spanberger also previously stated that if the party does not shift toward the center, “We will get f**king torn apart.”

“So how do we decide who’s right?” Maher asked. “Well, it turns out we don’t really have to flip a coin; we have the evidence. In 2024, 13 Democrats won in districts Trump also won.”

Maher noted that all of those Democrats were “moderates.”

“All the left-leaning think tanks have done autopsies on 2024, and they all came up with the same message: Move to the center,” he said.

RELATED: Bill Maher destroys the left on the trans issue: ‘You can’t just say s**t’

Zohran Mamdani. Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Maher stated that Generation Z has warmed to socialism because they attribute current affordability challenges to capitalism.

“No one wants to be approaching middle age and still writing their name on food before they put it in the fridge. So they’re quitting, quiet quitting, capitalism and texting socialism that they’re down to f**k,” Maher continued. “The thing is, socialism will f**k you. Because socialism, to put it simply, just doesn’t work and has never worked.”

“If you think New York can somehow reinvent this wheel, you’re in for a rude a-woke-ning,” Maher said.

He contended that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Mamdani are “not Democrats.”

“They’ll be the first to tell you that. They’re Democratic Socialists, and that’s a very different thing, and I don’t think people know that yet,” he added.

RELATED: Mamdani sells socialism — and Republicans peddle the Temu version

Bernie Sanders. Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images For Fane

Maher explained that the U.S. already has “a lot of socialism,” citing Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance, food stamps, veteran benefits, Pell grants, COVID-era payments, farm subsidies, disability payments, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, corporate bailouts, and the military-industrial complex.

He slammed the Democratic Socialists of America as “radicals” who want “completely open borders.” He also accused the group of “p***y politics,” stating that they required convention attendees in 2025 to submit a negative COVID test. Maher criticized the DSA’s request for attendees not to clap but to use “jazz hands” instead, as well as the stipulation against wearing “aggressive scents” during the conference to accommodate those sensitive to sensory overload.

“This is who the Democrats are thinking of following? You know, Chuck Schumer ain’t perfect, but at least he doesn’t crumble into a heap when confronted with Chanel No. 5,” Maher stated.

“You may not clap in the traditional way,” he told his audience.

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​News, Bill maher, Aoc, Alexandria ocasio-cortez, Zohran mamdani, Mamdani, Abigail spanberger, Bernie sanders, Democratic party, Democrat party, Socialism, Socialist, Democratic socialist, Democratic socialism, Politics 

Officials, including activist judges, refuse to let Republican efforts to fight crime go unpunished, with the most recent challenge coming from Tennessee.

On Monday, a Tennessee judge blocked the deployment of the National Guard to clean up the city of Memphis.

‘I’m grateful for the President’s commitment to keeping Memphians safe by ensuring we have every federal resource at our disposal.’

According to the AP, Davidson County Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal, a Democrat, decided that Republican Governor Bill Lee does not have the power to deploy the Tennessee National Guard in the absence of rebellion or invasion.

The judge found that the deployment of the National Guard likely violates the state’s military code and that state officials “are suffering or will suffer irreparable harm” if the injunction isn’t granted, according to NBC News.

RELATED: Task force locates 101 missing children, arrests so many suspects the Memphis jail is running out of room: Report

Photo by AUSTIN JOHNSON/AFP via Getty Images

Moskal paused the order for at least five days to give the government time to file an “immediate application for permission to appeal.”

Democrat Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, a plaintiff in the case, said he was “pleased” with the decision.

“This is a positive step toward ensuring the rule of law applies to everyone, including everyday Tennesseans and even the Governor,” Harris said on X.

The National Guard arrived in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 10 as part of the so-called Memphis Safe Task Force.

Upon the task force’s establishment in the middle of September, Governor Lee posted on X, “I’m grateful for the President’s commitment to keeping Memphians safe by ensuring we have every federal resource at our disposal.”

Democrat Memphis Mayor Paul Young, who is not party to the lawsuit, said that he wanted the task force to target violent offenders, a major problem in the city.

The Memphis Safe Task Force has been highly successful by many metrics, including recovering over 100 children from human trafficking networks by November.

Newsmax host Todd Starnes said in response to the judge’s ruling, “Will the Democrats also demand that the missing children recovered by the task force be returned to the human traffickers?”

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​Politics, Memphis, Tn, Tennessee, Chancellor patricia head moskal, Governor bill lee, Mayor lee harris, National guard, Trump, Memphis safe task force 

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is following in President Donald Trump’s footsteps ahead of the House vote to release the Epstein files.

After months of pushing back on Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie’s Epstein discharge petition, Trump changed course and encouraged House Republicans to vote in favor of the resolution Tuesday.

‘We have nothing to do with Epstein.’

“As I said on Friday night aboard Air Force One to the Fake News Media, House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown,'” Trump said in a Truth Social Post Sunday.

Rank-and-file Republicans followed suit and began to embrace Massie’s petition publicly, and Johnson, who previously expressed misgivings about the discharge petition, later announced that he will vote for the resolution.

However, there are a few caveats.

RELATED: Effort to release Epstein files finally advances after newly sworn-in Democrat becomes final signatory

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Johnson conceded that he would vote in favor of the resolution but maintained that there were several “dangers” regarding victim privacy, inadequate handling of child sexual abuse materials, and the lack of protections for whistleblowers.

“There’s a handful of Republicans, Judiciary Committee members, and a few others who are really struggling, as I have been, about whether or not they can even vote yes today because of this,” Johnson said during the presser. “Because we don’t have an absolute guarantee that this will be fixed in the Senate.”

Despite these “dangers,” Johnson said he has a “high degree of confidence” that the Senate will implement the necessary changes, allowing him to vote yes on the resolution.

“Having now forced the vote, none of us want to go on record and in any way be accused of not being for maximum transparency,” Johnson said. “So the only intellectually consistent position to have right now … is to allow for everyone to vote their conscience and to go on record to say, ‘Of course we’re for maximum transparency.'”

RELATED: ‘Temporary crumbs’: Out-of-touch Democrat gives stunning rebuke of Trump’s ‘No Tax on Tips’ policy

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Massie and Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna of California co-led the discharge petition, securing 218 signatures Wednesday to force a vote on the House floor. All 214 Democrats signed on to the petition alongside four Republicans: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Massie.

Although the petition received the support of only four Republicans, the vote is expected to pass with overwhelming GOP support after Trump gave the conference the green light on Sunday.

He also confirmed Monday that he would sign the resolution once it passes Congress.

“We have nothing to do with Epstein. The Democrats do,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “All of his friends were Democrats.”

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​Mike johnson, Thomas massie, Ro khanna, Donald trump, Jeffrey epstein, Epstein files, Nancy mace, Lauren boebert, Marjorie taylor greene, Politics 

Since 2021, home ownership has become increasingly out of reach for the average American, as both home prices and interest rates have skyrocketed with no reprieve. Earlier this month, President Trump pitched the idea of 50-year mortgages to combat the housing affordability crisis. He even posted a meme on Truth Social comparing himself to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who’s credited with the 30-year mortgage, and labeled himself the pioneer of the 50-year version.

The proposal, however, immediately drew bipartisan backlash, with critics across the ideological spectrum branding it “debt slavery” or “mortgage suicide.”

Christopher Rufo and Jonathan Keeperman (Lomez), hosts of BlazeTV’s newest show “Rufo and Lomez,” agree that the 50-year mortgage is an economically disastrous idea, not just for the individual homebuyer but for society at large.

“I don’t even want to say [the idea] is bad. It’s just pointless,” says Lomez. “It doesn’t solve any problem that it’s ostensibly trying to solve.”

The problem the Trump administration should be zeroing in on, he says, is the massive generational imbalance in America. Our current policies have wealth flowing in one direction: “from young to old.”

“I think this is partly the problem of boomer politics. They are such an outsized political force, and they are so narrowly focused (as is everyone else) on their self-interest that they’ve lost sight of the larger picture of what they’re trying to leave behind for the generations that come after,” says Lomez.

With boomers turning out in huge numbers to block new housing construction, defend senior property-tax caps, and protect incentives that keep them from ever selling or downsizing, the average first-time home buyer today is 40 years old (up from 33 in 2020), while the average home buyer in general is 59 years old.

“The outcome of these various policies and how we think about who can buy a home and property tax rates and how we architect certain incentives — both the sticks and carrots — have basically crowded young people out of home buying, and this is a massive structural failure on our part,” Lomez argues.

The impact is far more extensive than many realize.

“This has massive downstream effects in terms of fertility rates … and marriage and all the stuff that makes life good. The housing piece of it is a proxy for all of that, but it’s a very important piece of that, and we need to fix this problem,” Lomez explains.

“We’re going to have to figure out some solution that’s better than just going to debt peonage for the rest of your life.”

Rufo agrees, calling the American dream of homeownership “an amazing path for most people” that “should be widely available.”

The idea of a 50-year mortgage may seem like it brings this dream back into the realm of possibility because it “[reduces] the monthly payments on the median house by … a couple hundred bucks a month,” but what it ultimately does is turn a home into “a speculative financial asset.”

“People aren’t going to stay and pay off a 50-year loan,” and by “pushing the payment on the principal back … for the first decade, you’re really not paying down any principal at all. That’s pure money to the bank,” says Rufo.

But this doesn’t just impact the individual, he says. It hurts everyone. “If [the 50-year mortgage] works, according to the theory, it will artificially inflate demand even further, which drives up housing prices.”

“The real problem is that we’ve flooded the country with currency. We’ve flooded the country by printing dollars, especially after COVID, where all of that money that is floating around the system has gone to these assets, like housing,” says Rufo, dismissing Trump’s 50-year mortgage proposal as an idea with “good intentions” but “not a good solution.”

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more from Rufo & Lomez?

To enjoy more of the news through the anthropological lens of Christopher Rufo and Lomez, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Rufo & lomez, Chris rufo, Jonathan keeperman, Blazetv, Blaze media, Home prices, Housing affordability, Housing crisis, Housing crisis worse, Boomers, 50 year mortgage, Donald trump 

President Donald Trump directed the Justice Department and the FBI on Friday to “investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him.”

The order has clearly ruffled some feathers among some of the infamous sex offender’s associates.

For instance, Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, claimed on X that the “calls for baseless investigations of me are nothing more than political persecution and slander. I was never a client of Epstein’s and never had any engagement with him other than fundraising for MIT.”

A spokesperson for Clinton told NBC News that the emails “prove Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing,” adding that the “rest is noise meant to distract from election losses, backfiring shutdowns, and who knows what else.”

JPMorganChase said in response to Trump’s announcement, “We regret any association we had with the man, but did not help him commit his heinous acts. We ended our relationship with him years before his arrest on sex trafficking charges.”

While some of Epstein’s pen pals are proclaiming their supposed innocence, Summers, a Harvard professor who served as former President Barack Obama’s top economic adviser and former President Bill Clinton’s treasury secretary, has instead signaled regret and announced he is effectively going into hiding.

‘She is doomed to be with you.’

“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused,” Summers said in a statement on Monday. “I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein.”

“While continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me,” added Summers.

RELATED: Trump gives Republicans the green light on the Epstein files: ‘I DON’T CARE!’

Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Economic Club of New York has reportedly postponed an event featuring Summers and the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank with strong ties to the Democratic Party, and indicated on Monday that Summers has ended his fellowship with them.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) has called on Harvard University to similarly cut ties with Summers.

Warren, another Democrat who has worked at Harvard as a professor, told CNN, “For decades, Larry Summers has demonstrated his attraction to serving the wealthy and well-connected, but his willingness to cozy up to a convicted sex offender demonstrates monumentally bad judgment.”

“If he had so little ability to distance himself from Jeffrey Epstein even after all that was publicly known about Epstein’s sex offenses involving underage girls, then Summers cannot be trusted to advise our nation’s politicians, policymakers, and institutions — or teach a generation of students at Harvard or anywhere else,” added Warren.

CNN indicated that Harvard had not responded to its requests for comment.

Among the over 20,000 pages of damning Epstein emails released by the House Oversight Committee last week were numerous messages between the dead sex trafficker and Summers, in many cases about women, politics, and projects linked to Harvard University, where Summers was president from 2001 to 2006.

While remorseful now that his correspondences have been published, Summers evidently had no issue gossiping with Epstein in the years following his 2008 felony conviction for solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution from a person under the age of 18. Summers apparently wrote to Epstein as late as July 5, 2019 — a day before Epstein was arrested on new federal charges of sex trafficking of minors and a month before he was found hanged in his prison cell.

The Harvard Crimson highlighted that in addition to apparently joking with Epstein about women being less intelligent than men, criticizing Harvard’s admission of a black baby killer, and discussing the sex offender’s donations to various initiatives, Summers also turned to Epstein for advice on romantic matters.

In a sequence of texts and emails between November 2018 and the eve of Epstein’s July 2019 arrest, Summers reportedly pressed the convicted sex offender — who described himself as the Harvard professor’s “wing man” — for advice about pursuing a woman he characterized as a mentee.

In one instance, Summers — who has been married to his second wife, Elisa New, since 2005 — reportedly forwarded Epstein an email from the object of his desire wherein she requested feedback for a paper.

Epstein, responding to Summers’ suggestion that he should hold off on replying, wrote, “She’s already begining [sic] to sound needy 🙂 nice.”

The Crimson noted that the woman Summers was attempting to seduce and referencing in a number of his messages with Epstein was Chinese economist Keyu Jin, a professor of finance at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology who earned her Ph.D. at Harvard between 2000 and 2009.

Jin’s father happens to be a former high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official with whom Summers was apparently quite close. In a letter dated Dec. 22, 2018, Jin thanked Summers for his support and for his support for her father’s work. Her father, Jin Liquin, served as China’s vice minister of finance and ran part of Beijing’s imperialistic Belt and Road Initiative.

Summers forwarded the letter to Epstein, noting that he “sent a comment in mtg w her father flattering her father and saying other China officials had flattered him as well.”

In the months that followed, both men continued to discuss Summers’ relationship with the woman and joked about the Harvard professor’s probability of having sex with her, even as their relationship was apparently petering out.

“She is doomed to be with you,” Epstein wrote Summers in 2019, though the identity of the woman Epstein was referencing is unclear.

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​Larry summers, Summers, Bill clinton, Jeffrey epstein, Epstein, Pedophile, Sex offender, House oversight, Oversight, Donald trump, Creep, Harvard university, Politics 

Police in Grand Prairie, Texas, responded to the 400 block of Santa Margarita Street around 2 a.m. Sunday after a call about a suspicious person, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Grand Prairie is about 30 minutes west of Dallas.

The homeowner had called 911 and told police that an unknown person forcefully entered his home through the back door, the paper said, citing police.

‘Just because a person is elderly doesn’t mean they are not going to protect what’s theirs, especially in Texas.’

Police said the elderly male homeowner was armed with a hunting rifle and confronted the burglary suspect “who was rummaging through property inside the house,” the Star-Telegram reported.

The homeowner “fearing for his life” shot the burglar, who died at the scene, the paper said, citing police.

Police said the shooting is being investigated as self-defense, and no charges are expected against the homeowner, the Star-Telegram reported.

The Dallas County Medical Examiner will identify the fatally shot person after next of kin have been notified, the paper added.

RELATED: 3 armed thugs wearing ski masks allegedly break into Texas home. But homeowner also has gun — and simply does what Texans do.

Image source: Grand Prairie (Texas) Police

Commenters under the Grand Prairie News’ Facebook post about the shooting have been airing their perspectives, and they seem to be fully backing the homeowner:

“Play stupid games … win stupid prizes,” one commenter wrote. “Shoutout to the homeowner for exercising the 2nd Amendment and protecting his property.””It’s always a shame when someone loses their life like this. It breaks my heart. The victim will have to live with the fact that he took someone’s life,” another user shared. “That said, every gun owner should spend time, in deep thought, planning out every hypothetical situation & their reaction in detail. I have, and I would do the same thing. Don’t break into my home if you value your life. I have prepared myself.””I think this homeowner did what anyone of us would do and protected his property,” another commenter stated. “It’s stupid to break into houses, especially in Texas.””Let’s all give the homeowner a round of applause,” another user suggested.”Best news I’ve heard all day,” another user declared.”Just because a person is elderly doesn’t mean they are not going to protect what’s theirs, especially in Texas,” another commenter opined.

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​Crime thwarted, Burglar, Break-in, Home invasion, Grand prairie, Texas, Police, Fatal shooting, Self-defense, Guns, Gun rights, Elderly homeowner, Hunting rifle, Crime 

A multi-agency operation led to the recovery of over 100 children from Florida and several other states.

Operation Home for the Holidays was led by the U.S. Marshals Service and involved partnerships with the FBI’s Jacksonville Field Office, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and other federal, state, and local entities.

‘Many of these kids have been victimized in unspeakable ways. We will prosecute their abusers to the fullest extent of the law.’

Jason Carley, the FBI field office’s special agent in charge, explained that the mission aimed to “find missing and potentially trafficked children.”

“In these types of operations, partnerships are essential,” he added.

The law enforcement operation, which ran over two weeks, resulted in the recovery of 122 children, FBI Jacksonville reported on Monday. The children were connected to care and services.

“Protecting our children is at the core of the FBI’s mission. This operation represents the very best of what can be accomplished when state, local and federal partners come together with a shared commitment,” FBI Jacksonville stated.

RELATED: Florida accuses Roblox of allowing child groomers to exploit children through ‘sexually explicit material’

Image source: FBI Jacksonville

Law enforcement agents rescued 57 children from Tampa, 14 from Orlando, 22 from Jacksonville, 29 from Fort Myers, and 13 from other states and internationally, according to the Florida Attorney General’s Office.

“The children ranged in age from 23 months to 17 years old, and many had experienced various levels of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or exposure to other criminal activity,” a statement from the AG’s office read.

— (@)

Six individuals were reportedly arrested on felony charges, including child neglect, custodial interference, narcotics possession, sexual assault, terroristic threats, and endangerment.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier called the operation one of the nation’s largest child-recovery efforts.

“Many of these kids have been victimized in unspeakable ways. We will prosecute their abusers to the fullest extent of the law,” Uthmeier stated.

RELATED: Florida’s historic sting rescues dozens of kids and arrests alleged predators in nation’s ‘largest’ child rescue sweep

Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images

“What allows our Middle Florida-based child recovery initiatives to stand out is the emphasis placed on what happens after,” said William Berger, the U.S. marshal for the Middle District of Florida. “We know these children will have needs once we find them. It only makes sense to build these operations alongside like-minded partners from across the child welfare space.”

“The United States Marshals Service is proud to stand with our partners across the state of Florida in pursuit of the safety and welfare of our children,” Berger continued. “This operation was built based upon the wants and needs of our communities. We are honored to play a leading role in answering those calls. Welcome Home and Happy Holidays!”

— (@)

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​News, Florida, U.s. marshals service, Us marshals service, Jacksonville, Fbi jacksonville, Fbi, Federal bureau of investigation, Child trafficking, Tampa, Orlando, Fort myers, James uthmeier, William berger, Bill berger, Child abuse, Child neglect, Trafficking, Human trafficking, Politics 

Large sections of the internet stopped working on Tuesday morning. Among the sites affected by the latest in a weeks-long series of outages were Amazon Web Services, X, League of Legends, the betting site bet365, Spotify, ChatGPT, and — ironically — the website that monitors online outages, Downdetector.

The problem appears to be the result of issues at Cloudflare, a San Francisco-headquartered tech company that effectively serves as a backbone to a myriad of sites, providing content delivery network and wide area network services, domain registration, and cybersecurity.

‘We saw a spike in unusual traffic.’

At the time of writing, the Cloudflare system status page indicated that the company was working toward restoring global network services, having hours earlier acknowledged “experiencing an internal service degradation” that could leave some services “intermittently impacted.”

The latest outages come just days after Cloudflare admitted an “issue which potentially impacts multiple customers” — an issue that was supposedly “resolved.”

A spokesperson for Cloudflare said in a statement obtained by the Guardian, “We saw a spike in unusual traffic to one of Cloudflare’s services beginning at 11:20am [London time]. That caused some traffic passing through Cloudflare’s network to experience errors. While most traffic for most services continued to flow as normal, there were elevated errors across multiple Cloudflare services.”

“We do not yet know the cause of the spike in unusual traffic,” continued the spokesperson. “We are all hands on deck to make sure all traffic is served without errors. After that, we will turn our attention to investigating the cause of the unusual spike in traffic.”

The company’s engineers were reportedly scheduled to conduct some maintenance work on data centers in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Tahiti, and Santiago, Chile. It’s unclear whether their efforts had anything to do with the technical issues.

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​Technology, Internet, Cloudflare, Outage, X, Online, Cybersecurity, Politics 

Last month, Warner Brothers Discovery put itself up for sale, triggering what could become a bidding war for one of America’s most iconic studios. Days later, reports emerged that Amazon plans to make a run at the company, immediately raising the stakes.

Consumers and regulators should treat every Big Tech bidder with skepticism, but Amazon’s interest demands special scrutiny. The world’s largest online retailer has a long record of distorting markets, crushing rivals, and cozying up to foreign adversaries — most notably China. Letting Amazon absorb yet another major media asset would tighten its grip on an entertainment industry already buckling under corporate consolidation.

Why would antitrust officials hand Amazon even more power in a sector already suffocating under concentration?

Amazon may be a household name, but it is not an America-first company. It bullies smaller retailers, copies their ideas, and funnels profits and supply-chain leverage through China. That behavior undermines the ingenuity and fair competition that built the U.S. economy.

Amazon already wields enormous influence over media. Last year, Prime Video topped U.S. streaming charts for the third straight year. Amazon controls a sprawling production studio, reinforced by its 2022 purchase of MGM. It holds high-dollar sports rights, including “Thursday Night Football” and an 11-year deal with the NBA.

Amazon doesn’t need Warner Brothers Discovery to survive. It wants the company to force more Americans into its digital universe, dominate an even larger share of the market, and use that dominance to trap users and raise prices. Buying competitors beats out-competing them — a classic monopolist playbook that burdens consumers and smothers innovation.

A Warner Brothers takeover would give Amazon exactly what it wants: a massive content library, the third-largest streaming platform, and a lineup of lucrative cable properties. With the deal sealed, Amazon would control more than a third of the streaming video on demand market — roughly 50% more than its nearest rival.

Why would antitrust officials hand Amazon even more power in a sector already suffocating under concentration? They likely won’t.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson and the Justice Department’s antitrust chief, Gail Slater, have made clear that they intend to protect small businesses and consumers from predatory corporate behavior.

The Trump administration has backed those promises with action. Within nine months of taking office, the FTC forced Amazon to pay $2.5 million for trapping customers in Prime subscriptions. Ferguson’s vow to ensure that “Amazon never does this again” shows that this White House will not give repeat offenders a free pass.

RELATED: Stop feeding Big Tech and start feeding Americans again

Lexi Critchett/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The regulatory terrain also looks dramatically different from 2022, when Amazon bought MGM — an acquisition the Biden administration should have challenged and likely would challenge today. After that merger, the FTC rewrote its merger and acquisition guidelines to strengthen oversight. President Trump kept those rules and appears ready to use them.

Some critics claim Amazon earned goodwill with the administration by contributing to White House renovation projects. That accusation doesn’t survive contact with the facts. Candidate Trump warned about Amazon’s “huge antitrust problem” as early as 2016. The company has grown eightfold since then. Trump hasn’t softened.

And Amazon hardly functioned as a friend of the right. The company backed Joe Biden heavily in 2020, donating nearly $2.3 million to his campaign. Biden’s FTC did not treat Amazon kindly either, suing the company for “anticompetitive and unfair strategies to illegally maintain its monopoly power.” That case remains unresolved.

The sale of Warner Brothers Discovery will shape the future of American media — either by giving the company a fighting chance to innovate and compete, or by cementing Big Tech control over what Americans watch, read, and hear. If Amazon tries to tighten that grip, I expect the Trump administration to step in.

Let’s hope the sale doesn’t force the administration’s hand.

​Amazon, Warner bros., Monopoly, Opinion & analysis, Antitrust, Federal trade commission, Streaming, Merger, Regulations, America first, China, Big tech 

A woman was arrested and charged with child neglect on Nov. 9 for allegedly leaving her children in a filthy apartment full of human and animal feces, Michigan police said.

Police were called to a residence on South Francis Street over a possible break-in, but instead found the “deplorable conditions” that led them to arrest 31-year-old Teriomas Tremice Johnson, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

‘It defies understanding how parents blessed with the gift of a child could show such cruelty.’

Deputies found a 12-year-old girl, a 9-year-old girl, and a 9-year-old boy alone in the apartment. There was no working plumbing, and the children were forced to defecate in a cardboard box. Police said three cats also lived in the home and all of the sinks were clogged.

The sheriff’s department also said that the children only sporadically attended school.

The children were placed into the custody of their fathers by Children’s Protective Services.

Johnson is facing three felony charges of second-degree child abuse. Each charge may be punishable by up to 10 years in prison. She had been on probation for 36 months after a conviction on retail fraud and other charges.

The sheriff’s department posted two photographs from the apartment on social media.

RELATED: Police rescue 2 children from freezing home with ‘overwhelming’ smell of dog feces and urine: ‘Like a punch to the face’

“It defies understanding how parents blessed with the gift of a child could show such cruelty,” said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard. “The complete lack of compassion and humanity is heartbreaking, and I am eager to see justice served for this unconscionable act.”

Bond for Johnson was initially set at $250,000, but Magistrate Angelena Thomas-Scruggs revoked the bond after the suspect threw a chair and yelled an expletive at the official, according to the sheriff’s office.

The School District of the City of Pontiac said the district is cooperating with the police investigation.

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​Animal neglect, Kids in filthy apartment, Teriomas tremice johnson, Pontiac michigan, Crime, Child neglect 

New York City has elected a self-professed socialist as mayor. Critics worry about Zohran Mamdani’s inexperience, his approach to law and order, and his views on Israel and Islamic radicalism. But the most urgent issue inside the walls of City Hall is his economic agenda.

Mamdani promises “free” bus transit, a freeze on rent increases, a $30 minimum wage, government-run grocery stores, free child care, and higher taxes in a city already crushed by some of the nation’s highest tax burdens. His brand of socialism isn’t subtle. It’s explicit — and guaranteed to fail.

A movement confident in free enterprise can beat socialism — first in the arena of ideas, then at the ballot box. But only if we choose clarity over imitation.

Many on the right treat Mamdani’s victory as cosmic justice for a deep-blue city that keeps moving left. Others welcome his rise, convinced that showcasing a hard-left mayor will repel voters nationwide. That might be true. It might also be fantasy.

New Yorkers didn’t elect Mamdani so conservatives could score a talking point. His win advances ideas — and conservatives must decide whether they still believe ours are better.

When the right copies the left

Mocking government-run grocery stores is easy. Yet national Republicans just embraced government ownership in Intel — a massive corporation that dwarfs any Manhattan supermarket. Some even support a federal sovereign wealth fund to buy equity across private industry, handing Washington the power to pick winners.

Mamdani demonizes Wall Street and high earners who keep the city solvent. Republicans respond by demonizing “big pharma” and pushing policies that treat major U.S. innovators as villains.

Mamdani wants to redistribute income with New York’s already-extreme tax code. Some on the right now call for $2,000 government checks to lower-income households — financed with borrowed money and paid back by business owners already hit with $350 billion in new tariff taxes this year.

Mamdani would freeze rents because, in his telling, landlords “make a killing.” His economics ignore taxes, insurance, utilities, and maintenance costs that devour margins across New York’s rental market. Yet GOP proposals on health care routinely blame insurers for “making a killing while the little guy suffers.” The overlap with left-wing rhetoric isn’t coincidence. It’s drift.

High grocery prices fuel Mamdani’s push for government-run grocery stores. He blames “capitalistic greed.” Republicans answered high beef prices by accusing meat companies of “price fixing.” Again, the same logic — just delivered with a different logo.

Resurrecting failed policies

Mamdani’s worldview mirrors the same interventionist thinking that powered the Affordable Care Act. Subsidies, mandates, and price controls promised relief. They delivered higher premiums, higher costs, and lower-quality care.

Conservatives should highlight that failure. Instead, too many mimic the left’s solutions — regulation dressed up as populism, government expansion sold as “tough on corporations,” and class warfare renamed as “standing up for workers.”

If Mamdani’s win teaches anything, it’s that conservatives must draw a bright line: free enterprise or the road to socialism. Blurring that line weakens the argument and cedes the moral ground socialism feeds on.

RELATED: Mao tried this first — New Yorkers will not like the ending

Bettmann/Getty Images

The real fight

The conservative movement faces serious internal debates — debates worth having. But Mamdani’s election exposes one fight we cannot dodge: the fight for limited government and competitive markets.

We cannot counter socialism with lighter versions of the same policies. We cannot attack Mamdani’s economic program while pushing our own price controls, government takeovers, and redistribution schemes. A movement that refuses to defend free enterprise won’t defeat socialism. It won’t even understand the threat.

Mamdani comes into office with plenty of flaws. New Yorkers will feel the consequences soon enough. But conservatives face a choice: defend our own principles or mimic the left and call it “the new right.”

A movement confident in free enterprise can beat socialism — first in the arena of ideas, then at the ballot box. But only if we choose clarity over imitation.

​Zohran mamdani, Intel, Gop, Socialism, Opinion & analysis, Republicans, Voters, Free buses, Grocery prices, Industrial policy, Class warfare, Class envy 

Donald Trump’s would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks’ digital footprint has been exposed — but not by the FBI. Rather, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has revealed disturbing comments Crooks allegedly made on social media leading up to his decision to fire at President Trump.

This online history dates back years and includes him engaging in conversations in YouTube comment sections where he explains that the “only way to fight the gov is with terrorism style attacks.”

Crooks’ Google searches also reveal a mentally unwell young man, with searches as far back as 2019 centering around mass shootings, how to build a bomb, and “firing an AR15 as fast as possible.”

Prior to 2020, Crooks’ comments appeared to be pro-Trump and against the left. But all that switched, seemingly overnight.

While the FBI has countered Carlson’s claims, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales isn’t buying it.

“This is a guy who is not well. And I’m just wondering, with so many people on the FBI radar, and the fact that the FBI radar can be so vast at times — I mean, they can track down anyone for anything. Unless you’re the pipe bomber and unless you try to assassinate the president, then running for office,” Gonzales says.

“And all of a sudden, we can’t find anything. … I’m telling you guys, this man was on their radar,” she says. “They won’t tell you that. This is my opinion.”

Gonzales believes that the YouTube comments — where Crooks was replying to an anonymous account discussing violent attacks — point to the possibility that he was “programmed to want to kill Trump.”

Gonzales also points out that while Crooks was engaging in violent rhetoric in the YouTube comment sections, she herself was getting censored for far less.

“I know for a fact YouTube is all over their stuff because I’ve been demonetized for two years of my life, two-plus years of my life, for saying something far more benign than calling for assassination. I misgendered someone, and I almost lost my entire YouTube account,” she explains.

“We deserve answers. … We deserve more answers than, ‘Trust us, bro, we’re the FBI,’” she adds.

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​Sharing, Free, Upload, Camera phone, Video phone, Video, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, The fbi, Kash patel, Tucker carlson, Thomas matthew crooks, Thomas crooks, President trump, Trump assassin, Trump assassination attempt, Thomas crooks online history 

A Utah judge just turned a safe Republican congressional seat into a near-guaranteed Democrat seat — and she did it in a state controlled top to bottom by Republicans. How does that happen? A generation of weak Republicans in the elected branches handed liberals control of the judicial branch and gave them the ballot initiative system they needed to take over the state piece by piece.

Democrats can’t win statewide office in half the country, so they’ve turned ballot initiatives into their weapon of choice. Pollsters craft soothing messaging, activists gather signatures, and voters — thinking they’re supporting neutrality — unknowingly approve measures that shift power to Democrats.

Supermajority states serve as a control group. The problem isn’t power; the problem is the GOP’s refusal to wield it.

The “nonpartisan redistricting commission” scam remains their most effective tool. These commissions always promise fairness, and they always produce more Democratic seats.

Utah proved the point in 2018, when 66% of voters approved Proposition 4, even though most Utahns don’t want Democrats running the state. The same tactic produced Medicaid expansion and marijuana legalization. None of these measures would have survived the legislature — but they passed once voters encountered them in isolation.

James Madison warned against pure democracy for this exact reason. A republic draws authority from the “great body of the society,” not from a small faction or self-appointed elite. Ballot-initiative commissions flip that logic on its head. They let unelected actors redraw power for themselves.

Here comes the judge

After the 2020 census, Utah’s legislature drew a fourth Republican congressional seat, as the state constitution requires. Democrats and their allies at the League of Women Voters sued to nullify the map and force a Salt Lake-centered Democrat seat.

In August, Third District Judge Dianna Gibson obliged. She declared the legislature’s map unconstitutional because, in her view, it ignored Prop. 4 — even though the constitution explicitly vests redistricting power in the legislature. She ordered a new process for 2026 and told both sides to submit maps.

The GOP-controlled legislature complied, proposing a compromise map and passing SB 1011 to impose “partisan fairness” tests on future redistricting so the commission couldn’t hand Democrats a permanent advantage.

Gibson ignored all of it. On Nov. 10, she tossed the legislative map, sidelined SB 1011, and adopted the map drawn by the very activist groups suing the state — the same groups that engineered Prop. 4.

Plainly unconstitutional

Nothing in Utah’s constitution supports what Gibson did. Article IX, Section 1 states that the legislature “shall divide the state” into congressional districts. A commission cannot do it. A judge cannot do it. Activists certainly cannot do it.

Yet Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson signed off on Gibson’s map, even though state law required her to certify only lawful maps. That decision reflects a deeper problem: Too many Utah Republicans treat constitutional violations as minor inconveniences and concede ground to Democrats who never reciprocate.

Democrats defend Gibson’s ruling by citing Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (2015), when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reinterpreted the word “legislature” to include ballot initiatives. Even if you grant that tortured reading of the U.S. Constitution, Utah’s constitution is far more explicit. Only the legislature draws maps.

RELATED: Democrats crown judges while crying about kings

Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Make impeachment great again

At the federal level, impeachment has become an empty threat. Senate math makes convictions nearly impossible. But red states with Republican supermajorities don’t face that obstacle.

Utah’s legislature holds a 61-14 majority in the House and a 22-6 majority in the Senate. Rep. Trevor Lee (R-Utah) on my show last week called for the impeachment of both Judge Gibson and Lt. Gov. Henderson for violating the state constitution. Republicans have the votes to do it — and the constitutional duty to rein in judicial usurpation.

Other states have shown it can be done. In 2018, West Virginia impeached all five members of its Supreme Court for corruption and removed them. Red states such as Oklahoma, Montana, Missouri, and South Carolina face the same problem Utah now faces: liberal judges empowered by timid Republicans.

A perilous path

Utah proves a point conservatives hate to admit. Republicans in Washington often claim they can’t implement the party’s agenda because they lack power. But in Utah, Republicans hold all the power — and still refuse to use it. They allow commissions to override them, courts to embarrass them, and Democrats to seize ground they could never win through elections.

Supermajority states serve as a control group. The problem isn’t power; the problem is the GOP’s refusal to wield it.

Unless Republicans act with conviction, Utah will follow Colorado’s path. Democrats chipped away at Colorado one institution at a time while Republicans shrugged. Now Colorado is a Democratic Party fortress.

Utah is heading down the same trail — unless Republicans use the constitutional tools they still possess.

​Utah, Gop, Redistricting, Judges, Democrats, Opinion & analysis, Proposition 4, Nonpartisan committee, Dianna gibson, Ruth bader ginsburg, Legislatures, Red states, Supermajority 

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said it is investigating new claims of sexual assault against Sean “Diddy” Combs made by a man in Florida.

The hip-hop mogul was sentenced in October on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution after he was acquitted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. He was sentenced to 50 months in prison but will get credit for time already served.

The man said that he was so shocked that he did not respond.

Investigators said they received a report about the allegations against Combs from a police department in Florida on Friday.

That report was made by a man in September to police about an alleged incident of sexual assault in 2020. The man said that Combs had gratified himself in front of the man and then asked him to join in. The man said that he was so shocked that he did not respond and Combs tossed a shirt at him that he had soiled.

The identity of the man was redacted from the report, but music producer Jonathan Hay later identified himself on social media posts.

Hay is also one of the people who filed a civil lawsuit against Combs in July.

He also alleges that he and Combs participated in the sexual assault of C.J. Wallace, the son of deceased rapper Christopher Wallace, whose stage name was Notorious B.I.G. C.J. Wallace has filed a lawsuit against Hay for what he called “wildly false and defamatory allegations.”

Trump has said that Combs asked him for a pardon, although Combs’ attorney said he had no knowledge of such a request.

RELATED: Trump says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs requested a pardon for prostitution charges

A spokesperson for the Largo Police Department said the department was not investigating any alleged Combs crimes independently but said it is assisting the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office.

Neither representatives for Combs nor Wallace responded to requests for comment, according to ABC News.

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​Sean diddy combs, New sexual assault claims, Jonathan hay, Puff daddy, Politics 

Atlanta police last week shared a video report they said demonstrates that “in moments of crisis, true heroes emerge.”

On the night of Oct. 21, Officer Malik Safi was responding to a call for backup — but he never arrived at the scene, officials said.

‘I feel extremely proud of them both. I feel like they did exactly what they were taught to do — to help and have empathy for other people.’

Instead, Safi crashed into a house, setting both the residence and his patrol vehicle on fire, officials said.

WSB-TV reported that Safi also suffered serious injuries in the crash and was trapped inside the vehicle.

But fortunately brothers Keshun Robinson and Ryan Beck — and others — were around to help.

In fact, they braved the flames and pulled Safi out of his burning cruiser and to safety. That heroic action is captured, in part, on Safi’s body-worn camera.

“We just went off our heart,” Beck later said. “[It’s] how we was raised, you know. We didn’t want to see nobody suffer in that type of situation. We just hopped out and sprung into action.”

Robinson added, “We just tried to comfort [the officer] and let him know that he wasn’t there by himself.”

But the danger wasn’t over.

Soon gunshots were ringing out — and Robinson said “one of [the officer’s] guns that was in the car actually started going off.”

With that, police said the group had to move Safi yet again, this time pulling him all the way to a sidewalk.

RELATED: Hero cousins — just 9 and 11 — step up in a big way when they notice trouble at their favorite ice cream shop

What’s more, an unknown woman seen and heard on Safi’s bodycam video got on police radio and told dispatch he needed help.

WSB said the officer was taken to a hospital, and police noted that the “bravery and selflessness” of the two brothers and the other Good Samaritans “saved Officer Safi’s life.”

Later Beck noted to police that his mother raised him and his brother to live by the Golden Rule: “Treat people how you want to be treated.”

Their mother, Keziah Reed, also appeared in the police department’s video report and said, “I feel extremely proud of them both. I feel like they did exactly what they were taught to do — to help and have empathy for other people.”

Robinson added that perhaps the best part of the experience was when his own son called him a hero. “It means the world to me. It lit up my day. It made me a proud human being — not even [as] a father — just a proud person.”

Police noted that “these residents remind us that community truly means neighbors looking out for one another when it matters most. From all of us at the Atlanta Police Department, thank you for your extraordinary courage.”

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​Atlanta, Georgia, Police, Citizens rescue police officer, Bodycam video, Heroes, Crash, Police vehicle on fire, Good news, The golden rule, Brothers, Mother, Human interest 

Michelle Obama is making waves after claiming that black women have been trapped by the beauty standards of white people, which is why they straighten their hair.

The former first lady went on her rant during a live sit-down with Tracee Ellis Ross to discuss her new book, “The Look.”

“Let me explain something to white people,” Obama said. “Our hair comes out of our head naturally in a curly pattern. So when we’re straightening it to follow your beauty standards, we’re trapped by the straightness.”

“That’s why so many of us can’t swim and we run away from the water … trying to keep our hair straight for y’all! It is exhausting and it’s so expensive and it takes up so much time. Braids are for y’all so we can work harder and focus on the work,” she continued.

“Why do we need an act, an act of law, to tell white folks to get out of our hair? Don’t tell me how to wear my hair. Don’t wonder about it. Don’t touch it. Just don’t,” she added.

BlazeTV host Pat Gray is not amused by Obama’s little rant.

“Can you imagine if this was a white person saying, ‘All right, let me talk down to black people. Let me explain something to you black people about reality.’ … You’re an instant racist if you say that. And you’re labeled as such the rest of your life,” he says on “Pat Gray Unleashed.”

“There’s no escape from that. How is she immune to all of that?” he asks.

“Good lord,” executive producer Keith Malinak chimes in, adding, “She is insane.”

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​Sharing, Free, Upload, Camera phone, Video phone, Video, Youtube.com, Pat gray unleashed, Pat gray, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Michelle obama, Obama, Racism, Black on white racist, Michelle obama hair rant, President obama, First lady michelle obama, White women, Beauty standards 

A staffer for a Democrat U.S. senator is looking for a new job after allegedly pretending to be an immigration attorney in order to help a previously deported illegal alien.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons informed Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois on Wednesday about the accusations against Edward York.

‘I can confirm that neither I nor my leadership team was aware of, authorized, or directed what your letter describes as the employee’s conduct.’

The staffer was accused of intervening on behalf of a 40-year-old named Jose Ismeal Ayuzo Sandoval who had been previously deported four times to Mexico and had been convicted of a DUI.

“At approximately 1:29 p.m., an individual identified as Edward York, who according to publicly available information, is employed as a Constituent Outreach Coordinator for your Senate office, entered the field office lobby, and in a discussion with a federal officer, claimed to be Mr. Ayuzo’s attorney. Mr. York demanded to speak with his ‘client,’” according to Lyons’ letter.

“This staff member allegedly did so to gain access to the detainee and seek his release from custody, and he accomplished it by falsifying an official Department of Homeland Security (DHS) form,” he added.

York allegedly got Ayuzo to sign a form that allows an attorney to represent him in communications with immigration officials.

On Monday, Duckworth indicated that York had been fired.

“Upon reviewing the matter, I can confirm that neither I nor my leadership team was aware of, authorized, or directed what your letter describes as the employee’s conduct,” according to the letter obtained by Fox News.

She said he was fired effective on Monday.

RELATED: DHS crushes Democrat for claiming preschool teacher was detained without warrant in front of children

Duckworth has been very critical of ICE after President Donald Trump ramped up operations for mass deportations.

“I was on the ground today in Broadview with @SenatorDurbin (D-Ill.) to conduct Congressional oversight on ICE’s processing facility. As elected officials, we have a duty to ensure transparency within federal facilities. What is ICE hiding?” she posted in October.

“I literally spoke with a mother whose son is terrified that his teacher, Miss Diana, was taken. Republicans are siding with ICE’s lies and cruelty over our children,” she wrote in November.

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​Fake immigration attorney, Ice facility, Tammy duckworth, Jose ismeal ayuzo sandoval, Politics