In a sudden turn of events, anti-ICE protesters are now being arrested, with some members of the Trump administration, including border czar Tom Homan, making their presence felt on the ground.

Attorney General Pam Bondi joined Homan and other officials in Minneapolis on Wednesday with a post of some of the latest anti-ICE scalps police have claimed, including some who have since been catapulted to internet infamy.

‘We expect more arrests to come.’

“I am on the ground in Minneapolis today. Federal agents have arrested 16 Minnesota rioters for allegedly assaulting federal law enforcement — people who have been resisting and impeding our federal law enforcement agents,” Bondi wrote.

“We expect more arrests to come,” she continued.

RELATED: Somali radical accused of sickening salivary assault on federal agents after bizarre ‘bananas with rice’ speech

Nasra Ahmed. Attorney General Pam Bondi on X

Bondi wrote that all of the anti-ICE protesters were arrested for allegedly “assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees” under 18 U.S. Code § 111.

Christina Rank, Abdikadir Noor, Madeline Tschida, Nitzana Flores, Helicity Borowska, Quentin Williams, William Vermie, Paul Johnson, Gillian Etherington, Joshua Doyle, Kirubele Adbebe, Margaret Sager, Ilan Wilson-Soler, Nasra Ahmed, Alice Valentine, and Matrim Charlebois were named in the post as those arrested recently.

Bondi included booking photos of those arrested in her post on social media.

Among those in the photos was Somali radical Nasra Ahmed, who last week went viral for her bizarre, jumbled speech about Somalian nationality and bananas and rice.

Ahmed is accused of spitting in the face of a federal officer, leading to her detention. During the press conference held after her release without charges, she was wearing a prominent bandage on the right side of her forehead. No sign of injury or bandages can be seen in the booking photo, however.

Attorney General Pam Bondi on X

Attorney General Pam Bondi on X

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​Politics, Anti-ice, Ice, Pam bondi, Attorney general, Ag pam bondi, Nasra ahmed, Minneapolis, Tom homan, Border czar, Minnesota 

President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, pledged to stay and clean up Minneapolis until justice is served.

Homan traveled to Minneapolis this week in the aftermath of a second fatal shooting of an anti-ICE agitator. Despite new footage apparently showing Alex Pretti, the radical killed over the weekend, spitting on federal agents and kicking out a tail light, violent activists are continuing to ravage Minneapolis.

‘They’ll be held accountable.’

“The reason for the massive deployment is because of the threats, because of the violence,” Homan said during a Thursday press conference. “… We brought extra resources in to provide that security.”

“When the violence decreases, we can draw down those resources.”

RELATED: Alex Pretti broke a rib in a previous altercation with feds a week before he died: CNN

Ben Brewer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Homan suggested that many of these violent mobs are not organic, but rather organized and well-funded groups of agitators motivated by ideology. Although he didn’t specify the approach, Homan committed to holding these agitators accountable.

“About the organization and the funding of the attacks on ICE,” Homan said. “I’m not going to answer a lot about that, because I’m not going to show our hand, but they’ll be held accountable. Justice is coming.”

RELATED: Federal cops in Pretti shooting placed on leave; Pretti’s family retains attorneys from George Floyd case

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Homan said a lot of progress has been made since he arrived in Minneapolis on Monday, claiming Minnesota has agreed to allow county jails to notify federal agencies like ICE when illegal aliens are released so they can be taken into custody. Although Homan acknowledged that this is a step in the right direction, he is committed to staying in Minnesota until the work is done.

Blaze News has reached out to Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison for comment.

“I’m staying until the problem is gone,” Homan said.

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​Tom homan, Donald trump, Trump administration, Ice agents, Kristi noem, Ice, Dhs, Alex pretti, Renee good, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Anti-ice, Illegal aliens, Tim walz, Jacob frey, Politics 

As talks between the Trump administration and Minnesota leadership continue, with some possible success, police have begun dealing with protesters more efficiently this week.

In a surprising turn of events, protesters in Minneapolis were swiftly dealt with near the Graduate by Hilton hotel.

‘All individuals: You are under arrest. Please sit down.’

In video originally captured on independent reporter Brendan Gutenschwager’s livestream of the protests in Minneapolis on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, protesters could be seen being kettled by police on a street block.

Police officers, who were reported to be Minnesota state police and University of Minnesota police officers, quickly formed a line on the street.

RELATED: Somali radical accused of sickening salivary assault on federal agents after bizarre ‘bananas with rice’ speech

Photo by Kerem YUCEL / AFP via Getty Images

“All individuals: You are under arrest. Please sit down,” one officer says once the police line is set.

The video showed a few dozen protesters on the street, many of whom sat down immediately in compliance with the order.

Gutenschwager reported that this kettling tactic was used near the Graduate by Hilton Minneapolis.

A second video of the aftermath of some arrests shows police walking arrestees toward a line of blue buses.

Frontlines TPUSA posted a video on the ground of the same event. Describing the scene, the cameraman says, “They’re being taken into these buses now with bars on the windows.”

Though the crowds seemed subdued during and after the kettling tactic, Gutenschwager’s livestream showed that the protesters were much more energetic and disruptive in the earlier hours of the night.

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A video circulated on social media on Wednesday that appears to show Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, having an altercation with federal agents in Minneapolis on January 13, a week before he was fatally shot.

The News Movement stated that it was filming a documentary about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Minneapolis when it received a tip that federal agents were blocking a street. Protesters had gathered in the area.

‘Now we know that Alex Pretti was not a kindly gentle nurse … he was a CRIMINAL!!!’

In the video, a man who appears to be Pretti is seen shouting at and spitting toward an agent inside a Ford SUV. He then kicks the right taillight, shattering it and dislodging it from the vehicle.

A federal agent steps out of the rear passenger side of the vehicle to confront the man and attempts to wrestle him to the ground, but the man resists. Other agents step in to pin the man to the ground.

The News Movement reported that the agents fired tear gas and pepper balls into the crowd of protesters.

After a brief altercation, the agents release the man, who returns to his feet and moves away from the officers. What appears to be a gun is seen in the man’s waistband.

Minutes later, the federal officers climb back into their vehicle and drive away.

RELATED: Federal cops in Pretti shooting placed on leave; Pretti’s family retains attorneys from George Floyd case

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Blaze News that the department is “reviewing this footage.”

A representative for the Pretti family confirmed to CBS News that the person in the video was Alex Pretti.

The News Movement reported that the footage was analyzed using the BBC’s facial recognition technology, which confirmed Pretti’s identity with 97% accuracy.

When reached for comment, the BBC referred Blaze News to its news clip on the shooting of Pretti, which included the News Movement’s January video.

Steve Schleicher, an attorney for the Pretti family, said in a statement obtained by the BBC, “A week before Alex was gunned down in the street — despite posing no threat to anyone — he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents. Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing at the hands of ICE on Jan. 24.”

RELATED: Alex Pretti broke a rib in a previous altercation with feds a week before he died: CNN

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Conservative commentators reacted to the newly surfaced video of Pretti, arguing that it shatters the left-wing narrative that he was a peaceful protester.

“This footage is so damning, that you and I both know it will never leave X,” Matt Van Swol wrote. “Now we know that Alex Pretti was not a kindly gentle nurse … he was a CRIMINAL!!! An ARMED, VIOLENT, DANGEROUS, UNHINGED criminal. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN PRISON!!!!!!!”

Tim Pool stated, “WOW. Footage shows Alex Pretti ATTACKING DHS Agents. Could he have been known to the agents as they attempted to arrest him? Known violent extremist, armed, violent, actively resisting?”

“He committed 3 crimes and wasn’t arrested. He should have been in jail. Would have saved his life,” Owen Shroyer wrote.

A separate video from what appears to be the same incident captured Pretti seemingly shouting at federal agents, “F**king assault me, motherf**ker,” before he spat on and kicked the officers’ vehicle.

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It’s only been a couple of months since our last public service announcement about deepfake videos, but in that short time, AI content has reached another terrifying milestone. While anyone could make a fake video of a celebrity with a simple prompt, new AI video tech now makes it possible for an average person to “become” someone else on camera entirely, complete with a brand-new face, clothes, expressions, and even the person’s voice.

The facade of fakery is reaching critical mass

A video surfaced in early January showcasing an AI specialist named Eder Xavier using a combination of Kling AI Motion Control, Gemini Nano Banana Pro, and video editing software to “become” the cast of “Stranger Things.” In the short clip posted to his Instagram page, he rotates through several characters, perfectly replicating the appearances of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Derek (Jake Connelly), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Hopper (David Harbour).

Deepfakes may finally be the thing to break people’s addictions to their phones.

Most alarming of all was that he didn’t just swap faces with the cast members. The AI software recreated everything — their clothes, hairstyles, skin blemishes — and stamped it onto his body. Although Xavier didn’t speak in the video, Kling can also imitate voices, further fueling the facade of fakery.

This type of tech is quite different from the Neil deGrasse Tyson video we covered in November. In that example, Neil was recreated using a prompt that constructed his office and himself in a post-production video. Kling AI Motion Control, however, can impose another person’s body directly onto a video of the creator to make the other person do or say practically anything.

While Xavier’s video is a harmless showcase of the AI video technology in action, it doesn’t take much to imagine how this could be abused. At the very least, deepfake videos can trick people into thinking a friend, family member, politician, or celebrity did something out of character. At the worst, deviant users could expand on the Grok deepfake scandal by creating inappropriate content of real celebrities, played by themselves with an AI skin on top, engaging in adult or illicit activities.

The bad, the good, and the hope of tomorrow

Now that people can become anyone, at any time, for any reason, Kling AI Motion Control (and services like it) could single-handedly tear apart several digital industries around the web.

RELATED: Anti-Trump groups are quietly planning for a deepfake election crisis

Tiffany Hagler-Geard/Bloomberg via Getty Images

For starters, influencer marketing is primed to lose its luster when a random person can pretend to be any online personality — or even create an alternate identity — to gain followers and sell products. Imagine a 40-year-old man posing as a 21-year-old beautiful blonde woman to sell products, earn likes, and push scams.

Online dating apps are another digital service that will lose all credibility. If you can’t tell if the person you’re talking to is real or fake, why would you swipe and risk meeting an imposter at all? The movie and film industry will also suffer when actors can be recreated by extras to play minor roles on camera, or studios could cut down on the cost of reshoots by reskinning stand-ins to play main characters.

On the bright side, adult paid subscription services, like OnlyFans, could crumble if patrons can’t be sure that the attractive woman they subscribe to isn’t secretly that 40-year-old man again (yikes).

In the best-case scenario, the rise of AI deepfakes may finally be the thing to break people’s addictions to their phones. If nothing on social media is real — photos, videos, posts — why would anyone waste their time scrolling? The alternative, of course, is that people continue to consume AI slop in pursuit of increasingly irreversible brain rot, but the hope is that AI breaks users’ hyper-online habits and helps them seek real-world experiences, taking us back to the days before technology warped our perception of reality.

What to do next

Online deepfake content feels inescapable, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do about it.

Some celebrities are already starting to resist AI and its ability to steal their likeness. Matthew McConaughey just trademarked himself to prevent AI companies from using images that resemble him, giving him the right to take legal rights against “AI misuse.” If successful, other celebrities, and maybe even citizens, will likely do the same.

Until then, Eder Xavier’s video serves as another reason to question everything you see online. In a digital world where nothing on social media is real and everything could lead to a scam, the internet as we know it will collapse, or at the very least, it will become far less important than simply living life out in the real world.

​Tech 

A concealed carrier wasted no time doling out justice when a pair of males allegedly attempted an armed robbery against him earlier this week.

Chicago police said a 39-year-old man was exiting his vehicle around 2:40 a.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Montana Street and Laramie Avenue in the city’s Cragin neighborhood, WFLD-TV reported.

‘So sick of thugs.’

With that, two males — Robert Cooks Jr., 23, and Teryon Pittman, 24 — approached him, and one of them pulled out a gun and demanded the victim’s belongings, the station said.

Well, the victim wasn’t having a bit of it.

Police said the CCL holder drew his own gun and fired multiple shots, striking Cooks in the legs, WFLD reported.

RELATED: Road rage suspect opens fire on fellow motorist in Chicago, cops say. But victim is a concealed carrier — and wins shootout.

Cooks and Pittman both were charged with one felony count of armed robbery with a firearm, the station said.

Paramedics treated Cooks, after which he was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition, WFLD said.

The station added that Pittman has faced criminal charges in Chicago three times since 2020, including two cases of domestic battery.

RELATED: ‘I’ll blow your head off’: Carjacking victim threatened crook after turning the tables on him. Now carjacker learns his fate.

Teryon PittmanImage source: Chicago Police

Both suspects have a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday, WFLD noted.

A number of commenters under the station’s Facebook post about the incident didn’t hold back.

“Great job CCL holder,” one commenter wrote.”Too bad!!! Pew pew,” another user exclaimed.”So he faced 3 charges since 2020 and still roaming the streets?” another commenter asked. “The court system is sad.””That’s awesome,” another user noted.”So sick of thugs,” another commenter lamented.

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​Crime thwarted, Chicago, Concealed carrier, Ccl, Attempted armed robbery, Arrest, 2nd amend., Guns, Gun rights, Self-defense, Shooting, Wounded, Wounded suspect, Crime 

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrest on Wednesday of 16 anti-ICE rioters who allegedly assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated, and/or interfered with federal agents while officers were engaged in official duties in Minneapolis.

Among the radicals charged under 18 U.S. Code Section 111 was Nasra Ahmed, a 23-year-old “Somali-American” whose bizarre speech about Somalis’ supposed affinity for bananas and rice recently went viral.

‘I will carry this on my shoulders.’

Ahmed, who lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota, held a press conference with Democrat state Rep. Samakab Hussein at the Minnesota Capitol last week, where she criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, accused federal agents of roughing her up, and did her apparent best to provide some insights into Somali identity.

“I got kidnapped by ICE,” said Ahmed, wearing a bandage on a portion of her head not covered by her Islamic veil. “ICE came to my neighborhood, where — my neighborhood is a very Somali neighborhood. It’s a predominantly Somali neighborhood. There’s many Somalis that live here.”

Ahmed indicated that she saw a pair of Somali men running away from federal agents outside an apartment complex on Jan. 14 and decided to get involved. When asked for her ID, she allegedly complied.

Footage appears to show a woman believed to be Ahmed spitting in the face of a federal agent.

Following the apparent salivary attack, Ahmed was reportedly arrested, taken to the Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling, then briefly held on pending federal felony charges at Sherburne County jail in Elk River.

Speaking at the press conference several days after she was released without charges, Ahmed claimed both that an ICE agent used a racial slur in reference to her and that she suffered a concussion during the arrest.

RELATED: Somalia accused of stealing US-funded food aid, destroying warehouse — but caves when Trump admin cuts it off cold

Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“They arrested and detained me for two days, and I was put in county jail,” continued the anti-ICE radical. “Then there was this ICE agent who called me a racial slur.”

“I am proud to say I have survived ICE,” said Ahmed. “Many people are saying, including my family and friends, that I will go down in history, and I will carry this on my shoulders.”

While Ahmed’s sob story resonated with Democrats such as Rep. Betty McCollum and other anti-ICE liberals, the part of her monologue that went viral online was her commentary on Somalis and “eating bananas with rice”:

I’m Somali. I’m proud to be Somali. To me, being Somali isn’t just eating bananas with rice. It’s a, it’s a lot, it’s like a, it’s a, it’s a, it’s an interesting thing. It’s a — it’s very hard to describe what means to be Somali and what it means to be American, but it’s like a cultural fusion. It’s kind of like the bananas and rice, you know? People don’t really see like — you know it’s a, it’s a, it’s — you know, people don’t think, “Oh, you can eat bananas with rice,” but that’s what it’s like to be Somali and American. It’s like that combination of banana and rice, but you’re gonna get what I mean.

Despite the supposed fusion of bananas and rice, the U.S. State Department has paused immigrant visa processing from Somalia, citing it as one of 75 countries “whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.”

The Center for Immigration Studies indicated in a report last month that in Minnesota, approximately 54% of Somali-headed households received food stamps and 73% of Somali households had at least one member on Medicaid. By way of comparison, the figures for native households were 7% and 18%, respectively.

“Somalians ripped off that state for billions of dollars. Billions every year. Billions of dollars, and they contribute nothing. The welfare is like 88%. They contribute nothing,” President Donald Trump said last month. “I don’t want them in our country; I’ll be honest with you. 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.”

Ahmed is now hitting up sympathizers for cash, requesting $20,000 on GoFundMe “to support her in this difficult moment.” At the time of publication, she had raised nearly $2,000.

Regarding the arrest of Ahmed and other anti-ICE radicals, Bondi noted, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: NOTHING will stop President Trump and this Department of Justice from enforcing the law.”

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​Bananas with rice, Somali, Somalia, Homeland security investigations, Department of justice, Doj, Justice, Crime, Minnesota, St paul, Saint paul, Anti-ice, Immigration, Fraud, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Politics 

With more and more fraud being investigated and exposed across the country, the Trump administration has created a new office specially dedicated to prosecuting these types of crimes.

On Wednesday night, President Trump announced the creation of the office and his nominee to run it.

‘My Administration has uncovered Fraud schemes in States like Minnesota and California, where these thieves have stolen Hundreds of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars.’

“I am pleased to nominate Colin McDonald to serve as the first ever Assistant Attorney General for National FRAUD Enforcement, a new Division at the Department of Justice, which I created to catch and stop FRAUDSTERS that have been STEALING from the American People,” Trump said on Truth Social. “My Administration has uncovered Fraud schemes in States like Minnesota and California, where these thieves have stolen Hundreds of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars.”

Trump called McDonald a “very Smart, Tough, and Highly Respected AMERICA FIRST Federal Prosecutor” and promised that the administration would “RESTORE INTEGRITY” to the federal programs.

RELATED: ‘PLAYING WITH FIRE!’ Trump responds to Minneapolis Mayor Frey’s latest act of defiance

Todd Blanche and Pam BondiPhoto by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

“STOP THE SCAMS!” Trump concluded.

McDonald, though not a well-known figure on the national stage, has a resume built for the new position.

For example, McDonald successfully prosecuted a large-scale conspiracy in 2020 that the judge in the case called “staggering in its breadth, its scope, and its audacity.”

The conspiracy case, which involved multiple people including the former police chief of Honolulu, brought multiple charges and sent several people to prison for years.

Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general under Pam Bondi, signaled his approval of the choice on X: “Colin is a rockstar, who was instrumental in our team’s mission of Making America Safe Again. He is a consummate prosecutor who loves God, family, and country and will serve the President and the American people well.”

Likewise, ambassador and chief of protocol Monica Crowley cheered on the decision: “President Trump is putting an end to the United States of Fraud.”

The announcement was made amid ongoing talks between the Trump administration and the leadership of Minnesota, one of the primary hot spots of widespread fraud.

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​Politics, Colin mcdonald, Donald trump, Pam bondi, Fraud, Department of justice, Doj, Taxpayer dollars, Trump 

Life keeps getting crazier for 23-year-old YouTuber Nick Shirley — the overnight independent journalist who ripped the curtain back on Minnesota’s Somali-run fraud schemes, bringing the issue to national attention.

Episode one, which has amassed over 141 million views, exposed Somali-run day cares in Minnesota as allegedly fraudulent operations. Shirley’s footage highlighted empty day-care centers, many with locked doors, blacked-out windows, and tight-lipped “staff members,” despite receiving millions in federal and state funding.

Episode two identified fraudulent nonemergency medical transportation companies as the “hub” of the fraud wheel that enables the schemes taking place in day-care centers and other welfare/social services programs.

Shirley’s reporting has not only triggered widespread outrage across the nation but also immediate action from the Trump administration. Shortly after episode one dropped, the Department of Health and Human Services froze federal child-care funding to Minnesota and later expanded freezes to other states. The FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations in Minnesota surged as well.

On a recent episode of “Come & Take It,” Sara interviews Shirley about his viral Minnesota fraud exposés, the government actions they sparked, the death threats and doxxing forcing 24/7 security, and his congressional testimony where Democrats were largely absent.

“We always hear about the fraud taking place, but we’ve never actually been able to see it with our eyes. And so I think that’s why the video did so well … because people were really actually able to see that fraud,” says Shirley of his viral exposé.

As a fellow investigative journalist who’s uncovered the depth of depravity taking place in “kid-friendly” drag shows and other LGBTQ+ events — and most recently widespread H-1B visa fraud in Texas — Sara agrees that showing rather than telling is the most powerful and effective form of journalism.

“There is something about just having it put right directly in front of them that really, really hammers the point home,” she says.

Unfortunately effective journalism is also dangerous. As a result of Shirley’s reporting, he’s faced death threats, doxxing of his home address and family members, and severe harassment that has forced him to hire 24/7 personal security for protection so that he can continue his work.

“I’ve had to raise and spend thousands of dollars in order just to keep myself safe and my family as well,” he says, noting that people who want to help can donate at supportnickshirley.com.

But the level of aggression and vitriol he’s faced isn’t even the most surprising thing Shirley has encountered.

On January 21, Shirley testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee about his Minnesota fraud investigations. However only two out of the eight Democrats scheduled for the hearing showed up, and the two who were present “didn’t direct one single question towards [him],” he tells Sara.

It’s “gotten to the point where they’re defending fraud or to the point where they don’t even want to speak out against the fraud because it’s happened inside of their own areas,” he says.

Sara agrees, adding, “Democrats are now running on a platform of ‘we want to protect the fraudsters”’ — the reason being that they’re scared of being labeled “racist” or “xenophobic.”

But there’s nothing racist about facts — and the fact is that “89% of the fraud that has been committed and charged inside Minnesota is by Somalians,” says Shirley.

“If there was any other race outside of those buildings [of fraudulent businesses], they would have got filmed as well … so by no means am I a racist.”

“I’m just a fact-teller and a truth-teller.”

To hear more of the interview, watch the video above.

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​Come and take it, Come and take it with sara gonzales, Sara gonzales, Nick shirley, Nick shirley video, Minnesota fraud, Somali fraud, Minnesota somali fraud, Blazetv, Blaze media 

A former star in the Michigan Democratic Party has been criminally charged after allegations surfaced that she stole money from an elderly woman under her care.

According to a press release from the Kent County prosecutor’s office, Traci Kornak has been charged with three felonies:

one count of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult of $50,000 or more but less than $100,000;one count of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult of $1,000 or more but less than $20,000; andone count of false pretenses of $1,000 or more but less than $20,000.

She could face up to 25 years behind bars if convicted.

‘Where do you think this ranks in terms of skullduggery? Pedophiles, puppy abusers, and people who steal old people’s money?’

Kornak, the former Michigan Democratic Party treasurer and a member of Democrat Attorney General Dana Nessel’s 2018 transition team, has been under intense scrutiny for years after she was named conservator for Rosalene Burd, an elderly nursing home resident with a traumatic brain injury.

Kornak has been accused of mishandling Burd’s funds, even bilking an insurance company to pay extra money for a caregiver who was not a licensed medical professional.

According to whistleblower Joe LeBlanc, the former director of the facility where Burd lived, Kornak used the tax ID of the assisted living facility and a billing template from another facility to create fabricated invoices for the insurance company totaling nearly $50,000 over two years, as Blaze News previously reported.

RELATED: Michigan AG Dana Nessel allegedly breached ethics wall regarding investigation into member of her transition team

Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

LeBlanc claimed to have seen one check for over $23,000 in November 2021. When LeBlanc confronted Kornak about it, she “asked me to just cash it, and then she said she’d pay us a little money for the trouble,” LeBlanc recalled.

Burd died last April at the age of 86. According to journalist Charlie LeDuff, Burd’s debit card was used the day after she died.

Because of Kornak’s close association with Nessel, Scott Teter, the director of the Financial Crimes Division of the Michigan attorney general’s office, wrote a memo in September 2022 ordering “an isolation wall” that would prevent Nessel “from being provided or accessing any information” related to the state investigation into Kornak.

However, documents later uncovered by LeDuff revealed that Nessel sent an email in December 2022 referring to the investigation and suggesting that Kornak, an attorney, was up for a Kent County judicial appointment. Four reports related to the Kornak investigation were included in the email, according to LeDuff.

The investigation from the AG’s office was officially closed two weeks later with no charges filed against Kornak.

“Did [Nessel] hook up her gal pal? I say she did,” LeDuff later wrote.

Though more than three years have lapsed since his initial reporting on the story, LeDuff has never let it drop. Earlier this month, he ambushed Kornak and her attorney outside a hearing to ask questions about Burd’s money.

RELATED: Leftist AG Dana Nessel threatens to prosecute Michigan woman for allegedly sharing ‘misleading’ election info

“Where do you think this ranks in terms of skullduggery? Pedophiles, puppy abusers, and people who steal old people’s money?” LeDuff asked. He also pressed Kornak on whether she colluded with Nessel “to make this case go away.”

Kornak repeatedly dodged LeDuff’s questions and asked him not to touch her.

Michigan Republicans have repeatedly threatened to impeach Nessel in connection with the Kornak investigation, among other issues. Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is also implicated in the case, Michigan Enjoyer has indicated.

“Whitmer was planning to appoint Kornak to a judgeship as soon as the criminal investigation went away,” LeDuff wrote.

Nessel’s office, Whitmer’s office, an attorney for Kornak, and the Michigan Democratic Party did not respond to requests for comment from Blaze News.

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​Traci kornak, Dana nessel, Michigan, Michigan democratic party, Kent county, Politics