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 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton credited BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales on Wednesday with getting the ball rolling on a new and “wide-sweeping investigation into abuse of the H-1B visa program by Texas businesses.”

Standing outside a seemingly vacant single-family home in Irving — the supposed office of 3Bees Technologies Inc., one of the companies Gonzales scrutinized in a damning report on possible H-1B fraud earlier this month — Paxton told the BlazeTV host, “Thanks to you, we’re here today.”

‘It’s not our first rodeo, and we’ll definitely find out what’s going on.’

“We’ve started an investigation into three different companies that we think might be scamming people with these H-1B visas,” said Paxton.

“Thanks to you, we’ve sent them questionnaires,” continued Paxton. “They’re called Civil Investigative Demands, and they’re designed to find out what the truth is, what is actually happening, what are their actual practices. Are they defrauding consumers? Are they misguiding people as to what they’re actually doing?”

Paxton has ordered the companies to provide documents identifying all of their employees, records detailing the specific products or services they provide, financial statements, and communications pertaining to company operations.

Although the Texas Attorney General’s Office is currently looking at three businesses in North Texas, Paxton indicated that is the start of a much larger investigation.

‘Abuse and fraud within these programs strip jobs and opportunities away from Texans.’

The Texas attorney general expressed confidence that potential fraudsters will be flushed out, telling Gonzales, “It’s not our first rodeo, and we will definitely find out what’s going on.”

“Any criminal who attempts to scam the H-1B visa program and use ‘ghost offices’ or other fraudulent ploys should be prepared to face the full force of the law,” Paxton said in a statement.

RELATED: ‘Where are all the workers?’ BlazeTV’s Sara Gonzales exposes potential H-1B visa fraud in Texas

Photo (left): BlazeTV; Photo (right): Brandon Bell/Getty Images

“Abuse and fraud within these programs strip jobs and opportunities away from Texans. I will use every tool available to uproot and hold accountable any individual or company engaged in these fraudulent schemes,” added the Texas attorney general.

Gonzales’ exposé evidently also captured the attention of Gov. Greg Abbott (R).

Citing “recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa program” and the “federal government’s ongoing review of that program to ensure American jobs are going to American workers,” Abbott directed all state agencies on Tuesday to “immediately freeze” new H-1B visa petitions.

In addition to pumping the brakes on new H-1B visas, Abbott demanded that public universities and various state agencies provide an account of how many H-1B visa holders they are currently sponsoring; the countries of origin of their sponsored H-1B visa holders; the expected expiration date for each sponsored visa; and the efforts taken to ensure that Texan candidates were afforded a reasonable opportunity to apply for each position filled by an H-1B visa holder.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ H-1B Employer Data Hub indicates that over 41,500 H-1B visa beneficiaries were approved for fiscal year 2025 in Texas.

Qubitz Tech Systems, one of the companies Gonzales scrutinized in her report, had 12 H-1B beneficiaries approved last year. The company, whose visa job contact is Hari Madiraju, has apparently been hiring “software developers” from abroad for years.

When Gonzales went to the address listed for Qubitz in Frisco, Texas — a four-bedroom house in a residential neighborhood — she was greeted by a man responding to “Hari” who was clearly not happy to see her.

At the mention of Qubitz and its supposed employees, Hari called the police, which Gonzales welcomed.

Gonzales later paid a visit to Qubitz’s supposed worksite. Instead of finding a dozen or more workers engaged in the kind of software development that supposedly requires foreign talent, she found a vacant prison-cell-sized room with a single chair and some folding tables.

“Pretty cramped working quarters for 12 H-1B workers,” said Gonzales. “I’m not buying it.”

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​Sara gonzales, Gonzales, Blazetv, Ken paxton, Greg abbott, Texas, Lone star state, H-1b visa, H-1b, Immigration, Nonimmigrant, Work, Wage suppression, Replacement, Politics 

Gunfire, smoke grenades, vehicles charging law enforcement: The scene in Minnesota looks like a war zone. Leftists are assaulting ICE agents, storming churches, threatening journalists, and ripping conservatives out of cars, all in one of the most frigid winters imaginable.

While CNN and MSNBC are treating ICE’s presence as a fascist takeover that every progressive foot soldier should travel to fight, they are increasingly frustrated that no one seems to really care. The left might be engaged in its own miniature insurrection, but the rest of America isn’t at war. The rest of America is watching football.

The average guy might catch an online video or headline and shake his head, but he goes right back to wondering if the Patriots are going to win another Super Bowl.

The summer of 2020 was truly a wonder to behold. After the entire country was locked down for months on end, tensions were boiling. The media had been steadily bombarding their captive viewers with different stories of police brutality against black people, the most sacred of all victims, hoping that one spark would eventually trigger a wildfire. It took a while, but once riots started, they spread to different cities quickly. Teachers had their students write essays about George Floyd, while churches baptized in his name. Statues were built, murals were painted, and companies donated millions to Black Lives Matter, even as rioters looted and burned down their stores.

It was a truly religious movement, supported by every major power center in the nation, justifying outrageous violence and property damage, while news organizations glorified the entire spectacle. Not since the 1960s has America been gripped by such a fervently spiritual devotion to revolutionary politics.

Now, Trump is back in office and the left is desperately trying to recreate the magic, but leftists can’t seem to get it done. ICE has started its deportations of the worst illegal-alien criminals. In most states, the operation has gone smoothly. Some blue states have decided not to work with ICE, forcing the agents to retrieve the illegal aliens themselves, often in very hostile environments, without the aid of local law enforcement. Minnesota has been a hotbed of domestic unrest, so it is no surprise that the state has also seen the most conflict during these ICE raids.

It isn’t just that Minnesota refuses to cooperate with federal immigration officials. The entire state political apparatus is involved in a conspiracy to foment violence. Government officials, including the lieutenant governor, have been caught in a group chat working to coordinate the revolution. Teachers’ unions and school boards collaborate to suspend school so that educators and students can join in the street protests and riots. Judges refuse to sign arrest warrants for obvious crimes because they agree with the perpetrators. Minnesota is in open insurrection. There really is no other word for it.

Despite the incredible level of subversive coordination occurring in Minnesota, events have failed to capture the popular imagination like they did during the summer of love. Some have blamed the winter, claiming that it is simply too cold for the leftists to maintain an overwhelming presence in the streets. Others have pointed to the lack of lockdowns or some other simmering psychological factor increasing political tensions.

The most likely explanation centers around the cause itself. Black criminals have gained an almost sacred status on the left, making them a far more animating cause, especially for the black community at large. No black activist is showing up to die for white lesbians who get themselves shot standing up for child-molesting illegal aliens from Venezuela. Without the sacred victims, it is difficult for leftists to get their most violent foot soldiers in the streets or to get corporations to sign on and push the agenda. Whatever the true explanation, the consequences are obvious. The revolution is not spreading, and most of America does not care.

If you are someone who follows the news obsessively, it is easy to overestimate the impact that events in Minnesota are having on the country. It’s not that what is happening between ICE and violent leftists isn’t serious. It is, but most Americans are barely paying attention. Most states are cooperating with ICE, and deportations are entirely positive, making very little noise. The average guy might catch an online video or headline and shake his head, but he goes right back to wondering if the Patriots are going to win another Super Bowl.

Progressive activists are posting on social media complaining about how most of the country just does not care about what they are doing. The revolution is contained, and the leftist insurgency is becoming demoralized.

Tim Walz has now agreed to involve local law enforcement if ICE reduces its direct presence in operations. Some disgruntled right-wingers have described this as capitulation by the Trump administration, but that simply is not the case. The goal was always to use ICE as a supplementary force in conjunction with local agencies. Anything else invites chaos.

RELATED: Conservatives can’t barbecue their way through national collapse

Blaze Media Illustration

The refusal of local law enforcement to cooperate created a “city under siege” mentality, where progressives could sell the image of faceless authoritarians surging into their hometown, justifying all kinds of ruthless tactics. Now that local police are handling the riot control, they own the situation. It’s a lot easier to demonize and attack a faceless federal agent. Now the protesters are assaulting their friends, family members, and neighbors. Activists have even started to surround Tim Walz’s residence due to their outrage. Once revolutionary energy is redirected toward their own leaders, the movement is not long for this world.

Many GOP commentators and politicians have decided that now is the time to defect, calling for ICE to withdraw and abandon operations in Minnesota — a huge mistake. The progressives are outraged that their government allies have wavered and demoralized becuase their revolution has been contained. The worst possible move would be to rip defeat from the jaws of victory because a few MSNBC segments started to make the donor class squeamish.

Now is the time to break the insurgency and continue nationwide operations without hesitation. Americans are more interested in whether the Seahawks can pull this one off than they are in spreading the Marxist open-borders gospel. If conservative politicians and commentators can control their impulse to surrender like spineless cowards for a few weeks, the moment will pass and immigration law will be enforced.

​Minnesota, Radical left, Football, Super bowl, Ice, Trump, Trump administration, Ice protest, Law enforcement, Minneapolis, Tim walz, Opinion & analysis