Stephen A. Smith has gotten himself on the FBI’s radar, but not for anything impressive.

After the FBI announced a sweeping probe into two separate illegal sports gambling-related cases that included the arrest of Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former NBA player Damon Jones — among some mob families — the ESPN star complained on “First Take” that President Trump is “coming” for the sports world.

FBI Director Kash Patel then joked about Smith’s comments on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.”

“I’m the FBI director. I decide which arrests to conduct and which not to conduct. That may be the single dumbest thing I’ve everheard out of anyone in modern history, and I live most of my time in Washington, D.C. It’s right up there with Adam Schiff,” Patel told host Laura Ingraham.

“We arrest people for crimes,” he added.

“How would anybody connected to the sports world hear this story — that an NBA hall of famer, an NBA champion, an NBA head coach, active head coach, is involved in some sort of poker scheme involving mafia members — and the reaction be, ‘Oh man, Trump’s coming,’ and, you know, ‘Trump’s coming after his enemies,’ and, ‘Trump is the bad guy here,’” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says on “Fearless.”

“The entire media is now rigged around a system of ‘the only crimes that are punishable are crimes committed by Donald Trump or his supporters,’” he continues. “If you’re an enemy of Trump, there’s nothing we can’t rationalize by saying, ‘What about Brett Favre?’ or ‘What about Donald Trump?’ or ‘What about some random white guy?’”

While many are asking why those who are already rich through professional sports would then engage in illegal gambling to pad their pockets further, Whitlock believes its a symptom of the culture surrounding sports.

“Why wouldn’t they do it given the environment and the culture that we’ve built around sports? They show up to arenas. The arenas play a style of music that promotes corruption and greed and debauchery,” Whitlock says.

“We want athletes to mimic the behavior of criminals, gangsters, men that are incarcerated. So, athletes, we want you to tat yourself up, dress with your pants hanging off your ass. We want you to pretend like you’re some Iceberg Slim-type pimp and rapper, and that’s your brand now,” he continues.

“That’s what’s been promoted to all of these athletes, and that’s what they’ve done,” he adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

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

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Arnold Schwarzenegger ripped into Democrats over their insistence that President Donald Trump had been the aggressor in the ongoing battle over gerrymandering and redistricting.

The former California governor appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” and argued that Democrats had been gerrymandering for many decades before the president jumped into the fray.

‘It’s all between Democrats and Republicans, and the ones that are getting left behind are the people.’

“Is it fair to argue that — do you believe that the Republican Party is starting this?” host Jake Tapper asked.

“No, Jake. There has been gerrymandering going on for 200 years,” Schwarzenegger replied.

“There is such extreme gerrymandering going on that in a state like Massachusetts, it has, like, 40% of the people voting for Trump — they have zero representatives. The Republican Party has zero representatives sent to the House. Think about that,” he added.

“In New Mexico, 45% of the people voted for Trump and vote Republican, and zero is sent to the House, zero representatives from the Republican Party,” Schwarzenegger said. “So there’s gerrymandering, crazy gerrymandering going on all over the country, and we wanted to try to stop it in California.”

Schwarzenegger has been on record in opposing efforts led by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to redistrict California’s congressional seats in order to send more Democrats to the U.S. House of Representatives.

“I think this whole thing about finger-pointing and saying, ‘They did it, so therefore we should [do] it,’ that’s not really the way to go,” he added. “The one party should outperform the other party.”

RELATED: Obama defends Gavin Newsom’s redistricting scheme to counteract ‘gerrymandering’ by Texas Republicans

“When you think about this trying to outcheat each other rather than outperform each other, it’s all between Democrats and Republicans, and the ones that are getting left behind are the people,” Schwarzenegger added.

Tapper pointed out that about 62% said they supported the proposition in California that would allow Democrats to redistrict the deep blue state.

The entire interview can be viewed on CNN’s YouTube channel.

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A less-than-impressive interview performance from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on “Face the Nation” led many on the left to melt down on social media.

Host Margaret Brennan forced Jeffries to answer a question about the hypocritical framing of rigged elections and redistricting in the midterm elections. Many believed Brennan had been ordered to be tougher on Democrats in the wake of Free Press founder Bari Weiss being hired to lead CBS News.

‘How do you justify using that now? Doesn’t that undermine faith for voters you need to show up?’

“You said, ‘Democrats, there are no election deniers on our side of the aisle,'” Brennan said Sunday.

“You said that back in January. But recently, you’ve been using the term ‘rigged elections’ in reference to the upcoming midterms,” she added. “Democrats were appalled when President Trump used language like that. How do you justify using that now? Doesn’t that undermine faith for voters you need to show up?”

“No, I’ve been using that term in the context of Donald Trump’s unprecedented effort to gerrymander congressional maps in a partisan fashion all across the country in order to rig the midterm elections and deny the ability of the American people to actually decide who should be in the majority as it relates to the House of Representatives,” Jeffries responded.

Brennan interrupted and contradicted Jeffries.

“You know Democrats are also going through gerrymandering and redistricting,” she said.

“No, no, no,” Jeffries responded. “Democrats are going to push back aggressively to make sure that we have fair maps across the country, not partisan gerrymandering, which Republicans have initiated in state after state after state.”

While the episode merely represented a small burst of fair-minded journalism on Brennan’s part, many on the left fell into hysteria and panic over the unexpected blow.

RELATED: Liberal meltdown ensues after Supreme Court announces it will hear Trump immunity case: ‘Just plain terrifying’

“Really shameful from @margbrennan,” Keith Olbermann replied. “Never talked like that to any MAGA liars she‘s platformed but happy to do it to Jeffries in an attempt to get Bari Weiss to NOT fire her. Just vacuous and amoral.”

“Scary. After Bari Weiss’s takeover of CBS, Margaret Brennan sounds like a Newsmax host in this interview with Hakeem Jeffries,” attorney Kaivan Shroff responded.

“Margaret Brennan’s hostility toward Jeffries compared to her deference toward Bessent and Graham demonstrates the chilling authoritarian takeover of CBS,” one response reads.

“Totally inappropriate Margaret. There was no reason to speak like that to Jeffries,” another detractor said. “I guess we know where you got your orders from. I was hoping changes would not happen under Bari. I guess I was wrong. Sorry but I will no longer be watching you or this show.”

The entire Jeffries interview can be viewed on the show’s YouTube channel.

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Indiana Governor Mike Braun (R) announced on Monday that he was calling a special legislative session “to protect Hoosiers from efforts in other states that seek to diminish their voice in Washington and ensure their representation in Congress is fair.”

States across the country are set to redraw or at least reconsider their congressional boundaries ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, where a Democratic gain of three seats would break the GOP’s hold on the House of Representatives.

‘The people of Indiana did not elect a Republican supermajority so our Senate could cower, compromise, or collapse at the very moment courage is required.’

After a great deal of hand-wringing about Texas Republicans’ successful adoption in August of a new congressional map that could net the GOP five extra seats, California Democrats responded with a new map that would create five new majority-Democrat districts should voters cast ballots in support of Proposition 50 on Nov. 4.

Among the other states that have looked at their respective maps with minds to help fellow travelers keep or take Congress are:

Missouri, where Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe recently signed a new map into law; Kansas, where GOP state Senate President Ty Masterson announced on Monday that a sufficient number of signatures had been collected from Senate Republicans for a special session on redistricting;North Carolina, where last week the GOP-controlled legislature passed a new congressional map that could give Republicans an additional House seat; andVirginia, where Democratic lawmakers are reportedly preparing to launch a redistricting push this week.

Governor Braun indicated that the special legislative session for the Indiana General Assembly will convene on Nov. 3.

The governor’s announcement comes just days after a spokeswoman for Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray told Politico, “The votes aren’t there for redistricting.”

RELATED: Trump DOJ to monitor polling sites in 2 blue states in response to concerns about voter fraud, ‘irregularities’

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Braun’s decision to set a date may be a sign of newfound intestinal fortitude among those remaining holdouts who have been under intense pressure not only from the White House but by fellow Indianans to play to win.

Even Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk threatened prior to his assassination to “support primary opponents for Republicans in the Indiana State Legislature who refuse to support the team and redraw the maps,” adding that “it’s time for Republicans to be TOUGH” and not to “let California steal the 2026 house from us.”

Indiana Sen. Jim Banks (R) noted in the wake of Kirk’s passing, “They killed Charlie Kirk — the least that we can do is go through a legal process and redistrict Indiana into a nine-to-zero map.”

Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith (R) said in a statement on Wednesday, “The people of Indiana did not elect a Republican supermajority so our Senate could cower, compromise, or collapse at the very moment courage is required. Yet, here we are again. The Indiana Republican-controlled Senate is failing to stand with President Trump, failing to defend the voice of Hoosier voters, and failing to deliver the 9-0 conservative map our citizens overwhelmingly expect.”

Beckwith suggested that his colleagues rediscover their backbones, remember who elected them to office, and “reclaim Indiana’s rightful voice in Congress by drawing a 9-0 map.”

Following Braun’s announcement, Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston (R) said in a statement obtained by WGN-TV, “We’ve received the Governor’s call for a special session and will continue having conversations within our caucus and with our counterparts in the Senate on our next steps.”

Following Braun’s announcement, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita indicated that he is ready to defend the new map in court once it “gets across the finish line.”

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A scientist who helped identify a new butterfly species said it would be named after Iryna Zarutska to “immortalize” her memory.

Harry Pavulaan, the president and director of the International Lepidoptera Survey, said that he’s still emotional when thinking about the stabbing death of the Ukrainian woman, allegedly at the hands of a repeat criminal.

‘This will outlast most other tributes because it’s a living organism. Her name will be immortalized as a butterfly.’

“When I saw the story break,” said Pavulaan, “I’m 70 years old, and I’m still driven to tears.”

Pavulaan told ABC News that the butterfly had been first spotted in South Carolina by researcher Ronald Gatrelle in 1985 but that it had not been officially named. Pavulaan himself collected specimens of the insect in 2018. It took several years to determine that it was the “first known hybrid introgression” for the species.

While it had been initially named something else, Pavulaan decided to honor Zarutska after seeing the surveillance videos of her death.

“This will outlast most other tributes because it’s a living organism. Her name will be immortalized as a butterfly,” he added.

He added that he had been in contact with Zarutska’s family, and they had told him they were hopeful the honor would help them find closure about her death.

RELATED: Elon Musk pledges $1 million to honor the memory of Iryna Zarutska — and bring down the media blackout

Decarlos Brown, 34, was arrested and charged for Zarutska’s murder. If convicted, he will be eligible for the death penalty.

Zarutska’s horrific stabbing death was captured on surveillance video from the light rail system. She had just finished working at her job at a pizzeria and had texted her boyfriend that she was going home, according to her attorney.

The new butterfly species will be named “Iryna’s Azure.”

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A Minnesota man has been arrested over a TikTok video that put a $45,000 bounty on the head of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On Oct. 9, the FBI said it received a tip about the post that showed an image of Bondi with the caption, “WANTED: Pam Bondi. REWARD: 45,000. DEAD OR ALIVE (PREFERABLY DEAD).” The user also placed a “sniperscope red dot” on Bondi’s forehead in the image.

Prosecutors argued that the post was not a joke and constituted a deliberate threat of violence.

The post also had the caption, “*Cough cough* when they don’t serve us then what?”

The FBI was able to trace the post to 30-year-old Tyler Maxon Avalos, who lived at an apartment in St. Paul, according to an affidavit.

The post made several references to anarchism, according to the FBI. One of those was a link to a book titled, “An Anarchist FAQ Book.”

Even more alarming, Avalos has a long criminal history. In 2022 he was convicted of felony stalking, and in 2016 he was convicted of misdemeanor domestic assault. Also in 2016 he was convicted of felony third-degree domestic battery, which was a strangulation charge that was reduced.

RELATED: Indiana woman allegedly threatened to disembowel Trump in revenge for pandemic deaths

Prosecutors argued that the post was not a joke and constituted a deliberate threat of violence.

The man appeared before a federal magistrate judge in Minneapolis and was released on his own recognizance.

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