The trial for a sitting Wisconsin judge is set to begin after she allegedly helped an illegal alien avoid ICE arrest in April.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan’s trial will begin Monday. Dugan is charged with obstruction of federal proceedings and concealing a person from arrest in connection with Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an illegal alien who later pled guilty to re-entering the U.S. and no contest to one count of battery.

According to court filings, Dugan became ‘visibly angry’ when she learned about ICE’s presence, Reuters reported.

According to the Associated Press, the trial will begin with opening statements from the defense and prosecution as well as testimony from the prosecution’s first witness. The prosecution’s case will likely span most of the week, with around two dozen witnesses ready to take the stand.

Dugan faces up to six years in prison if convicted of both charges.

RELATED: Trial update: Wisconsin judge accused of helping illegal alien escape detention set to appear at final pretrial hearing

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Dugan is accused of assisting Flores-Ruiz in evading Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents upon learning that they were waiting outside her courtroom to arrest him.

According to court filings, Dugan became “visibly angry” when she learned about ICE’s presence, Reuters reported. She also falsely told law enforcement that they needed a judicial warrant to carry out an arrest, according to the prosecution.

Flores-Ruiz was allegedly shown a side door through which he fled the scene. He was apprehended by ICE agents outside the courthouse after a short foot race.

Dugan lost a bid to dismiss the charges against her in August. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman rejected the argument that she was acting in her official capacity as a judge, ruling that “there is no firmly established judicial immunity barring criminal prosecution of judges for judicial acts.”

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Most people assume a diagnosis of clinical depression involves objective testing — a blood draw, a brain scan, or some clear biological marker. According to Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring, that assumption is wrong.

“They make you pick from nine symptoms. And it’s like if you have five out of nine of these symptoms — so it’s, like, low mood, anxiety, sleep problems … lack of interest in things … feelings of guilt. It’s just a very arbitrary list of symptoms that kind of make sense,” Witt-Doerring explains.

“They make sense for people who are depressed. And the way the people who wrote this diagnostic manual wanted to define depression was like, ‘Oh, well, if you just have any combination of five of them out of nine, we’ll say you have depression,’” he continues.

And there’s a reason for this lower standard of care.

“Where the big issue is happening in the U.S. and in much of the sort of the Western medicalized world right now is within family medicine. Because depression is so common, 80% of our prescriptions are being handed out by family med docs,” Witt-Doerring tells Stuckey.

“There are incentives that make it so the doctors want to see you in a very short period of time. So the aim of the game is billing insurance in this country. And so if you saw one person for an hour versus four people in an hour, and shorter visits, it works out that you essentially make double,” he continues.

The story behind SSRIs is no more comforting.

“Back in the 1950s, a drug was discovered called iproniazid, and it was being used as an anti-microbial for patients with tuberculosis,” he tells Stuckey, pointing out that while the drug was meant to cure people of tuberculosis, it also resulted in them perking up emotionally.

“They said, ‘Hmm, you know, they’re more energetic, they’re more lively, maybe this drug has some promise as an antidepressant. Let’s go and give to depressed patients.’ And so they went and they did that, and it worked,” he continues.

However, the official narrative that was born of this discovery could have “gone in two ways at this time.”

One narrative could have been that the drug has energizing properties that perked patients up, and what doctors were witnessing was a “drug effect.” The other narrative was that “maybe these drugs are actually helping these depressed patients because they don’t have enough serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine.”

“And so one narrative survives and the other dies. And so the narrative that survives is that the patients have these chemical imbalances. And the reason for that is because it’s a better commercial narrative,” he explains, before pointing out that after the brains of depressed people versus non-depressed individuals were studied, not a single biomarker had been found.

And rather than curing depression, they’re “simply masking symptoms.”

“You could have a moral argument and say, ‘Yeah, morally I disagree with that.’ But you could also just say, ‘Well, I don’t really care. I just want to feel well and I’m suffering.’ And I think that’s totally fair because we want people to feel better,” he explains.

“But then the issue is we don’t tell them about, ‘Hey, these are drugs just like any other drug. They’re going to wear off over time, and there’s also risks of prolonged use because our brains aren’t used to being on them,’” he says.

“It’s just a lie,” he continues. “You know, it’s just a misleading message about the safety of the drugs and how they work.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky revealed alleged details about the suspect arrested for the Jan. 6 pipe bomb plantings in Washington, D.C., that might undermine the official narrative of the incident.

The mystery of the pipe bombs seemed to be solved on Dec. 4, nearly five years after they were found, when Justice Department officials announced that they had arrested 30-year-old Brian Cole Jr. of Woodbridge, Virginia.

‘It’s well known that individuals with mental conditions are susceptible to providing inaccurate and unwarranted “confessions.”‘

On Friday, Massie posted a long thread on social media claiming that information from an FBI whistleblower led him to conclude the suspect did not have the capability or motive to plant the bombs.

“Last night I received a disclosure from a new FBI whistleblower regarding the J6 pipe bomb case,” Massie wrote. “This is the third disclosure I’ve received from current and former employees of the government regarding the pipe bomb case in recent weeks.”

Massie said the suspect lived in a community with residents who worked with the FBI, Secret Service, and police.

“He wanders around his neighborhood several times a day while walking a dog. Other than walking his dog, he doesn’t engage in any other activities outside his home,” he wrote.

“He does not interact with anyone,” Massie added. “He doesn’t wave or acknowledge others or even say hello. He does not even look at other people when he walks by. He appears to live in his own world.”

The suspect had a detached demeanor and doesn’t appear to be interested in interacting with the world around him, according to the whistleblower.

“His behavior is awkward. It’s obvious he has a mental disability, and likely lives in a permanently vulnerable, intellectual, and emotional state. It’s well known that individuals with mental conditions are susceptible to providing inaccurate and unwarranted ‘confessions,'” Massie continued.

The person also claimed that authorities did not take the precaution of evacuating neighbors, which would have been necessary if they believed he had “in fact been engaged in making bombs and stockpiling bomb materials.”

RELATED: Police walked past DNC pipe bomb to look under a bush where bomber sat 17 hours earlier

Massie offered his personal opinion in conclusion.

“The FBI employee disclosing this information to me doesn’t believe the FBI has arrested a person who is capable or motivated, or even interested enough in affairs outside of his own small world, to execute the J6 pipe bomb plot on his own,” the congressman said.

The viable pipe bombs were found near the headquarters of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee on the day of the rioting at the U.S. Capitol.

Surveillance video showed one individual appearing to place them the night before the rioting. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to a suspect’s arrest.

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A United Airlines flight from Washington, D.C., to Tokyo made an emergency landing following an engine failure on Saturday afternoon.

The United Airlines Boeing 777-200ER landed at Washington Dulles International Airport shortly after taking off for Tokyo. During takeoff, the plane started a brush fire near the runway, according to AeroXplorer.

‘United is grateful to our crews and to the teams at Washington Dulles for their quick work to help ensure the safety of everyone involved.’

Multiple spokespersons explained that the plane experienced a loss of power in one engine shortly after takeoff, AeroXplorer reported. This loss of power reportedly caused a discharge that ignited the brush fire.

No injuries were reported among the 275 passengers and 15 crew members.

Emily McGee, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority spokesperson, said, “The fire was extinguished and the flight returned to Dulles, landing safely at about 1:30 p.m. when it was checked by airport fire responders.”

RELATED: Video shows Japan Airlines plane collide into Delta airplane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

Photo by Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images

United Airlines hailed the preparedness of the crew, which ensured the safe return of the flight.

“Shortly after takeoff, United flight 803 returned to Washington Dulles and landed safely to address the loss of power in one engine. There were no reported injuries. We’ve temporarily closed a United Club lounge at Dulles to help assist our customers and work to get them to their destinations. United is grateful to our crews and to the teams at Washington Dulles for their quick work to help ensure the safety of everyone involved,” a United Airlines spokesperson said at the time.

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In response to Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s newly launched Senate run, Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana offered a lighthearted analysis of the Democrat’s rising star.

Crockett announced her highly anticipated Senate bid in early December after her Democratic colleague Colin Allred opted to run for a House seat instead. Crockett is now expected to face off with Texas state Rep. James Talarico (D) in a contentious primary ahead of the 2026 election.

‘She is wrong on every single issue.’

Although Democrats have embraced Crockett as an up-and-coming political leader, Kennedy offered some much-needed advice about the Senate race to his colleagues across the aisle.

“We all have the right to express our opinion,” Kennedy said. “You’re not free if you can’t say what you think, and the congresswoman has a right to her opinion.”

RELATED: ‘Complete lizard person’: Chuck Schumer gives stunningly tone-deaf remarks following Australia attack

Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“But I have the right to mine,” Kennedy added. “And somebody needs to tell the congresswoman, it will be in her best interest, they need to tell her that the voices in her head are not real.”

Kennedy pointed out that Crockett’s progressive policies combined with her many, many questionable comments will not bode well in a red state like Texas.

“She is wrong on every single issue,” Kennedy said. “The people of Texas will never embrace her message. I don’t know why she’s doing this, but you have the right in America to do dumb things if you want to.”

RELATED: ‘Very low-IQ person’: Jasmine Crockett launches Senate campaign with funny video that may give the GOP the last laugh

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

To Republicans’ delight, Crockett actually has a shot at winning the Democratic primary. One poll has Crockett ahead of Talarico, a more moderate Democrat, by eight points. Although she is projected to sweep the competition on the Democrat side, her poll numbers against Republican challengers make a GOP victory in 2026 look promising.

Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the incumbent in the race, is polling a comfortable six points ahead of Crockett. This margin narrows against Republican challenger Ken Paxton, who is currently projected to have just a two-point advantage.

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​Jasmine crockett, John kennedy, Texas, Ken paxton, John cornyn, James talarico, 2026 primary, Colin allred, Senate race, Politics 

Federal authorities reportedly disrupted a New Year’s Eve terror plot by arresting several alleged members of a pro-Palestinian extremist group.

The FBI told Fox News Digital that the bureau captured four alleged members of an extremist subgroup of the Turtle Island Liberation Front.

‘The group also planned to target ICE agents and vehicles.’

FBI Director Kash Patel described the arrested individuals as members of “a radical offshoot” that is “motivated by pro-Palestinian, anti-law-enforcement, and anti-government ideology.”

According to Patel, the suspects were planning coordinated improvised-explosive-device attacks on New Year’s Eve at five locations across Los Angeles, California.

Federal agents arrested the suspects in Lucerne Valley, where they were allegedly preparing to test explosive devices ahead of the attack, Fox News Digital reported.

The arrested individuals were charged with conspiracy and possession of a destructive device.

RELATED: Person of interest detained after deadly shooting at Brown University — but very little has been shared about the individual (UPDATE)

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Patel announced that FBI New Orleans arrested a fifth individual believed to be tied to the subgroup who was also allegedly planning a separate attack.

The FBI director credited investigators and law enforcement partners for saving “countless lives.”

FBI Los Angeles is expected to hold a press conference on Monday to provide additional details to the public.

RELATED: How Trump can dismantle far-left extremist networks

Pam Bondi. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

“After an intense investigation, the Department of Justice, working with our @FBI, prevented what would have been a massive and horrific terror plot in the Central District of California (Orange County and Los Angeles),” Attorney General Pam Bondi stated. “The Turtle Island Liberation Front — a far-left, pro-Palestine, anti-government, and anti-capitalist group — was preparing to conduct a series of bombings against multiple targets in California beginning on New Year’s Eve. The group also planned to target ICE agents and vehicles.”

“PROTECT THE HOMELAND and CRUSH VIOLENT CRIME. These words are not slogans, they’re the investigative pillars of this FBI,” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said.

“Thank you to our dedicated law enforcement and DOJ partners for the collaborative effort. God bless America, and all those who defend Her [sic].”

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​News, Los angeles, California, Fbi, Federal bureau of investigation, Kash patel, Dan bongino, The turtle island liberation front, Turtle island liberation front, Tilf, Pro-palestine, Far-left, Palestine, Anti-capitalist, Anti-government, Politics 

For decades, Google Chrome reigned as the top web browser for laptops, desktops, and mobile. However, the emergence of generative AI aims to break the mold with a new series of agentic web browsers that can complete tasks with little to no user input. While it might sound convenient to hand over your digital life, security groups are already sounding the alarm, warning that these new browsers come with huge security and privacy risks.

Huge privacy and security risks make these new browsers a liability for anyone who values his personal data.

What is a web browser?

Let’s start with the basics. A web browser is the app on your phone, tablet, or computer that provides a window into the internet, allowing you to search Google, go to websites like Blaze News, and more. Chances are pretty high that you’re reading this article on a browser right now. The most popular browsers today include Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox.

What is an agentic web browser?

An agentic web browser is a typical web browser with artificial intelligence injected into the code, giving it special abilities powered by generative AI. “Agentic” means that the AI in the browser can act as an “agent” on your behalf, autonomously completing tasks on the web that you assign, kind of like a personal assistant.

Some examples of agentic tasks include researching information on Google, booking a hotel on a travel site, filling out online forms for your doctor, buying products on Amazon, and more.

This is a totally new browsing category that just emerged, and its complete list of abilities is not fully fleshed out yet. Unfortunately, even as developers race for agentic browser dominance, huge privacy and security risks make these new browsers a liability for anyone who values his personal data.

Dangers of agentic web browsers

The makers of Brave, a popular web browser that prioritizes privacy and security, were the first to point out the flaws in Comet, the new agentic browser by Perplexity. Their research detailed how a hacker could use “indirect prompt injections” to carry out a malicious attack on the user, prompting agentic AI to navigate to the user’s banking site, extract saved passwords, or steal sensitive information directly from the host PC, all without the user’s knowledge. Perplexity has since responded with its prompt mitigation plan.

Similar concerns cropped up over Atlas, the new agentic browser by OpenAI. According to Axios via antivirus software developer Malwarebytes, researchers quickly discovered that the prompt bar could be exploited to bypass safety protocols and inject instructions to carry out malicious activities. Again, these vulnerabilities allowed researchers to access important data on the host computer. OpenAI refutes these vulnerabilities, claiming that ChatGPT, the AI that powers Atlas, can’t access other apps, files, or passwords.

The real problem with agentic browsers

It’s not a coincidence that the new agentic web browsers from OpenAI and Perplexity both have the same security issues. Their core designs are inherently flawed.

The problem stems from the fact that an agentic browser can complete personal tasks and manipulate private data without the user’s input or knowledge. From the moment you sign up, these browsers receive the keys to your entire digital life, and although you may provide instructions, who’s to say that the AI will always obey?

If an agentic browser can buy products for you, it can purchase the wrong ones. If it can manage your money, it can transfer your funds to a third-party bank account. If it can control your digital life, it can mismanage or even exploit your privacy. And by the time you figure out what happened, it could be too late.

Even if a hacker isn’t behind the keyboard sending out commands, there’s no guarantee that the AI itself will perform as designed. In fact, the only thing we know for sure about generative AI is that it can lie about its activities, hallucinate facts, and even teach itself new concepts all on its own.

RELATED: How to escape the surveillance state: Pick the right search engine

Photo Credit: Snizhana Galytska/Getty Images

At the worst, a hacker could destroy your digital life through an agentic browser on your computer. At the very least, an agentic browser could destroy your digital life by itself. Neither option sounds great.

Word of warning

Don’t try an agentic web browser right now. They are simply not ready. Don’t download one to your device. Don’t log into one with your account. Don’t hand over your information. Stay away for as long as you can, at least until some of these vulnerabilities are sorted out, and even then, proceed with caution. The consequences of using an agentic browser are far too risky for the sliver of convenience you’ll receive in return.

An inescapable problem

Unfortunately, you can’t avoid agentic web browsers for long. Right now, you have to go out of your way to download Atlas from OpenAI or Comet from Perplexity. Soon, though, agentic browsers will be practically everywhere.

Google and Microsoft are both working on agentic features for Chrome and Edge, two of the most popular web browsers on the planet. Mozilla, the developers behind Firefox, have AI features in the pipeline, though they claim that users can turn these off. As for Apple, the company hasn’t shared any plans to give Safari an agentic upgrade, but considering how far behind Apple is with Apple Intelligence, this looks unlikely, at least for the foreseeable future.

Agentic web browsers are an interesting — if not dangerous — gimmick that will quickly blossom into a mass consumer product overnight. Unless developers shore up the vulnerabilities in these browsers between then and now, hackers will undoubtedly have a new, shockingly effective way to steal data, money, and more. The only way to protect yourself is to deactivate these features as they roll out, or find a browser that doesn’t support agentic AI at all.

​Tech 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) delivered wildly insensitive remarks following the tragic terrorist attack in Australia, sparking outrage across social media.

Schumer’s stunning fumble came after a father and son allegedly targeted a Jewish gathering on the first night of Hanukkah, murdering at least 15 innocent civilians at Bondi Beach in Australia. Rather than simply remarking on the brutality and tragedy of the event, Schumer took the opportunity to slip in some sports commentary.

‘Retire. Immediately.’

“Of course, I’m going to say a few words about the terrible shooting in Australia,” Schumer said on Sunday.

“First, of course, as I always say, no matter what, go Bills!” Schumer added. “They beat the Patriots today. It’s a big deal.”

RELATED: Pakistani national suspected in terror attack on Jewish gathering in Australia on first night of Hanukkah; over a dozen dead

Photo by George Chan/Getty Images

Commentators and political personalities quickly clarified that the “big deal” Schumer failed to prioritize was actually the terrorist attack that claimed the lives of innocent people, not the football game.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York issued a short but effective statement in response to Schumer.

“Retire. Immediately,” Lawler said in a post on X.

RELATED: Person of interest detained after deadly shooting at Brown University — but very little has been shared about the individual (UPDATE)

Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images

Jesse Kelly similarly criticized Schumer’s insensitive instincts, calling his humanity into question.

“Just a complete lizard person,” Kelly said in a post on X. “Stopped being human a long time ago.”

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​Chuck schumer, Mike lawler, Jesse kelly, Hanukkah, Australia, Australia terrorist attack, Brown university, Brown shooting, Go bills, Football, Politics