The Trump administration’s Department of Transportation is taking significant steps to address issues within America’s trucking industry to improve road safety and national security.

On Monday, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the department has revoked nearly 3,000 of the estimated 16,000 commercial driver’s license training providers listed in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Training Provider Registry. The TPR lists all training providers authorized to offer entry-level driver training for CDL students.

‘Under Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, bad actors were able to game the system and let unqualified drivers flood our roadways.’

The impacted training providers were accused of “failing to equip trainees with the Trump administration’s standards of readiness,” a press release from the DOT revealed.

Reasons for removal included “falsifying or manipulating training data”; “neglecting to meet required curriculum standards, facility conditions, or instructor qualifications”; and “failing to maintain accurate, complete documentation or refusing to provide records during federal audits or investigations.”

The department issued warnings to another 4,500 training providers for potential non-compliance. Those entities have 30 days to respond and deliver evidence of compliance to avoid removal.

The DOT noted that this action aims to crack down on unqualified truck drivers and “corrupt operators.”

RELATED: Trump DOT hammers Gov. Shapiro, threatens to pull millions after state hands CDL to ‘suspected terrorist’ illegal alien trucker

Photo by GEORGE FREY/AFP via Getty Images

“If you are unwilling to follow the rules, you have no place training America’s commercial drivers. We will not tolerate negligence,” said FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs.

“This administration is cracking down on every link in the illegal trucking chain,” Duffy stated. “Under Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, bad actors were able to game the system and let unqualified drivers flood our roadways. Their negligence endangered every family on America’s roadways, and it ends today.”

“Under President Trump, we are reigning [sic] in illegal and reckless practices that let poorly trained drivers get behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses,” Duffy added.

Also on Monday, the DOT revealed that it found one-third of Minnesota’s non-domiciled CDLs were issued illegally.

The department is giving the state 30 days to come into compliance and revoke illegally issued licenses. The DOT is prepared to withhold up to $30.4 million in federal highway funding if Minnesota fails to comply.

RELATED: Exclusive: DOT withholds $40M from blue state for flouting English requirements for truckers

Sean Duffy. Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Barrs accused Minnesota of “openly and blatantly defying our rules.”

“Under the Trump administration, states have two choices: Meet our standards or face the consequences. Following the law is not optional,” he declared.

“Our audit exposes yet another example of foreigners taking advantage of Minnesota services under Governor Walz’s watch,” Duffy said. “Minnesota failed to follow the law and illegally doled out trucking licenses to unsafe, unqualified noncitizens — endangering American families on the road.”

This latest warning follows similar action the DOT has previously taken against Pennsylvania. The department has already vowed to withhold federal funds from California after the state failed to comply with its regulations concerning CDL issuance.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety and the governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

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​News, American trucking industry, Trucking industry, Department of transportation, Dot, Sean duffy, Minnesota, Commercial driver’s licenses, Commercial driver’s license, Cdls, Cdl, Federal motor carrier safety administration, Fmcsa, California, Pennsylvania, Non-domiciled cdl, Non-domiciled cdls, Non-domiciled, Politics 

A rhetorical battle has broken out between the Republican speaker of the House and a Republican congresswoman who is running in the gubernatorial election in New York.

Rep. Elise Stefanik accused Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana of lying about the process to include a provision in this year’s defense policy bill.

‘This is an easy one. This bill is DOA unless this provision gets added in as it was passed out of committee.’

Stefanik’s proposal would require the Federal Bureau of Investigation to notify Congress when it opens an investigation into a candidate for federal office. She threatened to kill the National Defense Authorization Act if her demands aren’t met.

“My provision will strengthen this accountability and transparency to deter this illegal weaponization and it passed out of the House Intelligence Committee in this Congress and previous ones,” she wrote on social media Monday. “If Republicans can’t deliver accountability and legislative fixes to arguably the biggest illegal corruption and government weaponization issue of all time, then what are we even doing.”

She went on to accuse Republicans of siding with Democrats on the issue.

“It is a scandalous disgrace that Republicans are allowing themselves to be rolled by the Dems and deep state on this,” she added.

On Tuesday, she said she walked out on a briefing about the issue and again lambasted Johnson.

“This is an easy one. This bill is DOA unless this provision gets added in as it was passed out of committee,” she added.

Johnson reacted to Stefanik’s accusations during a briefing with reporters Tuesday.

“All of that is false. I don’t exactly know why Elise won’t just call me. I texted her yesterday,” he said.

“She’s upset one of her provisions is not being made, I think, in the NDAA,” Johnson added. “I explained to her on text message — as soon as I head this yesterday, I was campaigning in Tennessee — and I wrote her. I said, ‘What are you talking about? This hasn’t even made it to my level.'”

He went on to explain that the provision had to be agreed upon by other committees before it could be included in the bill, and it was not approved.

“I don’t know why she’s frustrated with me. I literally had nothing to do with it. But I’m happy to roll up my sleeves and help her,” he added.

RELATED: Trump responds to failed bid to oust speaker Mike Johnson

Stefanik fired back on social media and accused Johnson of siding with Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland.

“Just more lies from the Speaker,” she wrote.

“It wasn’t on your radar? This is the ONLY provision in the bill to root out the deep state rot,” she continued in part. “You torpedoed this siding with Jamie Raskin. You said you would fix it, so fix it.”

Stefanik is running to replace incumbent Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul, but recent polling shows she has an uphill battle in the Empire State. While one poll from the Manhattan Institute shows Stefanik just slightly above the Democrat, other polls show Hochul with a double-digit lead.

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​Stefanik vs speaker johnson, Deep state mike johnson, National defense authorization act, Republican feud, Politics 

Two National Guard members were shot in what is believed to be a targeted attack near the White House — and the left is already blaming the president for the devastating holiday shooting.

One left-wing X account titled “Call to Activism” wrote, “BREAKING: Both National Guard members who were shot in Washington, DC, just one block from the White House, have died from their injuries. God bless them and their families.”

“History will wonder what we’re all thinking: why did Trump have to put them in harm’s way for a STUNT?” the user added.

“Of course, that’s not true,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere says on “Stu Does America.” “But again, when is that ever the consideration when posting something?”

When West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey wrote a heartfelt response to the shooting on X, one X user responded, “They should not have been there. You sent them to die for a stunt.”

Keith Olbermann also took the time to respond, writing, “Trump put them in harm’s way, fash.”

“Now, fash in this particular sense is short for fascist, which he’s said about every Republican he’s ever come across for as long as anyone’s known him,” Burguiere comments, pointing out that some are even blaming the shooting on guns.

“If you want to go and kill one person with a gun, it’s relatively easy to do anywhere in the world. So it’s just insane to blame this on guns,” he says.

However, the suspect has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old man who came to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2021.

“This is something the Biden administration wanted and executed in the worst possible fashion,” Burguiere says.

“You can’t control whether one person does something terrible. We have people, we have our own citizens, who do plenty of terrible things. This is why you don’t import more of it, right? We have enough crap going on here already without bringing in people who will kill us from foreign conflicts with nations we were at war with very recently. It doesn’t make any sense to import more of that,” he continues.

“If you import somebody like that, you better freaking be sure things go well,” he adds.

Want more from Stu?

To enjoy more of Stu’s lethal wit, wisdom, and mockery, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Upload, Free, Camera phone, Video, Sharing, Video phone, Youtube.com, Stu does america, Stu burguiere, The blaze, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Blazetv, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Afghan, Afghanistan, National guard members shot, National guard, President trump, President donald trump, President biden, Joe biden, Joe biden mental decline 

President Donald Trump has stood firm about his opposition to third-world immigration, especially from Somalia.

Somalians have flooded Minnesota under the leadership of Democratic-Farmer-Labor Gov. Tim Walz, whom Trump described as “seriously retarded” in a Truth Social post over Thanksgiving. In the same post, Trump announced he would be indefinitely pausing migration from third-world countries like Somalia and reiterated his position during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

‘I don’t want them in our country.’

Trump takes issue with the cultural and economic burden of importing tens of thousands of Somalians into a state like Minnesota, as well as the ungrateful attitude of migrants like Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar.

“Somalia, which is barely a country, you know, they have no anything. They just run around killing each other. There’s no structure,” Trump said. “And when I see somebody like Ilhan Omar, who I don’t know at all, but I always watched her for years. I’ve watched her complain about our Constitution, how she’s being treated badly. … ‘The United States of America is a bad place.’ Hates everybody.”

“I think she’s an incompetent person. She’s a real terrible person.”

RELATED: Trump sounds off again on Ilhan Omar — says why she should be thrown ‘THE HELL OUT of our country’

“Somalians ripped off that state for billions of dollars,” Trump added. “Billions every year. Billions of dollars, and they contribute nothing. The welfare is like 88%. They contribute nothing.”

Trump went on to say that America cannot afford to “keep taking in garbage into our country,” referring to third-world migrants who “do nothing but complain.”

“I don’t want them in our country; I’ll be honest with you,” Trump said. “Some might say, ‘Oh, that’s not politically correct.’ I don’t care. I don’t want them in our country. Their country is no good for a reason. Their country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country. I can say that about other countries too.”

“We have to rebuild our country,” Trump said. “… We’re at a tipping point. I don’t know if people mind me saying that, but I’m saying it. We could go one way or the other, and we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.”

RELATED: ‘Send them back’: Somalia First pitted against America First in Minnesota as Ilhan Omar attacks Trump over special status

Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images

Trump urged migrants like Omar, who have developed a disdain for America’s culture and founding, to go back to their own countries and fix them instead of siphoning public resources and ceaselessly complaining.

“Ilhan Omar is garbage; she’s garbage,” Trump said. “Her friends are garbage. These aren’t people that work. These aren’t people that say, ‘Let’s go, come on, let’s make this place great.’ These are people that do nothing but complain. They complain. And from where they came from, they got nothing.”

“When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but b***h, we don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.”

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​Ilhan omar, Donald trump, White house, Trump administration, Tim walz, Somalia, Somalian migrants, Minnesota, Mass migration, Immigration, Politics 

A 54-year-old man was arrested for allegedly tossing Molotov cocktail-style explosives at officers standing guard outside of a federal building in downtown Los Angeles on Monday morning.

Law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times that Jose Jovel is expected to be charged with arson and explosive-related offenses by the U.S. attorney’s office.

‘[He] stated that he wanted to blow up the building and “spray down” all the officers while making more derogatory comments.’

Jovel was arrested at about 8 a.m. after the attack at the federal building at 300 N. Los Angeles St.

“The suspect was taken into custody and stated that he wanted to blow up the building and ‘spray down’ all the officers while making more derogatory comments about ICE officers,” read a U.S. Department of Homeland Security statement.

The alleged firebombs were not lit before the suspect threw them.

A hazmat team evaluated a liquid at the site and determined it to be safe. Los Angeles firefighters also responded to the scene.

The man is under investigation for an arson at about 4 a.m. at his residence on North Westmoreland Avenue.

Jovel is a U.S. citizen. DHS said that investigators found four knives and a Leatherman tool in Jovel’s possession.

No one was injured in the incident, according to Laura Eimiller, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI is also investigating.

RELATED: Portland man threatened to kill ICE officers, sexually assault their wives, harm their children: FBI

In June, the same federal building was the site of a large protest by hundreds of people who opposed mass deportation operations of the Trump administration.

The building was vandalized with spray paint at the time, and police reported that some of the protesters had turned violent and tossed large pieces of concrete.

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​Molotov cocktail attack, Anti-ice attack, Downtown los angeles federal building, Jose f jovel, Politics 

Three-time Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro had strong words about using humans in the production of his latest film.

Del Toro, a writer and director behind films like “Pacific Rim,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and “The Hobbit” movies, was honored with a tribute award recently at the 2025 Gotham Film Awards.

‘Every single frame of this film that was willfully made by humans for humans.’

Del Toro accepted the award alongside actors Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi for their work on the 2025 film “Frankenstein.”

Del Toro made several emotional comments dating back to when he first read the book that inspired his movie at age 11, before Isaac attempted to turn the acceptance speech into one about diversity and immigration.

“I am proud to be standing here tonight. … Immigrants, baby. We get the job done,” Isaac exclaimed. He is Guatemalan, Elordi is Australian, and del Toro is Mexican.

Elordi then spoke, but neither he nor del Toro added to Isaac’s remarks. Soon, music started to play, and the production looked to the next award. That was until del Toro interrupted, deciding that he wanted to add opinionated remarks of his own.

“No, no, no, wait!” del Toro interrupted. “I would like to tell to the rest of our extraordinary cast and our crew that the artistry of all of them shines on every single frame of this film that was willfully made by humans for humans.”

“The designers, builders, makeup, wardrobe team, cinematographers, composers, editors,” he continued. “This tribute belongs to all of them. And I would like to extend our gratitude and say —” del Toro then paused, seemingly wondering if he should continue.

“F**k AI,” he added with a smile.

RELATED: Almost half of Gen Z wants AI to run the government. You should be terrified.

During his acceptance speech, del Toro spoke on the inspiration he drew from Mary Shelley, the original author of “Frankenstein.”

“Mary Shelley, who made the book her biography, she was 18 years old when she wrote the book and posed the urgent questions: Who am I? What am I? Where did I come from? And where am I going?” del Toro explained. “She presented them with such urgency that they are alive 200 years later through this incredible parable that shaped my life since I first read it in childhood at age 11.”

Much of del Toro’s appeal comes from his ability to explore complex emotional topics from a unique viewpoints, and those unique thoughts typically come across whenever he is given the chance to speak. Del Toro told the award-show audience that even at a young age, he knew he “did not belong in the world the way my parents, the way the world expected me to fit.”

“My place was in a faraway land inhabited only by monsters and misfits.”

RELATED: Trump admin leaves Elon Musk’s Grok, xAI off massive list of AI tech partners

This outlook definitely falls in line with his recent work, including when he appeared in the recent video game series Death Stranding.

Working alongside iconic game developer Hideo Kojima, del Toro delivered storylines about life, death, and emotional connection, but this time as an actor.

Speaking on the games, del Toro said he believes in the importance of “paradoxical creation” and said it is “essential to art.”

The beauty of the game, he added, was that Kojima had both “the weirdest mind and the most wholesome mind,” which shaped his storytelling.

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​Return, Ai, Artificial intelligence, Movie, Film, Gaming, Video games, Frankenstein, Tech 

Beloved former child star Macaulay Culkin revealed he has an “elevator pitch” idea about another possible “Home Alone” movie.

Culkin is currently making the rounds on his “A Nostalgic Night with Macaulay Culkin” tour and revealed during a recent stop that — unlike “Home Alone” director Chris Columbus — he is not opposed to doing a sequel to the Christmas movie.

‘I’m not completely allergic to it, the right thing.’

Culkin admitted he “wouldn’t be completely allergic” to reprising his role as Kevin McCallister, Variety reported, but said any form of a sequel would “have to be just right.”

At that point, the 45-year-old divulged he “kind of had this idea” on how a new movie could play out.

Like father, like son?

“I’m either a widower or a divorcee. I’m raising a kid and all that stuff. I’m working really hard, and I’m not really paying enough attention, and the kid is kind of getting miffed at me, and then I get locked out. [Kevin’s son] won’t let me in … and he’s the one setting traps for me,” the actor explained.

RELATED: ‘Wet Bandit’ Marv Records Plea for Help to Old Partner Harry After Seeing Kevin McCallister Video

(Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The star said that the iconic “Home Alone” house would be “some sort of metaphor for” the relationship between him and his son, with his character trying to “get let back into son’s heart.”

He added, “That’s the closest elevator pitch that I have. I’m not completely allergic to it, the right thing.”

Keep the change

The comments are the latest sign that the once publicity-shy Culkin has embraced his child-star past.

In 2018, Culkin became Kevin for a Google Assistant ad, using the app to make purchases and manage the thermostat in his house.

Culkin also appeared in a series of videos for YouTube channel Cinemassacre around that same time, playing and reviewing the video games that featured his on-screen characters.

RELATED: Male, 58, points gun at 12-year-old girls singing Christmas carols door-to-door, police say

‘That thing I did’

In 2025, Culkin said that he has been showing his own children his old movies recently and that he was no longer bothered by the idea that his films are still popular.

“I think for a while, you know, when you’re a teenager and [in] your 20s and stuff like that, it’s like, ‘Ah, just they keep on talking about that thing I did.’ Now, it’s like, ‘Oh! They’re still talking about that thing I did.’ … I enjoy my legacy,” he told Yahoo Entertainment.

For Christmas season 2025, Culkin also paid homage to his “Home Alone” role in a commercial for an in-home care service.

1990’s “Home Alone” and 1992’s “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” have grossed more than $450 million over their lifespan.

“Home Alone 3,” which did not feature Culkin, grossed just $30 million.

​Home alone, Align, Movies, Film, Christmas, Holiday season, Child actor, Hollywood, Macaulay culkin, Entertainment 

Today is Giving Tuesday — a day to think of those less fortunate, but also a reminder that charities want your money just as much as any for-profit brand, and many use the same polished tactics to get it.

The day itself is a sales pitch: created in 2012 as a feel-good counterweight to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but quickly dominated by big nonprofits with big marketing budgets. As philanthropy-sector insider Dave Moss writes, it was launched not by beneficiaries but by “representatives of corporate America, the public relations sphere, and/or enormous, already well-funded nonprofits.”

Just a reminder that sometimes it’s the scrappiest, more ‘unfashionable’ charities where your money will go the farthest.

The Wounded Warrior Project has mastered the Giving Tuesday playbook with emotional storytelling. But a 2016 CBS News investigation revealed millions spent on lavish staff conferences and travel, with a Senate review later finding that the charity had inflated its program-spending numbers by counting fundraising and PR as “veteran programs.”

The ASPCA is another case where glossy branding masks inefficiency. Despite its huge Giving Tuesday paw print, watchdogs say only a small share of its massive fundraising reaches animals in need, despite what its infamously maudlin ads suggest. Very little is granted to local SPCAs — which many donors assume they’re supporting — while the national group spends tens of millions on advertising and pays its CEO close to a million dollars a year.

RELATED: ‘Gimme’ shelter: ASPCA, Humane Society live large on your donations, warns watchdog

Michael Stewart/WireImage/Getty Images

Which is not to say you shouldn’t participate in Giving Tuesday. Just a reminder that sometimes it’s the scrappiest, more “unfashionable” charities where your money will go the farthest.

Here are six organizations doing the slow, unglamorous work of helping real American families, veterans, and workers.

1. The Ruth Institute

Mission: Promote and defend the traditional family; educate the public on marriage, sexual integrity, and the fallout of the sexual revolution.

The Ruth Institute isn’t shy about its worldview — or its conviction that a healthy society starts at home. If you want your donation to go toward shaping the cultural weather upstream of politics, this is the place.

Donate: https://ruthinstitute.org/donate/

2. Gary Sinise Foundation

Mission: Support America’s wounded veterans, Gold Star families, and first responders.

More than 30 years after playing wounded Vietnam vet Lieutenant Dan in “Forrest Gump,” Gary Sinise has quietly built one of the most trusted veterans’ charities in the country. Its work is extremely practical: specially adapted smart homes for wounded vets, emergency financial assistance, mental health support, community-building, and mobility programs. Few organizations deliver more hands-on, life-changing help.

Donate: https://www.garysinisefoundation.org/donate/

3. Farmer Veteran Coalition

Mission: Help veterans transition into careers in agriculture.

A perfect marriage of two underserved groups: rural America and former service members. FVC provides grants, training, equipment, and mentorship to vets who want to build careers in farming. It strengthens both individual livelihoods and America’s food supply.

Donate: https://farmvetco.org/donate/

4. Foundation for Rural Service

Mission: Strengthen the economic and social fabric of rural communities.

Millions of rural Americans get left out of every national conversation — and often out of basic services. FRS funds scholarships, rural broadband expansion, small-town revitalization, and educational programs.

Donate: https://www.frs.org/donate

5. Volunteers of America

Mission: Provide housing, addiction recovery, senior care, job training, and emergency services to vulnerable Americans.

One of the oldest faith-driven aid groups in America, VOA does the thankless work: shelters, recovery programs, support for disabled vets, senior care, and services for people re-entering society after incarceration. If you want your donation to translate quickly into beds, meals, care, and services, VOA is reliable.

Donate: https://www.voa.org/donate

6. mikeroweWORKS Foundation

Mission: Close the skills gap by supporting vocational training and America’s trades.

Mike Rowe has spent years reminding America that welders, electricians, plumbers, mechanics, and carpenters don’t just keep civilization running — they are civilization. His foundation’s Work Ethic Scholarship Program helps people pay for trade school, buy tools, and get certified. A great way to invest directly in rebuilding the country’s working-class backbone.

Donate: https://mikeroweworks.org/donate/

​Lifestyle, Charities, Gary sinise, Non-profits, Wounded warrior project, Giving tuesday 

Earlier this year, 34-year-old Victoria Cox — a mother of three — pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and kidnapping after admitting to helping a friend abduct two children.

The friend in question is 38-year-old Daniel Callihan, a resident of Amite, Louisiana.

‘These acts you committed, do you understand how awful these acts were? You understand how innocent these two little girls were?’

On June 12, 2024, Callihan fatally stabbed a mother of two — Callie Brunett — more than 50 times in her home in Loranger, Louisiana, and then kidnapped Brunett’s two daughters, ages 4 and 6, according to court documents.

Indeed, Callihan stole the stabbing victim’s 2012 Chrysler vehicle, placed Brunett’s two daughters inside it, and eventually drove to Amite, court documents show. That’s where he picked up Cox.

Law enforcement tracked down the missing girls to a property in Jackson, Mississippi, where they made a ghastly discovery. Authorities on June 13, 2024, found the body of the 4-year-old girl in a “pit,” according to a statement last month from the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana.

Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade described the crime scene as “sickening” and revealed that he “observed small cages” and “small wired enclosures,” which “led us to believe that it was a location where human trafficking probably could have happened,” People magazine reported.

The 6-year-old sister was found alive and immediately transported to a hospital; she has since been reunited with relatives.

After Callihan was arrested, he admitted to investigators that he stabbed to death the mother of the two girls and kidnapped them, the U.S. Attorney’s office stated. Callihan also confessed that he “smothered” the 4-year-old girl to death “by holding [her] closely against his chest,” according to People magazine.

‘At any point in your mind were you thinking about your children when you did this? And that didn’t cause you to stop?’

United States District Judge Lance M. Africk handed Callihan consecutive life sentences for kidnapping resulting in death and transporting a minor in interstate commerce with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Authorities also determined that Cox was Callihan’s co-conspirator in the disturbing crimes.

While Callihan and Cox engaged in sexual battery against the 6-year-old girl, court docs said, the sexual battery charge was dropped.

Cox has three children of her own — ages 6, 8, and 9 — and during her sentencing hearing, a stunned Hinds County Circuit Judge Winston Kidd asked her how she, as a mother, could participate in such a vile act against young children, according to WLBT-TV.

RELATED: Half-naked woman ‘missing flesh’ and handcuffed in backyard was tortured for weeks, beaten with bat, shot with BB gun: Cops

“At any point in your mind were you thinking about your children when you did this? And that didn’t cause you to stop?” Kidd asked Cox.

Cox replied, “I tried, but I couldn’t.”

Cox added to the judge that Callihan had forced her to get high on drugs on the day of the kidnapping, according to WLBT, and that she had been out of rehab for just two days before the kidnapping.

Cox also claimed she “didn’t know” Callihan didn’t have “permission” to have the children, WLBT reported.

Cox told the courtroom, “If I could change it all, I would, but I can’t.”

The station added that Cox released a handwritten note in court requesting to plead guilty as quickly as possible.

Cox wrote, “I’ve been trying to get my attorney to come go over my plea deal with me, but he has failed to do so. I would like to accept it. Can you put me on the court docket?”

According to Court TV, Hinds County District Attorney Jody E. Owens II noted that his office had never witnessed that happen before — and said of Cox, “She realized, I believe, that this crime was so horrific that the atonement level has to start today.”

Indeed, Kidd told Cox, “These acts you committed, do you understand how awful these acts were? You understand how innocent these two little girls were? This is something you’re going to have a lot of time to think about.”

Kidd last week sentenced Cox to a pair of concurrent sentences: 40 years in prison on the murder charge and 25 years on the kidnapping charge, according to WWL-TV.

Cox had faced the possibility of a death sentence.

The Jackson Police Department did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.

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​True crime, Victoria cox, Daniel callihan, Victoria cox arrest, True crime news, Daniel callihan case, Crime, Louisiana, Mississippi, Murder, Kidnapping 

The Trump administration is investigating allegations of massive fraud by members of the Somalian community, and Democratic-Farmer-Labor Gov. Tim Walz (Minn.) is being accused of obstruction.

Small Business Administration Sec. Kelly Loeffler announced the investigation Tuesday after several indictments involving alleged fraud in relation to coronavirus pandemic relief funding.

‘Despite Governor Walz’s best efforts to obstruct, SBA continues to work to expose abuse and hold perpetrators accountable, full stop.’

“Numerous individuals and nonprofits indicted in the $1 billion Minnesota COVID fraud scandal, including Feeding Our Future, received SBA PPP loans in addition to other state and federal funding,” Loeffler said in the post on social media.

In November, federal prosecutors announced a 78th indictment in the scam. In that latest case, a man named Abdirashid Bixi Dool is accused of falsifying records for fake food sites in order to steal more than $1 million in pandemic relief funds.

Dozens have already been convicted in connection with the Feeding Our Future scam alone.

Loeffler went on to accuse the former Democratic vice presidential candidate of obstructing efforts to investigate the scams.

“Today, I have ordered an investigation into the network of Somali organizations and executives implicated in these schemes,” she added. “Despite Governor Walz’s best efforts to obstruct, SBA continues to work to expose abuse and hold perpetrators accountable, full stop.”

Loeffler cited a report from a group of Minnesota state workers at the Dept. of Human Services accusing the governor of being complicit in the theft of government funds.

“Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota. We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud but no, we got the opposite response,” reads a statement from the group’s social media account.

RELATED: The US is now ‘one of the worst countries’ because of Trump’s actions, says Ilhan Omar

“Tim Walz systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression, and did his best to discredit fraud reports,” the group added. “Instead of partnership, we got the full weight of retaliation by Tim Walz, certain DFL members and an indifferent mainstream media. It’s scary, isolating and left us wondering who we can turn to.”

In September, Walz was subpoenaed by the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee for not being responsive enough to a request for documents related to the fraud scheme.

“This was an appalling abuse of a federal COVID-era program,” reads a statement from a Walz spokesperson at the time.

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​Somalian covid fraud, Tim walz obstruction, Covid fraud scam, Minnesota somalis, Politics